Just finished the game a couple of hours ago. Around 85 hours and did half the missions. I also became a victim of the trophy glitch.
Well, wasn't going to get a platinum anyway.
I haven't followed this thread for fear of spoilers, so I'm probably just repeating what others have said.
I didn't mind the linearity of the game, especially for the first half, but the streamlining of shops and sidequests really cost the game in terms of charm points. Most of the game (aside from
) felt like the last dungeon in RPGs, where you're rushing and don't get a chance to catch your breath. And although I understood most of the story, it didn't really grab me, what with most of it being told through flashbacks and notes.
I have to say the graphics were really amazing. Maybe not technically, but there's some kind of magical filter on the graphics which sometimes makes them look like the CG of other games. Music was also pretty nice, although towards the end of the game I had grown tired of the battle theme!
The battle system, while a bit simplistic (my strategy was basically BLASTER x 3 for weaker enemies, followed by ATTACKERx 2, and BLASTERx2 plus DEFENDER, switching to ATTACKERx2 plus HEALER for bosses with the occasional HEALER/ENHANCER/JAMMER) was a lot of fun and at least I never was in the situation where I was just pressing circle without looking, like in some past FF games. My main characters were Lightning and Fange with Vanille for the first half of the game and then Hope). I like how the summons can't be abused due to the TP management. What I didn't like is how little control I had over the two other party members. I had to wait eons until my ENHANCER finally cast Haste, which is what I really only wanted (and he usually casts it on the leader last!). Some control over the positioning would've been nice, too. Finally, I don't understand the point of ending the game when the leader is knocked out. It's like my AI HEALER is there to raise only one of the 3 characters.
I thought I'd have to grind for the last boss, especially since I had trouble with some of the enemies just before the final boss, but surprisingly I killed it on my second try (on my first try I didn't realize I was silenced until it was too late and couldn't recover quickly enough).
So, overall a nice experience but I didn't really care for the change in direction. I think the first part of the game, with its limitations, tutorials and linearity was the worst. I'm still interested in how versus turns out, though.