Dodging is random, and the percentage depends on what items you have equipped. There is pretty much no way to dodge manually, unless you somehow manage to get out of the range of an enemy (which is rare).
Despite the criticism that this game gets, and the fact that it isn't near the top of my list of FF games, I really like it.
I'm glad that the world map was removed. The new environments are much more to scale and it feels more like you're actually in the game world. My only disappointment with that is that you can't fly the airship any more, but I think the positives outweigh the negatives. Open-endedness is not an issue with 3D environments, as FFXII has proven. There are many paths you can take to go between areas, including a few secret (or harder to find) ones.
The removal of random battles is a welcome change too. It speeds up the whole process of battling enemies by removing the annoying transitions between them. It also gives you the choice of fighting enemies or not. If you don't feel like fighting, you can always try and sneak by them.
The battle system isn't the best though. Most of the time, physical attacks are the most effective. The only use I have for magic spells is to buff my characters. Damaging spells are too slow to be effective (most of the time). Espers are far too weak to be worth using too.
I think the loot system is great. There are a wide variety of different items in the game and I find it fun experimenting with what loot I can get from the different monsters, either by stealing or killing. Sometimes there's a surprise and you can steal a great weapon or armour earlier than you're meant to get it.
I don't really like the License Board either because it gives you too much control. You can fully complete it with every character if you want.
Gambits are OK because they're optional. I usually put Gambits on the two characters I'm not controlling and manaually control my main character.
Random chests are OK to some extent. I'd say a 20% chance of getting a certain item should be the minimum. Anything less is too low IMO, and can cause frustration.
I think I'll leave it at that lol.
