Quote Originally Posted by Shoeberto View Post
My point being: Yes, it's an illusion, and technically it's a corridor. It still makes it feel much bigger to have it be in a real world. I never felt invested in FFXIII because there was never a bigger picture that came together; it was just a bunch of loosely-connected scenarios before you got whisked off to a newly themed area. I think a big part of the FF games is a feeling of connection to the characters and the world they're in, and that's something that I think has been lacking since FFX; even in that one, you can start to see it falling apart somewhat, but they tried to maintain that you were playing in some coherent world. XIII was just a bunch of whiz-bang stuff being thrown at you and loosely connected by a nonsensical plot and a bunch of combat in between.
I thought the Gongaga reactor area, Fort Condor and Wutai were pretty non-illusive. In addition to that, there were many other places where you would get hidden/bonus conversations with NPCs if you went there earlier (or later) than you were supposed to. Even if these aren't significant cutscene events, it still gives you something back for not following the straight line that you may follow if you want to. Every little bit of lore/information/funny talk counts.