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FF13 gets hate for being too linear, but as a long time fan I've never understood that. All of the FF games are linear in storytelling. It's just a matter of how much window dressing the developers put in to make you think it's a vast world. The closet thing we have ever had to a real open world final fantasy game was FF7 and FF15. And even then, the story is linear, the maps themselves are just vast.

Look at map of the FF10 and FF12 games. Like an actual walkthrough map. They are linear with certain paths staying away for treasure.

I think what people are talking about when they say that FF13 was too linear compared to other games in the series is the lack of any real side-quests. In the other, modern, FF games you get side-quests throughout the game that require you to backtrack, etc... and not just follow the prescribed story path. In FF13 you are basically shoehorned into the story only until something like chapter 13 and then even then the side-quests you get at that point are minimal and then you are done fairly quickly. In FF13 you can't even choose to visit other places you've been until that very short time frame in chapter 13ish and then the very next chapter you are back to following the story only.

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And in both cases those games dont give you full access to the airship for fast travel until your 75% though the storyline. Could day the same about thr first Nintendo FF games as well.

That's true but you still have other travel methods earlier in those games - Cid's seaplane for example - that allow you to travel the world and revisit locations. You don't get that in FF13.

I don't think it's a bad game - outside of Hope being the worst video game character ever created - but it is incredibly linear.