Okay, I'm gonna try to make this actually as quick as possible and not lie like I did last time. So I picked up FF13 yesterday and so far I've log 12 hours in the game (Yes I am a no lifer :P). I figured give a rundown of my experience thus far by highlighting "milestone marks". I'll be doing this thorough my entire playthrough going by 5 hour increments and telling guys my thoughts along the way. In the end, this will basically be my most indepth review EVAR! But don't worry no spoilers, I hate spoilers as much as the next guy.

My thoughts? First 3 hours, total BS. Seriously wanted to just turn off my PS3 and call it a day, but the name of the title and the promise of getting better forced me to press onwards.

Hour 8? Finally got some interesting mechanics to use and I starting to have some enjoyment but I would hardly call it liking the game. It was getting better and I hope this would continue......

Hour 10? OH YES IT DID! Got my first Summon and could use and felt like a total badass! Lightning's character is given more background and the game actual starts to go indepth with the characters/motivations etc. Hope isn't such a whiny, crybaby anymore and is actually starting to become a likeable character but still Lightning my favorite so far.

Hour 12? Finally, the FF13 I wanted.....well kinda. The game still has it's increcible linearity to it and while it doesn't completely ruin the game for me, it's easily the biggest shortcoming. That being said the battle system is finally starting to get as complex and awesome as these reviewers said it was. Maybe this is just because I came off a really great boss fight but suffice to say, I'm thoroughly enjoying this game.........it only took 12 hours :roll:

So in short? The 2 biggest shortcomings for me is the EXTREME linearity, it's just linear it's super linear, you barely have enough room to walk (no joke) and the pacing. The first 8 hours are so mind numbly slow and will undoubtedly piss off fans and any hardcore gamer. The treats you as if you never played a game before let alone an RPG. However I really do love the characters in this story with the exception of Hope but he's getting there, the world(at least what you get to see) is truly breath taking with some moments where I was left in awe, the story is finally going somewhere and the battle system is gaining depth and strategy at a fast rate. Another thing I wanted to touch on was the cutscenes. They rival FF7: Advent Children and I think they might actually be better, the cinematic awesomeness of this game cannot be denied. I love me some CG cutscenes.

POTENTIAL BUYERS BEWARE! : You probably won't start truly enjoying the game until the 10 hour mark. You won't even picture yourself having fun until the 8 hour mark. You'll hate the first 3-5 hours with a fiery passion. The opening cutscene is awesome though!

So there you go. Take from this what you will, personally I find FF13 a difficult game to describe how I feel about it. I'll be doing another one of this at either the 15 hour mark or the 20 hour mark and then follow a pattern of every 5 hours.