Oh, this is another can of worms...
I don't see how anyone can say FFXII played itself. I've been through the game twice by now, and I can say that even with full gambits set I was still constantly overriding commands and changing gambits on the fly because what worked for one set of enemies didn't work for another. When you're just leveling up gambits do a wonderful job of taking care of the monotonous--the battles that, in other games, would have only required that we bowl the enemy over with rapid pressing of the X button. But the elite marks, the optional espers, and even the last few storyling bosses require more than just a well-set gambit. It needed some tweaking, I'll admit, but it was a good system.
Though I agree with your comment on Japan. But then, I'm finding that, with each passing year, Japan becomes less and less the absolute when it comes to gaming.