If you look at how the story progresses and the ending message, I think there was an adequate amount of character development in place. FF games never were terribly deep in that aspect more so than they were emotionally engaging. I noticed many people don't point out how different the narrative style is with XIII as compared to other installments, because I think that's naturally another reason some people didn't enjoy it.
It thrusts you into things with very little information, and the beginning is very fast paced (some people call it slow but I mean...what?). You're left with a bunch of characters that are all screwed and the story presents no goal, no identifiable enemy, or purpose for the player or the characters to deal with. Some people find that when they are confused about a story element, something must be wrong with the writing -- but some people like it. No surprise that I was big fan of
Lost and also enjoyed FFXIII's plot =p.
There's that complaint, and then there are those who are upset about having an unmemorable villain -- again a matter of what you're looking for in a game. XIII is more focused on the conflicts the characters have with themselves, and when each has gone through rising above their individual plight, they finally come together at the end -- to face a power that that bears no personal vendetta or history to your characters, but a being that represents the flaws and power of the human race. They aren't insanely deep characters that are up for much literary analysis, but this is FF we're talking here, and for what it's out to achieve it makes some touching achievements with each character, and a beautiful ending to boot.
My personal favorite section of the game is where Lightning is angry and confused after being branded, and abandons Hope (lol) and the others, because since the beginning of the game she's just been hostile towards others as a result of the guilt she feels over her sister. It isn't until her Eidolon sequence where she saves Hope, and then becomes the big sister figure to him that she never could be to her sister.
It's simple, corny, and yet meaningful, and that's what I've always liked about FF games (most of them). There's going to be whiny characters, annoying kids and cringe-worthy moments, but to the people complaining about these elements and comparing against other FFs, I have to ask -- how thick are your nostalgia goggles?
For example, I consider FFVI to be one of, and possibly the greatest in the franchise, and its characters are so simple its almost comical. But it's paced beautifully and manages to be incredibly engaging. Anything deeper would have ruined it. I recommend Planescape Torment or other such games if you're looking for something truly engrossing.
--
Onto FFXII...
Oh yeah, about FF12... I felt like the battle system was so easy because you could pretty much set the right behavior and let it play itself. It was only during gimmick battles or during difficult battles requiring precise timing (which are pretty much gimmicks anyway) that you had to really pay a lot of attention to and manually intervene.
I think this is a good example of how different gamers have different perceptions of reward in gaming. You're the man behind the gambits in FFXII, seeing them work smoothly is supposed to the most rewarding part of the combat. The game encourages gambit usage clearly because the micromanagement of the pop up menu is super impractical to use throughout the game. No surprise that nearly everyone I hear complain about the battle system are the ones who distanced themselves from the gambit menu in favor of playing manually -- and boy does that sound horrible. Because manual play is done so much better in a game like FFX, not XII.
The game isn't automated since you yourself do the work, and that's the reward. Fun for some, but others may not be able to see past that wall. And there's no problem with that, I have my fair share of game designs I hate too.
I want to tell you, yes, keep sticking it out, because Chapter 11 and onwards, along with 40 hours of postgame questing, is one of the best experiences I've ever had with a game. But I also recognize how completely unreasonable and dumb it is to tell someone to play something they don't like for 25 hours before it gets to "the good part."
# It still makes me kind of sad that there continue to be games that borrow and build on the foundations laid by FF4, or FF7, or FF10, and probably always will be, but FF12 turned out to be an evolutionary dead end.
