So its not technically about age, its about maturity. I'd have to agree with both. Genius and level-headed twelve year olds is a little too unrealistic for me. That's right. Calling magicaly monsterous and damaging creatures out of thin air is more believable than a pre-teen who can understand politics

That might be why I liked 7 so much. Previous FFs did have mature characters, but they were sprites, they always looked like kids. Everything was "mature" about 7, the characters, the story, the mood, the look. I too am 25, but I'm getting tired of the stereotype coming of age crap too. Playing as kids gets old. Which is why I quit XII I think. Too much time as Vaan. I can't imagine a kid having the mental discipline and maturity to handle all this traveling and saving the world. If they're going to have kids they need to be selfish and disassociated and stuff. JRPGs are trying to have their cake and eat it too