Okay I haven't read those reviews, but you really shouldn't be surprised if FFX gets a bad review as a game.

For a start, only certain people like RPGs, even fewer like random battles. FFX was not a good example of a game even with these restrictions.

The mini games were torture put simply, they weren't fun, they just took a long time and were neccessary if you wanted any good items. Or in some cases just to get to the end. You also had to repeat several for no good reason.

The gameplay was severely limited, I mean it doesn't matter how twisty you make a path, if that's the only place you can go, and you get stopped at random when you just wanna get to the end, only a few people are gonna find it fun.

The story, although some people will like it, will only appeal to some people. It also contained a huge amount of unskippable scenes of standing around talking. Many of the characters are annoying also, and will only be liked by some people.

Now I liked the game, because I'm an FF fan, I can easily see why a lot of people wouldn't however.