Okay so ever since around XIII's release (and even before), there has been concerns about the linearity in the Final Fantasy series.

Now, to a degree they all are linear. That is how JRPGs work. There is greater focus on telling the story than there is "do what you want and see what happens". But! There is a way to do it right, and a way to do it wrong in my opinion.

XIII was a terrible way to do this in my opinion. It's not just that the game is linear in story and progression, it's that the maps are line segments. You go from point A to point B, without much anywhere else to go. You travel from one predetermined battle to the next. You simply keep moving forward. And what's even worse is the game caps your levels and condescendingly bars you from making decisions such as who your party leader should be, at least for the first twenty-four hours. That is too long if you ask me.

The linearity of this game took away from this title too much in my opinion. It turned into a movie you watch for 4 minutes, and play for a minute. Any of your own thoughts about how to play the game are basically ignored; you have no choice but to let the game make decisions for you. You only control one third of your party for crying out loud.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is X-2. While it claims to be non-linear, there still is some linearity as far as story progression through its 5 chapters. The problem with too much freedom is a weakened story (but that is not the only thing wrong with the story...), and possibly a sense of "well where do I go now?" This second can be a con to some, but others, like myself, see this as something good. Finding it out for yourself can be really fun.

I think what is most important about any game is that even if the story is linear, there have to be breaks in the plot for adventure or experimentation. Linearity has worked in the past. In fact, the great stories have brought most of us to the series, and they all were linear. In my opinion, it all comes down to how well it can be executed. Giving me a straight corridor with set battle makes me feel like the producers of the game think I cannot possibly complete a game that would be even the slightest bit more challenging. A game that makes me feel like an idiot rather than one that makes me feel like I'm having fun is just irritating.

So, what do you guys think?