ther will nevr be one direction for FF

evry FF is different, deal wth it.

for me FFX-2 and FF12 made me hate FF, FF13 hs made me luv the series again. FF12 problem ws it ws jst boring, th story, characters, music, battle sistem. All boring. one gud thng FF12 had was its setting, it felt like playng old FF.

And it has the WORST battle system ever in MY honest opinion. When you've reduced every character to auto pilot, and clunkily implemented an ATB gauge then things get mucked up. It would have been better as a full on real time system (like Infinite Undiscovery which was indeed 12's system done RIGHT)

FF12 fan here, it's my second favourite FF, right next to FFVI.

I felt that every plot was throughly executed and well planned. Basch's redemption for his failure to protect his old kingdom, the feud he had with his brother Gabranth, Ashe's inner struggle to lead a nation to it's freedom from the political struggle between the two major super-powers of ivalice, Balthier's detachment from it's father's footsteps, Fran's foregoing her own race's traditions for a much broader comprehension of the world around them, and the threat that was at their doorstep, and many, many other side-plots. 

Yeah this is exactly what i mean, FF13 wasnt this deep in terms of story. A lot of FF13 seemed to be regurgitating the same stuff "its our focus, Serah said so". this is what i'm reffering to, the direction of FF12's script to focus on a deeper story rather than melodrama was a much better direction for the series imo. my particular faviourite part was Nabudis, which i felt was an allusion to 'Hiroshima and Nagasaki'. and i think it was mesmerising, it almost like you can feel the consiousness of Nabudis, through the music, the footsteps of the characters and the art design of the destroyed city. the walls of Nabudis told the sad story of what had happened there, but as you said this is just one of the many things in the game.

but this is why i designed the thread, i mean, imo FF12 was not the best it couldve been because Matsuno left, and when you come from FF12 to 13, you realise that Kitase, Nojima & Nomura might not be going in the right direction for the series imo.

Again, this is a non-issue.

If you turned the gambits off, the game was very challenging, especially on boss battles like the Esper battles. Claiming that a game played automatically when that feature can be turned off at will, is trying to find faults just for the sake of it. 

http://www.finalfantasy13game.com/#/uk/news/17

thats the offical site - Yusuke Tanaka - page 7/21 in the news section: theres more than 6 hours of cutscenes in FF13.

No one really knows the truth about Yasumi Matsuno. No one at SE are talking. But the rumours are based around his vision for a more realistic and mature FF with Basch as the main character. A man torchered by the horrors of the past, and how he survives his false imprisonment to face the Judge Magister who condemned him. I can believe this is the case, because Vaan and Penelo dont actully have much to do with the game.

Anyway it wasnt just this, SE were unhappy with the demographic the game could target if it was a more mature game. and they kept having arguments etc with him and its rumoured he feel ill because of this. he eventully bowed out of development because he couldnt make the game the way he wanted. although its rumored he was forced to leave development because of this. (i honestly dont know if thats the case).

Yes and no, i dont watch anime much (not much time) not all of them are like that, but either way Kitase, Nomura, Nojima have maybe taken it into that style - and my point is that it dosent necessarily make a good game. FF12 represents what FF could be if Kitase, Nomura and Nojima didnt take the series in that direction. Sakaguchi didnt need that in FF4, 5 or 6. and after FF12 i dont think that FF13 is the right direction for the series; it certainly wasnt before Kitase was there.

No, it's NOT a non-issue, it's just an issue that has a convenient way out of an argument. It was quite obvious that the team WANTED the player to use that system. Even if you could turn off the Gambits the combat was still boring, tedious, and messy. Bring in the needless License Board and the downright USELESS summons and you have a recipe that to both boredom and frustration at the same time.

[...]

FF12 represents what FF could be if Kitase, Nomura and Nojima didnt take the series in that direction. Sakaguchi didnt need that in FF4, 5 or 6. and after FF12 i dont think that FF13 is the right direction for the series; it certainly wasnt before Kitase was there.