The problem with FFXIII's linearity is that any variety offered is completely superficial. 95% of the maps are the same (occasionally) twisting hallway except for the visuals and the species of enemies placed in your way.

Each chapter or sub-chapter is effectively the story equivalent of a campaign "mission" from a game like Call of Duty. Except, the mission objective in FFXIII is identical for every chapter: fight to the end of the hallway and kill the boss so you can get to the next mission.

A game with the development time of FFXIII and the technology now available deserved better. You can still have your story-driven game without giving your audience the feeling that they are being rail-roaded into every battle and one and only one outcome at each juncture...I give you: Deus Ex.

The development team IMO may have dreamed big but ended up thinking incredibly small, relying on the simplest way to achieve what they wanted. That goes from the maps, to the battle system, to the storytelling and world-building.

The entire race-to-stagger mentality of the battle system eliminated some of the variety the player could add his/herself to the battle system (I want my Steal and Gil Toss back!), and handing the reigns for 2/3 of the party to the AI meant that experimenting with buffs and crowd control was often costly or simply out of the question.

This game catered to people who crave the cheap thrill of winning battles, usually with minimal problem-solving, while offering the shallow, sappy love story (and the corresponding music ) that most FF fans go gaga for. It will certainly rank, in most fans' minds, as one of the greats, but from the standpoint of game design it's a very poor showing for what could have been accomplished given the time and tech IMO.