OK, seeing some of these reviews on the game, I can agree to some, and some not.
As stated, this was not meant to resemble, or "emulate" a multiplayer experience, S-E just took elements of MMORPG's and implemented them (quite well) into a single player experience.
They(S-E) were going for a (MUCH) more mature audience than previous installments. The style of the game has lifelike figures, emotions, and dimensions. (of course dimensions are skewed by Final Fantasy) The attention to detail is superb, and facial expression, even in non-cinematic sequences, are well done. The cinematic quality resemebles that of the PlayStation 3's graphical capability. The battle system used is fluid, and easy to get accustomed to, especially the Gambit System, which was a genius step into "programming" your players. Players are not set on one path; rather, they can be switched to other classes, such as a "Knight" or "Mage." The chain system is a bragging right, and a skill to get the max out of your battles. "Mist's" such as Quickenings, and Summons are fluid in the least, and are a very cool way of dealing loads of damage within a short period of time. Quickenings are much like a mini-game used for a larger purpose as you try to chain the longest quickening chain, and do loads of damage...however, the time you have to chain quickening's togethor shortens the further along the chain you are. For those EBGamer/GameStop'ers out there who may or may not have bought the collectors edition, it features a tin case, a custom inside, and a bonus disk with Art Galleries, Developer interviews, The history of Final Fantasy, and trailers from the U.S. and Japan. All of this and the Mark System, which is a way to show off your skill in hunting and/or killing hidden and/or hard monsters.
The game is a great game, and so far, I've only logged about 23.5 hours on it due to school, but the experience so far is that of an amazing one.