Poor reviews at launch, but what about all Square-Enix has done to fix it since then? Please update review for PS3.
Interface is slow: Yes, it was a little painful. At first I thought it was my computer not being fast enough until I was playing solo and things functioned fairly smoothly, it was the overload of server functions that was dragging things down. With only one major update that problem had been addressed and the game functions much better.
Hotkeys/Weapon change: With a slow interface at launch this was a little frustrating and could be somewhat fixed through the use of macros. After the Nov. patch changing equipment has become a breeze. The list of items to equip have been reduced to items of that slot rather than sifting through pages of other stuff and they took out some of the useless info that bogged down the equip pane.
Map/Zoom/Placement: I used a controller so the map functioned quite well but for the mouse/keyboard users I could see some frustration. Again with the recent patch they added in the Zoom function, added in player markers, put your party members on the map, and made the quest map much easier to access.
Retainers: This was quite tedious and still is to some extent. To date they have made opening a bazaar menu quicker and have plans to add in a search feature. I know this isn't the familiar AH method but they did this (reportedly) to help reduce gill sellers. With the coming patches SE has plans to fix the issues and the posted them on their Lodestone website.
Quests/Content: I was somewhat disappointed at the stringent quest restrictions but once I noticed the crafting quests were separate this doubled the amount of quests you can take and encourages you to do crafting as this also increases your physical level. Having the ability to repair your own gear is a big benefit as well. While the questing is limited they have other ways of accepting quests and have plans to enhance the questing experience.
Combat: this was a little frustrating, especially when in a group. After one target is killed you have to cycle through friend and foe alike to select the next one and if a friend took a step forward to attack and you selected him then he stepped back it would mess you up. They have changed it so targeting it easier and more fluid, selecting the next engaged enemy automatically. With plans to further fix and adjust this the combat will become even smoother.
Enemies: The enemies were few and far between and with a crowded starting area this competition was a little fierce. A bonus was when you took a quest you had enemies that only you (and your party) can engage in. after the recent patch they increased the number of enemies and even added some new ones in with plans for much more updates in the future.
Crafting/Recipes: The crafting was painfully slow and took more time than it should have to open menus, add items, select a craftquest, and then actually craft. Changes to the UI and server functions in the recent patch have solved most of these problems. The response of the menus and servers have been drastically enhanced, the number of steps to do an action have been reduced and they have further plans to implement known recipe lists as well as most recent crafted list to speed up mass production of an item.
These are just a few of the issues they have addressed since the release with many more changes and fixes to come. Many people (myself included) have wondered why these problems weren't addressed prior to the game going live but in their defense they had the juggernaut known as WoW to compete with, Christmas dollars to compete with, and a set release date they wanted to meet. Square-Enix has listened to the players and has had clear communication as to how they will solve the issues; they have admitted the game was probably not up to the standard it should have been at launch. But they wanted the game to at least be functional while they gathered player feedback to make the game better for the players. Even in its "broken" state I found lots to do and quite enjoyed playing it. Future updates will only make the game better by adding in Companies which include Company-airships/boats/buildings/quests/ranks/stats/banks a kind of guild system which is much more involved in the game with company related goals and communities. Instances, Notorious Monsters (bosses), holiday celebrations, and much more.
Most, if not all of this should be live by the PS3 versions release which is why I really hope they give it a fresh review since most, if not all, of the complaints in any review I've see are problems that can and will be easily fixed with a patch. I saw these problems too but I could also see how much potential this game has, it's a shame the reviewers with so much more gaming experience couldn't see that too.