Turn off the minimap!

• The levels quickly lose a good deal of their sense of linearity
• it encourages you to explore more and pay attention to your surroundings
• you enjoy and appreciaty the scenery more
• it makes discovering item spheres more enjoyable  
• it softens the division between game and cutscene
• It makes an insultingly easy game a little more challenging
  
• And most importantly, it removes a big blotch of non-game world elements in favor of a more immersive picture.

i don't agree that turning off the mini map loses its sense of linearity. the first part of the game, its strait up linear and there is nothing you can do about it. doesn't bother me though.

Definitely worth a try on my end. The minimap sure was bugging me in that it was not a perfect circle and rather a oval-sorta looking circle.

I tried this, but sometimes I'd actually loose out on stuff because I'd hit the 'right' route first.
Since I don't want to loose out on a single sphere I decided it wasn't worth it and just kept the mini-map up.

 Why stop there? Put a paper bag on your head and use your imagination. Oh my gawd the graphix!

No need for sarcasm, carlthenimrod. In many, many, many games, an overabundance of HUD elements has a serious impact on atmosphere and immersion not only visually, but in the way it influences your gameplay (looking at the map half the time) as well. In Final Fantasy XIII, the map is pointless on a whole new level because the levels are so linear and devoid of choices. Playing through most of XIII is: Looking at your minimap for branches from your path, collect the sphere there, repeat. 
 
Turning it off makes the game prettier, more atmospheric, lessens the feeling of linearit a bit and gives you the option to discover the spheres for yourself. Its very nice.
 

"  Why stop there? Put a paper bag on your head and use your imagination. Oh my gawd the graphix! "

From what I understand, hitting the "Turn Off Console" command whilst playing Final Fantasy XIII also makes it much better. Frees up some time and everything.

And hey, mute the game and Vanille isn't nearly as annoying. Try it out guys!

If you push the "eject" button on your console, you can stare at the pretty graphics drawn on the disc itself and whisk yourself away to a world where FFXIII is actually a game and not just an interactive movie!

Man... I really don't understand all this hatred. Sure, it's super linear... but don't you think it's kinda justified by the events in the game? L'Cie are ticking time bombs. They need to get where they need to go in as little time as possible... so if you could break from the main path and go off and do side stuff... don't you think that'd kinda break the fiction?
 
The combat system is super rewarding once it stops babysitting you, and the characters do eventually come into their own. The music composition and the graphic fidelity are also top notch.
 
Sometimes it feels like I must be playing a different game to alot of people on the forums.

Don't get the hate, here.

" Man... I really don't understand all this hatred. Sure, it's super linear... but don't you think it's kinda justified by the events in the game? L'Cie are ticking time bombs. They need to get where they need to go in as little time as possible... so if you could break from the main path and go off and do side stuff... don't you think that'd kinda break the fiction?  The combat system is super rewarding once it stops babysitting you, and the characters do eventually come into their own. The music composition and the graphic fidelity are also top notch.  Sometimes it feels like I must be playing a different game to alot of people on the forums.  

Hmmm, I just thought the solution was to press the eject button and put in something like Oblivion.  Oh well.
 
@Shinryu:
maybe it has to be linear, hell the crew voted uncharted 2 game of the year and thats super linear.  But as many point out, RPGs are not noted for being so great on the actual control gameplay stuff.  Uncharted 2, you go into cover, shoot guys, blow shit up, run, jump and climb shit.  And it has a kickass multiplayer.  In an RPG, your giving commands more than actually doing the action, so the exploration and open ended nature are important.  When you just run from battle to battle, it is not so good.  Plus, japanese game characters are fucking retarded.

After reading reviews and forums I was really expecting to be bored to tears and only tapping A over and over again. I'm about 6 hours in and I'm really enjoying myself - some of the plot points are a bit confusing and need some more explanation but the pacing is solid - and some thing that NONE of the reviews I read mentioned: You are NOT running down a path as the same team for hours on end - you're switching around and picking up various party members as they converge; I really like it, it breaks up the linear feeling.

" Hmmm, I just thought the solution was to press the eject button and put in something like Oblivion.  Oh well.
 

@Shinryu: maybe it has to be linear, hell the crew voted uncharted 2 game of the year and thats super linear.  But as many point out, RPGs are not noted for being so great on the actual control gameplay stuff.  Uncharted 2, you go into cover, shoot guys, blow shit up, run, jump and climb shit.  And it has a kickass multiplayer.  In an RPG, your giving commands more than actually doing the action, so the exploration and open ended nature are important.  When you just run from battle to battle, it is not so good. Plus, japanese game characters are fucking retarded. "

First bold point : Ofcourse command inputs are more important and due to the paradigm system this game is focused on tactics and execution of correct combinations. If that does not float your boat or is not compelling enough for you that's fine. But it's no reason to troll these forums and continuously bash the game, you dont see me going to the Battlefield forum and raging that it doesnt have summons. It's stupid to bash something you KNOW wont and doesnt interest you just to make your own tastes in game design seem validated. And this isnt aimed at you in particular, you havent really been "trolling" at all, and infact you'\ve made some good points

Second bold point : Opinion, I'm loving these characters far more than the moronic stereotyped morons that I found in Mass effect 2

Second bold point : Opinion, I'm loving these characters far more than the moronic stereotyped morons that I found in Mass effect 2

" @Shinryu said:

Second bold point : Opinion, I'm loving these characters far more than the moronic stereotyped morons that I found in Mass effect 2

You best be trolling. You can't seriously think that the characters in this have more depth to them than the ME2 characters did. Most of the characters in FF13 (as with most JRPG's) are walking cliches. That doesn't really bother me though, and I am thoroughly enjoying the game, but seriously, don't make a statement as ridiculous as that. "

Sweet man, i didn't know you could turn off the mini-map. Will give it a go.

I did this and I'm enjoying it more  with out the mini-map  also this game has a fantastic battle system and even normal enemy battles can pose a challenge also the graphics and the music are excellent and I really like the characters so everyone needs to try the game and make there own opinions. 
 
 
P.S It also helps if you played it for more then two hours XD

Turn off the minimap and just pretend the game isn't completely linear?!  hahaha!!!

I actually turned it off, not to decrease the amount of linearity, but just to make viewing the game itself better.  The game is gorgeous, nobody is going to argue that point, and being able to see that much more of it with less HUD cluttering the screen is just awesome.  As a side effect, it DOES make the zones feel much more wide open and spacious, because except in a part or two of the game, they don't look like narrow corridors that the minimap represents.  
 
Also, I love how some of these complaints were like "Butbut...if I turn off the minimap then I may miss treasure".  So you want a game that is nonlinear and you can explore, but you don't want to have to explore to find treasure?  Which is it?  You want some game where you can explore but also where it is possible to not miss anything?

Turning off the mini-map doesn't suddenly trick my brain into thinking that I'm in a free-roaming environment. Besides, the linearity of FFXIII isn't just in the maps. The entire game's structure is so linear that it is to the point of suffocation. The player has no real control over which characters make up the party until chapter 11. That's 11 out of 13 total chapters! Sometimes the story divides your group dictating the composition of your party. Other times the game simply chooses for itself. Character customization is a joke. Even unlocking new job paths for characters is done automatically by the game once you reach certain points in the story. The whole experience is taken out of the players hands and tells them to just sit back and enjoy the ride, while pressing Auto-Attack.

It's usually the game's responsibility to set up the illusion of player agency, not the gamer's.
 
I get what you're saying, though.