Quote Originally Posted by Mirage View Post
It's variation, and it's an example of variation early on. There's also the cloisters scattered around, and the optional summoner's trials that you can either do as you get to them, or whenever you feel like it later. Both games follow the same sort of formula with the games being very linear for the first half, and then opening up later. FFX has more gameplay variety in the first half than FFXIII.
I think that's a fair point to make. X does have more varied gameplay than XIII in terms of the opening part of the game. I really did enjoy the Cloisters and Blitzball. I can definitely see where you're coming from when you say that it's less linear in the first section than XIII was.

I guess my only point is that outside of the Cloiser trials and the single mandatory Blitzball game, it is still incredibly linear until you reach the Calm Lands. I would also argue that XIII has a far more open area in the latter stages of the game compared to X. Ultimately it doesn't matter much to me; both games are incredibly good and have their own strengths that set them apart.

Quote Originally Posted by FinalxxSin View Post
Says you on the themes part. Part of the reason why FFXV pulled in as many people as it did is because it is not a turn based game. Yes, there are people that exist that have been aware of the series, but have been put off by it in the past for various reasons.
You're definitely right about this. Square Enix absolutely tried to cater this game to a wider audience by making it more accessible towards newer players. On the surface I have no issues with this development philosophy: it always make sense as a business to try to bring more people to the product. Having said that, while SE did succeed at making the game easier to play for newer players, they have alienated some of their fanbase. Making the game more accessible for new players should never come at the expense of the enjoyment of loyal fans. People are welcome to disagree with me on this, but I truly do feel as if Square Enix was simply trying to hop on the open-world bandwagon in an attempt to market the game to a wider audience, yet in the process discarded some of the most enjoyable elements of the series to me.

LOL, yeah okay I will totally take critics more seriously. When you got a critic for example that gave a game a negative because it has too much water....please.
So one reviewer from one publication makes one comment about one game, and you immediately disregard all of journalism? Nice logic.