I got it and have played about 2 hours. To be honest I think this game is getting incredibly unfair treatment. Everyone is rating this game based on what their idea of a Final Fantasy game should be. The problem is, this game is trying to be something different. If this game had a name other than FFXIII I guarantee people would love it. But because people already had a preconceived notion of what it should be, they handicapped their experience when it turned out to be something different.
2 hours isn't really enough to have a valid opinion, but so far I'm really enjoying it. The battles are fast paced, as well as the game-play thanks to the linear setting. But the game itself is beautiful. The graphics are incredible and the cut scenes have been stunning. Still a long ways to go though before I finish this one. xd
I think they should abandon the "Final Fantasy" name anyways, I mean thats the only thing that ties these games together.
I do enjoy this game but it's a very casual partition of the final fantasy series. I mean EVERY Final Fantasy person I've talked to uses different characters, do different builds, and beat the bosses in VARIOUS different ways, one thing I've LOVED about the series is just that. This game is GOOD but not AMAZING it's graphics are AMAZING but that is to be expected and the only thing we have to compare it to is other Ps3 games, however since it's the NEWEST game for PS3 it SHOULD be required to be amazing.
My honest opinion is unlink THESE sorts of casual games that they make to the final fantasy name. I grew up with FF being all about strategy where your unit/characters are placed and what you equip them with, and although I enjoyed the newest games the element of strategy HAS NOT been present. [ff12 was amazing BECAUSE it was BASED off of strategy.]
However the "favorites" of this series are nonstrategic related so I suppose they do what the masses love. Such as FF7,8,9,10. I didn't get much of a chance to play FF13 so I'm going to dedicate myself to today, hopefully that l' improve my view on this game. Irregardless if it was UNTIED to what I GREW UP WITH I would love this game. However from what I've see and read this game should be a LOT more then what it is considering the 3.5 year gap that we've had to wait for another addition in this series.