I honestly think FF9 had by far the worst battle system of the entire series, barring the NES games which I haven't played yet, and it's the only battle system I would actually call "bland and uninspired". It's just so painfully, agonizingly slow even when compared to its predecessors, and did nothing to innovate unlike every FF before it. Also I never understood why people trout on FF7's plot, especially after the first disc. Is it because of the tone change and plot twists? Because 9 was hardly any better in that regard, especially when you got to Zidane's home world.