I played until probably halfway through chapter 4. It took me nearly 6 hours, and I think I've realized the big issue this game has. At least, the big issue of quite a lot of it, since I've heard it opens up like 30 hours in. The game gives the player no agency. For quite a while, there's pretty much just one strategy to take in battle since your options are so limited. And it's not like you get to make any decisions outside of combat since the area design is so linear. You can't even jump, the game just does it for you. Linearity in an RPG is certainly not a bad thing. In fact, FFX is very linear and I love that game. But it still lets you figure things out. The combat has depth, that 13 just doesn't. Even as new mechanics get introduced, it's just finding a new easy pattern to follow for every battle. It's not helped by it's boring/obnoxious characters and messy story (except sazh, he was kinda cool and has a bird on his head). It's frustrating, because I see hints of something fun here. I'm sure I'll revisit it or try the sequels at some point. But for now, the game is just a boring slog that I can barely pay attention to.