Final Fantasy is my favorite series of all time, I even liked X and XII which many people hate, and yet I still haven't played the latest game in the series which I have been anticipating for so long. To be honest, I'm somewhat afraid to be disappointed especially after seeing all the complaints about the game's design. I might play it at some point, but that won't be anytime soon. Any other FF fans who won't play this because they don't want to be disappointed?

I played it and wanted to kill myself. I got about half-way through and gave up. I couldn't handle the characters. Worst. Cast. Ever.

X was my favorite maybe thats why I'm loving xiii's design.

It's one of my favorite FFs

It's not that bad as everyone says it was. I rented it and ended buying it. It's very linear and you have to grind alot, bosses are difficult and some of the characters are annoying, there are no towns. However the combat is very good and I don't mind playing it for hours. The graphics, for the ps3 version anyways actually looks quite good, almost to a level of pc games. Then again the engine was a multiplatform pc engine, let's just say for a pc graphic whore like me, i'm very impressed. It's 85% on gamerankings, that means it has it's advantages yet a few flaws. I think you can probally forgive flaws more easily if you are aware of them.

Going in with high expectations will leave you disappointed. Going in with low expectations, looking for flaws, or just thinking about how much better you think your favorite FF game was/is will make it easy to convince yourself this game is horrible.

Just go into it with an open mind, and try not to expect it to be some epic masterpiece.

My personal experience with Final Fantasy XIII so far is that it's not bad, it's just not good either. 
 
The battle system, graphics, and the main cast of characters are great; but the setting, plot, music, linearity, overall feel, and cliché antagonists (namely Barthandelus) don't make for a very impressing game.
 
I'm at Chapter 11 so far, when the game apparently "opens up" and allows for side-quests, and it's really quite boring. All of the side-quests involve finding and killing a certain enemy (or group of enemies) and then moving onto the next quest, which is the exact same thing. I know it has to do with the plot, but the fact that there are no people to interact with really takes away from the game. The world seems kind of... dead.  
 
I guess somebody new to the series might enjoy it, but I can't help but miss some of the older games. I really hope this is not the future of the Final Fantasy series.

You mentioned you liked X, you will probably enjoy this then. It's structured in a lot of the same ways, just less traditional towns and no temple puzzle stuff which was hit and miss with most people anyway.

I absolutely love 10 and hated this at first. It does redeem itself somewhat and I started to get into it about halfway through. Ultimately still disappointed with it, though it's definitely interesting to play and shows promise. I didn't really like a lot of aspects about 12 either, but I've been thinking back and appreciating it more since playing this. 13 has a ton of polish, but at the same time it felt rushed.
 
If you're unsure, wait a while until you pick it up (like you said anyway), and get it when it's cheaper.

If you can get past the tedious start there's a decent game there, even if it's all combat.
 
Also they moved all the grinding to the post-game, if you're after achievements.

loved the game but agree that it has issues. around the beginning of chapter 13 (last chapter) i just gave up. the interest in the game died. did complete the game a week later but still ive got tons to do still but i just dont wanna do it right now. think the game will be laying on my shelf for about a month or 2 before i toutch it again to do the last stuff. (trying to get a plat in it but that way it looks now im proberly not going to keep my interest in it for long enough to do so.
but loved the 67 hours i put in it hated the last 1½ and dreed the next 15

might as well be playing Monster Hunter

its kind of a liniar mix between x and 12. but as all ff i end up only using 3 of the 6 chars. one of them had 1.7mil cp to upgrade him with. just dont like hope

I thought X was the best since 7.  i really dont like this one thou.  Marginal combat system and graphics are its only two saving graces.  Everything else is so bad its actually making me angry.  ill prob finish it, but worst FF since 8 easy.  8 is the only one I never finished.  I actually got about 2 hours into that before i put it down and never even tried going back to it.