Which genre is FFXIII?

[ShinGundam]

Active Time Battle + Beat'em up

I won't say it is not an RPG, I'd maybe say it is a Bad RPG, a wrong made RPG. But that is a subjective definition. How would you define the game objectively?

It is an RPG, An RPG doesn't necessarily have to be the equivalent of a Choose Your Own Adventure or be non-linear. I think FFXIII's main problems is that the game bet too heavily on focusing exclusively on a tiny number of elements/contents but i don't think it is a bad RPG.

My verdict: straight up JRPG that happens to have very simplified map design.

I don't think it has to do with FF13 but you have described most of the modern single players campaign. Games now are straight up because gamers don't want to get stuck in games/ get lost/ replay the level from the start, they want to have the full experience of their games without any frustrations. plain and simple.