Very good game, but not up to the standards set by it's predecessors.
However very solid games aren't the type of games people love to spend 40 hours playing over the course of a couple months. Though I must admit it was nice to have a game that couldn't be beaten in a week or two if I tried. Rather it took me from the day it was released until June to beat it, so about 3 months off and on.
Like most high budget games, the visuals are simply spectacular. Very detailed and colorful environments have been a hallmark of the Final Fantasy series for years. However the removal of towns from the game makes a large part of it feel empty, where as in previous versions players could take breaks and interact with the worlds inhabitants, Final Fantasy XIII chooses to take you on a long nature quest with nothing but open fields and abandoned towns. Eventually the feeling of loneliness sets in and hinders the story.
The characters are solid, and it wasn't a bad idea using a women as a main character, however for some reason they don't seem developed enough, and at other times their relationships feel a little forced. The absence of a villain on par with the likes of Sephiroth doesn't help the games cause either.
The part of XIII that does shine though is the battle system. For the longest time I figured that battle system of RPG's as a nuisance that interfered with the story. However XIII's fast paced battle system grew on me quite well and made for some enjoyable gameplay.
In the end the games narrative is still better then most, and the game is fun to play. Unfortunately Final Fantasy fans have a higher standard for what they expect from a Final Fantasy game.