Ambitious but lacking in substance.
We'll start with the + side of this game. Obviously, this is one GORGEOUS game, some of the best graphics i have ever seen in a video game. The animations are smooth and slick and the characters all look very fluid and life like even in cut scenes. Enviroments range from decent to awsome but mostly stay on the "good but not great" level. Monster design is impressive at first, until you see the same models over and over again. Overall i give the graphics a 9 outa 10.
Sound is for the most part good. Voice acting is done by some very talented people but the music can be rather boring and forgettable. I cant recall one song that i really liked to listen to in this one but it isnt really SE's fault, they are missing one of the best music composers there is from their team. Overall, i'd give the sound a 7 outa 10.
Now for the bad part, Gameplay.
Where to start? This game is so completely linear the first 25 hours its ridiculous. You go from point a to point b, fight some baddies, cutscene, rinse and repeat. When the game does finally open up 25 hours in, theres not a whole lot to inspire you to explore it. All there is for a sidegame is more killing of specific monsters and you dont even earn anything that great to keep you motivated to do so. No towns to really dig in and explore and none of that classic rpg fun to be had.
The battle system is somewhat an evolution of FF 12, Though furious menu hopping may not appeal to many rpg fans. Gamespot did a good job describing it, so i wont waste anymore time on it. One things for sure though it gets old. So I would give the gameplay a 6 out of ten. Hollow, tedious linear and boring.
Overall, I am very disappointed the first FF available on the 360 turned out to be a shade of Final Fantasy's previous glory. Rent this game and beat it if you must play it, its definetly not worth a purchase.