[Phoenix Gamma]

Vaan was added per order of the SquareEnix execs who felt Basch wasn't a lead who could resonate with women, their most popular audience in Japanland. It was supposed to be about Basch being betrayed by his brother, being sentenced, escaping, and righting the wrongs that were done over the years, which stuck in the final game but was downplayed when Matsuno left the project out of spite.

Once the party is formed proper, Vaan really doesn't say a damn thing; it's about Ashe and Basch. At that point, he really stops being annoying and just becomes a perspective for the player. And there are waaaaaaay more retarded FF characters.

As for FF12 being political, I'm totally for it. Matsuno specializes in that (FFT, Tactics Ogre), and quite frankly the "ragtag group of teens fight a wizard who wants to be a god and send us up the bomb" is overplayed and pretty juvenile once you're no longer 13 and listening to Linkin Park. In FF12, if the good guys lose, everything pretty much stays the way it is (a world post-bad-guys-winning). And the political influence lends to some pretty great characters like Larsa and and Cid. Even Balthier had a history with the Judges.

Lastly, Zodiac International changed the license board. It's generally considered the superior version if you have the means to emulate/burn it.