The way I see the story is that the actual story itself is actually pretty poor. The storytelling, or rather presentation of the emotions of the characters and there personal development is where it shined. The story in FFXIII in now way compares to the best storys in the games industry or even the Final Fantasy series. Also, whilst the development of the characters worked, some of the characters personalitys were a bit out of place. For instance, Hope is seemingly as wise as a 60 yr old sage by the end of the game, when he is closer to 12.

As for the linearity, it should be considered a game first and a storytelling medium second. I understand that the linearity helped you to relate with the characters, but as a game that ruins some of the fun of an RPG. It wouldn't have been so bad if they'd implemented it better to give a greater illusion of freedom (Like in Half-Life 2), but the paths were too obviously linear.

The fact that this is your first Final Fantasy suggests that SE did a good job of drawing in new players, but players experienced with the series know exactly what they're missing. For instance, the game lacked any actual towns present in all previous iterations. In a 40-50 hr game these were points of respite from the battle system and a chance to absorb more of the environment to enrich the storytelling at your own pace instead of being completely full on and intense as it was in FFXIII. Instead, this was replaced with text found in the menu screen, forcing you to read it if you missed a vital piece of info and consequently ruining immersion. Optional side quests and mini games were also a staple of the series to break the repetitiveness the fights can sometimes become. Again, in a 40-50 hr game, it helps to break the game into more managable sections. Instead, the only side-quests available were more fights with very little side story.

Anyway, hope this explains why some people are frustrated with the game.

Just before I continue, I do count the development of characters as apart of the story. Now FFXIII's story itself is nowhere near as close to the depth of Planetscape Torment for example. In effect its a very simple story but that is one thing I did like. However I definetely do not believe that the story is poor. The concepts explored in the story range from the holocaust to the true nature of God and where god is (The concept of their god abandoning them is similar to theories some religious people believe in). Moments of brilliance shone through in the story for me & some themes are hinted at very subtly. The degradation & the fall of the people on pulse (explained through analects int he codex) again was very well done and really hinted athow civilizations crumble, I agree though it was "told" in the story well. I include the characters within the story and I can definetely they were done fantastcially throughout. The only character I have a problem with is azh, he was stereotyped to the point where I (being a African American) was literally feeling slightly insulted at times. I disagree with the assessment about Hope, sometimes the greatest thoughts can come from the youngest minds, the way he developed throughout the game felt very natural to me and didn't feel too rushed, unlike Fang's sudden change of mind in Chapter 10 & then her sudden change of mind literally after fighting her eidolon, now that seemed fake. With Hope the development felt pretty natural. Ona  final note about the story, I do feel the mythology & world created, the lore that exists within cocoon/pulse is one of the best in gaming (if not the story itself which wasn't told all that well).

I agree it should be considered a game first, however I went into the game with no preconcieved notions and I felt that "this is how the game is meant to be played". Because I truly believe this is one of the best battle systems in the genre the battles all felt like an event, not to mention the music in the battles was unlike anything I had personally heard in games (coming from a WRPG background). My other game of this generation is Fallout 3. Fallout 3 & FFXIII are my favorite games this generation, maybe I liked the change in pace the game had.

No towns being present in the game atleast to me made sense in terms of the story on cocoon, by chapter 7 they were pretty much known as criminals by their face as TV stations were airing their footage. Before chapter 7 apart from chapter 6 I don't think there was a chance to have a major town. On pulse theyc ould have had towns but that would change the entire dynamic of what happened there (Fal'cie go crazy & try to make everyone a L'cie, Humans are panicked and cause Civil War...eventually pulse Humans become extinct).

I slightly disagree with your final paragraph as many many people on this site who seem to be Final Fantasy fans have enjoyed the game a lot, seeing the Final Fantasy showdown thread & the official thread for the game.

But I can understand where your coming from & the game may seem dumbed down, I can definetely see what your problems with the game are. But I think what Square-Enix have done is necessary for the franchise to be able to survive because from what we have seen the fans of the series on the majority are satisfied and atleast think it was worth playing, at the same time most new people they are brining in love the experience. Its sales increasing week on week in the UK GFK sales charts suggests pretty good word of mouth too.

But thanks for clearing this up, I do udnerstand where disappointments may be coming from.

I agree with your points, all are valid and they are one of the reasons I feel that this is the worst FF game I've played. Bad for a FF game usually means better then most others but sadly not in this case.

I have died more times in this game from just being out numbered in a battle of weak enemies then boss fights. It's frustrating to the level where I'm getting annoyed at the game for actions not counting because they took a hit just before casting and one hit kills on my main character. I think I've died more times then I ever did in any other FF game, with multiple play throughs counted in.

While story is getting better then it was at the start, with words and name thrown out there with no explanations to tell me what things are, and characters are a bit more defined with an actual, mostly this game has made me cherish FF6-9 more for their genious in the FF series.

I have played all ff's excpt ff5 & I disagree, its the best FF ever along with ff8/7. I'm sry bt I dnt want a clone of ff8/7, this game was diffrnt and th experience was very good especially after that horrible ff12.

Its story, characters, environment, music & gameplay gav me the feeling I gt when I played ff7 for the first time, a feeling surprise & amazment. And the game was very very hard. I liked the feeling of changing paradigms every 20 seconds, dying then changing paradigms to deduce whch startegy worked best, it was very rewarding for me.

Sadly, I agree. This is my least favorite FF with the possible exception of FFI. And that's just because I can barely remember anything about it. The whole "running down a ten step wide pipe" for 25 hours just got ridiculous. I was also extremely disappointed in the summons. Other than to revive your party, the summons are basically worthless.

FYI: Also Vanille and Fang's accents are straight New Zealand accents, just so you know.

The only 2 things I really liked about FFXIII, wich made it not receive the same score I put on FXII(5/10) was just I really liked Vanille oh and the other thing was that beautiful cutscene on the highway after you get back on...umm coccoon was it?.

Agreed on pretty much every point. The combat system is uninteresting to me, and I found the world map to be way too linear. I think that SE tried to open the game up to too many customers - they made a lot of money out of it, but it's lame for me

I agree with the OP.

After playing 30 hours in the game, I realize I been playing a 30 hour tutorial. Secondly, the battle system is a mistake. Your party leader dies and its game over even when I have 2 medics fully capable of using raise, but no they do nothing. I spend more time pressing X, or switching between paradigms so, there is absolutely not much thinking involved.

When I maxed out every character stats It got more easier of course. I can actually look at the screen and see all the gorgeous graphics in battle. But, all I do is press X.

The endgame content is a joke. I played all the way to the 11th chapter with only about maybe 9k gil, I don't remember spending my money on anything at all getting up to that chapter. I'd like to add getting trophies was so boring, especially the trophy for holding all items and weapons.

The entire game is a joke for a Final Fantasy title. But, It is a fun game to play.

I feel your pain and it's starting to get on my last nerve.

i see，the lesbian is do nasty，but the most nasty is the Snow who can do nothing but good at swearing，always pretend to be a hero，coolman...He is just a kid with a mans outlook.