I have 3 points to make!
1. I have to say having played both games FFX had a way more linear feel! Yeah sure FFX had proper towns & villages but you could only ever go 2 ways backwards & forwards along the linear path! Spira didn't really become a world you could freely roam & explore until FFX-2 which was a shame considering FFX-2 wasn't really that good, although I do have a certain fondness for the fast paced battle system FFX-2 had! I have to say I like FFXIII a lot more then FFX story wise. Everything that happen in FFX was totally predictable & the story was a lot more linear then FFXIII (although I've yet to FFXIII, still on Chapter 11, so I'll reserve judgment on its story until I finish). You move along a set path which results in the final battle with Sin. I mean Seymour was obviously evil, Yevon was obviously corrupt blah blah blah blah blah! The only thing that surprised me at all was the revelation about Tidus in the end. The only redeeming quality FFX's story had was the development of the relationship between Tidus & Yuna that was the only part of the story I ever felt a connect with! FFX was an epic RPG experience for it's time but don't use it as subject matter to poke holes in FFXIII because FFX in itself wasn't exactly perfect!
2. FFXIII is basically the best elements of FFX, FFX-2 & FFXII all rolled into one! The Crystarium is essentially the Sphere Grid from FFX. I always felt the sphere grid was a much better way of developing characters skills then simply leveling up. I believe it gives the player a far better means of customization of the games characters.
The paradigm system is definitely based around the way you could switch between characters like in FFX but instead of each character having a specific job FFXIII gave them ability classes.
The fast paced style of the battles is very reminiscent of FFX-2 which as I mentioned above I loved. I mean I like turn based RPG's but hell even with the battle speed on it's highest the battles in FFVII-FFIX could be slow as $hit sometimes.
And finally the battle system in FFXIII is basically an automatic version of the gambit system from FFXII. I wasn't a fan of the gambit system & used it very rarely in the 400+ hours I clocked up on FFXII. If one thing has annoyed me about the gameplay in FFXIII it's been that sometimes the "auto gambit" doesn't make intelligent choices eg. A Medic casts Cure 5 times instead of Curasa 5 times & the enemy's next attack does enough damage to take away the health restored by the casting of Cure 5 times! And since you can't manually choose the attacks & actions of anyone but your party leader you can't rectify the situation
3. One of the chief reasons FFXIII gets so much stick is because FF internet fan boys/girls are still holding out for their FFVII remake thats never gonna happen & until they get it they'll systematically find fault in every new Final Fantasy game released for no good reason! BOOM!
