I cannot comprehend why some people prefer the old random battles to the new system. Nor how anyone can be stuck grinding in FFXII.

R2

Every previous FF involved horrible amounts of grinding because even if all you were going to do was run from battle you still had to deal with the annoying flashy screen of pain. In FFXII you don't have to grind AT ALL if you don't want to. And when you do grind, it's so much better than before, especially if you're challenging yourself and grinding on mobs much higher than yourself. If you can just sit back and let gambits do the fighting for you then you're not fighting mobs that are difficult enough.

However, as much as I don't understand anyone bashing the battle system, I can understand the problems with the story. The story just isn't as enticing as FFIX's or FFVI's. It's not as memorable as past FF's, I'll admit. I think everyone(myself included) was expecting one WOW moment after another, and FFXII's plot is not that kind of plot. But the fault is not with the game but with our expectations of it. Once I realized it wasn't going to be that kind of game I decided to take it for what it was, a more subtle approach to the old stagnant formula. It wasn't what I was expecting, but that's my fault. I'm used to simple, comic, cartoonish plots and SE has grown out of that. I guess SE assumed that its followers had grown up with it and could handle a more subtle, poignant plot.