I like the downtime that JRPGs offer. I don't need to be pushing forward all the time; it's good to have the option to go see what's down that path, or out of the way at the other end of the map. I agree linearity wasn't a problem in FFXIII, just the restrictive growth system.
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"When I was a young man, I had liberty, but I did not see it. I had time, but I did not know it."