I agree with you to a point, there does need to be exploration, the fun of an RPG is exploring a massive world, crawling through dungeons, griding levels, the feel of an open ended game but knowing the story is there to get back to whenver you want and the wonder of what other treasures and secrets may be unlocked the farther you progress.
I loved the classic FF games (1-9) which got bigger and more expansive as you played through with more to discover and see. However some games make it feel forced, like you need to spend that time, find the stronger weapons, grind those levels and un-lock powers just to make the game fun and not hard.
FFVIII did do something right by giving you that choice, you could level up but the challenge would grown accordingly, you could also turn off random battles all together and fight monsters that would only level up your GF's and not you. Being able to customize your experience to your style was nice.
The main reason why I think square, and some others although squeenix is the most guilty, has strayed from the tradition is just that, it's tradition. They are worried the franchise is getting long in the tooth, and with people leaving and new blood comming in they bring in a new way to do things. Square has us hooked so now they can experiment knowing full well we won't stop playing but they hope to bring in gamers who have not been playing RPG's since they were 6.Of course at the same time they do alienate us as well, and we tend to gravitate towards the classics re-issued.
The question is, is this change our fault? I don't think so. Now it is true, we as gamers are more critical of what we play these days. That critical eye is what comes with time and experience, we're more savy than before. So it takes a lot more to please us, with that in mind it makes sense that RPG makers would want to try something different, especially since it looks to them like the turn based RPG is on the decline in favor of the action and mmo RPG. But i don't think it is in decline, at least not for a lack of desire. In fact it might be beacuse of extreme desire.
Face it we were spoiled, tons and tons of great RPG's over the last 20 years, it was their golden age. But if history has taught us anything all golden ages come to an end at some point. They just run out of good ideas and stick to what was successful in the past, putting enough spin on it to make it seem different. Of course we see that and ignore it.
Basically the RPG's we knew and loved....they have waxed and now are waining...however with time and paitence it will wax again.
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