Wildly divisive games are an inevitability in game design. This is particularly true for huge franchises like Super Mario or Pokemon. It's pretty much impossible to have a perfect score across the board. When looking at the changes in talent working on franchises, many greats will cycle in-and-out of huge franchises. For the Final Fantasy series, which has it's fair share of divisive entries, the most divisive would have to Final Fantasy XIII.
Pitched stupidly as an ambitious multi-game narrative stretching across loosely connected titles, Fabula Nova Crystalis didn't exactly hit the ground running. On release, critics more spoke of its strengths, while fans focused on its weaknesses. In hindsight, it's honestly not that bad of a game if the player takes their time to soak the world and characters in. However, it's also home to a number of poorly written and designed characters. This list will discuss both.
10 Good Design: NORA
First, it should be noted that of the main series Final Fantasy games, this one has a relatively small cast of named NPC's. A lot of the development of the world is baked into ancient mythos, as shown in the datalogs. Aside from the chosen l'Cie, few other characters end up mattering. One group of those NPC's are NORA, Snow's neighborhood watch that gets roped into being revolutionaries. They play their role in the story perfectly, operating in the background to support Snow's efforts both before and after he turns l'Cie. While none stand out on their own, as a ensemble they have fun designs and just enough personality.
9 Needed Work: Yaag Rosch
Final Fantasy is a series known for its great villains. Titans like Sephiroth, Kefka, Emet-Selch, and others stand as great examples of how to write villains. Final Fantasy XIII has some of the weakest cast of antagonists in any Final Fantasy game. From a narrative perspective it makes some sense; the true villain are the nebulous concepts of fate and predetermination. However, that doesn't exactly make a very engaging narrative. Yaag Rosch, head of the PSICOM division, is lowest on the list here due to actually having a character arc of sorts. His weakness comes from his devotion to fighting the l'Cie despite the fact he knows everything was a lie.
8 Good Design: Oerba Yun Fang
One of the shining points of Final Fantasy XIII is that its main cast, once they're all brought together, is actually fairly strong. Granted, this is after around 15-20 hours of gameplay, but they did get there. Fang in particular is a character that most people will agree is incredibly solid.
She's driven by her desire to find and protect Vanille, and will do whatever it takes to keep Vanille safe. For example, Fang allies with Cid Raines and the military rebels called "The Cavalry" in an attempt to help locate and save the other Pulse l'Cie. On top of that, she's just a strong lady with great character design in terms of how she looks. She's easily one of the best characters in Final Fantasy XIII.
7 Needed Work: Cid Raines
Speaking of The Cavalry, this game's Cid is a poorly-written foil to the l'Cie. He was originally a bit of a revolutionary himself, working against the orders of the Cocoon fal'Cie to help humanity carve their own path. In a way, his goals originally mirrored that of the protagonists. However, he is turned into a l'Cie by the main antagonist and then just... does what he's told. He is moved by the party's convictions and tries to eventually fight fate himself, eventually turning into a monster. While that would be a fine end to his character, he's revived as a puppet of Barthandelus for a subplot that goes nowhere. Like the rest of the villains, a lot of is left desired.
6 Good Design: Sazh Katzroy
Another character that has a mostly positive reception would be Sazh. Sazh is a father of a boy, Dajh, who got unfortunately roped into the fal'Cie's conflict at too young of an age. Driven purely by the desire to help his son, Sazh willingly hops aboard the purge train and enters the conflict himself. Although he and Vanille attempt to escape the plot for a while, it eventually catches back up with them. Sazh has one of the more emotional and shocking moments of the story, although it doesn't amount to much in the grand scheme of things. Sazh alone is a much more likeable and relatable character than any of the other party members, even the good ones.
5 Needed Work: Jihl Nabaat
For anyone who has played Final Fantasy XIII to completion, odds are this character might not even ring a bell. Jihl's purpose in the narrative is so supremely squandered and wasted that it represents the game's inability to write a solid villain perfectly. There's a lot of mystery to the character of Jihl; she's the right-hand woman to the Primarch and his schemes. She helps to guide Sazh towards assisting in finishing Dajh's focus. She even helps to track down and betray Sazh's trust. There's plenty of potential in having her character develop as a threat towards the main party, but she just gets killed off randomly. She's an absolute waste of a character.
4 Good Design: Hope Estheim
Hope gets a bad reputation for being a whiny kid. However, there's a lot of great depth to his character. His immaturity towards the world leads him down a path of vengeance against Snow. This is enabled by him partnering with Lightning; she sees the world nearly identically to how Hope does. However, once Lightning catches onto Hope's endgame, they've already been separated.
The powers that be save Snow's life in the end, which in turn ends up saving Hope. Hope's resolve completely changes at this point. He finds meaning to his life in the end, even reconciling with his dad. There's a lot more to love with Hope than him being a bit annoying for the early portions of the game.
3 Needed Work: Serah Farron
Serah Farron is one of the worst characters in the Final Fantasy series. Her role in the original game is purely as a plot device. After all, bringing the party together is quite literally her Focus as a l'Cie. She's a very shallow character in terms of development, being devoid of any personality. She's more of a blank slate that Snow and Lightning both project onto. Stepping beyond the original, even in her starring role in the sequel, she's still a poorly written character. Despite the series's intentions as a story about "fighting fate", Serah has absolutely no agency to change her own. She's just a bad character overall.
2 Good Design: Chocobo Chick
This may be a bit of a surprise. There are still a few main cast members that are going to be left off of this list. The Chocobo Chick, however, is perfection in character design. There's a world of complexity to the Chocobo Chick's backstory and role in the story. It's not just a cute mascot; it serves as Sazh's connection to Dajh. The Chocobo Chick is one of the few things keeping Sazh going when everything in his life is falling apart. And, on top of that, there is a grand purpose to the Chocobo Chick that is just absurd enough that it works. It's both cute and a great character.
1 Needed Work: Lightning
Lightning had the most potential of any of the main cast. That makes the way they botch her character over the course of the series so much more depressing. In the original, a lot of characters depend on Lightning. However, she has a boatload of her own problems and personal trauma that she runs away from. She would be the best character to develop in future entries. Yet, as the series progressed, she became less and less detached from her own character flaws. Despite championing mankind making their own choices, she chooses to fight for another grand deity. Twice. It's just unfortunate that Lightning is remembered more for being a bootleg Cloud Strife because of how badly they wrote her character.