FFXII's Japanese Release

1up has coverage of the Japanese launch for Final Fantasy XII. The much-anticipated and very delayed game began sales yesterday, prompting more pictures of Japanese gamers in line. If you don't mind spoilers, they also have a fairly extensive preview based on the import version of the game. From that article: "FFXII begins with a stunningly gorgeous full-motion video which depicts a royal wedding in Dalmasca, a small kingdom wedged precipitously between the warring nations of Archadia and Rosarria. But the celebrations are cut short as Dalmasca is dragged into the war and the newlywed prince is felled in battle by an arrow, leaving one very bereaved princess to mourn her loss."

Comments

WARNING: SPOILERS

[Anonymous Coward]

Androgenous man-girl-thing gets together group of pals, who rid the land of evil. During this he/she manages to find love with another slightly more feminine lady-boy. The last boss is a bitch.

Also chickens you can ride on and little white cat things.

Re:WARNING: SPOILERS

[EggyToast]

Of course. You don't want the last boss to be so difficult that most people can't finish the story. It's why lots of games nowadays have "collectathons" that will grant some bonus or extra feature, but isn't necessary for the completion of the main game -- a way to flesh it out for more advanced players.

Looking back, I actually think it's one of the more unique elements of FF6. The last boss is actually pretty tough. Some of the other fights in the game are hard due to limitations or restrictions, but the 4-in-a-row boss fight took me about 3 tries before I beat it.

Of course, after I played a bit more I learned some tricks that made it easier (yay life 3) but it's still one of the harder fights in the game.

I'm gonna go way out on a limb here, folks, but...

[Hitto]

I wouldn't be surprised if THIS iteration isn't AGAIN about saving the world, emo / brooding characters, and, of course, plastically perfect female characters who exist solely to bring fanservice to the world.

I have stopped caring about the story in FF since it's been rehashing the save the world formula, but many many people keep insisting that the scenario is always deep and moving and whatnot.
What does the /. population think? Scenario? Standard generic fantasy anime fare, if you ask me.

So please explain why I should buy it. Better graphics? Nice cutscenes? Good music? How about the Gameplay? Is it any fun?

Re:I'm gonna go way out on a limb here, folks, but

[KrisW]

I'm not going to try to explain to you why you should buy it, especially since you don't seem too interested in the first place, but I'll tell you why I will.

I buy Final Fantasy games for one reason and one reason only - I like that kind of stuff. Even if it is "standard generic fantasy anime fare", hey, that's fine by me. Sometimes when something turns out to be exactly what you expected, it isn't a bad thing.

The combat system in XII seems like it could be a little wonky, but I thought the same thing about Star Ocean 3 and ended up absolutely loving that game.

Just my two cents.

Re:I'm gonna go way out on a limb here, folks, but

[Decessus]

I have stopped caring about the story in FF since it's been rehashing the save the world formula

Arn't most games somehow about saving the world, especially most RPG games? Simply saying that Final Fantasy is about saving the world is like saying Moby Dick was just about a whale.

The music is awesome.

[Audigy]

I ripped it last night, to PSF2 format. If you don't know what PSF2s are, you should probably research. They're the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Watch out for the remix of "Clash on the Big Bridge" :) I think it's track 91.

http://oddigy.com/

Hurry up and grab it before the Chinese leechers suck down all my bandwidth.

You're welcome.

Impression from the demo

[Puhase]

I playhed through both parts of the demo that came with Dragon Quest 8 and although I am skeptical, it will still be fun and that is what matters. I am one of those that enjoyed the menu'ed battle system and lament its loss, but the new system isnt terrible. There are a few holes that I think made it alittle too easy. I found myself "kiting" all the enemies with the ranged class character, (kiting being the process of casting a spell to slow a monsters movement/attack and then running it around as it gets beat down) which made everything but the boss fights very easy. Hopefully they have some nice ranged attack monsters and have removed some the ridiculous effectiveness of Time Magic.

In summation, the only thing new this time around is the battle system and I find it a fresh experience, although the jury is still out on whether it is "better".

If Sony knows what's good...

[ELProphet]

They will do everything they can to realize the following:

"One excited fan asked Wada to release a remake of Final Fantasy VII for PlayStation 3, to which Wada responded "We'll consider it." "

If there is ever a killer app for the PS3, it would be an exclusive FF VII. Right now, I am rather disgusted with Sony, but my love and support for Square-Enix would be enough to overcome that with FF VII. I would go so far as to saying it could rival Halo as a console seller (if done right; though I could still see Sony screwing it up).

Re:Final... really

[jbarlow]

Ok, so here's where my NES geek cred comes into play.

The very first Final Fantasy was Square's last game. They were almost broke, and had pretty much exactly enough money to produce one more title. Lo and behold, it boomed! They were immediately able to bring themselves back out of debt and start making new titles. In homage to the title that brought them out of their slump, pretty much every subsequent game has been a "sequel" of the original Final Fantasy, despite huge differences in plot, location, and characters.

I realise your post was probably just a joke, but hey, I had the info.