My favorite Final Fantasy game! so yes you should absolutely buy it ;D

The one lame thing with the 360 version is the compressed cutscenes, but you'll survive!

The combat in Dragon Age: Origins is more similar to FFXII than FFXIII's combat.  Though the combat is the best part of XIII, I don't recommend buying it.

I didn't really like it all that much, maybe I am just thick but it took a good solid 10 hours before I actually had any grasp of what was going on, and I had to read this weird compendium esque glossary to actually keep track of all the weird terms and stuff. the combat was neat though, I just didn't like the story or the characters all that much.

It's fantastic.

It's fantastic.

Yeah.  It's a really fun game.

Ok, I'm going to outline what FFXIII is, in brief, just the basics, so you know what you're walking into. 
 
A story that makes little to no sense, with no pretext to the events taking place. 
 
At least 30 (more or less) hours of the game controlling your party, in what is basically a really long tutorial. 
 
The combat really boils down to whether you enjoy sitting around hitting the A or X, depending on your console, button, while periodically changing paradigms to counter enemies. 
 
You only control your lead character in combat and the ally AI is deplorable, often casting spells at the wrong times, breaking a situation that you need, and the buggy combat engine then trying at least three times to rectify the error. 
 
The great abilities are buried under spells that you won't be able to access in later fights, and if you want the full experience from the combat system, turning down the speed isn't an option. 
 
The game is insultingly linear, going so far as to grant you one open area that has virtually nothing to do until you clear the game.
 
It forces you to backtrack through said linear corridors until you grind enough points to use in the Crystarium, which gives an illusion of choice, but you'll find that everything has to be filled before you move on to the next level of abilites.
 
The characters are vapid and empty husks, merely there to go along for the ride. Only two characters have sufficient histories for the player to relate to them, and because of the poor story, and lack of narrative, you'll never really find out what motivates them, which is depressing, seeing as they had seemingly human motivations, but the lack of depth makes the characterization pointless.
 
You're looking at a minimum of 60+ hours of mandatory play, maybe more to even finish the main game, seeing as more often than not, you'll have no choice but to grind.
 
Characters are given a variety of abilities, but you'll only ever fill up two useful ones, having a third just in case. The summoning system is ok, but it again involves just pushing a single button.  
 
The dialogue is just wrong, some of the sentences were badly translated and make little to no sense. 
 
Graphically this game is beautiful, and the character rendering is amazing.
 
A severe lack of exploration hinders what should have been an epic world, with a rich history, which instead turns into more linearity, with ever changing backgrounds, and slightly stronger enemies, who are just repainted versions of weaker enemies earlier in the game.
 
I know I'll catch heat for this, but in truth, I bought this game within a week of its release, it took me 65+ hours to finish, and when I was done, I said to myself "Hey...this game wasn't very good at all...in fact, I disliked it more than all of the other FF games I've ever played". Now that's just my opinion, and I thought I should let you know what you're getting into, because I sure as hell would have liked the same treatment. Now you might like it, but it lacks the same shine as previous titles, being crowned 'The Worst Final Fantasy', which is a bit harsh, since 14 was broken and useless, and Square released a public apology for it. 
 
If people like this game, fine, that's their cuppa tea, but for me, and a lot of people like me, this game turned out to be one of the worst experiences of a JRPG in my entire life, and that isn't an understatement.
 
And again, I know I'll catch a lot of heat for this, but I simply don't care: http://www.giantbomb.com/final-fantasy-xiii/61-20664/user-reviews/?review_id=18742 my review of the game, understand that this game took a lot out of me, and as an avid fan of the series in general, I was unhappy with the result. If it helps you in your choice, then that's grand, one way or another, I'm just looking out for you, so you don't part money for something you'll regret.

good game, just dont expect it to be like the old ff games where thre are numerous sidequests, etc

1) no 
2) finish ffx

I'd say no. It's mediocre JRPG, and a terrible FF game. It's the worst FF game I've played honestly. FFXII blows it out of the water, no comparison whatsoever.
Combat can be nice (but has a lot of issues), characters and story are dull, uninspired and uninteresting, and worst of all the game is nothing more than a long hallway of monsters to grind with cutscenes spread out in between.
 
If the above still sounds like something you might enjoy, then by all means, go for it.

I liked it. Go for it.

I just hit the 23 hour mark, recently arrived on Pulse. Enjoying it so far, the combat is engaging, and the story seems cool enough, except for the fact that I really want Vanille to die in a gruesome way.
 
I guess I am the opposite of you though, I enjoyed FFX but couldn't get into the story and combat of FFXII, so I don't know what that means.
 
If you're into anime and that sort of of story and characters, and don't mind a linear experience in your RPG, I'd say go for it. Besides, i'ts a fucking good looking game.

I'd say no. It's mediocre JRPG, and a terrible FF game. It's the worst FF game I've played honestly. FFXII blows it out of the water, no comparison whatsoever.Combat can be nice (but has a lot of issues), characters and story are dull, uninspired and uninteresting, and worst of all the game is nothing more than a long hallway of monsters to grind with cutscenes spread out in between.  If the above still sounds like something you might enjoy, then by all means, go for it.

I think what you can glean from this is that the game is pretty polarizing and honestly falls in the middle IMO of Final Fantasies. There are some interesting things they do but to get to them you do have to go through quite the tutorial. The story is up and down but there are some interesting bits that I think make it worth it. If you are going to buy this game remember to read the codex as it explains a lot, have some patience as honestly it takes 20 hours to get to the good part of the game, and take a bit of time to get a feel for the classes. The paradigm system is really interesting once it opens up, I really enjoyed that aspect of the game. It's not a bad game but definitely requires some patience. I say buy it if your FF fan, if not then you might want to pass.

It's the worst final fantasy so far.

I liked it but it was my first ff.

I would say go for it, other than some bad names for things I enjoyed the story though its not the strongest one in the series, but I enjoyed the combat and its a great game to look at plus that game is like $25 now so why not.

It's a fantastic game.

It's a good trip and will keep you busy for 50-70 hours the first run through. Great value for money

The linearity didn't bother me and the production values are top notch. Battle system is great.  I stopped playing right when it really opened up but still plan to go back.  

Topic creator says FFX is shit and a thread full of people saying FFXIII is great... my god, is it opposite day already?

Buy it? As in spend money for it? I don't know, I enjoyed the game. But I also got it used at a discounted price. I don't know how I would have felt about it if I had spent the full 60.

Amazon is listing it at 20. I think that's a decent price.

The game was made (in part at least) by the Final Fantasy Tactics guys. Gameplay is great, regardless of what people will tell you, and the story is chock-full of political high-drama. It's great. Buy it.

I wouldn't say it can touch FFX, but it's still a very fun game. It's easily worth your time and money, as long as you don't mind playing through a 60 hour game.

It was a good game, the only thing I will ever tell people getting into (any) JRPG is that if you can tolerate annoying children crying and stupid acting characters then you will really like it. I have that level of tolerance so the game was bearable to me and I liked much of what it gave. It's definitely a game that will take a purchase too really engross yourself in as a rent will just leave you spending more or using up your entire Gamefly month.

If you want to trudge through 25 hours worth of gameplay until it gets worthwhile, go ahead.

Great game, buy it.

@Kyle said:

Topic creator says FFX is shit and a thread full of people saying FFXIII is great... my god, is it opposite day already?

wait, is this an alternate reality or something?

Of course, although the first 8-10 hours are a bit boring.