It's better than some idiot calling gameplay elements lifted from Chrono Cross 'new terrible game mechanics'.
I've never played Chrono Cross, but if it also has a horrible auto-target feature that works against the player, then it is also a terrible game.
However, a more likely assumption would be that you're referring to the AP system as you've mentioned before, in which case I have to say that I really wasn't bothered by that element. It works well enough, even if I don't find it to be particularly compelling myself.
It simply doesn't manage to do anything to compensate for all the flaws in the gameplay, such as the aforementioned auto-target, the other overpowered abilities such as Lux and the boss fights being either excessively difficult or incredibly easy based on which specific specialized equipment you bring along.
Indeed, I had mentioned a plurality of "new terrible gameplay mechanics", and I can understand being confused about which mechanics this would refer to, but I would still consider it highly erroneous to immediately assume that I talk about each and every mechanic present in the game, instead of just a few that manage to strongly outweigh any enjoyable mechanics present.
That game breaks at Dual Wielding Multi-shot Counter Novice classes.
Quite. Final Fantasy has never been anywhere near difficult or balanced.
But still, I would draw a distinction between a game being broken through a particular combination of skills that possess synergy to the point of offering overwhelming power, and a singular class that might as well have a giant "I win" button stapled to it.
The former is a predictable consequence of a versatile class system, and the latter is an indication that they simple didn't care or happened to be extremely drunk. It's the kind of incredibly obviously design oversight that I might overlook in a title like Etrian Odyssey, but would be utterly unacceptable for a game carrying the Final Fantasy label, as it has to be able to stand up to its predecessors, which The 4 Heroes of Light completely failed at.