Note: everything I say below does not apply to FF XI

I don't mind the non-random battles, i can live without that. My biggest beef with the game is the loss of control of my team. You can say all you want that the FF games have been evolving since the beginning, which I would agree with, but every FF game has always had one thing in common, and that is you have complete control over every member in your party. In the demo, for instance, it is completely possible to tell your character to attack one time and then do nothing else and you will win the battle. Where's the challenge in that? Honestly I don't have a problem with games that use AI controlled teammates but I have always looked to the FF games to provide me with my fix of team-based battles where I control every move. In previous games, it was a bit like each battle was a mini strategy game, you had to choose the the best time to heal, nuke, hang back, melee attack, etc. Now with AI controlled companions, they'll do it all for you; forget thinking and forget strategy. Yes, i could turn off gambit, but the problem there is that the AI still takes over and will just have your companions hack away. There's no notification that a turn is over and they're ready for a new command. Ah well, at least I've got DQ8.