I prefer each character having a set role like in FF IV or IX; when everyone can do everything like in FF II or the original FF XII it just becomes super boring. I also don't really like being given choices about what stats to level up and would prefer if the game did it for me as I'm always afraid I'll end up butchering the character somehow. (It bothers me that Pokemon get different stats depending on what enemies they defeat; I don't have time to be dealing with that to make a perfect competitive army.) FF X was a nice compromise as everyone starts out class locked, and unless you are specifically trying to max them out or do every endgame sidequest it's unlikely they'll be too far outside their sphere grid by the time you beat the game (except Kimahri, his sphere grid is too tiny). F V was also kind of nice in the compromise zone as you could only combine 2 classes at most up until you got mimes and freelancers, which kind of ruined it for me. I feel like the compromise route appeals to a wider audience, but I personally prefer Tales game style characters where it's more "you are this class, and that's it."