Okay making a FFXIII entry because I'm in Gran Pulse and I cannot stand how the story is moving so far.
First of all, I'm just going to start off by saying that I'm really disappointed with this game.
Like, really disappointed. It doesn't read like an RPG, the battle system is tedious and limiting, and I do not really enjoy any of the characters. I find the story kind of mediocre at best, though I haven't finished the game yet so I can't say much about the ending. (DO NOT SPOIL THIS FOR ME, I HAVE NOT READ OR SEEN ANY SPOILERS)
The battle system reads kind of like a very limiting MMORPG, in my opinion. The Optima System (I'm playing the Japanese version so I don't know if the names are the same in English or whatever) is fun, I suppose, but it's tedious to have to keep on changing roles every time you want to use a specific ability, and since you can't only change one role at a time, it's annoying to have that break in between a fight to switch everyone up. Plus, since you can only control the actions of your leader, you can't tell a character to use Haste, and thus you have to WAIT for the supporting character to cast whatever you want him or her to, and it's really annoying because Sazh often casts Haste after he casts other shit and I just want him to cast Haste and nothing else. So I'm stuck waiting. At least in the FFXII gambit system you could switch your leaders and have them do individual actions without interrupting the flow of battle, and prioritize actions so you knew what came before what. You could also, to some degree, control what your other party members did as opposed to the just CHANGE ROLE, LET THEM DO THEIR THING, which kind of bothers me, because it detracts from my experience of using the other characters. It just feels like they're NPCs that you have a limited control over. The Crystarium system also pisses me off too, because it moves so damn slow, unlike the Sphere system from FFX (which also annoyed me but not as much). I dislike how you can't physically or tangibly level up, too: I was disappointed in FFXII where leveling up wasn't such a big deal either, but in this game, it's completely nonexistant, so it feels like you're just going into random battles for the hell of it and building up crystal points that move at increments of TINY. It gets really damn annoying.
Also, what the hell is up with the fact that you CAN'T ESCAPE FROM BATTLES? Seriously, there are times when I CANNOT PHYSICALLY BEAT THE MONSTERS IN GRAN PULSE and yet I can't escape so I wind up getting multiple Game Overs and it's. So. Damn. Irritating.
It also bothers me how the Healers can ONLY HEAL. Seriously, the role system requires tactical skill, I suppose, but it's so limiting with respect to what individual characters can and cannot do and it's frustrating. I also dislike the fact that you can basically finish this entire game without actually setting your own moves and letting the 'action' button decide your actions for you. So all I have to do is mash the 'x' button during a fight and watch my leader do stuff without even really thinking about anything. DURRR THE FUTURE OF GAMING
Characterwise, despite the fact that I hated Hope passionately in the beginning ("WAHHH I CAN'T DO IT YOU ALL GOT ME MIXED UP IN THIS BAWWWW I WANT TO GO HOME BAWWWW"), I think I like him a lot now. He's the only one that's really grown out of all the characters in the main party, in my opinion. He admits to a lot of his fears but he's definitely the one character that's made palpable progress.
I hate Snow. No, really, I hate him. I can't stand him and I have not used him other than the times where it was mandatory, that's how much I dislike him as a character. SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP. SNOW.
Sazh is another character I like because he's not a hero. He's a normal guy who loves his son and is kind of jaded but does what he has to. Sazh is a cool guy so I'm not gonna rag on him for having some moments where I was all /sigh
Lightning....ehh. Kind of cardboard to me. Not interesting, kind of boring.
Vanille...I don't really know what to think of her. She has her ups and downs but sometimes she can really be intolerable.
Fang. I was hoping to REALLY like Fang, but this was not the case and I am disappointed. Once again, she's a flat character to me. The kind of stereotypical robust and aggressive woman who's outspoken and likes to fight, and has a soft spot, but so far...once again, kind of bored. Not really interesting.
The story doesn't impress me that much, either. Hero meets group with the same kind of fate as she does. They find out the truth about the world. It's a conspiracy. They're being used and they have to decide what to do with their fate. It reads like every other RPG game, but there's no interesting twist on it and the characters aren't interesting enough to give the plot more leverage. It feels like a mix of FFX and FFXII in the POLITICS and CONSPIRACY elements, and it's really nothing grabbing. It doesn't really make me care about what happens. It really does read like an AU of FFX or something, though, but without the Tidus and Auron backstories and the other things that made FFX more interesting as a story to me. It's much like the battle system and the map: it just goes on and you plod through it.
I really hate the map in this game, too. It's such a waste of graphics to me, because all the scenery looks relatively the same, you can't explore towns and places, and all you do is go down a specified path to the next location. When we FINALLY got an airship, it crashes 30 seconds later, so all hope of USING THE AIRSHIP FOR EXPLORATION is gone. What the hell is the point?
The lack of towns and cities to explore is also severely disappointing. Where's the worldbuilding? Where's my sense of actually, you know, BEING in a different setting? It's just continuous map-shifts that don't give me a overview of what the place is SUPPOSED to look like. I suppose Gran Pulse is better in this aspect but seriously, I miss the World Map. This is bullshit.
I am really not happy with this game :/ I expected it to have more ups, and it doesn't. At this point I just want to finish it....but maybe because Gran Pulse is SO TEDIOUS UGH