I didn't read every replies to this thread but i must say i got shocked about things that were said about how poor game IX is... or at least the lacks of it since i love it. Yeahyeah.
It's nonsense even to talk about IX in a thread whose (?) main subject is XII. Anyway. I totally agree to everything that's said in the first post. The music, characters and the plot were the biggest reasons why XII can't develop itself into a classic. And i'm not saying that it can't be a classic to someone but those are the reasons why it can't be that to me.