Metal Gear Solid had a lot of cutscenes, no side-quests, no towns, etc etc. I hope you're not suggesting MGS is a bad game.

Play a game on its merits. Just because its not following the same formula as previous Final Fantasies does not in itself make it a bad game. Yes, I would like an old-school Final Fantasy at some point (and am hoping that Versus might be exactly that), but I am mature enough to go and rate XIII based on what it does well and what it does badly.

Honestly, if you just want new games to be the same as the ones in the PS1 and earlier era, go play those. You can buy FFVII & VIII off the PlayStation Network, and most of the earlier ones you can get off the interweb. And IX should be released on PSN soon as well. Then you can play as much as you want of the same.