After X-2 and XII, I welcome a linear storyline with open arms. If I wanted something non-linear or 'open-world' I'd play Dragon Age or Fallout (any of them, not just 3) again. I've always enjoyed the stories of the FF games (not so much X-2 though), anime-style melodrama and all. The battle/leveling systems I've always made it a point to master (and when possible, abuse. Hello, FF VIII!), but only so i can kill the next monster/boss as fast and flashy as humanly possible so I can find out what happens next in the story.

So if Square is looking to strip off the filters and mainline my latest fix of FF story, more power to them. My only issue with these reviews is the lack of journalistic integrity, especially from J. Parish, whom I've always respected. And I would totally call him on his bullsh_t over on his 1up review, but the site wont let me log in for some reason. Coincidence? I think not!