While it has become common knowledge that Basch was originally the main character, what most people forget, is that Vaan wasn't built from scratch after Basch's role was scratched. His design was actually created before Basch, according to the character designer, though his role wasn't yet solidified, so even if Basch had stayed in the leading role, there is a good chance Vaan would have still been in the game in some form or capacity. Besides, I don't really feel that Fran's role is any different or less important than say... Sabin, Red XIII, Quistis, Freya, and Kimarhi's roles were to their games. Fran at least allowed us to se what was going on with the Viera, and much like all the characters I listed, once their personal story is resolved, they are mostly dead weight in the cast, with no further character development. Penelo and Vaan are really no different, as Penelo's role is about establishing a relationship with Larsa and the party, since she is his contact to Lady Ashe; and Vaan is the typical young dreamer who finally sets off on a real adventure instead of just talking about it.

For me, I really enjoyed FFXII, I can't really agree on the weakness of the characters and story because I feel this is mostly a result of the pacing than the writing. There is actually a lot of dialogue between the characters and the games total cutscene time is actually longer than FFX's which was a title where you tripped over cutscenes every few steps. XII just allowed for their to be more breathing room between the story and simply failed to make the leash short enough to keep the player in check. Had the Yansea section been shorter, and perhaps beefing up the importance of the story segments in between going to Archades and Giruvegan. I don't think people would be whining as much.

While XII is certainly an incomplete game that is marred by corporate meddling and being rushed out of production (though it had been six years already...) I still feel the game came out better than expected under those problematic circumstances. It still came out as an actual ambitious title, with a more thought out world and game design than say its successor...

My main beefs with the game in terms of plot, is the pacing foremost and I do feel the ending is really rushed and a lot of the games narrative and themes go out the window after the Pharos. In terms of gameplay, my only beef is the awful treasure system and poorly designed Bazaar system. I would probably count the Espers as well, but considering I don't really bother with them in games whee they are practical, I guess I dodged the annoyance bullet there. I don't have any real gripe with the Mark Hunts, but I can agree the game could have had a few more mini-games, though hopefully not as crappy as Tetra Master and most of the games that came out of Spira. The Fishing mini-game was amusing though.