My favorite in the series.

I'm aware it has flaws, but this is true for all games. And perception can easily play a heavy role in what is classed as a flaw. For example, i liked that the characters weren't explored too deeply. You know exactly what you need to know. I always found games like FFVII to be suffocating with the depth of their characters. Constantly showing the characters react to every tiny advance they make, and forcing us through flash backs to further show how the characters have evolved, it drags down the pace to help the player build a connection with them. But not everyone will connect with all the characters. Usually in a FF game, i'll only like half of the playable characters which means half of the character depth is an annoyance i don't care for.

As for pace in FFXII, that is really up to how you play the game. If you're like me and spend hours in dungeons treasure hunting or chaining monsters, then yes, the pace suffers. But if you move through dungeons swiftly then no it doesn't.

But the favorite part for me is the control. If i want to create a party with specific roles, or divide abilities between characters evenly that's my choice. If i want to just control one character and let gambits handle the other two, or if i want to control all three characters, or let gambits do it all, that's my choice. If i want to take a break from the plot and hunt marks, go fishing, treasure hunt or whatever, then i can do that. I can play the game the way i want, customization ftw.

I disliked the quickening and esper systems, which were horribley executed, but everything else is perfect for me specifically. The music, the graphics, the plot, characters, battle system, everything was perfect