The games doesn't effectively weave the narrative into the game so your left confused most of the time. Having to have an encyclopedia to explain the story speaks volumes about the quality of Squares writing team.

The game can be broken down to three things. Battles, cutscenes and walking to either of the two. Any diversion from the games path would be to collect a treasure chest. The game had such a predictable structure that playing the game just became a chore after a while because you going through the motions over and over again.

Ultimately FFXIII is a movie first then a game. Maybe if the story was good then you could forgive a lot but it simply isn't so your left with well......a pretty bad game.