I loved this game. I do not think it's overrated because this game is criticized a lot for being not like VII and VIII. I remember fans moaning about the character designs, and the superdeformed style of the sprites.

That being said, I don't think it is the best in the series, or even close. The game has the best pacing of any Final Fantasy game and arguably the most creative towns/cities and dungeons.

However, the games battle system is completely weak sauce. Character customization is almost non-existent with the exception of toggling passive abilities learned off weapons. All of the characters have assigned skills, roles, and weapons and armor and abilities are learned from weapons and armor. Character development is just a matter of learning all the abilities off of all their weapons and armor. The only dynamic this system brings is an increased importance of collecting certain weapons and armor and the case were you would not immediately unequip a weapon or piece of armor for a superior version until you have learned the ability. Other flaws were wasted trances and slow battle speed.

Although I just completely ripped on the battle system and character customization system, I still love this game and it is in my top 5 Final Fantasies simply for it's amazing, fantastical setting, excellent plot pacing, and adorable quirky characters.