FE4 walked so Three Houses could run.

Still the Fire Emblem game that hasn't been topped. It has by far the best lore, worldbuilding, a brilliant timeskip and introduced many mechanics that we see today in modern Fire Emblem games. It introduced the weapon triangle, Physical and magical units now had separate stats and the addition of skills. The maps are HUGE and it turns a lot of new players off but to me it makes it a little more realistic. Because of that, the game only has 12 chapters so I like to think of each castle like a different chapter since it takes a while to clear 1.

The game literally slaps you with a shitton of lore before even beginning the game. It tells you about the different countries, the political climate of the Jugdral continent, and the many important faces of each country. FE4 tackles a lot of mature/dark theme for its time (and even today) and I love it for that reason, too.

Just going to copy/paste what I said in another forum
I didn’t play the game at release date but until it was released on Steam back in 2014. I was like you once when I saw the trailers and gameplay of the game, “it plays by itself” but as huge Final Fantasy fan I had to give the game a chance so I bought it. 1-2 months later I platinumed the game and it instantly roared to my top 5 Final Fantasy games.

To me, there’s no game in the Final Fantasy main series that had such a divisive reception. Final Fantasy XII has its detractors, sure, Final Fantasy XV is VERY divisive too, but XIII seems to be a game you either love or vehemently hate. I think that was one of the reasons why I gave the game a chance, I wanted to form my own opinion about it.

Gameplay
The game uses the familiar, but at the same time, different approach to the ATB system that was first introduced in Final Fantasy IV. What makes it different though, is that you can only control one player, instead of selecting the actions one by one like on previous entries. The other two characters are controlled by the game’s AI. Also, you only have three basic options: Attack, Magic and Item.

As for the flow of battle, you have a big ATB Bar that “drains” as you use actions. Each specific actions requires a different number of slots on the bar, this bar is continually refilling as the fight goes on. As you deal damage to enemies and increase your combo multipliers enemies will enter the Stagger stage; here enemies will have lowered defense and can be launched into the air, dealing massive damage and it’s the way to finish off enemies quickly and get 5* scores after the battle is over.

Paradigm System

So here is where I started loving the game once I realized how deep and complex it could get, it wasn’t just about blasting through the game using auto battle, like the meme says. Early in the game you had to use the preset roles for each character but later in the game you could freely change them, creating interesting combinations and strategies. For example, once you had the characters you could start in Premeditation formation (SAB/SYN/SEN), one character debuffs, the other buffs your party and SEN tanks any hits while the buffs/debuffs happen, then paradigm shift into Tri-disaster (Ravager, ravager, ravager) to quickly fill chain gauges and then Cerberus formation (Commando, Commando, Commando) to finish them off. What I enjoyed about it was how you had to manage your paradigms while keeping an eye for you other two party member’s health and any status aliments.

I spent an absurd amount of time trying different formations and roles for all characters, it was extremely fun and addicting.

Speaking of status aliments, I adore how important buffs and debuffs are in boss battles and other important, challenging battles. This was one of the first games where I felt like I needed to use debuffs to defeat bosses. Just an example, Behemoth Kings can be hit with Deprotect, Deshell, Imperil, Daze, Curse, Death and Dispel. Hell, the final boss can be poisoned as well.

Another aspect of the game I really enjoyed was the character progression, or Crystarium. It clearly was an evolution of the Sphere Grid System in Final Fantasy X. Basically, each party member has a different Crystarium (unlike X, where there was a single board for all members). One thing I liked was how the Crystarium levels were tied up to the story, this prevented you from getting easily overpowered, though you would still do it by grinding materials for weapons.

Characters

Alright, the character development in this game is one of the areas I like to defend, just obviously not blindly. Many, many, MANY people have the common opinion that in XIII, the character development is not there, or lacks substance. I disagree.

One of the reasons why I strongly prefer XIII’s characters over, say, XII’s for example is because every single character share almost or the same the amount of screen-time with Lightning (or even by themselves), the game’s protagonist. This gives them opportunity to create meaningful relationships between them. On the other hand, in XII, I felt like the relationship between the main cast was a little bit more superficial and not as complex as in XIII with a few exceptions (Balthier and Basch scenes were great).

I think this was accomplished by how the game was structured (the linearity), as some chapters basically work as a POV from every character, with or without Lightning present.

While I like the characters, I dislike the pacing of the game. The first time I finished the game I felt absolutely nothing for the characters, mostly because I didn’t understand a thing about the plot in the first place. It just takes way too long for the characters to become likeable and their introductions are not the best either, the worst offenders being Lightning and Snow imo. Getting back to XII, I said that in my opinion, the relationship between the characters was not as good as in XIII but the overall narrative, the dialogue, the voice acting, and the pacing was great.

Where one lacked the other excelled, and the other way around.

Even if I love XIII I am aware of how flawed the plot is and how most, if not all, important information is hidden in the menu in form of datalogs. I hate datalogs with a burning passion. Final Fantasy XIII is clearly a character focused game, concentrating most of the scenes on the characters trials and tribulations and while there's some worldbuilding, most of it HAS to be read through the datalogs, which can completely turn off players. XIII’s plot sounds great on paper: superhuman beings that choose humans destiny at their pleasure, destroying their lives and changing how they live completely. Where it fails though, is in its execution and pace. It would’ve been really great if the game would’ve explained some of the events with cutscenes and dialogue and not with datalogs. It is a shame though; the mythos of Final Fantasy XIII is excellent and interesting.

Final thoughts

I think one of the biggest lessons this game taught me is that it is ok to love heavily flawed games, hey even bad games why not! Though I don't really consider XIII to be (a bad) one. I’m sure you all love low/bad reviewed games too (though this wasn't low reviewed one). It is also extremely important to aknowledge its flaws, that way can appreciate more what they did right. If you can do that and still love the game then no matter what the internet says; it won’t make you enjoy them any less.

As for me, I can acknowledge that the linearity is too extreme, the pacing, the execution of the story and the characters are not the best ever. The lack of towns is disappointing and how the equipment system worked was weird but you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way, I love the game for how it was and what it tried to do. I will continue to treasure it forever.