I think VIII had quite a few reasons to go into towns. The first is Triple Triad, which was always quite fun. Then there were numerous side-quests and little Easter Eggs hidden away. Then there is Winhill and Shumi Village which both have 2 side-quests each (if I recall properly), all of which were quite fun, as well as (especially in Shumi Village) fleshing out a lot of the characters (such as Laguna) and the Shumi people as a whole. So, don't really get your point for VIII.

X I understand a little bit more, although speaking to the people in towns and finding out how they've been affected by Sin again fleshes out some of the story. And I enjoyed playing Blitzball (I am a FIFA nuthead, so that could explain it) and needed to find players. And if you wanted other things to do, you could customise your weapons and armour and do other cool things too (sorry, I played X a long long long long time ago).

Whereas in XII, the only thing you really do, outside the main story, is hunt marks and fish. I know some people might dislike Blitzball and Triple Triad, but fishing is very lame. And hunting marks becomes very routine (and considering the optional bosses in VIII and X, not too unique to XII). Yes, the NPCs did adjust what they talked about, but really, it was nothing really special.

And the combat system in XII was relatively weak compared to X and X-2. Yes, it made for a more free-flowing game, but seriously, there was generally less thought and therefore less entertainment. There are 2 reasons why I explored XII: it is very pretty (but so is X) and I am very curious.

And as for linear games with cut-scenes, here are 3 words and a number to illustrate how good it can be: Metal Gear Solid 4