Yeah but look at who plays these games. Now a days Square is more about selling then producing quality, hence making the characters more relate-able to their target audience.

Also not to mention if they didn't make half the party scantily clad female teenagers, the game obviously won't sell at all. [/sarcasm]

Though I will agree that I miss the days of unique characters such as Palom and Parom, Tellah, and Steiner.