IMO the newer FFs are far from bad.

But yes I do think they've gone downhill though, and I attribute it to the departure of Sakaguchi (and Uematsu when it comes to the music)
Whether that's right or not I don't know, I recall someone claiming Sakaguchi didn't have a lot of involvement in the first place, but funny how IMO it declined just after they left.

Playing Lost Odyssey, created by their newer company Mistwalker, only served to reinforce that theory as I found it delightfully awesome.