What worked in this game

[Edge7]

I think I would've loved the cast of FFXII had the original director carried on to the end (not his fault, the stress of the project made him ill); the only real problem I have with the cast is Vaan (I don't even mind Penelo). They're drier than previous characters, but 5 years after buying the game, I appreciated the subtlety they put in the characters.

FFXIII on the other hand took a handful of characters and applied one basic feature to them.
Lightning-Confident (but to the point she comes off as stuck up)
Snow-Shounen Hero
Vanille-Perky
Hope-Adolescent (which implies impressionable, emotional, with need for a parental figure)
Fang-sassy, I guess? (I felt like she was done a little better than the rest)
Sazh-Old/aging. (As much as I like Sazh, I think it's less because "he's a very well written character", and more because "he's one of the smarter characters". But he attributes everything about his character that I liked, to being old).
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Well, that was my rebuttal, here's my concession.
-Graphics, moving on
-I liked the stagger system; it was probably my favorite feature, although I wished it varied from enemy to enemy. So, rather than just using magic to increase the gauge while physically attacking to stabilize it, change up the enemy weaknesses. Another thing I'll admit is that staggering enemies with a party of ravagers (especially when it was just Sazh and Vanille) is about the most satisfying feeling ever; because that requires timing.
-I liked the concept of different moves costing different ATB gauge chunks, but I imagined that would lead to more varied fighting. Instead, it just means attacking 4 consecutive times. To clarify, I originally pictured a system similar to FFXII (except the ATB gauge fills when a decision is not being made) where, if you felt so inclined, in one turn, you could attack, then cast a low level spell, and maybe follow up with another low level spell. Or you could use a medium level spell, then use an item (which could also vary in the amount of ATB gauge each item costs costs). This was what I pictured back in 2007 though.
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Oh God, I hope it doesn't seem like I was complaining too much. I really do like these things, it's just that I'm saying how I think the ideas that I did like could be improved upon.