u mad

>>So why did they veer so far from this formula?

'cause this is the 12th in the series, and Squaresoft/Square-Enix has a history of not being afraid of taking risks with changing the setting, interface, gameplay while still maintaining that Final Fantasy feel. Every FF game is gonna be a standalone experience. You'll only get 12 again if they decide on a FFXII-2 (even X-2 was very different... Crisis Core was an action game... actually yeah scrap that even the ones in the same worlds are different)

hmmm... it seems the music is what's always the same. Nobuo Uematsu is the heart of FF? Whoah.. I feel like I've hit something profound

that's the point yo

walking through corridors, one story path, hitting one button over and over, the same pallet swapped enemies... the first thing that pooped into my head was Halo (1,2,3,ODST, maybe Reach), then any other FPS. You wouldn't mark down Halo for that would you? Edge Staff didn't

>>The game’s producers have gone on record as saying that western audiences don’t understand this first section, but in fact we do: it’s just a bit rubbish.

somebody else has already given a long list of high scores from other Western reviewers. I wonder why those Westerners get it, maybe they eat lotsa sushi??

>>misjudged series of linear battles and cutscenes
>>Boring... The combat system is the culprit.
>>The possibilities in your party are so dynamic
>>nothing short of remarkable.

it's Linear again..., boring... but also Dynamic and Nothing Short of Remarkable

so your complaint is "it gets too exciting late in the game!!"

the fighting stops being linear...
>>When your party is finally operating at full capacity, there’s still more of the linear story to trudge through

OH WAIT the story is still linear!! Linear Linear LINEAR LOLOL

and can we get some names other than EDGE STAFF?
Did all of you guys get together, play FFXIII and then write this together? Is it the same people, different people that reviewed the other games?
Do all you guys have homogeneous taste? Is it one person?
I figure with reviews, knowing what the reviewer likes/dislikes is a big part of understanding who they are. If you liked game X yet gave game Y score Z, I would have some idea.

*I figure giving a 5 is just more Interesting and... EDGy (heheh) to do. Would any of you have responded to this if it got 8,9, 10? A low score fosters more debate, and then maybe y'all will show this to friends as "look deys da one dat gaves a low score to EffEff!!"
It also fosters more dubbyaRPG vs jeyRPG debate with Mass Effect2 being BEST SEQUAL and Dragon Age doin' not bad. Then we can get a Featured Article on the AGE OD DEBATE

who is 'he'?