I like what they did with the combat system in 12 (there was nothing more annoying then spending hours walking up a streight road with random monster encounters kicking in every half second, which happened sometimes in the earlier games) it is nice knowing where the creatures are and what type they are, however.... the story seemed to have been heavily 'borrowed' from star wars (yes I know star wars is a stolen story too but, honestly, how many of us actually watch japanise cinema) and the characters were pretty weak too.
Plus, having a boss with a billion hit points might have seemed a good idea on paper but when you have been fighting him for 5-6 hours and he suddenly regenerates several million in a few seconds it makes the whole thing a bit of a waste of time (I have tried killing him twice too)