It's not any single thing that makes an FF feel like an FF, it's many things: Chocobos, Summons, Uematsu music, to name a few. While FFXII is lacking a few of these things, it didn't reach critical mass for me. In FFX-2 it did.

It does have some serious drawbacks, including the random treasure chest system, the way the Zodiac Spear was handled, and especially the Bazaar. But overall, that didn't ruin the experience for me.