Man, just got to (port town)
and the atmosphere in this game is just some of the best out of any RPG I've ever played, right up there with Xenoblade 1. FF16 BETTER have towns like this!
The game have its flaws but there are a ton of areas, and some pretty cool ones at that.
So far I like pretty much every change they made to the game. My only complaint if there was to be one is that I remember the game to have way more challenge. There seems to be a consensus that all cumulative changes made the game way too easy. And so far I'd be inclined to agree. I'm still only lvl 30 though. So maybe by lvl 90 I'll find the various superbosses more challenging (I remember they could be brutal in vanilla).
Also I browsed the whole thread the other day, and I think some people articulated pretty well the issues I have with the plot and characters. The setting and themes are amazing, but they do little with it. Characters are mono-dimensional with little to no development. Many plot twists are ham-fisted, and some are even resolved the moment they appear. All in all, characters just aren't very interesting (actually, Vaan is the most developed character, which is why you can count me in the "I don't get the hate" club). Special mention to Penelo and Fran who're just following their man ... Same with Basch to a lesser degree, "knight following his princess" is only remotely balanced by some minor redemption arc.
And overall the pacing, the global story telling, the fact that you basically play minor characters with regard to the grand story which is told through otherwise well articulated cutscenes, it just doesn't work. They tried to do the "follow the minor characters which will eventually change history" thing, but the way everything is told just isn't satisfying.
I mean you have fun exploring some random ass region and bashing mobs, and then you get a cutscene showing political intrigue in faraway lands with characters most of the party doesn't even know exists. No matter how well written the dialog may be, it's hard to feel any sort of consistent story building out of that. Especially as IIRC most of the party's actions amount to nothing most of the time, getting broken or useless trinkets, missing on important events, etc.
Oh well, at least exploring and fighting is pretty damn fun. Now at a glorious 60fps :o)
Edit: Next time someone tells you 60fps is useless on "slow paced games", or "turn based games", hit them on the head.