I remember my first final fantasy game i bought about 20 years ago... and this game is not final fantasy.
We started to see a lot of open world game like we never saw before like GTA, RDR, Just Cause, Dragon age, Oblivion..etc. but final fantasy is becoming what i didn't like in the firsts NES game like super mario bros, LINEAR , narrow and whit out any choice. I didn't finish the game yet, and i'm pushing myself to continue playing, i'm telling myself...come on maybe there is something interesting other than a beautiful cut scene after this long and boring battle or linear map.
Oh yeah the battle system is sometime very annoying with the paradigm shifting and no direct control on the teammates, interesting at first but it's getting worst after some fight. Some battles are very though and long if we don't fight carefully, and if the leader is KO, its over even if the teammates can cast raise or renew.
Like everybody said, the graphics is beautiful and the story interesting, but graphic in a RPG is secondary.
A final fantasy MOVIE could have been a better GAME.
I think i wont finish this FF, this is the first time since FF1 that i wont beat the final boss and i'm very disappointed.