I'm usually not one to get on the hype videogame bandwagon, such as Modern Warfare and WoW, but once in a while, I come across a hype videogame, like Bioshock, that I find quite enjoyable. FFXIII is one of them. While I am still in the process of playing it, I'd figure I'd throw in my two cents on it.

PROS
-Probably some of the best graphics ever. Clear, sharp images, identifiable character emotions during cutscenes, beautiful environments.
-The battle system is quite nice too; it gets away from that turn-based style that's now more suited for Pokemon than Final Fantasy and makes it time-based. The whole Paradigm Shift system, along with character roles, allow for a more diverse field of battle, and makes it easier to battle as well; instead of everybody knowing everything (magic, attacking, defense, synergy, etc.) and thus having to scroll through a long menu bar to find your desired action, each character is given on single battle focus, so you can have one dude healing, one dude stat-modding, and another dude hammering out attacks.
-The storyline is pretty intense as well. It is well engaged, and out of the base plot, many other subplots (such as the Thirteen Days flashbacks) stem from. The story also deviates away from heroic cliches and instead thrusts our heroes in a totally different perspective; instead of saving the world, they must destroy it.
-Save Points now double as shops, where you can buy a lot of medicines, weapons, and components. You can also now upgrade weapons and accessories--at Save Points--into more powerful versions, and even upgrade them into new and more powerful ones.
-Instead of EXP and leveling, you get "Crystarium Points," or CP, instead. With this CP, you can upgrade a character's role(s) to give him/her more powerful abilities and stats. You earn CP after every battle, which makes it easier to upgrade
-A BLACK GUY IS NOW A MAIN PARTY CHARACTER :0

CONS
-The story is very linear, meaning that most of the places you journey through you'll never revisit again. The game also removed towns, as you can now shop from Save Points and your health regenerates after every battle, eliminating the need for inns. For Veteran FF players, FFXIII deviates greatly from what they were used to
-You do not earn Gil from battles, meaning you must earn your gil from treasures and selling. This also greatly limits the total amount of gil in the game.
-Unlike in FFXII, FFXIII returns to the battle being separate from the world once it begins. This is more of a personal opinion of mine, given that I liked XII's battle system of fighting right then and there, instead of the screen phazing into a battle room.
-The bosses are unbelievably insane. You are gonna die at least once on most of the bosses before you beat them.