The characters were awesome, as was the plot and scripting and all the FMV videos. But the ability system is really bad and random battles are the most repetetive thing ever. Ive never hated random battles before. To be completley honest (and dont hate me for this) but i think im confident in saying i didn't enjoy fighting a single battle! On a higher note, the chocobo sidequest was great. I spent hours playing hot and cold. I havnt completed the game yet... my game froze during the fight with necron so ive pretty much seen it all. I would have to give it 7 out of ten... and put it joint 3rd on my best of FF list... making it better than VI and VII, much the same as VIII but not as good as V or X. But im interested in what other people thought after their first playthrough... i remember hating X and turning it off four or so hours into but playing it a year later and loving it lol