well if they change the script in FF maybe

Basch didn't deserve to be the main character anymore than Vaan, he's boring as hell. Balthier on the other hand was a very interesting character.

He would have better had they actually gone through with Matsuno's plan of having him as the protagonist because his conflict and drive at the very least are FAR more fascinating than about 90% of FF12's botched narrative. Balthier also had potential, but a guy with his personality would not work as a protagonist in the same way Jack Sparrow sucked as the lead of the film in the 4th Pirates movie. In all honesty the entire cast of 12 was sub-par and most of it was NOT the fault of the writers.

I think you should go look into what Final Fantasy XII's story was supposed to be, it's possible Matsuno had planned for Basch to be the main character at one point, but it was his decision/idea to have Vaan the main character.  He wanted to deliver a complex story with royalty, betrayal, etc, but through the eyes of a commoner.

No, he was pretty much forced to make Vaan and Penelo on the spot because management thought that fans couldn't relate to Basch who was in his thirties (as well as cool, mysterious, and competent; hmmm, I'm starting to believe Square thinks we're all losers). You could actually yank both of those kids out of the storyline and it would have no consequence. Vaan was not meant to show this through the eyes of a commoner, he was made because of idiot executives who insist that they know how to make characters. Turns out that they were proven wrong. He was a  meangingless character in a boring, mediocre game with a crappy plot

Yes I was relooking and saw that tidbit about Vaan, but Matsuno wrote them in there himself and wrote the story around it.  Taken from Watanabe who finished the script, said this about it: "A dignified drama about Ivalice's nobility, viewed through the eyes of a commoner."  It could very well have been Matsuno who felt there should have been a change, and we'll never know.

Baltheir and Fran couldve made great main characters, but the key part of the story was the dicotomy between Basch and Gabranth based on their opposing philiosophies. Gabranth is even featured in the logo of the game. while i'm indifferent to Vaan and Penelo, they wernt that bad, the story had nothing to do with them. and ultimately i felt that they never belonged there in the first place. the FF Tactics team were aiming for a main character like Ashley Riot, who featured in Vagrant Story. they were pretty much told they couldnt have it.

when it comes down to it i'm not sure about FF13-2, because already it looks like some things will work and some things might not. but Sakaguchi and Matsuno have left Sqaure, so its possible the series will never recover.

For me. The last good Final fantasy game was 10. After that things started to fall from there.

And to be honest the only games SE has made this gen that were actually fun and good were only on the PSP. Crisis Core, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts-BBS were great. I hope they can get up from this and bring the franchise back to what it once was during the PS1 era.

If we argue that videogames should be considered as art then there's no place to say ''Well that came out ages ago, why are you talking about that?''

So, yeah.

I wouldn't quite agree with that.  Their work on the DS is IMO equal to that on the PSP, if not superior.  They've made the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics A2, DQM Joker 1 and 2, FFXII RW and my personal favourite TWEWY.  Even games which they've just published, not actually made like DQIX have been very good.  I would even go as far as saying that TWEWY is superior to every game made by Square-Enix/Square/Enix since Xenogears, or at least Final Fantasy IX.

Square-Enix have just been shit though this gen on consoles, hopefully DQX will change that.