The first 2 "playthroughs" are the first half of the game and the 3rd "playthrough" is the second half/ending. You don't play through the entire game 3 times.

It seems like Gamespot just hates the XIII series since their talking shots at it for no reason. Also sounds like this guy just sucks at this game as most of the battles can be won really quickly if you know what your doing and how can you make a professional review if you haven't even finished the game?