FFXII: What's the verdict?

[WiiRHardcore]

From what little I played, I remember it had good visuals, but wasn't that impressed with the gameplay. Hated the gambit system and the licenses, but I prefer the old school FF's anyway. So if a Final Fantasy game doesn't have turn based random battles, is it really a Final Fantasy game? I liked IX a lot though, where are the FF IX spin off cell phone games?