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Otter on 02 February 2026
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BraLoD said:


But I still can't understand how 13 is so hated for things 10 did before and that one is so beloved.

10 is as much if not more limiting than 13, it has a lot of corridor maps.

I personally don't mind it, but it puzzles me why so many people are selective with 13 to pick up on it for that, but not on 10.

But nearly everything on 13 is better than 10, and 10 has some pretty bad choices too.

It has a separated language you have to "learn" bit by bit, and it expects you to go back to places you forgot many moons ago so you can read a part of a text you couldn't and try to figure it out, and I'll be honest that I don't even remember what you learn when you do, but I do remember not liking having to go back to do it.

This is a crazy take to me lol. I think there are very clear differences between X and XIII which makes X more favoured,

1.Pacing.

Both of gameplay mechanics and story wise, 10 just opens up a lot quicker. By the time you're in Besaid you're exploring the world, finding hidden items, collecting new weapons, understanding your parties very different abilities, engaging with puzzles to unlock summons, exploring interesting dynamics between characters and the motive going forward is well set out.

2. Simple RPG mechanics.

XIII removes the micromanagement of the early game without replacing it with any strategic depth. There are very few ailments to fend against or utilise like blind, silence etc. Character skillsets are not very unique, almost all attacks are from a shared skillset. X is relatively basic but that tried and tested formula works over just having the swap between 2 paradigms and not worry about much else for 30hours.

2.World Building.

There's not a single area in XIII that feels genuinely lived in or inhabited. Even if we view the wilderness of pulse as something which is suppsed to feel "uninhabited" you don't get a broader sense of the world from exploring it, interacting with ruins, wildlife etc. Much of its lore is left to datalogs whereas everything in FFX is based on you engaging in the world & characters including the tedious bits like learning al-bed or going back to places you've already been to unlock hidden summons/weapns, new dialogue etc

4. Story.
10 is simply a better story with more interesting characters.

I enjoyed XIII and played through it twice, but it was very unbalanced and poorly paced experience. Both are relatively linear but 10 had way more diverging paths and organic level design which broke from "corridor" criticism that was thrown at XIII. Like one of the very first things you do as Tidus is try and find flint in order to start a fire. In XIII's 40hour runtime I can't remember a single instance of having to be observant outside of battle.

Last edited by Otter - on 02 February 2026