I loved the geo-political drama involved in XII. It certainly seemed very much like a world fraught with strife, particularly when viewed from the occupation of Dalmasca.

As for VII, I thought the majority of the commentary and references were about the 20th century in general. Particularly the concept of mega-cities taking over rural areas where people fell out of touch and lost a sense of belonging to a community, while the cities drift on and on for ever and our natural world is destroyed in the name of progress.