There's something strange about how I feel about Final Fantasy XIII. I honestly like the game a lot and while not even in the top 5 of the franchise, I think it's a very strong game. At the same time, I quite understand when people critizice it for being too linear, confusing in narrative or for having a battle system that allows the game to play itself. This is all true but let's go back for a moment to 2001, when Final Fantasy X came out. That game killed the world map for the first time in the franchise, a world map that gave you a false feeling of freedom (because ALL single-player FF games are actually very linear, XIII is just too obvious with it). FFX was exactly the same as XIII in terms of how its story goes forward. You just walk, fight, watch a cutscene, keep walking and fighting, repeat. Now, FFX is one of the strongest titles in the series and everyone who has a brain loves it. So I honestly don't get why some gamers bitch about XIII being linear but love X at the same time.
In fact, ever since FFVII, most games allow you to win just by grinding and mashing the attack command. Trust me, I love VII, IX and X as much as you all do but most of the abilities in those games are useless and that is an undeniable fact. XIII, while it does have the all-hated Auto command, forces players to switch Paradygms all the time because only attacking with the Commando won't win you any fights. FFXIII also has level caps all over the main story that stop you from becoming over-powered, at least until the final battle. FFXIII also has those camera changes, cinematic attacks and a feeling that made fights look more awesome. To me, those were very welcome changes and I honestly liked them a lot.
Then we go to the technical stuff. Even today FFXIII looks fantastic graphically and allows us to visit some of the most beautiful locations in gaming. Sunleth Waterscape, Gran Pulse, Lake Bresha, Bodhum, etc are very beautiful places. The music is one of the strongest not only in the franchise, but the entre gaming generation. I still listen to it almost every week. It's that good.
So, long story short. I just think that gamers worldwide were too unfair when critizicing FFXIII. Like I said, it's not the best JRPG ever (it's not even in my top 5 FF) but the positive things it has outweight the negative ones, like most good titles. Also, I just can't bring myself to accept people who play linear garbage like Call of Duty to come to my face and talk about FFXIII, seriously. Just my two cents.