I have almost 30 hours on my file now. A few comments:
1. The license board is a really great idea, but I still don't get why they didn't allow you to see the skills ahead of the skill you're buying. What's the point? So you can buy skills and screw up your characters if you go the wrong way? At about 20 hours into it I finally decided to make 2 mage type characters which has made healing a lot easier. I want 2 fighters, 2 archers, and 2 healer/magickers, and it's taken me 20 hours to figure out how to make them that way because of the hidden values on the license board. I actually recommend using a strategy guide for the license board -- but nothing else. I've also yet to use any type of quickening versus a boss because I simply didn't have them. There's a couple of boss fights that took 20 minutes to beat. Now THAT'S a sense of accomplishment.
2. The graphics in FFXII are good, but the long-range graphics are quite muddy and are in need of some serious anti-aliasing. Some parts are simply amazing, while some areas look like a first-year PS2 game. It seems that when the graphics are up close, they look amazing, but if you look beyond 20 feet they're super muddy. Playing on a high-quality TV does help but not by much.
3. The characters are freaking awesome. The judges are so badass.
4. I love the combat system. It's way more entertaining than any previous FF (even the classics). The license board having hidden licenses is annoying, but definitely not game breaking. The gambit system that allows you to program your allies' moves are great. FFXII is basically like playing an MMORPG with a full party -- by yourself (no joke). You have a main tank, a healer, a DPSer, etc. The best part is that with the license board, you can make your characters any way you want them. My Fran and Ashe are healers, while Basch and Penelo are DPSers with maces, with Balthier being an archer, and finally Vaan being a mix of DPS and tanking. I could switch any of that around if I wanted to by buying licenses for different areas.
5. The music is great. I'd say it's just as good as FF10's. Some of the music is FF7 quality.
If you're any type of Final Fantasy or RPG fan, buy this game. It's totally worth it. One last thing: leveling up is FUN! Once you find a place to gain levels and get loots for gil, using the gambit system actually makes the usual boring, repetitious leveling in FF games entertaining.