Despite many weaknesses well worth playing.

Generally, we can indeed say that every part of the series is worth playing, but here you can see quite clearly that it comes with FF slowly downhill. And that's just for an absolute fan like me sad news ...
But first a few words about the game:

Story: The story is fairly flat and linear, the entry is - unlike previous parts of the series - kept quite short and it is simply thrown without "knowledge" middle of the action. One finds here and there, although typical FF-development pattern, overall the story but rather meager and incoherent.

Characters: Well ... all quite "random". No depth, no backgrounds, faceless and gray. Where are the lovingly designed characters who have made the series world famous? Profound stories, individual behavior and thinking, empathy en masse. All this is lacking. To some extent I really liked most Balthier, simply because of the typical-großkotzigen coolness. But not a lot of character depth brauchts. Otherwise, of course, very bad ...

The World: Despite many "Logbook entries" me and the world comes to "random" and "unexplained" before.
What is that? Why's that? Where are we? It is missing here just the typical attention to detail, which holds the world together. One can not immerse themselves in the world, because everything is too superficial. Also well-known things of the series are included only half-heartedly, for example. The Esper (Summons), the "extras" are nurnoch and have no real connection to the world. Also a pity ...
Add to this that many areas simply rotzlangweilig and unkind look, particularly caves and other "sheltered" places. Points can only the cities and other busy areas.

Technology: The combat system I find quite succeeded basically when you consider that SQUAREENIX has thus committed a very polarizing Stilbruch. Everything has become more dynamic, unfortunately this goes but lost some game depth: The characters have no peculiarities, anyone can do theoretically EVERYTHING. You control usually only still a character who acts in accordance with the rest of gambits, although not always work 100%.
The licensing board will probably be a scaled-down version of Sphärobretts ... but that does not quite work. Far too easy but still complicated enough, I do not really thought through.
The "super-mega-stark Myst-Techs with a lot of boom boom and effect storms" somehow fall out of the frame and fit at all to the per se rather "unmystischen / unmagischen" characters and the Esper are only unimportant side issues without deeper meaning or significance. The hold times are there ...
The rest (equipment system, trade, secondary employment, etc.) fits so ... can me in this regard recall any major flaws.

Conclusion: Only because of the fact that it is about to see an FF game, I can recommend this part, because it despite criticism still can discover many fantastic things. So Fantasy People come in spite of all their money ... even if they are not tied up behind the screen.
Nevertheless, I am of the current development of the series was very critical.
Part 13 Although I have only been gambles, but I see very dark clouds wind ...