IMO OP's criticism is a bit overblown. Not everything was terrible.

There are some positives. The launch really felt like bringing FF fans from all over the world together. From all the IG friends I made, every single one played mainline FF's. Majority of the communities have FF themed names and within people were discussing their favorite FF characters and which one they hope gets added next.

Of course this has calmed down after a few weeks because in the end it is a 3v3 arena mobile game without enough meat to keep people occupied, but it was still a nice experience. In contrast, atleast on EU DC, for me it is really rare nowadays to meet players who enjoyed FF's in the past.

Regarding your cricisim of the modern day outfits: Have you finished FFIV and seen the epilogue? Or seen the psp/DS remake intro for TAY? Kains modern day outfit is certainly not out of character. They have really done well for majority of the cast, making them feel in character, very much Nomura/FF-like and yet approachable for new fans. Tidus was added recently and his outfits screams early noughties cool highschool athlete to me. Clive has a motorcycle jacket and Light looks very fashionable.

Still: It was still an awful game and a waste of time. Wish they had made a successor to Dissidia 012 using these assets. Or just remaster it Square.