I agree with you antlanteay. Experiencing the storyline was like hopping onto a roller coaster- it moves forward up the hill, up- up- up.... finally, you get to the top of the first hill and - THE END.

It seemed so abrupt, that I found it hard to believe when I saw my last file had 100+ hours. I think they just put so much energy into all the other stuff that the story's progression and cohesiveness suffered.

When I think of the characters, I don't feel like there's anything there to connect with. Not necessarily because they aren't interesting, but because, even at the end of the game, they all still feel somewhat like strangers to me. It's really kind of disappointing...

Luckily, I get enough enjoyment out of the leveling/collecting/developing aspects of FF's that it somewhat levels out, for me anyway.