The point about Uncharted 2 where all the really fun action-packed stuff happens outside of cutscenes is a good one. Too much important stuff happens in modern FF cutscenes that requires no input from the player. FFXIII-2 will attempt to fix this by allowing player dialogue choices similar to games like Mass Effect.

Final Fantasy XI had no voice acting and it was quite an immersive game. So I'm with you guys on this one. However, I do think voice acting has a place in RPGs. Square just needs to get away from the 'walk here, have a cutscene, walk there, have a cutscene, fight a boss, have a cutscene' formula.

It's really easy for SE to take specific criticisms like 'the maps are too linear' and adjust for that, but I think issues like these that go towards more general concepts like immersion are the forefront of the problems veteran FF fans have with these modern games, and these are much more difficult problems to address, especially if the developers just don't 'get it'. In fact, this is what I anticipate FFXIII-2 will exactly be--a response to specific criticisms that doesn't address the more general pressing issue of tone and overall playability.