I'm only maybe four hours into Final Fantasy XIII, but I thought I'd give some initial quick impressions (this may or may not be of use if anyone is still thinking about whether or not to purchase this).

• One of the biggest criticisms has been about the battle system. The complaint goes something like "You can get through the entire game just by constantly tapping X". This is somewhat true in the first two hours or so, because the game progressively introduces you to new battle mechanics. So far I'm enjoying the battle system. Difficultly ramps up gradually as new elements are introduced. It's very fast-paced and relies heavily on the Paradigm system. So far, I'm liking it.
• It's early, but the story is so-so. It has a political element, but so far isn't as interesting as FFXII. They've thrown in a few convoluted elements that, to me, don't seem to work very well. But my mind might change as I progress.
• The characters are great and are generally quite distinctive. I actually like Lightning a lot - she reminds me of Cloud, except that her angst is, in my view, far more understandable. I pretty much loathe Vanille, the weird and almost offensive Japanese schoolgirl stereotype with the Australian accent. At some points I think she almost single-handedly ruins the atmosphere.
• Speaking of the above, voice acting is generally superb. Honestly, it's far better than most of the other voice-acted FF titles and it's marginally better than XII. I'm actually really pleased with the quality in this area (except for, again, Vanille - but this is more a criticism of her character than the acting quality).
• Another common criticism seems to be about linearity. There are no overworld maps or wide open exploration areas in XIII (that I've come across anyway), but this is largely the same as Final Fantasy X. The only major difference seems to be that there's an absence of towns or "hubs". In past games these were used to progress the story and to buy/sell stuff, upgrade stuff, etc... these processes are now handled by save stations, negating the physical need for a "town". Do I miss exploring towns? Not so far, because the game's pace is such that you are never really left with the need to explore - the game moves you forward briskly and through a multitude of different settings.
• The art design is incredible and the in-game graphics are breathtaking.
• The musical score is also, so far, incredibly solid.

I may post a full review of this once I'm further in, given that my current feelings are likely to change quite a bit (and I hope some of them do, especially the negative impressions).

Who else owns FFXIII? I'd love to know what you think about this game - maybe post your thoughts in the comments box. I'm assuming that this will be a big title for our community, given the number of Final Fantasy fans we have around. Maybe if you have written a review on your World, you can link to it in the comments section - I'll then write up a post on here with links to those reviews.