That certainly explains it. It's one thing to be linear, but playing on a small path is rather annoying.

Well I like variety. So I can appreciate a game that linear as well as a game that's non linear. However, non linear games tend to have better pacing in my opinion though, and this is only because I have more control over how I play the game (i.e. I have more control over the pacing).

Making a game for a huge amount of people is a hard thing to do. Not everyone will like everything about the game. I think non-linearity provides enough variety in the gameplay for a larger audience to enjoy the game.

At the end of the day though, atmosphere is the most important quality for me.

I don't think a linear game is a bad thing, I think people are just upset that FFXIII is different than other FF games.

From what I've heard there are no towns what-so-ever so you feel less attached to the world and that's a big thing in FFXIII. I have no idea how true that is, but as for FFXIII being stupid linear, I don't have a problem with that (though I do have a problem with a 20 hour tutorial).

I find linear games better than open world games.

Linear games are more focused in providing the gamer with most amount of fun he can have at that moment. also liner games have less filler...

Non linear games give the choice to the player to choose his missions. Players know jack shit. They go to the mission they think they will be most fun...but that is not always the case. Also, they are full of filler to make the games appear longer and to provide the illusion of freedom.

For example...

Ninja Gaiden 2 - challenge after challenge after challenge = fun time after fun time after fun time
GTA4 - fun game broken appart by side missions some of which are tedious as fuck and some which are mildly amusing...10 hours of fun stretched in to a 30 hour game.

It's funny, I've played through Mass Effect twice now and the time I played it more as a linear game I enjoyed it *much* more.

First playthrough -- played the four worlds and did almost no sidequests

Second playthrough -- played three of the words, did all the sidequests I could, and the finished Virmire.

On the second playthrough when I played it as more of an open world game, I hated the game.  I was so sick of it by hour 13 or so and I still had another 10 left.  The pacing was utterly destroyed.  On my first playthrough I made the mistake of not playing Virmire last but I played the four worlds one after the other and the game rocked.

From the reveiws I've read, and some games i've played, it seems that the issue of being overly linear in FF is that the combat system takes nearly 20 hours to get to play. Your fed little bits at a time, beat up some mobs, get new bits, beat up mobs with those new bits and repeat... for 20 hours. Then, after all that is said and done, your able to actually play the meat of the game and enjoy the hell out of it.

Really, this reminds me of the newest Bionic Commando game. I enjoyed the game immensely, however you didn't even start with a grapple arm. Once you got your arm, you couldn't perform any moves with it until you had unlocked or earned those abilities... okay. Well the pacing wasn't so horrid in that game that it would turn you off on the first walkthrough. Now, after beating the game and wanting to do walkthrough #2.... well I shut the damn thing off after 2 hrs because I couldn't do any of the moves etc that I was accustomed to kicking ass with.

The linear logic behind introducing a person to the game and forcing them to sit through every bit of that again on a second walkthrough really really sucks. The first time, maybe not so much (unless its 20 freakin hours!?!).

WRPG's are similarly linear to FF, however in WRPG's the combat system is typically static and the character levels, has a skill tree etc, and uses weapons/mods to increase their power. This style of RPG leads to a more "open-ended" feeling overall, as your character grows with you in the manner which you see fit (or in whichever order you get loot drops ha). Oh yeah, and 2nd and 3rd and 4th + walkthroughs are ALOT funner as a result as well.

In the end, it's less about the linear path of the story and more about the linear path of your character. Imagine having to play the entire damned tutorial on the hardest difficulty of a game on your 2nd walkthrough. That is too much of a forced progression IMO.

Yeah, thats what I find with pretty much all open world games. I feel cheated on the end when I realize that I didn't have to do those side missions which were not fun and the game would have been the same. Second playthrough is always like tic tac toe...just do what I must.

Mass Effect 2 is the only game which I've played that I am glad was not liner. But that game is at the pinnacle of gaming with its ambitions and experience delivered.

I think people that have more time may enjoy playing around in a sandbox...but when one is in the stage of life I am at and they have an hour to play every day (if Im lucky) you want that hour to be pure fun. And not spend 20 minutes traveling between boring side missions in a car which you didn't even have to do in the first place...

The majority of the time, I actually perfer linear to free-roaming. All the reviews citing it as a negative is just getting me more excited for it. But to each their own....

I forgot to mention that I did almost all the side quests in Mass Effect 2 (there was one I couldn't finish because the person just wasn't there and a couple others I just didn't want to) and I actually loved it still.

The only thing that upset me was *SPOILERS* Yevon died because I stopped to do side quests and loyalty missions.  ;_;

I rarely agree with most of your posts, but you nailed my opinion on it here.  GTA4 could've been great, but I got so sick of the damn cell phone and having to do side missions (which you have to do to keep people in your good graces) that I quit the game.  (Sorry, but I have no interest in going and playing a crappy game of pool for no real reason). 

I also don't like RPG's that are open world that don't tell you what you need to do.  It KILLS the pacing.  You just roam around the world (I'm playing the original final fantasy for the first time now, Zelda also falls victim to this) with no idea where you are supposed to go or what you should expect.  At the very least open-world games need to point you in the right direction and tell you what you need to do.  Otherwise its just wandering around aimlessly.

But if some people like that, that's fine.  But I hate it completely.