I don't know what it is, but I cannot get emotionally involved in any Final Fantasy pre VII and I think it is simply because of timing.
I am a fast reader and I have a tendency, when words come on a screen, to read them quickly and then move on to the next set of words. The problem with that is that drama, a key element in any of the Final Fantasy games (okay, fine, melodrama) is very sensitive to timing. By simply reading the words, it disrupts the timing, the drama and ultimately the impact of any of the events in the game. Now, FFVII through IX didn't have voice acting, which is probably the best way to get the intended timing of a line across, but they did force some phrases to stay longer on the screen, some phrases to take longer to appear and for there to be large gaps of silence to heighten tension, something previous FFs didn't (couldn't? maybe) do.
I'm not saying that this makes them inferior games, but it's impossible for me to care about their stories because I can't get a sense of the drama of any particular moment. X, X-2 and XII didn't have spectacular stories, but I was able to be more engaged with those games because the voice acting allowed there to be some sense of timing to the lines that increased the moment.
So, yeah. I understand that it is pretty much my own damn fault but there you go.
On topic: I am replaying the Xenosaga series for PS2 because I got through 1 and 2 and almost finished 3 but then didn't and completely forgot what the fuck was going on in those games.