"FFXIII is too linear, no exploring!"
"FFXII has so much exploring, the pacing is terrible!"

But yeah, the pacing was a small problem. The first time I played the game I was bored with it because I just couldn't get into the plot, but now it's one of my favorites in the series. It grows on me with each play through, probably for this very reason. This may be why I tend to enjoy the linear titles such as FFX and FFXIII more.