Oh, sorry if I gave off the impression that I actually believed the stories and characters have declined. I've frequently mentioned that XIII, for me, had the best collective group of playable characters since VII or possibly ever. I for one liked the storyline, too, and love the mythology. But I still think they should look at getting in a new author in for the next game purely on the basis of being original and creative. I'd just be very interested in seeing them become more global in their scope when it comes to storylines, taking themes (for both story and visuals) from obscure areas of the world. I understand many of their stories are still to this day based on Japanese folklore.