Does the Final Fantasy brand hold any cache anymore? I'm pretty sure FF13 is going to be a day one purchase for me, but sometimes I have to stop and ask myself why that is. Sure the game is pretty, but the entire game is one big linear path. Then again, so was FFX, and I liked FFX. I guess the thing I dislike the most is the idea that you don't control your teammates. That evokes bad memories of Star Ocean 3 and, in Gabe's words, being raped by lizards. I understand that this is a very different game and that you do give your teammates general commands like 'use magic' or 'heal'. But I still like to be able to tell all the party members exactly what they should be doing, even if that is a bit unrealistic.

So what do you guys think? Does this look like a day one purchase, or am I giving SquareEnix more credit then they are due these days?