I'm guessing none of you have played Dragon Quest VIII? Which, by the way, is made by the same company as FF...

Anyway, DQVIII on the PS2 shows off what I thought was a world map at its finest. No loading time, huge areas to explore, changing of the time, hell there was even a ship you could use as far as I got, I'm sure making an airship in something like that wouldn't be hard at all.

It basically looked like everything the world map in older RPGs can and should now be on PS2... Which is why I was so surprised, after showcasing what I felt to be a major accomplishment in RPGs, that XII was devoid of a world map.

I really wish they would bring it back, as it's become as much a part of the series as chocobos and moogles (predating them), but now it seems like it's not important to them anymore.

and I agree, it would've been alot cooler to actually fly the strahl than watch the same stupid cutscene over and over.