So, I decided to powerlevel, and by powerleveling, I'm actually finding that I'm enjoying the game a lot more this time. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I probably disliked the game my first attempt for two reasons: 1) I was trying to get through everything too quickly, and 2)I expected it to be like FFX.
As a result of powerleveling, I've had to do what Bolivar suggested: explore A LOT. And I think it's great! Obviously, the explore aspect wasn't the same in the other FF titles, as this one is especially huge and beautifully detailed. So, I'm now understanding that this game is a very different sort of experience from the other FFs I've played, and I can appreciate it for what it is. I'm also paying a lot more attention to the narrative details, and reading the bestiary and stuff, and I'm impressed with all the detail. I'm also glad I chose to do the powerleveling strategy...it's nice to totally 'own' all the enemies.
I still have yet to see much of the story, so I can't pass judgement on that. However, I can sort of see why Vaan's role is the way it is. Most of Ivalice is new to Vaan, just as it's new to the player. You discover everything as he discovers it, and though this isn't much different from other FFs, the other player-characters had the entire save-the-world story revolve around them. Since this is a political storyline, I'm not entirely sure that Square could have given us a 'newbie' player-character. I might not be phrasing this well, but I feel this storyline necessarily includes key characters who are already worldly and knowledgeable of everything. So, if Square wanted a main focus of the game to be exploration and discovering Ivalice (which may or may not be true ), it wouldn't make sense to have us take on the role of a key participant in the political struggle. We get Vaan...the observer.
I'm sure most of what I've just written has been expressed more eloquently or quashed viciously elsewhere...but I just wanted to give my 2 cents.