Quote Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno View Post
XII actually did better in the West than it did in Japan in both sales and reception. While it was not received as well as FFX over here, it was generally well received compared to XIII initially. History has largely vindicated XII in the last eight years among the Western fanbase.

We don't get Lightning's appeal out here. It's not that Westerners hate her but it seems to me we don't really understand why she's such a break out character in Japan. Likewise, Sahz is kind of her parallel as he doesn't rank very highly in Japan (hence why he rarely shows up in the XIII sequels) whereas he's a largely well respected character in the West.
I think you are letting personal perception color these a bit.

XII has never been listed as one of the top games in the series. It hasn't been "vindicated by history", it's just that XII's fanbase has coalesced into a single group, while those who hate it have moved on to other, better games. There is still a huge majority of gamers and Final Fantasy fans who will dismiss XII out of hand if you mention it. The discussion on it is largely positive because only people who like the game bother to discuss it anymore. Final Fantasy VI and VII still get haters because they are games that are largely considered fantastic by the majority of series fans (or RPG fans in general). XII has always been considered mediocre, so it is not a game that needs to be torn off a pedestal in the minds of those who hate it. Most people who dislike the game just moved on and forgot about it.

Also, while Lightning may not be nearly as huge over here as she is in Japan, there are still tons of gamers who list her as a favorite Final Fantasy character. FFXIII failed over here far more because of the linearity and nonsensical plot than it did the characters. A lot of the characters were incredibly popular. Snow, Sazh, Lightning, and Fang are all listed among a lot of people's favorite characters. Maybe not among the core Final Fantasy fans, but among a lot of gamers in general? Definitely so.