To stray from topic a little bit - Yeah, I think XII's story was incoherent only because of Vaan and Penelo. I think the world of XII is much more interesting, from a lore perspective and what we know. I also think that I'm judging this based on all the Ivalice lore we get from the Tactics series, and from a lesser extent: Vagrant Story.

I think the reason I like XII's story so much is because it's similar to the reason I love Suikoden II. The story is more political, vs. evil thing destroying the world. Vayne isn't out to eliminate Ivalice, but control it and bring his version of Peace. Venat (I think that's his name), while having ulterior motives, also doesn't seem that hell-bent on pure destruction. (Memory will be refreshed with the XII HD release) Granted, there's plenty of plotholes with XII as far as what the hell the Occuria actually are, these espers being not-so-bad vs. the espers in Tactics, and yeah... But, for some reason, the story is a lot more coherent and memorable for me. I think it's because Balthier, Basch, and Ashe are such great characters, and the writing in XII is second to none - same with the Tactics rewrite for the PSP/Mobile version.

Back to topic: XV doesn't really do anything like this. I mean, I really don't know ANY of the motivations of ANY of the characters. VI's Kefka has one tiny hint meant to explain a ton - when he was first infused with magic, his mind snapped (soldier in Vector) and the fact that VI barely fit on a SNES cart - so I can forgive some of the plot-holes there. But, and again, I haven't completed the game, Ardyn is not fleshed out enough for me.

OH! And to vent about the treatment of women in this game:

What they do to Cidney is smurfing deplorable. They could have classed her up. Everytime she's washing the car and exposing cleavage, I can't help but think a massive dick-service to teens and male chauvinists everywhere. And in the big city across the revine that starts with an L - there's an NPC who talks about his lady getting a promotion, and that while he is happy, he now feels "less than" - WHAT THE smurf!?