Square Enix has spoken admirably frankly on the development issues that resulted in Final Fantasy XIII being one of the less well received entries in the long-running series, citing a lack of shared vision among other things for its lukewarm reception.

Motomu Toriyama and Akihiko Maeda of the Final Fantasy XIII , told of how time constraints prevented user feedback on its much-disparaged linearity being implemented."We were experimenting with Western development methods, and there were talks within the team of global focus groups, which we had rarely conducted with previous projects," said the pair, "At the same time, Square Enix set up international focus groups for certain titles, including Final Fantasy XIII. Unfortunately, we were already quite far along in development, and knew it would be too late to implement most of the feedback from the player test sessions."Problems started during Final Fantasy XIII's first reveal at 2006's E3, with the vision first set out not receiving universal backing from the team. "The trailer was merely a visual concept, and we had not yet created anything playable at that point," the interview admits, "However, it became clear that, at the time, there were actually very few members who saw the trailer as a representation of what we wanted to achieve with Final Fantasy XIII. This lack of a shared vision became the root of many conflicts that arose later in development."We still found much to love in Final Fantasy XIII, although it's certainly one of the weaker entries in the series to date. Where do you stand on the game and where would you like to see the franchise head next? Let us know below.