I wouldn't say I hated it, but as you said mrstickball, if I want turn based, there are other games to be played. I personally didn't care for not needing to give any input and just let battles play out in front of me, so I didn't always use gambits. As for the best since 7, I'm not sure. I liked some things about it and I liked some about 10. I never got around to finishing 8 or 9 for various reasons, but from what I played, I prefer 10 and 12. If we go before 7, I'm in the camp that prefers 6, but that's just me. I have felt that in general, it has been declining from what I would like it to be, so perhaps I should take a chance on some titles I'm not as familiar with. As for the randomized treasures, it was alright for some. Others I think were a bit more permanently a specific item, but my treasure related gripe is that I don't remember any indication of being warned near the start of the game that opening certain chests makes you less able to get something later.

Don't get me wrong FF I-VII > FFXII. But still, FFXII > FFVIII

Some things are bad, such as lack of real side-quests and side stories, but outside of that, it made me like the FF series again. With some time, patience, and hope, FFXIII should improve on the format. You can't expect an entirely new hybrid battle system to totally outclass the previous games. By FFX2, combat for me became so stale I lost all desire of enjoying the games due to random battles and the idiocy that since FFVIII, battles and half of the gameplay was useless.

I think with the opinions expressed here and elsewhere where I have discussed FF you can see clearly that everyone has a favorite FF game and a least favorite and it's not the same one surprisingly...

Goes to show you what a great series it is.

There is the school of though that liked the oldest FF games pre FF VII then there is the FF VII loving crowd then the FFX loving crowd and then there is the FF XII crowd... (these aren't mutually exclusive and usually are mashed up)

What does that tell you about Final Fantasy? That it is definitely a great game series if different people like different ones in the franchise without there being a lopsided favorite like in most franchises...

I liked FFXII because it changed it up a little bit, I was getting annoyed of the random encounters in FFX were like clockwork so no random battles every X amount of steps was kind of refreshing. I think both FFX and FFXII can be as hard as you want them to be because X has the sphere grid and FFXII has the gambits and a couple of monsters where you can use the gambits to leave the game overnight and come back 10-20 levels higher in the morning and get a crapload of money too. Actually, till I realized the good loot I could get if I went to the Giza plains, I was a poor guy till after doing the part with that Esper in the west desert.

I really didn't think much of all the places you go being connected as opposed to needing to cross the world to get there, but I did notice how you almost didn't need the airship at all.

While I'm thrilled that the voice acting in this game is good (no Rikku or Tidus crap thank god), the dialog can be hard to follow at times. The only time I hear dialog like that is if I'm watching a movie or back when I was in high school reading a play or short story.

As for the story and characters, there really wasn't anything compelling about playing through the game. It's almost as if each character was there and there wasn't more too it than that. There was the thing when they weren't sure if Ashe would do the right thing, but that was basacially it. The connection between the characters is small at best.

I started off liking FFXII but ended up not caring for it for the same reason I despise FFVII. No character individuality. I like character customization to a point. I liked the spear system in FFX, the license system pales in comparison. Even if you try to make each character different, the license board fills up so fast they will end up being pretty much identical by the time you get half way through the game. Could have been worse, it been FFVII. I could go into detail about FFVII but I've done it many at time on many forums for the last decade and I just don't feel like doing it anymore.

IMO the Final Fantasy series has been in a slow declince since the World of Ruin in FFVI. FFVII was bad, FFVIII was terrible, FFIX was okay but great in comparison to VII and VIII, FFX I actually liked although it was very linear so I can see why some hate it, FFX-2 should be buried with the Atari 2600 ET cartridges, FFXI was an average MMO at best that becomes completely group dependent very quickly, FFXII had several good ideas that looked good on paper but were terrible in practice.

r u kidding, ff8 has the best storyline in the history of all the ff imo & non of the ff is even close to take it down but i agree that turn-base/random battle which is really old & should retire now coz u can't see the enemies & take them down any time u want or attack them from behind whenever u have the chance while your enemy engage your party members...

 if u play .hackgu then u should know what is good storyline/gameplay/character compare to all the overated ff/dq series...               

Don't get me wrong, I hope FFXIII is good, and maybe it will convince me they went in a right direction. I just haven't been too excited about it yet. Partially because it's still far from being out, so there isn't that much information really released, and partially because I don't plan to get a PS3 for awhile, so I would have to find someone who has one to play it.

I own a PS2 and Love FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX and enjoyed FFX. Stop trying to pick a fight about bias here. Everyone else in this thread agree FF is going down the shitter, yet you, who oddly enough shows up to defend anything Sony is now trying to call me out yet again, not on matters of fact, but on matters of opinion. I've told you before the folly of trying to argue opinion vs opinion.

Stop being a troll and stop trying to pick fights.

I appear to be the only person to have enjoyed FF XII, I though it was a great game, and although the story was not great, I enjoyed playing the game and I really liked the battle system

However, there are a couple of things:
Firstly, I have only played three FF games, X, X-2 and XII (the last being the best for me)
Secondly, I was really bored waiting for my PS3 to come so I really enjoyed my month with it
Thirdly, I did think that all the characters were the same to a degree (basch is always going to be the strongest, but the weakest at magic)
Fourthly, I found that the game suddenly became really easy once I picked up that amulet that doubled your LP, and then the game got even easier once you got the double EXP things so you would be really strong coming into boss battles, and the last part was bubble belts, which made boss battles really easy.

Anyway, I still thought that it was a great game and really look forward to the next one

For the record, I certainly have played against cactaur. I just don't think you're supposed to hunt him at level 4. The game agreed with that.

And I oddly hate FF7, since just being in hideous hideous 3d kept making my eyes hurt, and the introduction of load times bothered me. If they ever remade it so as to not rape my ocular nerves, I could give it a play through and see if I do in fact like it. I also never got to play 8 (And blame it for breaking my old laptop's cd rom, though likely was long before that).