It's because the variety from the previous FFs broke the tedium down, I could see people enjoying this, but the experience just isn't the same for some people. In the previous FFs, you have towns, NPCs, who you run into and talk to to learn about the world, some of these elements were even in the light novel they've released on their JP website, where certain characters talk to random strangers in town, learn about the town, cocoon, and pulse, and some of their culture, they even get to travel across the map on a train. The sense of adventure while I won't say doesn't exist, is lacking in this particular FF, FFX suffered from linearity but there were other things to break it down, you have these tiny secrets you can find, there are some minigames, you talk to villagers to learn about new things, it's an illusion of freedom.
None of these are well presented in the game, and a lot are in the datalog, the rest of the game which you get to experience were nothing but fighting on linear maps, it fits well with the theme of the game but it is not hard to understand why people would find it tedious if the combat system doesn't hook them, or that they don't like the particular cutscenes and scenarios. They don't really want an open sandbox, it is not just the linearity that they're getting worked up on, but the thing they notice the most.
It's just the matter of taste, and OP had a history of not liking certain FFs, it's hard to tell whether he'll like this or not, but he seems to dislike FFX, which were written by similar scenario writers.
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