One really long pretty hallway.
Throughout the game I kept wondering where the first town would be. Or at least where the down time would be. Usually in most rpgs you fight your way up to a boss, defeat said boss, and find some nice loot or a new village or town. The loot happened but the towns never come. You are constantly in locations with enemies leaving you no surprises when you are attacked. When you get a minute of down time it is a cut scene that usually ends up in a battle.
There is very little to distract you from walking forwards. There can be at times one or two paths to chose from but they all end up in the same place.
In the end sqaure forgot the staple of a good rpg is the side quests and romantic subplot. I found this to be lacking significantly in both.
Edit: Would also like to point out that Final Fantasy 7 received a 9.5/10 by gamespot, 8 received a 9.5, 9 got an 8.5/10, and 10 got a 9.3/10.