Another one, geez...I guess it's all about personal taste, for the same reason you hate the game many on the other hand love it. I myself consider Final Fantasy XII to be one of the best game in series, certainly in my top five, I'm also one of the few who think it evolved the series in many aspects. Huge open spaces and non random battles are step forward in my book, not to mention all that content which frankly neither game in the series can't compete with. And after playing the first ten games you just have to appreciate the fresh and original story XII has to offer, finally a story without all those cliche elements SquarEnix was forcing through previous tittles.

Though I see why many people moan about the characters, I myself am not thrilled about them either, they're not a shabby bunch just not developed enough. As for battle system, same as in most previous tittles, the ATB system is still there as you have to wait for the bar to fill up, which makes me wonder why so many people bitch about it, I guess they're pissed because their characters aren't standing still. Yes, now you have more control over you characters, which makes the battles more realistic and epic in my opinion. Not to mention the brilliant License Board and Gambit System which allows you to customize your characters the way you want, something I always appreciate in good RPG game. And of course the music is brilliant, i honestly don't feel the absence of Nobuo Uematsu as Sakimoto did a really great job

All the reasons why I love this game, I think those who made the reviews had the same view as me, but then again it's all about personal taste as I already mentioned, there's always the older tittles if you don't feel like plying this one.