My favorite characters in the trilogy are Serah (post-XIII) and Noel. The former for growing up from a damsel in distress to an independent character (SPOILER)who's ready to save the world even if it means she'll die doing so. The latter for forming up a nice dynamic duo with Serah, and his character background about (SPOILER)being the last human alive in a dying world is also intriguing.

Things that I like about the games in the FFXIII trilogy:

* Gameplay. This is what the games have done well in a hidden way. When I start playing the game, I notice all of a sudden that I've played it for a few hours. It's fun to play and time passes quickly, which is a simple but effective merit for the game. I've played each game in the trilogy for over 100 hours, which is suprising, since none of them are among my favorite FFs, but I've managed to clock 100+ hours only in FFXIII games (FFXII comes next with 99 hours).

* Battle system. The Paradigm Shift system becomes more enjoyable when you realize that Auto-Battle (which I think should be renamed to Auto-Queue) isn't your battle action, it's the Paradigm Shift. When you understand how the battle system works, you can creative quite creative setups that will let you react to different phases within battles. For example, I never use the common setup Commando-Ravager-Medic, since I find it boring and badly optimized. Instead, I'd rather use multiple, specialized setups that let you play in a dynamic way, reacting according to what happens in the battle.

* Story (in a way). While the story isn't really the games' strong point or main attraction, it's still interesting enough that you want to know what happens to the game's world and its characters. If games like FFVI, FFVII and FFIX have deep and complex storylines, the FFXIII trilogy is more like an enjoyable popcorn flick. Even so, some parts are written really well, and the (SPOILER)Last Day of Lightning Returns has some of the most emotional scenes in the FF series. Also, do the "Life of a Machine" sidequest in LR. It's very well written, and surprised me with onion ninjas.

* Quests. This is what I liked about FFXIII-2 and LR. Interacting with the NPCs and doing quests to help them out. It's lots of fun, and helps you grow more attached to the game's world.

* Soundtrack. I thought the FFXIII soundtrack by Masashi Hamazu was great, and showed how he's improved since the days he wrote the FFX soundtrack. "Blinded by Light" is one of the best battle themes in the series. I think the FFXIII-2 soundtrack is even better, even if it is somewhat different. Humming along Serah, Noel and Caius' themes is great. While I didn't enjoy the LR soundtrack as much as the other two, it still has several great moments, and many of the dramatic and emotional moments are so powerful due to the accompanying music.

* General technical stuff. Most of the time, the graphics, sounds and voice acting are good enough to improve the game, rather than diminish the experience.