This is one of the three platinum trophies I have and I have to agree with some of this.

The story was terrible and to this day I can't remember half of it.

The combat was more "can you switch to the correct strat. Fast enough?" then rpgesq. I will give it credit for being different tho.

My biggest gripe with all ffxiii games is still that they don't feel like FF. I miss the square of old...Tho ffxhd is a good start.

Very big difference between "plot being handed to you on a silver platter" and "plot making sense".  Bioshock infinite is a great example of a story that leaves plenty of room for interpretation and symbolism while still telling a cohesive storyline.  Leaving room for interpretation doesn't mean "don't explain any of the rules or logic of your world to the viewer".  It means that you craft a strong and cohesive narrative and provide them with a solid foundation and understanding of your universe, its rules, and the characters within it, so they can use that to devise educated theories and interpretations of events within the context of that universe.

FFXIII doesn't do this.  FFXIII's plot is not open to interpretation, contains no interesting metaphor or symbolism, and requires no thought.  It simply is poorly told.  The writers just withhold information that is critical to understanding the plot.  It's not a matter of interpretation, it's a matter of lacking information and not clearly explaining things like what a Fal'cie or a L'cie is and giving little information about the backstory and mythology of the world.  The only way to actually comprehend the story is to dig through the game's encyclopedia which would be fine if this were a book, or if this information was woven into the gameplay as it was with Bioshock's audiotapes. 

Imagine if you were watching Star Wars, and they never explained what the force was, or if 1984 didn't describe the various ministries, new speak, or the thought police.  This is basically what Final Fantasy does.  They forego any sort of real exposition so instead of being able to engage, interpret, relate, or disect, you're stuck trying to piece together what is happening in the first place. 

No, do you not understand the difference between subjective and objective?  I just gave a series of OBJECTIVE Reasons why FFXIII is a failure of a game and narrative. 

my OPINION is that it is an abbhorent mess that tarnishes the legacy of all other Final Fantasy games by proxy.  Ugly, stupid, audubly atrocious, full of terrible shit from beginning to end...But that's due to prolonged exposure to it and its apologists.  When I initially played it, I found its flaws to greatly overshadow its many, MANY shortcomings.  I can identify the difference between objective issues and subjective issues.  IT is objectively shallow, linear, and a poor excuse for interactive media.  it is subjectively the worst game I have ever played, and the biggest kick to my balls I have ever experienced.  

You can like it.  You can enjoy the in-game encyclopedia.  You are free to have fun with that 6-formation gameplay.  That doesn't change the fact that it is poorly told and neither its story nor gameplay are appropriate for its chosen type of media. it's a fine story, it even has potential as a game, but it is not a good JRPG. it is not a good job. 

To those defending this game, it's okay to like a bad game, as every game has its merits, but you shouldn't ignore the flaws. I love the Metroid series, and enjoyed Other M to a degree, but ignoring the flaws helps no one. It was the worst Metroid in the series. XIII is a bad Final Fantasy game. And yes, I can say that as though it was objective. There's no accounting for taste, but design can be objectively critiqued. This means you can't say a game is bad because the story is bad, but you can say a game is bad because the story was poorly designed, full of plotholes, didn't make sense, left too much unexplained, etc. Due to the applicability of logic to these situations, there is an objective answer. You can't say the game design choices were boring and thus the game was bad, but you can say that the mechanics were poorly explained, unnecessarily complicated, or simplified to the point of being unengaging. Such things are measureable flaws, not subjective ones. Characters are harder to criticize, but it can be done. Criticizing characters because you hate their personality is subjective. Criticizing them because there's little evidence of any development or depth is defendable. On the other hand, people criticizing the music and art direction need to shut up, because that's all taste. Trust me, I get this plenty as a Zelda fan, and I get sick of it. Objective viewpoints can be defended, while subjective viewpoints can merely be justified. Unfortunately for FFXIII fans, the game is pretty objectively bad. But again, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Games are art, and while all art has elements that can be critiqued, there is no accounting for subjective taste, and all art has elements of that as well.

Edit: To clarify, since all art has elements that can be critiqued, this would mean that the music and art direction can be critiqued, but I maintain that most people in this thread, and in my example of people who criticize Zelda art directions and music, don't use legitimate, non-subjective criticisms, and end up lauding their personal taste as objective fact.

I agree the story is a suspect. If Lightning wasn't a hotrogen this game would have been a lost. Lol!

The MMO type random drop system just made collecting stuff and gaining money a chore.

Needing to beat the game 1st to finally max out your crystarium made most of the high level side quest impossible to finish on the 1st playthrough. I can't remember an FF game that I couldn't do all the side quest in one go, except for special dungeons that only appears after beating the game.

Aside from those, I never actually had an issue with its linearity and combat system (well except the part where you cannot control the movement of your main character in combat and if your lead dies its game over)

You didn't. You gave a series of subjective reasons of why you don't like XIII.

You didn't like it because it's simple.

You didn't like it because you can't control the trio during a combat, only one character.

You didn't like it because you can't switch characters.

You didn't like it because you weren't able to pause to switch paradigms (even though you can choose an option to make ATB much more slower).

You didn't like it because of he fact that you (and I guess your brother) think the game plays like a movie instead of a game.

You didn't like the art direction.

You didn't like the voice acting.

You didn't like the so-called two dimensional characters.

You dislike the game because you didn't two or three sidequests that would serve to understand Lightning and Hope relationship better and gain an armor or a sword at the same time, like (again) when you compare it to X.

Despite not having to explore Pulse at its fullest, you still dislike the game because in other FFs you can go to a cave that you don't have to story-related.

You dislike the game because YOU believe a game must show, not tell.

You dislike the game because YOU think it can fit into an arcade machine.

And that's why you believe Final Fantasy XIII is a bad game.

But Final Fantasy XIII, objectively, is just a game. Not good, not bad.

Subjectively? It can be whatever you want it to be. But I won't explain the difference between objective and subjective, not again.

You will be fine with that one. Though if older graphics dont scare you, nor reading, FFVII and FFIX are still amazing experiences. You can get them on the Vita aswell.

I know the purists will say for you to try FFIV and VI, but personally, to go back and play with sprites is a bit too much to ask at this point. There are remakes of 3 and 4 on the DS in 3D, but they are not games of the same level as the PSone gen ones.

The pre-X ones are also considerably biggers worlds. FFX will feel just like a somewhat linear journey, but the story was all about that journey, so it worked. Something that cant be said about XIII.

Saying something is good, or bad, will always end up being a subjective approach to anything.

You're basically saying that all games must have perfectly designed stories, with zero plotholes, it has to make full sense, it can't leave too much unexplained...etc, also, characters must have enough evidence of any development or depth. Only then, the game won't be bad.

You don't leave room for developers to make a story which doesn't make sense because...that's objectively bad?

That's dumb. No, wait, that's a subjective way to approach objectiveness.

I know how to post gifs too.