Nah. Ivalice is the goat Final Fantasy world, and the level design is top notch. The gambit system takes some getting used to, but is very good once you get the hang of it. I guess the story is somewhat hard to follow, but not much more than 7 thru 10's storylines. Never understood the Vaan/Penelo hate tho.
I actually really like PLAYING XII its when you have to listen to anything that makes it dumb as hell. Which for an RPG can ruin a good game.
Also, Vaan is a pointless protagonist. He's got the thinnest of connections to the main plot, he and Penelo are just tagalongs who add nothing to the world. It would been better to just make it about Basch or Balthier and call it a day.
And the level design is "okay", its high point is probably the Great Crystal...which is basically Via Purifico.
But the battle system is on point. I can't put that on it.