I loved it AND hated it
Loved: The MMORPG combat style without the annoying MMO part. The Gambits could make things easy but I just didn't use them on one character who i controlled normally, making it like a squad based AI but without idiotic AI.
Hated: The story. It was just a rip off of their previous work Tactics Ogre, and Star Wars, with almost direct dialogue lifted from Starwars!
Overally it was disapointing as a FF game... but then again it was a lot better then 7, 8 or 10. It was a step in the right direction. I usually perfer turnbased fighting, but with Final Fantasy... there just isn't a point anymore... the way's they tried to change up their turnbased to make it less boring and get things done quicker for American audiences just made the battles kinda stupid.
Had they cut out the story all together and instead focused completely on hunts with a cutscene low, barely character driven... vapid "I want to be the best hunter!" story, it'd actually rank 3rd in my list of main Final Fantasy games behind 6 and 4. That's how much a negative the story was.
My RPG history? Been playing RPGs since early computer RPGS and NES RPGS. Favorite RPGS? Earthbound, FF6 and Chrono Trigger.
What I look for in RPGs. Character Development and Customizing ability, however everybody still having well defined special abilties and what they are good at. Also I perfer a larger cast of playable characters if I can get it... doesn't have to be like 100, but 20 or so is the perfect amount for me if you can get in the right amount of character depth personality wise per person.
