After getting some criticism for the linearity and annoying characters in FF10, you'd think Square would never make the same mistakes again.  And especially after FF12, I had some hope for the series.  Not anymore.  Not only did they come back to linearity and annoying characters; they made these things infinitely WORSE than in 10.  Five of the six characters you get are either mildly or extremely annoying, and of course the one that ISN'T is the one you get in your party last (and it takes FOREVER to get your entire party together in one place, BTW).  This could be overlooked, however, if only the gameplay made up for it.

But it doesn't come close.  The game is ridiculously linear, with the only chance to do any sort of exploring being near the very end of the game.  And even then, there are only, like, three directions you can split off into (with one of them being the way you have to go to progress the story anyway).  Get the picture?  It's like you're playing Gears of War, with the added expectation that you somehow build your characters up.

Which brings me to the Crystarium system.  Wow, what a letdown.  Unlike in FF12, you get practically no freedom to develop each character as you see fit.  Each character has their own list of abilities and stats that can be gained, which means if you want one character to be a Medic (White Mage, for you FF veterans), you can do this in theory with any character but some will never be near as good as others no matter how bad you want it.  And of course, some roles aren't accessible to some players until near the end of the game anyway!  But it is always clear they want you to do it their way, not yours.  There's one character that gets a ridiculous amount of HP while most others fall dramatically behind.  You can find discussions on the internet about how this character is better than that one because he/she can learn an ability the other can't.  It's ridiculous.  Why bother giving us the "choice" at all, when it's obvious you think there is only a couple of "right" ways to do it?

And the linearity doesn't stop with the (lack of) exploration or (lack of) choices when it comes to how you develop your party either.  Even in battle, there is usually a "right" and "wrong" way to win the fight.  How do you know this?  Well, once you're done fighting and you get to feeling really good about how well you kicked the enemy's ass, a screen pops up with a rating of your performance.  You see it plain as day, 1 out of 5 stars.  The game is essentially telling you you failed at doing it correctly.  And this really means you didn't win the fight FAST enough.  It's all about speed in this game.  And it's more than just a rating; it determines your chances of getting any items after battle.  And even that would be acceptable if it was consistent.  Yet some enemies are noticeably more difficult to get five stars on no matter what strategy you use.  Plus, it's not like you can go back and try most of these battles again because, as I mentioned, the game in general is unbearably linear!  70% (or more) of the locations cannot be revisited, not even near the end of the game.

The battles also operate by only allowing you to assign ROLES to two of the characters while in battle; you're never allowed to directly control their actions.  You can switch their roles in the middle of battle, but you can't ever customize what they do like you could in all the others.  And you can't switch to start controlling one of these other two in battle, either.  This effectively means that if the character you're controlling dies, the battle's over.  There's no such thing as reviving the leader.

Another thing that sucks about the Crystarium, that I almost forgot, is how it only lets your characters advance to a certain point and then you have to proceed with the storyline before more of it is "unlocked".  And it takes FOREVER for every character to be able to even BEGIN learning another set of skills ("job class" for the veterans once more).  So even if you try to level-grind in this one by running back and forth along the narrow corridor it gives you throughout most of the game, hoping enemies you beat will respawn, there's little point.

Let's see here.  Money!  Takes way too long to get the gil you need to do anything of importance.  And you need it in this game to upgrade your weapons and accessories, which you will need to read a guide online or buy the book to do efficiently because you get no hints at what each choice in upgrading your weapon is going to really do to it.  You have to use components to upgrade with, and have no idea how many of each component you'll need to get the job done until you've already used them up.

This game is not all bad.  I like how if you die in battle, the game doesn't make you start from the last save point but just outside the battle so it's less frustrating that way.  I also like that you don't have to keep track of MP and the game restores your HP and all that after every battle as well.  It has a pretty good story (though it suffers from awful voice acting and narrative), a good presentation both in and out of menus, and of course amazing graphics.  It really does look gorgeous.  But it is mostly a game for show, not very fun to play at all.  Not IMO, anyway.  And it certainly does not contain half of the things that made the series great all these years.

P.S. - I wasn't dissing Gears of War earlier, just pointing out that the linear gameplay doesn't work for RPGs.  Not at all.
After getting some criticism for the linearity and annoying characters in FF10, you'd think Square would never make the same mistakes again. And especially after FF12, I had some hope for the series. Not anymore. Not only did they come back to linearity and annoying characters; they made these things infinitely WORSE than in 10. Five of the six characters you get are either mildly or extremely annoying, and of course the one that ISN'T is the one you get in your party last (and it takes FOREVER to get your entire party together in one place, BTW). This could be overlooked, however, if only the gameplay made up for it. But it doesn't come close. The game is ridiculously linear, with the only chance to do any sort of exploring being near the very end of the game. And even then, there are only, like, three directions you can split off into (with one of them being the way you have to go to progress the story anyway). Get the picture? It's like you're playing Gears of War, with the added expectation that you somehow build your characters up. Which brings me to the Crystarium system. Wow, what a letdown. Unlike in FF12, you get practically no freedom to develop each character as you see fit. Each character has their own list of abilities and stats that can be gained, which means if you want one character to be a Medic (White Mage, for you FF veterans), you can do this in theory with any character but some will never be near as good as others no matter how bad you want it. And of course, some roles aren't accessible to some players until near the end of the game anyway! But it is always clear they want you to do it their way, not yours. There's one character that gets a ridiculous amount of HP while most others fall dramatically behind. You can find discussions on the internet about how this character is better than that one because he/she can learn an ability the other can't. It's ridiculous. Why bother giving us the "choice" at all, when it's obvious you think there is only a couple of "right" ways to do it? And the linearity doesn't stop with the (lack of) exploration or (lack of) choices when it comes to how you develop your party either. Even in battle, there is usually a "right" and "wrong" way to win the fight. How do you know this? Well, once you're done fighting and you get to feeling really good about how well you kicked the enemy's ass, a screen pops up with a rating of your performance. You see it plain as day, 1 out of 5 stars. The game is essentially telling you you failed at doing it correctly. And this really means you didn't win the fight FAST enough. It's all about speed in this game. And it's more than just a rating; it determines your chances of getting any items after battle. And even that would be acceptable if it was consistent. Yet some enemies are noticeably more difficult to get five stars on no matter what strategy you use. Plus, it's not like you can go back and try most of these battles again because, as I mentioned, the game in general is unbearably linear! 70% (or more) of the locations cannot be revisited, not even near the end of the game. The battles also operate by only allowing you to assign ROLES to two of the characters while in battle; you're never allowed to directly control their actions. You can switch their roles in the middle of battle, but you can't ever customize what they do like you could in all the others. And you can't switch to start controlling one of these other two in battle, either. This effectively means that if the character you're controlling dies, the battle's over. There's no such thing as reviving the leader. Another thing that sucks about the Crystarium, that I almost forgot, is how it only lets your characters advance to a certain point and then you have to proceed with the storyline before more of it is "unlocked". And it takes FOREVER for every character to be able to even BEGIN learning another set of skills ("job class" for the veterans once more). So even if you try to level-grind in this one by running back and forth along the narrow corridor it gives you throughout most of the game, hoping enemies you beat will respawn, there's little point. Let's see here. Money! Takes way too long to get the gil you need to do anything of importance. And you need it in this game to upgrade your weapons and accessories, which you will need to read a guide online or buy the book to do efficiently because you get no hints at what each choice in upgrading your weapon is going to really do to it. You have to use components to upgrade with, and have no idea how many of each component you'll need to get the job done until you've already used them up. This game is not all bad. I like how if you die in battle, the game doesn't make you start from the last save point but just outside the battle so it's less frustrating that way. I also like that you don't have to keep track of MP and the game restores your HP and all that after every battle as well. It has a pretty good story (though it suffers from awful voice acting and narrative), a good presentation both in and out of menus, and of course amazing graphics. It really does look gorgeous. But it is mostly a game for show, not very fun to play at all. Not IMO, anyway. And it certainly does not contain half of the things that made the series great all these years. P. S. - I wasn't dissing Gears of War earlier, just pointing out that the linear gameplay doesn't work for RPGs. Not at all.