The game is amazing, sadly the horrendous port turns a 10/10 game into a 5/10 slog. The game constantly crashes when I try to take screenshots, the framerate is unstable, the game uses only 20% of my gpu and I can't even get 60 frames. Overall it is playable but I can't say it's an enjoyable experience.

its funny a lot of people gripe about this game for its "endless hallway" when they love final fantasy 10. others gripe about in the combat where you set up a series of actions and wait for them to play out, i would tell those people to never play the first 3 final fantasy games then. sure there are limitations to your growth needing to unlock more progression on the crystarium but that means you actually need to play tactically and do more than just auto battle which seems to have turned a lot of people off. who knows maybe they just dont like a female lead character. personally i enjoy the game and the challenges that it brings. sure sometimes cutscenes can run a bit long making you wonder when you will need to pick the controller back up or if you should make some dinner but that has become more and more commonplace over the years.

I really wanted to enjoy Final Fantasy XIII, but this just didn’t feel like a Final Fantasy game to me.

No towns to explore, no real open world — even Final Fantasy I gave me more freedom.

You can’t talk to NPCs, visit cities, or feel like you’re part of the world.

It’s just fight → short cutscene → fight → repeat, over and over.

By the time the game opens up (apparently in Chapter 11), I was already burned out and i didnt make to chapter 11 .

The combat system looks flashy, and the Crystarium was decent, but the lack of meaningful exploration or story pacing made it feel soulless. If you're looking for the classic Final Fantasy charm — world-building, choices, and freedom — this ain't it.