After completing final fantasy 13 I found it very awesome and a unique rpg experience.  For all those people out there that complain about how slow paced rpg's can be this game addresses that issue.  I never felt rushed when playing an rpg other than dragon quarter where you had a time limit.  When playing I needed to either run toward something or away from something for the first 25 hours which made it feel more real.  I know I've played a game where I'm a fugitive in a city, but for some reason I can still walk around freely without persecution.  Even though it "streamlined", aka took out half of the previous elements in its games, it made for a better story driven experience that allows one to further understand the characters and what drives them.