FF 6 was the one final fantasy that I stopped playing half way through when it was released on the PS1 in Europe. I eventually finished it when it was rereleased on the GBA. It had to many Characters you had to level and to fit in the story, the "blue mage" was way to time intense for me to learn everything, permanently missables are just a bad idea, etc.
I would be pretty disappointed with the next FF if it should develop in your direction, but tastes are different.
I felt that the PS1 FF were the perfection of the way the SNES FF were. Then they took a comletely new direction and evolved to a next level. FF X was the best FF by far because it offered so much more depth. Graphics and Voice Acting helped to tell one of the best Stories in Video Games History. For me it was the "almost perfect RPG". I absolutely loved it. The only downside was that you had to almost fulfill your Sphere Grid to beat those Dark Aeons if you wouldnt try the Zanmatou way. It took to much time.
FF X-2 had a strong Job System and it took the story one step forward. It was nice to see what happens to a world that has overcome it greatest threat and could live in Peace now... soon after the beginning of the calm the next conflict arrives because various groups were trying to take the lead. It had a nice concept and since there was no actual threat it started pretty light hearted. I can't say much bad things about it.
FF XII had a pretty good story. But it was the first one that left the path of "1 main Hero and 1 main villain". The whole party had no "real leader". That concept is pretty interesting because you have to think about why everyone is in the party and who is your real enemy. It told the story of a war... but not from the perspective of one of the 2 strongest nations. It showed what it means for a small country to be overrun by an enemy way stronger and how the normal people can handle with it.
FF 13 was my best Gaming Experience of this Generation. It took storytelling to a whole new level and I bet that Versus XIII will even top that (thanks to Tetsuya Nomura). Can't say something negative about it. The fighting system is fast paced and you have to think about the right paradigma for each situation.
The one thing that makes Final Fantasy something special is the strong Focus on storytelling from a Japanese point of view. They put so much effort in the motivations of the characters and try to put much depth in the story and characters.
That is the reason why i totally dislike WRPGS. They lack the depth in storytelling. It is all about "gameplay". Oblivion was the most boring RPG that I have ever played because of its generic story...and I played it more than 40 hours...I hate that sidequest focus. They are meaningless in almost every case and repetitive. Sacred 2 had around 500 Sidequests.... I stopped reading what to do in the sidequests because they were almost always kill X enemies and collect Y items.... We had to play it through 4 times for the Platinum trophy... and after each playthrough we wondered what that whole game was about. So bad storytelling... but hey, it had 500 Sidequests and a huge map where you can kill random enemies to get random loot.
Well, it has to be a matter of taste... WRPGs are strong mostly in the US/UK anyway. Maybe thats why FF 13 got so many bad reviews there and got more positive ones in Continental Europe and Japan...
Anyway, I hope Square-Enix will not "westernize" Final Fantasy and continue to stay away from Moral Systems, Decision Making and hundreds of meaningless Sidequests.
