Duly noted, Shin Gouken. The fact that the there were towns and more interactive things to do other than battle did help the game in it's linearity. I actually ended up loving Final Fantasy X but was miserable up until the acquisition of the airship, but then I started to seriously appreciate the sphere grid. I spent a lot of time getting all the extra stuff in the game. So I am not bashing FFX, but pointing out that it is similar to FFXIII and yet didn't get any of the same criticism. Thanks Flying Arrow for pointing out that FFXIII is "...cut from the same cloth as X".

However, I still think the lack of any dungeons in FFX is about as severe as the lack of towns in FFXIII. Redundant glyph/sphere puzzles replace dungeons about as much as getting the opportunity to walk around Nautilus replaces towns in FFXIII.

Shin Gouken, you cite the Calm Lands, and Thunderplains as big and "open" areas. FFXIII has them too actually, Pulse, the Fifth Ark, and the ship Palamecia had some pretty big rooms and some divergent trails (and this is only of what I have discovered so far, and I am half way through the game).

Flying Arrow, I think XIII has a strategic battle system... In fact, FFXIII has given me twice the trouble that X did. You may argue that it's the speed of battle and not actually tactics... But poor tactics in FFXIII can end in a swift defeat or if you do survive, a bad rating. Monster parties are also "crafted" in FFXIII, the combinations of certain types of monsters don't repeat and the toughest mixtures are usually in the way of treasure chests.


I will agree that FFXIII is a bit "empty" without a VARIETY of things to do. But I think that it has the best character development yet. The battle system is EXCELLENT, and I don't compare it to older FFs battle systems because imo that is like comparing apples and oranges. It makes more sense to compare it to XII; I personally think it is an improvement. It also seems to me the logical evolution of Final Fantasy.

As someone mentioned, the expectations of this game were high because it had been 3 years since an FF release. This game took a lot of risks, but the game would have also gotten flak if it stuck to the same ol formula too... FF cannot comfortably go back to that. In fact, it's better off this way--the controversial game that it is.