I think Final Fantasy IV had the best pacing in many areas! Not only was the story served to you in even chunks throughout the game, keeping things interesting with the narrative growing more and more as it went on, it also requires next to no grinding as you move between areas (as long as you don't flee too much), giving you a steady pace from start to finish! I mean, sure, by today's standards the story is nothing spectacular, but having played through it again recently I have a newfound appreciated of how solid a package it actually is.