Final Fantasy XII

[Trance]

I didn't like 12 much, so I'm really having high hopes for this one and Versus as well

[bobjoemac]

well I didn't HATE XII I just read SO much hype and PERFECT reviews and it didn't deliver :P

[Ending]

*Two days later.*

So much for FF12. I threw it away, since it made me feel quite unhappy after the first, mandatory betrayer basically raped all six of my party members single-handedly at 5% health. Worse, most of his HP and abilities came totally out of the blue. Speaking about cheating.

Even the turn of plot was so predictably 'meh.' Big fellow lands from the sky, takes what you had worked for during the last two hours, and then the betrayer beats the crap out of you. Fun. So much that I will try God of War instead. To think I wasted several download-hours to get this thing :/

Which is a shame, since it could had been a nice game if the story had been more involving, the challenges more fair, and the mechanics more rewarding. Frankly, I think the FF serie has, by now, proven that it's nothing but hot air coming from the fans.

[wsheit]

Originally Posted by Wordplay

*Two days later.*

So much for FF12. I threw it away, since it made me feel quite unhappy after the first, mandatory betrayer basically raped all six of my party members single-handedly at 5% health. Worse, most of his HP and abilities came totally out of the blue. Speaking about cheating.

Even the turn of plot was so predictably 'meh.' Big fellow lands from the sky, takes what you had worked for during the last two hours, and then the betrayer beats the crap out of you. Fun. So much that I will try God of War instead. To think I wasted several download-hours to get this thing :/

Which is a shame, since it could had been a nice game if the story had been more involving, the challenges more fair, and the mechanics more rewarding. Frankly, I think the FF serie has, by now, proven that it's nothing but hot air coming from the fans.

What? It sounds to me like you're venting after losing a battle. I know the feeling; you're having one of those days where you just can't beat anything and something comes as the final straw.

Yeah, FF12 has some challenge to it- thank goodness, but that doesn't make it a bad game. And if you're talking about the battle I think you're talking about....I don't recall that being tough at all. Have you done ANY of the hunting quests?

The story may not be constant, but what there is of it is quite good. What I want to know is, why don't I see this complaint leveled at the SMT games (though not Persona 3, I think)? Their stories take forever to establish as well. This isn't necessarily a design flaw if the gameplay is solid- and XII's is.

[Ending]

I don't mind the challenge or losing, but the way how it is done. Since both the background of the battle and the battle itself were bad, why bother? Games are supposed to be about fun -not pulling a nail.

Yes, I had done 7-8 hunts. Most of which were similarly tedious or, if you didn't grind enough before taking them on, impossible. I was more interested to see how the story goes, perhaps going after the harder parts at the second run.

[bobjoemac]

lol I agree on the boss I'll be SLAUGHTERING a boss then he'll have like 10% health left and I'm just murdering him then all of a sudden hes immune to physical or magical attacks has regen on and his strength increases 10 fold.... this happens ALL the times to boss' and hunt monsters it happened SO often that I simply would use my quickenings when they got to 20-25% health so I could kill them in one blow before they could use their super cheap invincibility move :S

Challenge is stuff like FF7 weapons ridiculous is fighting a boss then at 10 percent health he randomly becomes invincible and strength quadruples and he can suddenly kill a character in a single hit :S

[hobbes_fan]

Originally Posted by Onepiece34

By the way, one of the main thrusts of the argument is that there is no plot and that the characters are bland. So what? If I wanted to watch good plots and watch characters develop, I would see a good movie or Anime, or I would have read a book, THIS IS A GAME, PEOPLE, IT WAS MEANT TO BE PLAYED!? I mean, I didn't neccesarily like the fact that in FFX the cutscenes came so often that everything else about the game was just in the way for the next cutscene to watch some more character development. And then some more! I can see why you don't really like ffxii, but I played it, and I loved it, so it must be half-decent. I enjoyed PLAYING the game, not watching the cutscenes. Luckily, there weren't as many, but there were still a few, and that was okay, they got to the point of the cutscene and they stopped there.

A lot of Germans thought Hitler was a good thing in the 1940's, Did that mean he was half decent?
RPG= Role playing game, key word role. If you don't have any sort of attachment to a character why do you care what role he/she plays? If you think character development is only in the cutscenes, it isn't. Why are you wandering around fighting monsters? (especially when the fights are pretty much automated) What's the point? Who are you fighting or What are fighting for? But at end of the day if you hate the characters who cares what happens to them. They can go sit on a cactuar for all I care.
Not having a plot isn't a bad thing in a RPG. Take Oblivion for instance. There is a central plot but hey it's not that important because the side quests are well developed. It's not just fighting for the sake of fighting. There's a little bit of drama and intrigue.
I'm grateful I got to swap this for Valkyrie Profile 2, more brains, better story superior combat system.

[wsheit]

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

I'm grateful I got to swap this for Valkyrie Profile 2, more brains, better story superior combat system.

You're going to fault XII on story and suggest VP2 as a replacement ?!

THERE'S a game where the story has pretty much no place until the ending. You WILL spend most of your time grinding- especially if you want to get the chapter 3/4 bonuses.

I won't say it's not a great rpg- the visuals are beautiful and the battle engine is fun if a bit cluttered. I prefer XII, however. The only RPG of the past couple of years that rivals XII, IMO, is Tales of the Abyss.

[Deathwing]

yea FXII would have been a great RPG
if it wasnt for the lack of story
and the lack of character development
and the fact that if too many enemies showed up it lagged
and the utter lack of individuality of the characters thanks to lvling system
and the fact that it was like a MMORPG without the other players
so in conclusion it is an over hyped game and FF series has yet to turn out anything but crap since X.

[Eclipze]

Originally Posted by bobjoemac

It seemed there were only 6 monsters... ever... with different colour skins... wolf then a blue wolf then a wolf with a horn then a red wolf then a green wolf then a black wolf with a horn... I know this is a common thing in rpgs I just found that XII had VERY little monsters

FFX had the exact same problem. There's like...Iron Giant, Flan, Wolf, armored round-thing, Flying creature1, Flying creature2 (larger). Everything else is a repaint. Heck, it didnt even look like they bothered repainting Iron Giant's skins...just a rename.

Originally Posted by bobjoemac

Also once I figured out the gambit system 2 hours into the game battle followed this pattern

-character below 30% heal
-Steal from enemy *to make money*
-attack

Yea, except that this doesn't work in boss battles/hunts. People complain that the gambit system makes the game too easy, yet find the boss/hunt battles "too hard". Its not just grinding, its how you set up your gambits per character that will determine how well you will fare against those stronger enemies.

Originally Posted by bobjoemac

Challenge is stuff like FF7 weapons

Ultima weapon is easy if you use the proper members/materias. Emerald/Ruby weapons? With the proper set up, I can just start the battle, go play the PC for 25mins, and come back to claim my victory without doing ANYTHING, besides the first attack.

Its kinda hard to find a good challenge in turn-based RPGs...unless you create it yourself. Thats why things like "complete the game in 12 hours" (FF9) and "No-leveling game" (FF8) exists.

[ChibiDusk]

How is this game? All the reviews are fantastic, but final fantasy fans seem lukewarm to it. I am a big FF fan. I've played a bit of the 1st, and 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 10-2. I loved them all, in their own way. 6 and 9 would be the high points for me (due to massiveness of each...), 7 and 8 were quite good, and 10 is my favourite story-wise. Do you think I would enjoy 12? I rented it last year, and I quite enjoyed... the mini-games. I only made it about 3 hours in... but I dug it, a bit. The political aspects and confusing story-telling had me a bit lost. I never really got into it. But I'm asking... is it worth playing further into?

[mechalord]

FF 12 seem to have some elements that are popular in WRPGs mixed in It's more gameplay than actual story. It kind of reminds me of a Bioware RPG.

I liked it. It's different and this is why it gets so much flack. It was released to a fanbase that may not particularly care about MMOs or western RPGs. It probably hit some people like a brick. They wanted a more classic experience and got FF12 instead.

[Demongod86]

Originally Posted by ChibiDusk

How is this game? All the reviews are fantastic, but final fantasy fans seem lukewarm to it. I am a big FF fan. I've played a bit of the 1st, and 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 10-2. I loved them all, in their own way. 6 and 9 would be the high points for me (due to massiveness of each...), 7 and 8 were quite good, and 10 is my favourite story-wise. Do you think I would enjoy 12? I rented it last year, and I quite enjoyed... the mini-games. I only made it about 3 hours in... but I dug it, a bit. The political aspects and confusing story-telling had me a bit lost. I never really got into it. But I'm asking... is it worth playing further into?

No, not really. The story is very lacking, and FFX was better in every single way except maybe the battle system.

[Bandersnatch]

Battle system was awful too, gambits were a horrible idea. You can't really be that creative with gambits or the license board and in the end you pretty much run from enemy to enemy watching as they fight automatically with little to no strategy involved.

[wsheit]

Originally Posted by ChibiDusk

How is this game? All the reviews are fantastic, but final fantasy fans seem lukewarm to it. I am a big FF fan. I've played a bit of the 1st, and 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 10-2. I loved them all, in their own way. 6 and 9 would be the high points for me (due to massiveness of each...), 7 and 8 were quite good, and 10 is my favourite story-wise. Do you think I would enjoy 12? I rented it last year, and I quite enjoyed... the mini-games. I only made it about 3 hours in... but I dug it, a bit. The political aspects and confusing story-telling had me a bit lost. I never really got into it. But I'm asking... is it worth playing further into?

I'd say that a pretty good litmus test is: Did you like Knight of the Old Republic? If you haven't played it, shame on you. If you have and liked it, XII should be right up your alley. I think the two also share a deeper depth of storytelling that doesn't show up in some FF's (though I very much enjoy the series). But opinions on XII are all over the place; you pretty much have to come up with your own opinion.

As for me, it's tied with VII (my gateway RPG) for favorite J-RPG of all time.

[Sassarai]

FF12 plays like FF11 offline. If you like that MMORPG style of gameplay, then you'll love it.

Every FF game has its fanboys and haters. You just have to play it for yourself and decide if its your type instead of listening to others.

[Jays]

What can I say about Final Fantasy XII? It was my first ever Final Fantasy game to be quite honest, and one of few RPGs that I've ever played.

I have a somewhat bitter sweet relationship with it, at times I was dazzled by the story and setting, at others I was reminded of the clear JRPG stereotypes and the stupid combat rules. I could never seem to get into the game, or have an "Oh snap" moment, even though I devoted the better part of 150 hours spanning over a month and half into this game - it was summer and I had some time.

I like the combat, considering I've never been a fan of active turn based battling, or turn based at all - ie. my scorn at turn based RTS games. At times it some what felt daunting and downright ludacris when facing off against higher tier enemies, specially those Espers and the higher ranked marks. Specifically Yiazmat, which took me the better part of a week to prepare for a 3 hour long battle - video gaming why must thou test me!

All in all I thought it was a good game, but something about playing a 17 year old PlayGirl centerfold model, bothered me. I felt the dialogue, even in Japanese was some what dry and cut & paste. Even though I developed a crush over Ash, I can honestly say that it isn't a game I would go about replaying again.

[SeijiSensei]

I guess I missed the side quest where you get to see Ashe pose for PlayGirl (ooh, yuri!; maybe you meant Playboy?). I bet the boss you need to kill to get this outcome must be pretty tough. Or, do you have to defeat Basch?

FF XII is so unlike other FF games that I suggest you play another one soon. I'd recommend X myself; VII is the fanboy favorite, but X is still one of my top games ever. It's also an easier starting point for someone unfamiliar with Final Fantasy.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I guess I missed the side quest where you get to see Ashe pose for PlayGirl (ooh, yuri!; maybe you meant Playboy?).

I think he was referring to Vaan...

Originally Posted by wsheit

I'd say that a pretty good litmus test is: Did you like Knight of the Old Republic? If you haven't played it, shame on you. If you have and liked it, XII should be right up your alley. I think the two also share a deeper depth of storytelling that doesn't show up in some FF's (though I very much enjoy the series).

I'm a bit iffy about Knights of the Old Republic, but I agree with your opinion on the depth of FFXII's storyline. It's only a pity that Square-Enix dropped the ball halfway through the plot, but it was going quite well until then. I picked up the rest of the pieces myself, and was surprised to find how much deeper it goes.

But of course, that's only my opinion.

[Jays]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I guess I missed the side quest where you get to see Ashe pose for PlayGirl (ooh, yuri!; maybe you meant Playboy?). I bet the boss you need to kill to get this outcome must be pretty tough. Or, do you have to defeat Basch?

LOL. Actually I ment Vaan and his rediculously chiziled - and shiny as hell - abs. I thought the character design, with the exception of Ash, was a iffy and eccentric.