Exploration has been a missing factor the series for awhile. X was linear as hell and though Spira was visually stunning, its "one path" dungeon made for a boring gameplay experience. Part of the reason I like RPGs comes from the exploration aspect.

I was most impressed by the huge cities that were filled with people, Ivalcie just felt more alive than other FF worlds. In fact its world design is so excellent, I'm hoping XIII will continue it. I worry that XIII will be like X, visually impressive but horribly linear.

The point of XII is to explore the world. If you only played it for the story you missed half the game...