FFTA(2) are fine games.
They have issues, certainly. Some of the laws were silly (I'm fine with the idea of laws, but saying you can't damage Moogles when you're fighting an entire team of Moogles... yeah), the AI was horrendous (0% chance of success? I'll try it!), and things were hideously imbalanced (90% chance of causing Death or 90% chance of causing Stop... hmm, let me think), but they're not terrible.
--
No amount of planning will ever replace dumb luck.