I edited the first part out as you see, because I figured I was after I posted it, sorry. However, a videogame dilemma =/= a real life problem in my book was all I was meaning to say.

Edit I screwed up this post massively saying though. I am not forcing you to love it or anything. And you weren't really the one I was responding to in this thread other than that the FF philosphy hasn't changed which I was arguing.

For One FFXIII isn't even close to my favorite game, as the top 6 in my sig blow the rest out of the water IMO.

Really I find lots of problems in all games... the games I like more I ignore more of the problems, plus FFXIII fit my style more than most of the other ones. I was just defending the Square/SE acting differently since the start of their existence which you can still disagree with. However, they're patter seems to fit, the very random pattern they like to exude.

Well, I must agree with you on the XII argument. It did have lots of all and then some... But it still didn't manage to capture the emotional connections you had with characters in earlier FF's. At least for me it didn't.

As a fan i absolutely accept changes if you would put me in a corner like that, accepting and liking are different things though. I liked the battle system in 13 in some ways. I liked the grid in X in some ways. I liked the freedom in XII. But overall i had more fun playing the 'older' Final Fantasies and maybe i have to blame nostalgia for that. But i will always keep an open mind, trying out new things.

My initial post was meant to comment on a very 'simplistic' approach of so-called haters though. For i did like 13 but just not as much as the older FF's and peoples arguments for disliking 13 are mostly justified. After all, tastes differ.

I agree with how older Final Fantasies feel somewhat different from most recent ones, and I'm frank with you, most of the times, I prefer to replay FFIV or FFVI rather than FFVIII, FFIX, FFX or FFXIII. Mainly because as you said, nostalgia playing a great factor in it, but because there are some very touching moments in them, for me.

It's true that there's a lot of justified dislike for FFXIII, I have a lot of complains about it as well, but most of them have been part of the approach that the series has taken since FFX, especially the lack of a proper world map. But I have seen lots of injustified complaints for FFXIII as well, especially about how the game plays itself due to Auto-Battle, when in fact, lots of other RPGs use that same option and in FFXIII it isn't forced upon you.

Those are the kinds of complaints that sometimes makes me sad, because they come off as nitpicking for reasons, instead of looking towards the ones that are actually issues. 

it problem it's trying to please western tastes.

when their fans bought it for their japanese style

Because they are Non-Conformist Conformist. They like to like what other people like simply because it is not a popular opinion. The same people that Hate FFVII because its the most popular and LOVe to bring up Kefka as the best villain in the series when we all know in our hearts that is Sephiroth hands down.(Beware, this might be a harsh generalization) :D

Nope. Challenge is actually my only gripe with 6. There are a few tough areas to me, like the Floating Continent. In fact, it is this gripe that has me prefering FF5 to 6- I can't find a big gripe in 5. If 6 were as hard as 4 or 5, it would probably go down as one of my best games ever. And following 4 and 5, I saw it as a hiccup for difficulty.

Then we had 7. 7 was even easier than 6, which told me that no, it wasn't a hiccup. And the rest of my "problem" previously stated happened. 6 had good enough pieces to keep my interest despite the lack of challenge. But 7 did not. Parts of 7, frankly, bored me. Sure, it was a lot prettier than 6, in its day. (6 has aged much better than 7, though.) I could make a list on how much I didn't like other parts of 7, but that's not really relevant to this thread, as it's meant to look at a more evolutionary decay problem.

Well, Kefka was a great villian, the whole genocide and all, does that make him a "better" villian, I dunno whatever.

But for the Non-Conformist thing, I am sure that might be the case for some (i.e. remember when it was cool to hate on <insert pop culture reference here>), but there has got to be some strong opinions based on individual taste and not conformity that love FF8. I can see liking parts of it, the graphics were superb for it's time, but the battle system, story and characters all made me violently ill. I guess trying to follow FF6 & FF7 is probably casting it in a lot more negative light than it probably deserved, but it remains the only FF that I haven't gone back to "complete" it (as in 100% or near 100% playthrough), as soon as the main story was over it got put back into it's case never to be touched again. .