It’s fast-paced, challenging, and rewards you for playing well. Every single role and ability has its uses, even in non-boss battles. Plus the flow of battle is exciting. Bolster your defenses, break the enemy’s defense and combo the shit out of them. Lots of split second decisions whether to keep your combo going or fall back to a defensive/healing paradigm.
I found that WAY more interesting than the traditional turn based FF games, where you just sit there like an idiot picking “attack” from a menu until you win. How anybody can say that FF XIII is mindless while praising FFX’s or FF VII’s shitty boring combat is beyond me.
I'm a Final Fantasy stan, so I have to disagree with the last sentence to some degree, but as far as your opinions on XIII go, you have my sword.
There's A LOT of functionality in XIII's combat, and it requires a sense of speed and familiarization with the UI, which adds in a rare example of actual skill and reflex in an RPG battle system. Basically every battle past chapter two has a rhythm, and you're CONSTANTLY at odds with something purposefully implemented in the system. Half one is raising the stagger meter whilst mitigating damage done to your party. Focus on too much healing to cover your ass, the stagger meter goes down. Focus too much on assault, you leave your defenses open. Half two consists of trying to do as much DPS as you can before the stagger resets. It's a very "rising/falling," momentum that keeps you engaged throughout.
This is without factoring in all the neat flourishes, too. The Eidolons, the techniques, the Full ATB skills that are essentially Limit Breaks but they each serve a different purpose and can be overpowered or practically useless depending on when you utilize them. Command canceling, repeat commands, raising stagger with alternating elements, there's just SO MUCH depth to the battle system, to the point where I have a hard time believing anyone who says "It's mindless auto battle!" has actually gotten past the first few chapters.
It's linear, yeah. So was FFX. it's not great, but it is what it is.
The storyline woes are also overblown, if you ask me. I roll my eyes when people say it's convoluted the same way I do when they say the same about Kingdom Hearts. You guys played through the vague, cryptic, out of order, deliberately mind fucking, terribly translated FFVII and you can't understand the story for XIII? Because, what? Proper nouns? I haven't played this game in years, but
Pulse Fal'Cie- God from the planet
Pulse L'Cie- servant from the planet
Sanctum Fal'Cie- God from the moon
Sanctum L'Cie- servant from the moon
Cieth- zombies.
Saying this is confusing is an insult to yourself, not the game.