My first FF: X
My fav: X

I think I see why you have stuff against X. You like the old school, not extremely linear story. I like my rpgs easy. I have to say I'm a beginner. Maybe thats why I thought VII was kinda slow paced. I still beat it for the heck of it. (heh heh, dont ask Cloud_Strife_X about it tho) But I wouldn't want to play it again, whereas I'm on my third time on X. Maybe you are right. Since X was my first FF its twists seemed like the norm. And since you really liked VII, you didn't like the changes in X, imo.