I still don't get why FF13 being linear is such a huge problem when FF10 being super linear apparently wasn't. FF10 might be just a little more open, but not much. Well I do understand it, it's because the games released this generation make it much more obvious when directly compared, but it seems kinda mindblowing to see people like one and hate the other. It kinda reminds me of people who hated FF12 but love Xenoblade.
Plotting doesn't bother me, and the FF13 twins are certainly not the first FF games to have incoherent plotting.
*raises hand there* - I liked Xenoblade much much more than FF12. The plot was laid out much better (not to mention I found it more interesting than typical Matsuno political drama), characters were more appealing to me, the game world had more to do (discoveries, tons of sidequests, varied locales) than just hunt monsters, and even though the combat system was the game's weakest link, it still had more agency than FF12 did once you find a reliable gambit lineup.