I still remember playing the first 4 chapters pressing X on every battle while i was half sleep. That kind of great battle system it had. Later it got interesting, but it was needed such a patience.

Also i didn't like the playing through a corridor for most of the chapters

1. Absolutely NOT!!! its the most childish, immature, unrealistic hormonal teen melodrama produced in FF history - fact.

the proof is in the pudding!

This is the best cutscene the game has to offer and the dialogue is awful. gone is the realism and maturety realised in FF12 and in are abysmal one liners that are based on the idea this is how young people talk. eg.

Hope - you say you want your day of wrath do ya, well its coming right up

Shaz - time to give the people what they want

Fang - well lady luck sure aint on his side

and the worst of the worst

Snow - its our focus Serah said so.

2. If your talking about the Holocaust then, theres no proof of this. the developers have not made any comments. its just a poor story that never focused on anything but teenagers having hormonal breakdowns.

imo FF12's Nabudis was an incredible reference to Hiroshima and Nagasaki - to me this was as clear as day, however i cannot state this as fact because the developers have not commented either way. however FF13's story was borderline sickening - just awful cutscenens on top of cutscenes that regurgate the same plot point over and over again. this plot point is 'its our focus Serach said so'. nothing substantial is quantified about the world or its mythology by the end of the game. the developers even said the story suffered because of troubled development.

3. Again Lightning is the most unrealistic character in the series and has the most absymal development in the game. shes 21 year old girl who acts and sounds like a 45 year old women going through menopause. it dosent help that Lightning has an emotional breakdown in every cutscene, where the writers have tried to capture what they think men will find sexy - truth is women arnt like this and i dont find it cool or attractive - just a bunch of 45 year old men who dont know how to write realistic characters, especially women.

the problem is you have a bunch of 45 year old men quantifing what they think young people and teenagers are like in real life. we just have pure trash spewing out of each characters mouth and the American sterotype of a black man which is about 30 years out of date.

Finally i think games are meant to be played not watched. the person who did the 360 and PS3 comparasion of FF13 on digital foundary seems to agree with me on that. and personally i think FF has turned into a peice of trash, where you watch cutscene after cutscene that never builds to anything substantial - like Lost. and we are left with a very shallow gameplay experience. which is why FF13 is the worst FF ever, and i think it has damaged the FF name to the point of disaster - FF13-2's sales will prove this imo, that is if Square Enix lowering they earnings for the last quarter didnt already proove it!

Agreed. Can't wait for FFXIII-2. I do agree with the multiplatform sales being a benefit to everyone, and I really think it will show with the next release.

I wasn't too fond of Sazh, but I didn't hate him either. This was actually the first JRPG that didn't annoy me with a certain character. For my party I just stayed with Lightning, Fang, and Hope. I wish I used  Snow more because his Shiva summon was EXCELLENT looking. I was also shocked at how nonbiased this posting was towards a particular console.... let's keep that up CGI ;)

Sheesh guys a final fantasy like this should be praised, just because lineararity is relevant doesn't make it bad, just different.

5. I like more FFXII battle system.

4. That's one of the reasons for I didn't like it.

3. I don't get that... I like the way the previous FF story happen.

2. I agree... Sazh is really cool.

1. The sales is good but I prefer exclusive FFs.

So I disagree in 4 of 5 items... and didn't like the article.

Edit - Oh god... that's old news LOL LOL LOL.

An exclusive FF actually does feel better I agree with you, but it's probably because that's how I remembered them being.

I admit, I only glazed over the original post to look at the 5 main reasons it's the BEST, and I just want to shake my head.  Not only are these not reasons for the game to be the best, but they're arguably 5 of the primary reasons the game is criticised and outright loathed (save Sazh, who's just a generic stereotype and not worth hating).  

1 - New Battle system:  

The battle system sucked. I know the phrase "if it's not broken, don't fix it" is thrown around a lot, but I eagerly welcome change...good change.  Innovation is good, advancements are awesome, refinements rule.  The Final Fantasy XIII battle system was trying to be a revved up XII battle system, but dumbed down and plagued with problems.  (I honestly don't intend to write it all down here since a lot of my complaints are in all the subtle nuances, most notably the problem with instant game over if your leader dies.)  I liked the IDEA of the battle system, and it sounded like it would work great, but it was poorly implemented.  With a massive overhaul of tweaks it could be epic, but in its current state it's a colossal failure. 

2 - No Towns/No Overhead Map: 

These two elements are ESSENTIAL when it comes to a perfect balance of Linearity/nonlinearity.  Like above, I have no problem with features in a game as long as it's done well.  Linearity in Final Fantasy X was done well becuase it gave you some explorative elements as you go on.  XIII failed at this.  there was NO room for deviation and no room for exploration.  No world map, no towns, no 'hidden' areas (Gran Pulse doesn't count), and no sidequests is a bad thing.  If you're into linear, good for you, I'm happy for you, but in a series that's made it's narrative mark by having both an engaging and linear plot while also giving players plenty of room to fiddle around an do things on the side, it's a VERY bad thing to take half of that equation out.  

3 - No Waiting for the Story: 

What story?  I read this one a few times and I'm still not seeing how this is explained or what you mean by it.  So you 'jump right into the story'...okay, that's all well and good, so would someone explain why neither me nor my brother had any idea what was going on until about 2/3 through the game?  The plot was horrible, poorly presented, and really bland.  The world was well done, sure, but it was such a bad plot, so no amount of 'getting right into it' would make it not suck.  it still sucks.  Again, Linearity is fine as long as you give the players some wiggle room. 

4 - sazh: 

He's a flat, 2-dimensional cliche, he's not funny, he's not well written, and not well developed.  Im sorry, I'm not seeing how he's anything more than filler, let alone "the best".  He's not deep, he's not realistic, and your comparison to FFVII is laughable.  Neither cloud nor Sephiroth are "one dimensional stereotypes", they're deep, nuanced, and complex characters.  The very criticism you level at the opposition is exactly what is wrong with the character you're lauding.  I'd say the pot's calling the kettle black, but given the character you're praising, that may be culturally insensitive. 

5 - Multi-Console Release: 

No.  Sales and releases are NOT indicators of quality.  The fact that this game sold more than XII or whatever is irrelevant.  And to be fair, the game is rumoured to have LOST content due to the fact they couldn't fit it on the 360, so if anything that's another strong point AGAINST a multiplatform release.  Had they stayed PS3 exclusive, it could have, in theory, had a better programmed battle system, and more open exploration in other places rather than just on Gran Pulse.  Again, I have no issue with multiplatform releases, as long as they're done right.  

This game is a testament in how NOT to do linearity.  It's an example of how NOT to sell out.  It's a warning for those wanting to try innovation and do a halfassed job.  With any luck, VsXIII will redeem this game, but I'm not holding out on it.  

my god no,

5 the battle system i like most of the times, but i hate that you have less control than before, WTH is that about, thats ok in something like Mass Effect, matter of fact you have more control in those games, at least you can tell your people exactly what to do, this is a damn JRPG for god's sack, still the system is hectic and i like that, not the best though

4. having no towns is a fail for obvious reasons, thats a staple in the FF series and it would have at least broke up the monotony

3. the story is the worst story in the main FF games. Sure you could pull the NES ones out your ass, but really??? Those games came out years ago,11 & 14 are MMOs, whats 13's excuse?? None. In a world with Bioshock, Uncharted, GOW, etc. This lame ass story is inexcusable, hell Mario & Luigi looks like Homer next to this, Even the damn Kingdom Hearts spinoffs wipes its ass with FF13's story, and where are the villians??

2. Best character in the game, thats not saying much

1. if this is the best reason the author can think of then i really cant take most of what he says for real.  Multiplat is mostly good for all involved, my problem is with people who will think that this is how FF is if this is their first game