Those scans are zomg.
Never played FFXII before, so I can't comment on its quality. However, I feel given a few years, it will be seen as a messageboard darling for trying something new, kinda like Majora's Mask or something (since that seems to be the way internet counterculture works). So don't fret, kev. 
Majora's Mask is the best Zelda. FFXII is the worst FF.
That's the game trying to tell you to use gambits. It's a necessary part of the game. Also, Wait/Active/Fast/Slow is not about different play styles. those are basically the difficulty level setting in FF.
I thought everyone agreed that FFXII took away the illusion of control that's present in most FF games. So instead of hitting X a thousand times to tell party members to do the same shit, you set up a general plan with gambits, then micromanage characters when necessary.
Himumumu + BrandNew = too dumb to figure out XII confirmed.
I don't like gambits though. I think they make the game too boring.
My FF and rpg playstyle in a nutshell: Highest speed, active. Limit characters to specific roles and equip only specific equipment.
At the outset I did this:
Vaan - Assassin; thief that could equip swords and daggers, light armor.
Ashe - White Mage, summoner; could only equip wands, stavs, balances, robes, light armor. Only learn white and green magic.
Balthier - Gunner/Archer; can only equip bows and guns, light to mid armor, no magic except basics like Libra.
Basch - Dark Knight; can equip all types of swords, axes, lances; can learn dark magic, emphasis on heavy armor.
Fran - Red Mage; can use all types of magic; equip light and mid armor; uses 1h or 2h swords but nothing extremely heavy.
Penelo - Black mage; can only use black magic, equips wands, stavs, and balances.
Despite all of these limitations I put in my party, they still all felt the same. The license board, due to how it is designed disabled me to make my own custom characters. Some of them learned things I never wanted them to learn just so I could get to what I DID want them to learn. I'm anal like that. The game forced its own play style on me without allowing me to play the way I always play rpgs. This is why FFXII is a failure. I ended up using Fran, Balthier, and Basch as my main team the entire game. Everyone else is like level 7 or something. They're like level 40's and 50's.
Even in FFVI, VII, and VIII, games that are often commented as having copy pasta characters I don't teach the characters same stuff. in FFVI I ONLY teach Celes and Terra spells from espers. Everyone else uses their own skills.
The last game of FFVII I played, I made Cloud my general red mage; he could ONLY equip healing and attack magic, on top of things like hp plus and 2x cut. Red XIII was my beast master; he could ONLY equip materia related to monsters -- whether it be enemy skill, summoning, or even manipulating them. Yuffie was my general luck based character; she could ONLY equip Throw, and materia like Frog or Mini. All of them totally different, but with roles that fit their characters in the story.
In FFVIII I played last time, Squall was my general tank; HP high in the thousands, ridiculous accuracy and strength stat; he could ONLY uses str-j, hp-j, def-j and status atk-j junctions. I gave specific GF to compliment this style so he could learn things such as Darkside, stuff that's TOTALLY Squall. Selphie was my white mage; she could ONLY junction mag-j, and later hp-j. Her role was using white magic the entire game. Since her limit break is totally luck based, I also made her my thief, and my card-er. Her role was to keep the party in check, whether it be card every enemy I come across (my playstyle in FFVIII, not kill them), steal rare items for the party, and keep their hp up. Rinoa was my black mage, summoner. Which is totally Rinoa given her limit break and what happens in the story. Irvine was my berserker; Irvine throughout the story is a man who is always laid back but I always got the feeling he had a more sinister side since he's such a womanizer. Thus he was a berserker. He could ONLY junction to str-J. Zell was my monk, he could only junction to str-j and def-j, his gf abilities included Counter and Cover. Quistis was my blue mage. Basically, I kept her hp low every time I used her so I could use her blue magic. She could ONLY junction to mag-j.
Now see where I'm going here? See the multiple ways I could play with the characters in the FF's before FFXII? That's what I mean by play style. FFXII, though, is the only FF where I can't play it the way I want. This is why the game design is broken and incomplete, it doesn't allow players to the play the way
they want to due to 1. the shitty customization 2. the strong emphasis on gambits.
I figured out FFXII. It's not hard to figure the game. It's just that the game is easily the most boring high budget jrpg I've ever played. I'd rather play Suikoden IV or Xenosaga II than that game.
