In Defense of FFXII

Next Generation has an article defending many of the somewhat 'controversial' decisions made in the design for the newest chapter in the Final Fantasy series. While it recieved a 40/40 from Famitsu, Final Fantasy XII has recieved some harsh criticisms for straying as far as it has from the Final Fantasy norm. From the article: "With Gambits turned on (and configured with just five minutes of commonsensical thought), battles go at least twenty times more quickly than in any other RPG. At their best, Final Fantasy XII's battles resemble rollicking fights in fantasy movies. The player merely directs his party through an area, freezing the action when he sees fit to make adjustments on the battle plan (stronger enemies appear, et cetera). This alone should be enough to qualify XII as a 'videogame.' The controller's vibration, for example, provides wonderful feedback. Yet players feel betrayed. They say, 'I want to press buttons.' They say, 'I don't want to watch my videogame.'"

Comments

Sounds more like a "Role Playing" game

[Jeff Carr]

I find it just a bit odd that Final Fantasy is seeming to be trending more towards the story aspects of the game, while the latest D&D isn't much more than a button masher.

Good for them!

Classic RPGs

[Eightyford]

Maybe it's time that the mainstream Final Fantasy games take a cue from FF Tactics, and add a little more strategy to the game. I wouldn't mind seeing a Zelda style, action oriented Final Fantasy game either.

Not planning on getting this one

[the_demiurge]

I've played Grandia III and the battle system is superb. Classic turn-based, no "active battle system", but the battles are fluid and full of motion and strategy. The demo for FF XII seemed exactly as the quote described (although a link to the article would have been nice...): the game plays itself.

I like RPGs not just for the story, but for the challenge of beating some bad guys using some tactical thinking. The demo didn't offer any thinking. I'll watch a movie or read a book instead if there's no meaningful interaction with the game.

Here we go again.

[Rob T Firefly]

Is it just me, or has pretty much every FF game changed something major that pissed off the fanbase to no end until they played it and possibly found it groovy? People bitched and moaned about FFX's sphere grid and Blitzball, FFX2's lack of blitzball, FF7's steampunk-over-standard fantasty, FF9's standard-fantasy-over-steampunk, the dress-up, the card games, the battle systems, etc, etc, etc...

I'm an RPG fan in general, and a Final Fantasy fan in particular. I like some of them more than others. The one's I'm not much of a fan of - wait for it, this is the good bit, the bit with "+1 insightful" written all over it - I don't play with anymore.

Re:Gambits Are *Awesome*

[Tridus]

Or you know, maybe they DID think that DQ8 was a good game? Just because you find something boring doesn't mean other people will.