They both have experimental battle systems that turned out to be highly abusable and basically break the game even if you weren't trying to do so.
He's right! But also he forgot to mention that they're also pretty fun - again, which he did mention, as long as you don't grind. Being a JRPG, though, grinding is kind of the norm so both games were doomed from the beginning.

You should definitely play 2. The battle system has that realistic tang to it that anyone who isn't a soulless nerd can appreciate. It also represented a prototype movement away from the typical JRPG build that would be cemented with the job system during the next installment (the interchangeable job system).