Strangely enough it blew dead poodles.
For the overuse of the hero bit, I kinda saw it as something that was thrust upon Snow rather than him actually taking up the role or title and simply masquerading within the role to keep that image up for a variety of reasons; even if it means contradicting himself at times on certain situations. As far as I've played, it just seems he does not know what kind of hero he wants to be, or even be a hero in the traditional sense.
As for Vanille, again I'm surprised I'm not even bothered by her unidentified accent. I actually like that as it keeps me interested, though not sure about the spontaneous orgasmic sounds unless we've just have different experiences?
I think the biggest reason I'm rather easy going on FFXIII is basically because it's rated for Teens rather than some one in their early to late 20s or even mid 30's that are still gaming and playing Final Fantasy games.
Would FF13 be any better or worse had it earned the Mature rating for adults?