For me, there's no definition to these characters. In games like VII, X, and XII the characters resonated with their surroundings. For example, FFVII had crude, manga-like designs to suit the cyberpunk scenario.
In FFXIII, they look like generic anime characters derived from previous FF games.
I look at Vanille and I can clearly see FFX-2 Yuna. Snowe instantly evokes images of Seifer with his white trenchcoat, blonde hair - and even the KH Seifer wore a beanie! Add to that the main heroine uses a gunblade, I think the game looks lazy and uninspired. Final Fantasy should be about bringing all kinds of worlds and characters to life. Not changing the story a little and throwing the same dated ideas into it.