After 4 chapters of this game, I am loving it.  I find the battle system intense, especially the fact that you are timed.  The story is excellent, albeit a bit "Japanese" (It was hard to understand Hope's emotional deal without the text in the datalog).  I am also a fan of how linear the game is and limted character development options at this point.  It really allows me to focus on the story and playing the game, not reading faqs/guides on what to do.  In general, I tend to prefer the linear JRPG style to the western open-RPG style.  I tend to double think everything I am doing in games like Fallout 3, Morrowind, etc.  And I am such a Min/Max-er I spend more time reading guides/faqs than actually playing.  With FXIII so far, it seems to push all the min/max/open world stuff to much later chapters.  Which turns out is excellent for my enjoyment of the game.