This game has some weird things.

[Failia]

Tab targeting - If you angle your camera it so that it's over you, it may help. It would limit how many you see.

Animations - they were a lot more fluid in 1.0 I hear (I wasn't here then) but it was changed in 2.0 for performance reasons.

[Berethos]

Regarding melee animations - this is a compromise, basically. They have the animation play out without interrupting it or attempting some wonky moving of the legs and feet while the upper body is doing things while still allowing the player to move. 1.0 was more "fluid" in this regard in that you wouldn't see sliding, but that's because the entire animation locked you in place and had to complete before you could move again.

[Berethos]

Animations - they were a lot more fluid in 1.0 I hear (I wasn't here then) but it was changed in 2.0 for performance reasons.

I think it was more the game engine was changed for performance reasons, and how the current adaptation of the Luminous Engine that 2.0 uses does various animations is different than how Crystal Works (the engine for 1.0) does it. Plus design decisions like having animation lock or not having animation lock.

[Felis]

Tab targeting - If you angle your camera it so that it's over you, it may help. It would limit how many you see.

Animations - they were a lot more fluid in 1.0 I hear (I wasn't here then) but it was changed in 2.0 for performance reasons.

Also don't forget animation-lock.
During 1.x the character was forced to stand on place until the animation ended. If you activated a skill some seconds before Ifrit casted eruption under your feet you died because you couldn't run away.