First of all, the linearity. I don't find that bad in of itself, but FFXIII calls attention to its linear nature far more than FFX. Both have wires that pull you in certain directions and actions but in FFXIII you can see them a lot more clearly. Beyond the map screens and character development grids there is the straightjacket on gameplay that is slowly and gradually removed until about the halfway mark. That bothers me the most.

As for cast, in FFX there was as good balance of goofy characters (Tidus, Rikku), serious characters (Auron, Lulu, Kimahri) and mixed (Yuna). So while some were more likeable than others they played off each other well in interesting ways. FFXIII ranged from the simply awesome (Sazh) to the simply annoying (Vanille), but again they played off each other well. Both plots had some absurd situations and awkward character moments but an overall an engaging experience for both.

Once I got to control paradigms I've generally enjoyed the autobattle aspects of gameplay where timing switching paradigms is the real strategy as opposed to entering individual commands. I liked FFX's swap in system a little better. The downside to autobattle is that characters don't always perform the action you would want them to at critical moments. It doesn't help that the leader can't be allowed to fall. Why not have the game over if everyone gets wiped out? As previously mentioned although you can get easily pummeled until you figure out a suitable strategy, the game is generous in allowing you to start over to try again. They way the battles are handled it's just as well.

Overall I prefer FFX to FFXIII, but I don't think the latter is a bad game, it just has deeper flaws that the gorgeous graphics can't conceal.