Definitely one of the most beautiful final fantasy games to date. This review is an appreciation of how good it is.
By far the visuals are a best I've ever seen in a Final Fantasy game..its pure eye candy and has to be seen to be believed. and the sound and voice acting are superb -
I'm not going to mention the story so as not to spoil it for anyone, but I can gaurantee its another epic story with various surprises and great characters although my favourite is definitely Lightning (the main protaganist) - she rocks! Ali Hillis and Troy Baker were great as Lightning and Snow!
The battles are truely brilliant, and although different from previous FF games, the battle system has been brilliantly done - they're quick, easy to get into and simplified to really let you get your teeth into.
The new paradigm system has been introduced which is like the job system from older games but its really straight forward and can be customised to your liking. And then there is the 'crystarium' system to develop your characters which to me is very similar to final fantasy x but it takes a simple and fresh approach to it all..
And yes, it is linear and doesn't have that 'open' gameplay like in Final Fantasy XII, but to me its not a bad thing, as it goes straight into the story, the gameplay and the battles and in the later chapters, there is more freedom to do in the game. But you should try to appreciate it for what it is.
If you have an xbox 360 or ps3, defo get this, its truely fab!