Final Fantasy XII was released before it would have been accepted by the FF fanbase.

[Scoobes]

Galvanizer said:

Scoobes said:

 The script is the story, not how it was told, but I dare say the script would have been a lot better if Basch and Balthier were the main POV characters, or Ashe who is actually pivotal to the main plot. Everything seems to be told through Vaan, but that diminishes the important events that occur because Vaan is so far removed from most of the plot.

Vaan is easily the most uninspiring character in the game and was blatantly added in the game to be a typical androgynous male protagonist. A character for Japanese teens to relate to because that's what SE marketing found the demographic preffered. Vaan doesn't develop much as a character either over the course of the game. In fact, his actual influence and importance diminishes as the game goes on.

The use of Vaan as the token main character also meant that the other characters didn't get as much development time as they deserved with minimal interaction between party members (I actually can't remember Basch ever mentioning or talking to Fran). As it's his POV, nearly all the character development is seen through his eyes which is a shame because as I said above, he's too far removed from the plot for me to care.

I acknowledge the depth and complxity of the story, but it was told poorly. Having Vaan as the main character in FFXII was like adding Justin Bieber as the lead in Shawshank Redemption. Great story, but seen through the eyes of an uninspiring character far removed from the actual events.

Trust me, the script and the impact of the game wouldn't have been the same had anybody but Vaan been the POV to the story. Matsuno knew what he was doing when he chose Vaan to be the POV to this political tale. Also, Vaan is not far removed from the plot. In contrary, he's very deep rooted to it. He's the means by which the entire cast comes together.

As for character intercation, why pick on FFXII? Sure, Basch and Fran never had a conversation, but neither did Kimahri and Rikku in FFX. Heck, even Auron and Rikku didn't have a deep convo. FFX is guilty of weak charcater interaction just as much as FFXII is, yet people claim it was the last good FF story. Double standards, much?

Vaan isn't a strong enough character to bring the cast together and be a main protagonist. He's not that far removed from the blank slate that WRPGs usually employ, but those games compensate for that by giving players choices in the story. It's a weak excuse for including Vaan as the main protagonist. As a side character he could fulfill the same role whilst making room for a protagonist with a greater investment in the plot to draw the player into the story. Instead, he's just a weak protagonist that ticks all the stylistic boxes whilst having little to no relevance to the plot. The fact that he needs such a weak excuse of "he brings the entire cast together" reinforces my point that he has no genuine relevance to the plot. Any of the chracters could have fulfilled that role with a very small amount of rewriting and without singificantly changing their character.

As for character interaction, I'm fairly sure I remember Rikku having a conversation with everyone at some point. Not 100% sure as it's been a while but I have vague recollections of a number of general party conversations. Not so much in XII.

As for X I'd argue that X has a fairly simple plot at its core with some familiar concepts (e.g. corrupt religious leaders), but more importantly, the storytelling is stronger. Frequent storytelling/character developing cut-scenes, protagonists that are central to the plot and no "filler" characters. Yuna fulfilled the role of bringing the cast together and was central to the plot. She falls for Tidus which gives the player an easy concept to emotionally invest themselves in. It makes people care about the characters even though at its core, it's a more basic storyline when compared to XII.