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Final Fantasy XII Review
The Final Fantasy series is almost twenty years old. When Square developed the first title in the series, the game's name was meant to coincide with designer Hironobu Sakaguchi's retirement. Instead, the game's popularity set the stage for a series that has now reached twelve 'main' titles and more than half a dozen offshoots. Almost everything about the series has changed over the years, except for popularity and a generally high level of quality. Final Fantasy XII has changed almost everything from the series norm, except the quality. The result is a game that very well may be considered the best Japanese RPG in years. It's a smarter, more adult, and absolutely beautiful title; the perfect balm for anyone not taken with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion . Read on for my impressions of the newest and most ambitious chapter of the Fantasy that's never quite Final.
With a game as lengthy as Final Fantasy XII, a decent story would quickly become boring if you had to slog through the gameplay. In my estimation, though, the originality breathed into the tried-and-true combat system has transformed this series. Taking the best elements of the older turn-based battles and the auto-attacking tendencies of Final Fantasy XI, FFXII offers a welcome new approach to RPG combat. For starters, there are no 'random' attacks in FFXII. Monsters wander around dungeons in all their beautiful graphical glory, and whether to engage an enemy or flee is up to you. It's a welcome change, forgoing the frustration of random encounters dogging your steps on an overworld map.
The real innovation here, though, lies in the 'Gambit system'. Each character has a certain number of Gambit slots. Each Gambit slot can be loaded with a specific command, with an extremely simple programming-like syntax allowing for some surprisingly complicated maneuvers. When loaded up, these Gambits dictate the actions of the characters within the game world. A Gambit could say 'If an Ally's HP is less than 80%, cast cure on them.' As you progress through the game, more esoteric criteria become available. Some allow you to target enemies based on their weaknesses, while others look for allies with detrimental conditions. This combat system can be overridden at any time with the simple push of a button, allowing the precision of a turn-based approach and the speed of the Gambits. Taken as a whole, Gambits allow the player to leave more of the 'nitty gritty' to the rules you've laid out. You don't have to make sure every character is healed up after a battle; they'll take care of that themselves. This frees you up to stay appraised of the whole battlefield, and in general means more fun per moment for the player. If this sounds like things are 'too easy', it should be pointed out that Gambits should either be heavily tweaked or turned off before boss battles. These non-stereotypical fights almost require a return to the series' turn-based roots, so that each character can execute the most efficient set of instructions possible. Gambits allow a wonderful blend of control and gameplay, and definitely aid in making the title the powerhouse that it is.
Other gameplay elements should be familiar to Final Fantasy players, but have received some additional tweaking. Each character can have their abilities focused by gaining new abilities and permissions on 'the license board'. License board points are obtained by defeating monsters, similar to but separate from the traditional experience points. While gaining levels does make a character stronger, it's the application of license points that makes them more versatile. A character focused on casting spells, for example, fills in the spellcasting part of the board with their points. There are board areas for weapons of varying types, armor, spells, simple stat buffs, and unique abilities called 'Technicks'. These last are non-magical moves that can produce a variety of quirky effects. One throws money at enemies to cause damage, while another damages opponents randomly based on what time of the day it is. These abilities, spells, and equipment are trained on the license board, but are unusable until actually purchased. While gil (the game's currency) is obtainable 'straight' from monsters, the most common way of paying the bills is by selling loot. Loot drops from monsters, and exists for no other purpose than to be sold for money. Entertainingly, you can increase your chances of gaining loot by 'Chaining'. Slaying several monsters in a row, all of which are of the same creature type, will allow you to start a loot chain. The more creatures you kill in a row of the same type, the better and more copious amounts of loot you'll receive. I've gotten chains up over 150 creatures, and by engaging in this entertaining activity it becomes easy to get the money you'll so desperately need.
Graphically, Final Fantasy XII may be one of the finest titles ever to grace the PS2. There are, of course, some jaggies and obvious pixilations. Despite that, the unique art style utilized to show off the world of Ivalice is absolutely breathtaking to behold. Character designs are iconic and memorable, while very distinct architectural styles makes it easy to understand where you are and differentiate from where you've been. They don't pull out the stops with well-imagined location concepts either, moving you from rotting tomb to scorching desert to a city floating on an island in the sky. Weather effects change locations you've been to previously, adding additional layers of complexity to an already quite dense graphical palette. Musically, the game stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the works of Nobuo Uematsu, the traditional composer for the series. Despite not being done by the master, Sakimoto's work has the same haunting weight and presence we've come to expect.
Given that the PS2's successor launched commercially in the U.S. today, it's fitting that the last-gen Sony system would see titles such as this be published on the way out the door. Along with titles like Okami and Bully, FFXII is the last gasp of a true winner in the world of videogames. The PS2 won the last generation exactly because of games like this. At the end of the day, it's not marketing or hype that makes a game great; it's solid gameplay, an engaging story, and an attractive presentation. Final Fantasy XII proves that you don't have to be 'next-gen' to be a truly great game. I only hope that the lessons learned in these late-generation titles transfer into the games of the next generation. It's always frustrating relearning things again.
The game elements of Final Fantasy XII, laid out separately, sound solid but fairly routine. Gambits are new, to be sure, but it's all pretty standard stuff. The key here is that it doesn't play like the standard stuff. Moving through the actual game in Japanese RPGs has gotten to be a real chore over the years. Unlike the freedom valued by American games in the same genre, the boxed-in storylines and gameplay have gotten mostly fairly stale. Even exceptionally good examples of the genre suffer from a a case of the been-there done-thats. All this makes Final Fantasy XII that much more enjoyable in aggregate. By stepping outside of series norms, the game's creators have had the chance to reintroduce us to the very gameplay and storytelling concepts which made the Final Fantasy series a powerhouse in the first place. I highly recommend this title to any fan of Japanese-style roleplaying games. If you've been put off by the stodgy nature of the genre in the past, I would even go so far as to say this may be the title that allows you to finally enjoy these games. Final Fantasy XII is a triumph for the series, and I sincerely hope marks the direction future games will be heading.
- Title: Final Fantasy XII
- Publisher/Developer: Square / Enix
- System: PS2
With a game as lengthy as Final Fantasy XII, a decent story would quickly become boring if you had to slog through the gameplay. In my estimation, though, the originality breathed into the tried-and-true combat system has transformed this series. Taking the best elements of the older turn-based battles and the auto-attacking tendencies of Final Fantasy XI, FFXII offers a welcome new approach to RPG combat. For starters, there are no 'random' attacks in FFXII. Monsters wander around dungeons in all their beautiful graphical glory, and whether to engage an enemy or flee is up to you. It's a welcome change, forgoing the frustration of random encounters dogging your steps on an overworld map.
The real innovation here, though, lies in the 'Gambit system'. Each character has a certain number of Gambit slots. Each Gambit slot can be loaded with a specific command, with an extremely simple programming-like syntax allowing for some surprisingly complicated maneuvers. When loaded up, these Gambits dictate the actions of the characters within the game world. A Gambit could say 'If an Ally's HP is less than 80%, cast cure on them.' As you progress through the game, more esoteric criteria become available. Some allow you to target enemies based on their weaknesses, while others look for allies with detrimental conditions. This combat system can be overridden at any time with the simple push of a button, allowing the precision of a turn-based approach and the speed of the Gambits. Taken as a whole, Gambits allow the player to leave more of the 'nitty gritty' to the rules you've laid out. You don't have to make sure every character is healed up after a battle; they'll take care of that themselves. This frees you up to stay appraised of the whole battlefield, and in general means more fun per moment for the player. If this sounds like things are 'too easy', it should be pointed out that Gambits should either be heavily tweaked or turned off before boss battles. These non-stereotypical fights almost require a return to the series' turn-based roots, so that each character can execute the most efficient set of instructions possible. Gambits allow a wonderful blend of control and gameplay, and definitely aid in making the title the powerhouse that it is.
Other gameplay elements should be familiar to Final Fantasy players, but have received some additional tweaking. Each character can have their abilities focused by gaining new abilities and permissions on 'the license board'. License board points are obtained by defeating monsters, similar to but separate from the traditional experience points. While gaining levels does make a character stronger, it's the application of license points that makes them more versatile. A character focused on casting spells, for example, fills in the spellcasting part of the board with their points. There are board areas for weapons of varying types, armor, spells, simple stat buffs, and unique abilities called 'Technicks'. These last are non-magical moves that can produce a variety of quirky effects. One throws money at enemies to cause damage, while another damages opponents randomly based on what time of the day it is. These abilities, spells, and equipment are trained on the license board, but are unusable until actually purchased. While gil (the game's currency) is obtainable 'straight' from monsters, the most common way of paying the bills is by selling loot. Loot drops from monsters, and exists for no other purpose than to be sold for money. Entertainingly, you can increase your chances of gaining loot by 'Chaining'. Slaying several monsters in a row, all of which are of the same creature type, will allow you to start a loot chain. The more creatures you kill in a row of the same type, the better and more copious amounts of loot you'll receive. I've gotten chains up over 150 creatures, and by engaging in this entertaining activity it becomes easy to get the money you'll so desperately need.
Graphically, Final Fantasy XII may be one of the finest titles ever to grace the PS2. There are, of course, some jaggies and obvious pixilations. Despite that, the unique art style utilized to show off the world of Ivalice is absolutely breathtaking to behold. Character designs are iconic and memorable, while very distinct architectural styles makes it easy to understand where you are and differentiate from where you've been. They don't pull out the stops with well-imagined location concepts either, moving you from rotting tomb to scorching desert to a city floating on an island in the sky. Weather effects change locations you've been to previously, adding additional layers of complexity to an already quite dense graphical palette. Musically, the game stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the works of Nobuo Uematsu, the traditional composer for the series. Despite not being done by the master, Sakimoto's work has the same haunting weight and presence we've come to expect.
Given that the PS2's successor launched commercially in the U.S. today, it's fitting that the last-gen Sony system would see titles such as this be published on the way out the door. Along with titles like Okami and Bully, FFXII is the last gasp of a true winner in the world of videogames. The PS2 won the last generation exactly because of games like this. At the end of the day, it's not marketing or hype that makes a game great; it's solid gameplay, an engaging story, and an attractive presentation. Final Fantasy XII proves that you don't have to be 'next-gen' to be a truly great game. I only hope that the lessons learned in these late-generation titles transfer into the games of the next generation. It's always frustrating relearning things again.
The game elements of Final Fantasy XII, laid out separately, sound solid but fairly routine. Gambits are new, to be sure, but it's all pretty standard stuff. The key here is that it doesn't play like the standard stuff. Moving through the actual game in Japanese RPGs has gotten to be a real chore over the years. Unlike the freedom valued by American games in the same genre, the boxed-in storylines and gameplay have gotten mostly fairly stale. Even exceptionally good examples of the genre suffer from a a case of the been-there done-thats. All this makes Final Fantasy XII that much more enjoyable in aggregate. By stepping outside of series norms, the game's creators have had the chance to reintroduce us to the very gameplay and storytelling concepts which made the Final Fantasy series a powerhouse in the first place. I highly recommend this title to any fan of Japanese-style roleplaying games. If you've been put off by the stodgy nature of the genre in the past, I would even go so far as to say this may be the title that allows you to finally enjoy these games. Final Fantasy XII is a triumph for the series, and I sincerely hope marks the direction future games will be heading.
The main character's face is modeled after a 14(right age?) year old japanese GIRL. He wears skimpier clothes than ANY of the female characters in any of the other Final Fantasy games.
... I was about to ask for a link in the article, but that is from Zelda, right?
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Last time I checked, you can't even get to beat up (or hire) prostitutes, working for drug lords, or make hot coffees in FFXII. Besides, the game is rated Teen.
Here's some good quality control on the originality of a Final Fantasy game:
If it mentions Airships in the discription of the game, don't even think about it.
You'll thank me later.
I'm still just 30 hours in, but I'm enjoying just about every minute of it. For a change there are actually things about it that are new and not giving me the impression I'm playing an updated version of a game I've already played.
Although the Gambit system automates the combats, from what I've learnt from FFX is that most of the combat time is wasted on displaying special effects during one of those big attacks. Good luck on maxing out the Aeons to beat hidden bosses...
It is some six years into the PS2's lifespan having sold some 105+ million consoles and it's successor has already launched. Since Sony completely controls the hardware and is able to continuously shrink the PS2 components over the life of the console, they are still able to sell the console for a profit for cheap to huge numbers of new console gamers who never bought the PS2 at its higher price points. And console developers don't have to throw away all that code they worked on over the past six years due to the fact that there is still a rapidly expanding market for both the PS2 platform and the fact that every new PS3 sold is able to play FF XII on their new system. Creating a seamless unified market for both gamers and developers.
That is the way you support developers.
That is the way you support gamers.
And that is one of the major reasons Sony has sold 200+ million consoles over the past decade and gamers are camping out in the rain and rioting over Sony's new system.
Every character is designed with giant boots, the combat system plays like a bad mmorpg, and the story lacks all immersive qualities that other ffs had.
This review is terrible. It praises a bad rpg with a huge budget.
But hey if you like a single player mmo, where all the characters have giant boots while living in the desert, and the story is terrible and boring because you play no role in it; go ahead and jump right in.
I've been playing this one on-and-off for the past few weeks, and I've really been loving it. My main complaint about many of the recent Final Fantasy games has been what I think of as the 90210-teen style use of emotions at the core of the character interaction and story.
Thankfully, FFXII has done away with that. There's still deep emotions, angst even, but it's more than showing a dozen characters with emotional hangups and occasional epileptic fits, and calling these annoying mishmash of shortcomings mixed with superpowers a story. Perhaps it is just my taste for use of emotions in stories - but I do find the determined use of emotions driving, while avoiding cliches, in the FFXII storyline.
The only downside is the music - not that it is bad, but it is intentionally ambient while being well-orchestrated. That same ambience, though, means that you never really remember or anticipate the music except in the rare cases where the music is an allusion to previous games. The reasoning for this musical shift was to allow the sounds and many well-done voices in the game to be clear throughout, never drown out by music that is too strong. It's a bit of a shame for my tastes - I loved the strong music in some of the games. But it's certainly a lesser concern than the gameplay and the storyline, which are overwhelmingly good in comparison.
Ryan Fenton
Nice review! I'm only a few hours into the game myself, but so far I am impressed and I especially do not miss the random battles. The game is graphically gorgeous and in fine old FF tradition has plenty of bishonen (pretty boys). Sometimes I wonder if the male models get more work than the female ones.
Now with the PS3 launching in the US today, I wonder if FFXII is fully PS3 compatible. It should be as I understand the PS3 includes PS2 hardware on a chip for this. I also wonder though if the game gets any kind of graphical boost from playing on the PS3.
"All this makes Final Fantasy XII that much more enjoyable in aggregate"
Exactly what are we aggregating here? I thought it was just a single game... Or did you pull out your thesaurus on the word 'sum'?
burrocrisy
and that would be what? Ruling by jackasses? Never has a slashdot misspelling been more apropos
"...Almost everything about the series has changed over the years, except for popularity and a generally high level of quality. Final Fantasy XII has changed almost everything from the series norm, except the quality..."
It doesn't start off all that exciting (one of your first tasks is to kill a tomato, of all things), but it seems to be getting better further into the game, probably because the first few tasks seem to be an in-game tutorial. My only major gripe at this point is that all of the "augmentation" slots are contiguous on the license board. Wouldn't it make more sense to scatter them according to the other things in the area? They should have stuck with FFX's sphere grid system, IMO.
Each character can have their abilities focused by gaining new abilities and permissions on 'the license board'. License board points are obtained by defeating monsters, similar to but separate from the traditional experience points. So now we have Licenses and Permissions instead of our own experience points? What is this? Final Fantasy Vista?
-Now I may be an idiot, but there is one thing I am not sir, and that, sir, is an idiot.
I haven't played it yet, I'm buying a PS2 just for this game. I hear it plays a lot like FFXI.
Call me old fashion, but I still prefer the Dragon Quest (Dragon Knight) series better.
I played FF12 until level 30-32, and now I feel bored. I find the story is over complex and progresses slowly. Maybe I'm just not so interested in all the politics in the story, and more into old fashion fantasy story. The only thing I love in FF12 is the graphics.
As for the fighting system, as soon as you can master the gambits, fighting is so easy. I can grind while eating, reading books, or playing Nintendo DS. Only the boss fights are challenging (well, some of them were).
My first exposure to FFXII (which I'm currently about a quarter of the way through and am thoroughly enjoying) was on the demo disc with DQVII (which I bought after being impressed by THAT game's demo). FFXII is, I think, an excellent game; the weakest point for me is the music, which is definitely not up to the level I've come to expect from the series. The most surprising part is that I've come to enjoy the battle system, which I did not initially like because of my preference for old-school turn-based games. This is in no small part due to the gambit system.
Dragon Quest VIII, though, is definitely not a game to compare with XII. Its allure faded after about 5 hours. Yes, the animation is great; I hate DBZ and that artwork style, but still found the game enjoyable and well done until I realized that, no, the story is NOT going anywhere and no, there really is no challenge to it. It lacked anything beyond "well, that's too strong, level up a few times and you'll be able to beat it." No strategy. No thinking. Fail once; level twice, success assured. It was boring, and the story was utterly pathetic -- RPG's are not just about combat. If not for the story, the role you're playing doesn't mean anything, and there's no immersion.
These reviews seem to be stuck on the yes side of the bit... *runs off to play more FFXII, then watch Tron*
The first Final Fantasy game was supposed to be Hironobu Sakaguchi's last game before leaving the industry. His previous work hadn't done so well, or something like that, so he was planning to get out of the games business. Final Fantasy ended up being a big hit, and the rest is history.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
A 17 year old street-kid, who (as the game begins) is training himself on rats, quickly progresses to the wanton slaughter of the undead, not to mention elite Imperial guardsmen (in whichever order common sense would indicate with regards to their difficulty).
Many of the FF titles I've played have centered around remarkably young characters...who are capable of causing death and destruction. In some cases, they do so using rather improbable weapons (by which I do not mean sci-fi things like gunblades...I refer to things like blitzballs in FFX).
While I applaud the improvement of the plot in this FF over some of the previous iterations, I still find some of the things that are just taken for granted to be highly unlikely, such as the foregone conclusion that someone with extensive experience as a pirate (or as a soldier) would join with a young urchin, regardless of how many times their paths cross.
Further, I have never understood why the experience level of ones comrades does not accurately represent their life. If my character has lived on the street all his life, and someone who has been a professional soldier joins my party, he starts at the same level as I do (excepting that I can steal...since I'm a pickpocket).
I say all this not to be overly critical. I understand that some things must simply be accepted for the sake of the gameplay mechanics. However, with a little more attention to the detail in the story, I think that the game could go from something that is already very good to something superb.
Take it to the limit, everybody to the limit, come on, everybody fhqwhgads.
Dude, can you stop ending every teaser paragraph with some lameass variation of "read on for my awesome review." We all understand what the fucking "read more" link means.
silly responses like 'the planet is angry' :P
someone didn't like FFVII
Anyway..why can't we get the FF titles on the PC? I absolutely loved FFVII but I don't own any consoles, the PC is my gaming device of choice...why the hell can't they just port to the PC?
Infinite time means everything that can happen, will. You being you is absolutely incidental. You do not exist.
There's way too much stuff that's going on in intense fights to tell each character what to do for that round (the concept of a round doesn't exist).
It's also a fun programming exercise to figure out how to get someone to do something without leaving them stuck in a loop. For instance, do you want to steal from a enemy but only try it a few times? set the gambit to steal when the enemy is below 20% health and about to die.
The license system is very confusing at first and it takes quite a bit of time to manage equipment, licenses, and gil. Like FFVIII, you can make any player become anything with the appropriate licenses, but unlike FFVIII, you don't switch abilities from one player to another, you have to build the characters up smartly.
Great game so far, but I've got a ways to go!
Although it will freak out many of the "hard core" Final Fantasy fans, this is a solid game and gives me a good feeling on the general direction of the franchise.
The reason why the "old guard players" balk at FF12 is that unlike the games before it, this one doesn't want you to micromanage the battles which gives these "old guard players" the sense they aren't doing anything. The trick is that previous games the tatics where actually fairly limited where you ended up duplicating what Gambit ends up automating. You tell your melee attackers to attack. You tell your healers to heal occationally. You tell your spell casters to zap stuff. Difference between FF12 and the others is that the game automates this for you instead of "rinse repeat" of the previous games. In the end it just degenerated to a lot of repeat actions anyway which is what computers are actually good at doing.
Gambits in themselves are interesting because it tickles the programmer in me. Given the API and resitrictions, what is the best way to "program" your party? There are several of solutions to some of the issues your party will face because just like software there are often different ways to tackle the same problem. A certain beauty can come from the correct Gambit strategy where they just do the right thing when they run into a challenging fight where it would be frantic if not hard handling the fighting yourself using the old fashion "Turn Base" or "ATB". A good Gambit order is like whiping up a good algorithm to solve a complex, somewhat losely defined problem.
This isn't a perfect game mind you. Just like FF9 it strattles "generations" and becomes an example of "what could have been". This is a glorious game pushing the envelope for PS2 where the problem is it screams for HD treatment on a more powerful machine. The weakness in the Gambit System is that it doesn't handle "one shot" actions easily. When the situation does change, you are often force to take over in an emergency situation.
Overall I'm very pleased with this game and I'm glad it is one of the "swan songs" for the PS2. From the way FF12 looks I can't wait for the next one even though most of it will be an entirely different game anyway.
Wait, WHAT?! Apparently I'm one of the unenlightened few who mistakes video games as, well, games. What do you mean "if you had to slog through the gameplay?" I understand not wanting to play boring gameplay, but that makes it sound more like you're talking about skipping the gameplay altogether, removing it from a "video game" and turning it into a video.
So you do mean you get to skip almost all of the gameplay. You don't actually have to do anything distracting like play the game to move through the story. So it's a what, 40+ hour movie? With truly mindless gameplay that was so boring they had to automate it to make it palatable?!
Oh, goody, so you can be pumping through menus in real-time now. Having played the demo, I know just how stupidly unwieldy the menus are. Having to select options is real-time is an effort in frustration, considering that most commands are at least three menus deep.
I think I'll stick with video games where the idea is to play the game and not watch an overly-long story. If I want to watch a 40-hour long story, I can always go out and get the first couple of seasons of the new Battlestar Galactica. Except if I did that, I wouldn't be shackled to a Sony console.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
This game (and Tactics) is supposed to take place in a microcosm of Europe (run through the Squeenix filter) during its early imperial-istic (sp ?) period. So, you've got all white people, and some other non-integrated people of other races with whom you are at odds or otherwise don't interact closely.
You want to have a game with an interesting story and something resembling character development, and an excuse to throw you a tutorial mission or two. (Bonus points to FFXII for making the initial fight training be a different character completely so you get to experiment).
... to respond to public demand that wanted the typical effeminate teenage hero.
But you don't want to drag the player down into a lengthy storyline where they're ability to affect the plot is relative to their current EXP. Most casual players would be turned off by this.
Otherwise you throw them in at level 15 into the middle of the story, and pepper the plot development with flashbacks or unlockable CGs to backfill your past.
I don't like Vaan's character either, I think he's a little weak. It's evident that they just plopped him into the story in the place of a stronger individual who would make more of an impression on Balthier
Then it wouldn't seem so unlikely he could overpower an Imperial guard (also considering the ones on duty in Dalmasca were soldiers looking for an easy post-war deployment, some NPCs said so themselves).
FFXII almost had it right. They should have scrapped Vaan's character altogether and just made you play Balthier or Fran as the main character. Bingo, bango, bongo.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
It's also stated in the second sentence of the summary.
Kinda sounds like something from my long-gone youth.
Believe it or not, this sort of thing (along with a really bad review in my local newspaper) is actually making this oldtimer consider buying a console. I haven't done that since I picked up a $50 Dreamcast solely for the purpose of playing Tetris.
...then why in the HELL are there 12 versions of it!!!? ;P
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
I was wary of Gambits when I heard of the game. I played the demo and liked the graphics but didn't know how I felt about the new active battle system.
Then I started playing the game from the beginning. And I realized that I couldn't enjoy the game as much as I did without Gambits. Part of these games is trying to explore and see what you can do, getting neat loot, sidequests, whatever, and in order to do that you're going to have to grind and take on tough fights before you're "supposed to". You have to learn to manage your gambits, when to turn them on and off, when to use the menu button to take a break for a second and maybe re-equip your characters... all of that.
If you want to float through the game, going from hilighted area to hilighted area, and just watch all the CGs, you can. And then complain the game is too easy and too linear.
It's the challenge you make of it. That's why it's fun.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
because Eidos sucked ass at doing it. :-p
If we're lucky, the engine is more portable than first blush (if based on XI) and it could actually come to the PC sometime in the next century before PS2 emulators can tackle it.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
"Dude, can you stop ending every teaser paragraph with some lameass variation of "read on for my awesome review." We all understand what the fucking "read more" link means."
I see you've been modded flamebait, but I'll go down the negative karma path with you. It's lazy. "It was a dark and stormy night."
And Basch, Fran and Balthier can carry the storyline. They are interesting characters with interesting backgrounds, and motivated to do big things. Ashe to a certain extent as well.
I think Vaan and Penelo are just there to act as the player-at-home's eyes. They represent (the self-imagined version) of your typical male and female game player.
FFXII didn't need that though, with the ominpresent-camera CGs and the gambit system, having a main character at all was irrevelant. They should have just let you pick anyone as the party leader, and if your team needed to split up you could follow either group (and the game would have you doing different tasks depending on who's storyline you chose to follow... hell they could let you switch back and forth in some spots).
Ah well.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
I'm over 40 hours into this game. It's amazing. Visually breathtaking, with a combat system taht suddenly feels fun. Grinding mobs doesn't feel tedious at all with several great incentives to do so (mob chains that raise drop rates and experience and licence point gain). It's executed far better than I had expected from my earlier dealings the DQ8 demo.
After playing the demo included in DQ8, I was actually very worried about the new style. My fiance didn't like the camera at all and was disinterested in the game. Now he manopolizes it and I'm stuck waiting for the opportunity to get more involved.
While a lot of the combat is pretty simplistic, this isn't anything different from previous FF games. In fact, even random mob combat is a bit more involved than before. Sure a lot of it is automated, but now you can use it as opportunity to experiment and tweak gambits. Gone is the repeatative process of "combat load, repeated attacks, money/exp screen, world map load".
The story is like crack for RPG fans. It feels huge. The characters are deep and involved. The villains are equally deep and involved. As stated in the review, none of the plot points are given half-arsed metaphysical/spiritual explanations.
It's an epic on the scale of original Star Wars trilogy, and in fact invokes a lot of the same feel.
(please don't mod me down for language... but it's true)
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
I'd take gambits and no load times over "load-attack repeatedly-xp screen-load". It's only automating what was already a mindless robotic function and removes the load times. And while VII was good, it the plot was riddled with gaping holes and nonsensical points. While the end game opened up to allow you to explore and do side quests, most of those quests broke game difficulty and offered nothing of a challenges short of defeating the various weapons. At least XII does well in dispursing the sidequests throughout the game's entirety and the world is open to you from the start, allowing you to wander and explore and your own content and risk.
ok, thanks for keeping us up-to-date on the games you're not playing. If you don't play any other games, be sure to let us know!
there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
I've personally made it about 20 hours into the story (including quite a bit of that time spent mindlessly leveling up :), and I have to say that I am really enjoying this game. While there are some things about the game that I could criticize, overall I think that this is one of the finest Final Fantasy games that I've played (and I've played all but XI and the Japanese only releases for the NES).
In terms of story, things do start off a bit choppy and the gambit system takes a while to get used to, but as you settle into the game you really start to have fun. You start to realize that your job in combat is to give general direction to the party, rather than direct every action of every character; this leads to some rewarding battles in which you just watch your characters kick ass on their own. In some ways, I think that this is somewhat better than with previous FF's, in that you don't just stupidly hold down the 'action confirm' button after setting up the cursor to always go to the last selected action.
Up until this game, I would have said that my favorite Final Fantasy would have been FF8, but I'm not so sure of that anymore. Like FF8, this one strives to make all of the various RPG elements (leveling, weapons upgrades and various magical abilities) somewhat believable. The fact that combat takes place in the same environment as the rest of the game play really adds an immersive and seemless quality to the game... A very welcome change.
As for the things that I don't like; there are not many... First and foremost would probably be that the license grid system is somewhat difficult to manage. Unlike other FF's, in order to use anything that you've bought (weapons, armor, spells, etc.), you must also have unlocked the license for that piece of equipment or ability; this leads you to sometimes sit in a weapons shop jumping back and forth between each character's license grid (to see whether its worth buying the weapon now) and the shop's merchandise list. Another thing that I've found to be somewhat annoying about the license grid is that it's really a lot of leveling up to get to the point where you've started to unlock the abilities that you really need, and oft times you have to unlock a bunch of abilities that you really don't care to unlock to get to the ones that you want. A good example of this is that you have to unlock a bunch of healing bonuses to level up the strength and HP of a character that you're trying to turn into a physical fighter. This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
All and all though, a very lovingly crafted game... I might not give it a perfect 10/10, but its pretty close.
...that FFXII, save for a few changes (such as Gambits) is basically an offline version of FFXI. There are many features that are in common (monster aggressivity, or as FFXI players know, "aggro", the auto-attack and in general the battle system, the hunts that resemble the Notorious Monsters...). This is no surprise as Matsuno was a big fan of FFXI.
It's a shame that even Square Enix is trying to hide this fact (check the interviews on the extra DVD, if you have the collector's edition)
A CC-licensed illustrated horror novel
Thankfully spell animations are less intrustive this time around and do not eat up battle time (the rest of your party is still doing stuff). The spell caster and targets are singled out for a timer interruption. Even your Espers are realtime, they fight as a guest party member. The exception are Mist Knacks -- but unless you start chaining they're short sequences.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
provided you didn't think of it as related to the original. At least it wasn't so easy to get completely ass-raped as it was in FFT if you messed one turn up. A good fit for a play-for-30 minutes here and there type thing on the GBA. (I eventually completed all 300 missions and the judge hunts... hooray for me)
Also, I understand that FFTA was a testing ground for certain elements and art assets that would eventually become FFXII. I'm glad they kept the Viera and didn't go with Mithra in this installment.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
I know this is not the historical answer, but they're in no way continuous. No shared characters or ability systems. Each one is the "Final" one in their given universe. Like reading novels by the same author.
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
You call 8 a part of the glory days and expect to be taken seriously? And don't mention 6?
And the series has seen some truly abysmal runs. The Japanese version of 2 comes to mind (for the NES). Somehow, I doubt FFXII is -that- bad.
I am a science fantasy fan
Definately. The new combat system makes leveling/grinding much more pleasure than previous random battles. I always hated the fact that you'd have dozens of random battles when trying to exit a dungeon. The ability to see enemines on screen, clear out certain areas (although monsters do respawn in some areas) to do some treasure hunting without nusances.
Enjoying the game a hell of a lot. Everything in Final Fantasy has changed, almost. The beauty of the game is where it sticks to its roots, including running from battles, summons, chocobos.
This is the first ps2 game I've played since the 360 was released, and I have to admit it feels like a 360/PS3 rpg sans over-the-top graphics. I agree with the reviewer wholeheartedly, definately worth playing.
Almost everything about the series has changed over the years, except for popularity and a generally high level of quality. Final Fantasy XII has changed almost everything from the series norm, except the quality.
This site really cracks me up. I can't believe they pay Zonk to write crap like this. Good God man, how about a quick high-school level composition class instead of playing games for a while?
You can't hate it that much, you finished it;)
FF8 was much more mindless. A friend of mine would set a coffee cup on his controller and the cursor on memory and draw from an enemy whenever there was a new spell. FF8 had a crappy ability system that penalized magic use by making magic like throwing rocks at an enemy. If you drew 99 of most every spell when you found it, it was also trivially easy.
Also, it is very much part of the series as someone who started with FF1 in 1985;) Go play FF Tactics if you fail to see continuity (it's much less repetitive/more challenging). It's by the same team. I beat that without ever "leveling up" my first time through. This game is similar.
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
God of war II comes out next February. There were PSX games being released well into, what, 2004 ? Expect the ps2 to be around for a while, unlike the xbox.
Oh, and zonk? You might want to learn what "pull out the stops" means.
As in a more sophisticated storyline and world setting, not as in adult content (though as to your point, I'm certainly not complaining...)
And Rabanastre is Mos Eisley. Bhujerba is Cloud City. I haven't got to other cities yet so I can't compare them. Rabanastre is surrounded by deserts, has a whole bunch of different races of things all living in close proximity. Balthier is Han Solo, and Fran is Chewbacca. He's a sky pirate, which is similar enough to Han's role as a smuggler. In one of the deserts, there are very Jawa-like creatures, the Uru-tans.
There are other references too, but I can't remember them at the moment.
There was nothing glorious about FFVIII. It has a horrible excuse for a FF game.
My guess is the first FF you ever played was VII.
I also dislike this game a great deal. The combat system drives me nuts, keeping your characters alive in a fight is a chore in itself as they go about using their gambits. In any real fight you have to control everybody individually anyways, simple making the change in the combat system pointless. Licenses are another huge problem for me. The beauty of a system like that is being able to customize your character exactly how you want them to work and not having to waste too much LP on extra skills. The reason this doesn't work in FFXII is that the license board doesn't give you any information about the abilities you can gain unless you have a square directly next to the ability already filled. It's like your given a map with no labels and told to drive to some random town, you can see the roads, you can see the towns, but you don't know which one is the one you actually want until you are right up near it. I honestly do like the story so far in the game, and that's what has gotten me to play it as long as I have, but the combat and skill system is just to much for me anymore.
The game is awesome, but seriously the best part is the lack of blitzball. That shit was HORRIBLE in FFX. Did anyone figure that shit out?
Its so bad that some friends of mine and I decided to stop referring to stuff as gay, and start calling it blitzball.
Like you know, Rick Santorum is soooo blitzball.
indierock / punkrock band photos and more... http://www.digitaldefection.net
Well, then I can't be alone in finding 7 and 8 to be relatively boring. I'll grant that FF3 was great, FFX was great, FFXI was horribly boring, but thankfully FFXII is bringing the series back to greatness (and so far, it's even better than FFX, I think, thanks to lack of childish emotions in the main characters).
Anyhow, level grinding is only necessary if you are trying to do all the optional/side quests the moment they become available. Virtually all of the FF games have optional/side quests that need grinding to complete. Think of the FF7 weapons, FFX bestiary proving grounds, etc.
But those are just for people who feel a need to make uber-characters and do 100%. It's pretty, its fun, and if by "short" you mean that "you can keep the plot moving rapidly by not grinding for sidequests", then you are right there, too. Being able to sprint through an area and not fight anything really helps in that regard.
The only thing I find obnoxious in the game is not being able to wear a piece of armor because of the license board. And worse, you don't even know *where* the armor you just acquired is located at on the board, so you don't even know exactly how to work there. You end up blazing a trail through an area hoping to find it. They should have either made it so you can retract license points on occasion or so you could see what's on squares that aren't necessarily next to your current licenses. I shouldn't have to look at a crappy text-version of the License Board on GameFAQs to figure out where I need to go on the board. With all that said, it's hardly a show stopper - it's just inconvenient to be blind on the Licenses.
And holy $@!@ the game is pretty.
I lost track of Final Fantasy somewhere after VII or VIII, since the Playstation is the last console I bought. I have a deep love for Final Fantasy VII and would hate to disappointed by an inferior game. Has another VII-quality been made since? Or, what's the best one?
Property is theft.
I agree with the License Board bit - it's truly an annoyance. But you should have no problem tuning your gambits so that your characters keep themselves alive.
Just put an "Ally: HP "Cure" or something as your first priority on your healers... and I typically put "Ally: HP "Potion" above the cure. I find myself never even bothering to push a button unless I'm fighting something more than 10-15 levels above my chars with what I think is a fairly normal gambit setup.
Once I realized that putting "Ally: Any" -> "Blindna" would cause them only to cast blindna on an ally *when the ally had been blinded*, I realized the gambit system really was a thing of beauty and would be working for me, not against me.
Suspension of _________ ;)
Property is theft.
Yes, with the jecht shot and jecht shot two blitzball was quite easy
Yeah and the Mists are kinda worthless. They're usually a one-shot deal unless you possess some hidden knowledge of when to mash R2 and when to hit one of 4 controller buttons when it prompts you. I still haven't figured it out..sometimes I chain 4 or 5, sometimes I get 1 in and a Time's Up! Plus, it completely blows out all your MP which can be critical for Gambit-enabled healing during battles. There's nothing worse than being out of potions and MP at the end of a boss battle, though it does add excitement.
Personally I miss FFVII and FFX's summons. I *liked* seeing Ifrit throw flaming meatballs and rip up a gigantic chunk of the earth to hurl at a dangerous boss. I couldn't care less about their entrance, but the spell effects were *satisfying*. I can't say that about the Mists in FFXII. It just seems like some disconnected, mp-robbing eye candy and you never know until it's over how much damage was done (and consequently if it was worth the MP you just spent).
Overall I'm about 40 hours into the game and having a ball. The graphics are breathtaking although they would be better at 480p, they're good enough on my 32" LCD hdtv. Widescreen and Dolby Digital FTW!
That's what I don't like about the direction that FFXII is taking. It's like they finally realized that the normal (non-boss) battles are boring as hell, and rather than go to the trouble of making the battles hard enough to be interesting, they allow the player to set up AI, and then watch while the ps2 fights. What they should have done is make the regular battles harder or more strategic. What they decided to do instead seems almost like an insult. I buy games to play them, not to watch as my computer or gaming console plays them for me. If I don't want to play, I'll pop in a DVD instead.
If they keep this retarded system for future FFs, I'm not buying them.
I was mometarily astonished and was going to reply and ask how you got "FTW" past the "wordfilter"... then I remembered where I am.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
and more worthless crap from Zonk. Face it - you're not a game journalist, and you never will be. Your pathetic use of your moderator position to treat slashdot as a captive audience is transparent and indicative of your misplaced self confidence. Do the world a favor and die.
am frustrated with the game.
On a general level it just seems to move away from the aspects of traditional J-RPGs, but for the most part not to be original, but to mimic western-style RRGs, particularly MMORPGs.
The battle system is the most blatantly MMORPG-ish aspect. I admit random encounter rates could be maddening, but I would have much preferred a chrono-trigger style system, where encounters are obvious, and battle transition is natural, but action is more traditional J-RPG. I know a lot of people say "you don't want to admit all those selections can be distilled to a nearly equivalent set of rules" or "it's the same thing, just allowing automation". I find it difficult to distill rules that would act as I would all the time. A prime example is healing, the health level I wait for before I heal depends not on the proportion of current to max health, but to the approximate damage per hit the enemies are doing compared to remaining health. If I see an enemy that can do 90% worth of damage on occasion, my strategy for healing will me more aggresive, whereas if an enemy that does 11% of damage per hit, rules needed for the 90% case cause excessive unneeded healing. If I try to do it manually, there's no way for it to at least designate a default action, so you have to be mindful to hit x and select each one to start attacking by default. Also, in previous games if I was in a precarious fight, I might choose to leave a character with their 'action' gauge full, but skipping to other characters so they could heal instantly, but know action gauge starts filling specifically for the action being taken. Now the ability to turn on auto-attack might have been fine, because in random battles at least I would frequently just hammer attack, but the system just is frustrating.
The general UI is too MMORPG as well. To their credit, they filled the town with a lot more 'people' to make it more realistic than the huge cities with maybe 9 or 10 people common before, but they didn't want to bother making dialog for all the characters, so they put little 'talky' icons or 'shop' icons over people's heads to distinguish actual NPCs from mere decoration. This is jarring to me. Similarly, in the fields where enemies could be encountered, the health bar over every character's head is annoying to, having it off the screen in a status area solely was less distracting.
The graphics are mostly great (though the character design is not to my liking), but the music is merely 'not bad' to me, it doesn't stand out like some of the themes from previous games did. Same for the story and characters, fairly uninspired and flat (23 hours into the game at least). I didn't like FF5 or FF8s stories/characters for much the same reasons, but I still remember some of their music.
The level grinding is ridiculous in this game, absolutely have to run around in circles most of the time, rarely had to do that before.
The world layout is fine and more realistic than most 'world-map' style settings, but does allow the freedom that was lacking in FFX even early on. When I get what I'm sure is inevitable, an airship, I suspect the interface will be more like FFX, and that will disappoint me too. There was a nice sense to actively flying over the world map. Particularly after it being so tedious, experiencing the ease of flight is kinda cool.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
My list used to be FF6, then FF4 and then other games for the final fantasy series, it's stayed like that through the last 5 iterations, however FFXII has changed that, now I don't know where it lies, it's certainly one of the best, (though FFIII is playing well too). However it's still got some pretty major flaws.
The biggest is synposis system, or basically "what the fuck was I doing"? Maybe it's that I'm older, or maybe it's that I've played Tales of series games but I expect a lot from my RPG, and the bare minimum I deserve is a system where I don't have to remember exactly what I was doing before I moved to another game. I don't have 60 hours to beat a game unless it's beyond exceptional, Tales of The Abyss wasn't (though it was close) FFXII is great, but I have other stuff to do.
It would be more text but it would be incredibly useful to implement this feature. In fact any game that takes more than 20 hours should be required to do a synopsis or at least an easy mission system so you can get caught up. I don't want to come to a game and say "ok time to kill... wait who am I against? Oh yeah Kefka's my buddy, I'll kill banon".
It's likely because I'm older and don't have time to play games from front to back, but it's more than that, it keeps the story solid and allows you to replay the story in your mind so you don't have to keep saying "I forgot what happened". The story in FFXII is one of the best but moves entirely too fast. Names are meantioned in 1-2 lines of text then dropped completely.
That's not to say this is only FFXII's fault, every game does it for the most part, but FFXII should be better than all the others. FF's series has more games than most companies have ever made, so why don't they wise up and allow the gamer who can't beat their games in one sitting to have an easier time to pick up the game again.
... and while it's accepted by some as a star wars fandom "fact", it ain't canon.
Fran slash _is_ canon (see my journal).
Also, Fran contributes heavily to the story, while Chewbacca was there for deus-ex-muscle and so Jim Henson could get paid more.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
If the characters leave the party, you have to play as Vaan. They could have dropped that requirement, and ... Vaan.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
We have to wait till the end of february before we can play it. :'(((
So, based on my snobbish opinion, would I enjoy FFXII?
A steaming cup of soykaf would be real wiz right now.
Not completely true, there was FFX-2, but we don't like to talk about that game. =P
Remember kids, tin foil doesn't work, so use LeadHat.
You mean to say that you haven't seen a single summon do it's ultimate ability? They generally happen when it's low on health, or the timer's about to expire.
Slashdot, the only place where intellectuals can act like idiots... and still sound intellectual.
Yeah and the Mists are kinda worthless.
Mists are essential for early power leveling and item aquisition. I'm lvl 38, do 400-600 dmg on a normal enemy and have not been to the nabina fortress dungeon yet.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
It took me a while to figure it out.
Each character can license up to 3 mist techniques.
Each mist tech. learned gets you an extra chunk of magic bar.
Each chink of magic bar is a guarantee of a successful mist tech at level 1. I notice that you seem to have to hit the button twice to get it to register for the next part of the chain.
As an example:
One party member starts off with a level 1 mist tech.
Another with 3 levels of mist tech can either be guaranteed of firing level 3 mist tech, a level 2 mist tech or a level 1 mist tech. What they can do is random and symbolized by the golden oval (or several) after their name. As long as they have at least 1 full magic bar they will at a minimum show up as being available to launch a level one mist tech with no wait or r2 pressing.
Another example:
3 person party each with 3 mist licenses.
Fran starts off with a level 3 mist tech, this will completely deplete her magic bar. During her animation you will see her name with no golden ovals.
You hit the button for Vaan which has a single golden oval next to his name. This will use 1/3 of his magic bar and during his animation Farn will still show no golden symbols while he and Balflear will have some. Vaan will at max now show 2 ovals (due to randomness he might show 1).
Lets say you hit the button for Balflear during Vaans animation and he had 2 golden ovals after his name.
Party status is now:
Fran no MP chunks left
Vaan 2 MP chunks left
Balflear 1 MP chunk left
Each time an animation is playing any character who has a full MP chunk will always show up as an option to chain to.
The max chain I managed to get so far was 14 and I did 22K damage to some sphere of electric death in the desert (only half it's life bar).
The trick to making massive chains and getting the higher bonus affects is that any time you get the count down bar and a character who has no golden ovals after their name has a button show up to press, press it. This is a free magic recharge of a random amount (you get to do a free level 1 or 2 or 3). During this free mist tech, you get another chance, all the characters who still have a MP chunk will always be there to select so the chain can not die. The trick is to take advantage of every one of those time where someone who is out of MP gets a free chance.
Once all 3 characters are out of MP chunks for mist techs (if you use the above strategy), chances are the time bar is moving so fast you will not get a chance to effectively hit r2 and then a button twice before you get "OUT OF TIME". It sucks major when you hit the first button hear the sound and then the time runs out before the second press registers.
Luck plays a HUGE role in this. sometimes it just sucks and 5 presses of r2 never give you a chance, and other times every time you press r2 several people can go. Thats why I take advantage of every free go I get before people are out, they are kinda a backup to keep things going. I also always choose level 1 items for the people who still have MP because that means I will get more tries at free charges before I am out. Sometimes you don't get the choice of a Level 1 and you choose the character who will use the least.
I hope this helps out, because when I first got a mist tech for 1 character and no one else had any it was so frustrating to figure out why things seems to not work the way videos and web sites showed.
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
They also seem to do less damage than Basch does with a single physical attack.
All that time and animation, for nothing. Very disappointing. Been true since I got my first one, up to present (50-ish hours), and I've been keeping everyone leveled almost equally. The MP is ALWAYS better spent on the lottery that is Mist Charges. Cycle character the right way and keep trying, and you're bound to get at least one good chain out of it. Reload if it screws you over. Repeat. *YAWN*
I also miss getting good items and, you know, maybe a level or two after beating a boss. I don't miss the summary screens for little fights (kind of unnecessary with the new battle system), but after boss fights, it'd be cool. As it is, I strongly suspect that most or all bosses give some LP, but ZERO XP, as I've never leveled from a boss fight. Anticlimactic to say the least; some of the most intense fights in any RPG I've played (also some of the most ridiculously one-sided, with one boss sometimes being WAY easier than one that I fought just minutes earlier), but then, NO reward except getting to continue on to the next part of the dungeon (seemingly, in this game, there's ALWAYS more dungeon. Ugh.)
I've never enjoyed a Final Fantasy game before, and I far prefer Western-style RPGs. However, I'm intrigued by the promise of an engaging political storyline. And the programmable AI sounds interesting.
Are those features executed well enough that the game is worth checking out? Even for someone who normally hates linear Japanese RPGs?
Yes, but it isnt exactly true. It was mainly called "Final Fantasy" because Square was losing so much money that it was going to go under if the game didnt sell. So they called it FINAL fantasy because it was most likely going to be Square's FINAL game (which consequently meant Sakaguchi would be out of a job).
I have a huge piece of 25mm square graph paper tacked to my wall for exactly this reason :)
You _have_ played the earlier Final Fantasy games right? You compare the license points to the "traditional experience points" as if they're some of new fangled idea the likes of which have never been seen before. Ability Points under one name or another have been a staple of the game since at least FF5 for sure and I believe they made an appearance in FF3. (I remember that FF3 features jobs but I don't remember the exact system.) Offhand i can think of six previous FF games that have used the "gain special not-experience points to unlock abilities" system in one form or another and using various different names. Fundamentally they are all pretty similar however.
This wouldn't be a big deal except you seem to do be doing a fair bit of comparing FF12 to the previous games in the series. As such you really shouldn't be giving people any reason to doubt your credentials for making such comparisons.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
I don't understand you. You state that it is a great RPG and then you say you want it to be the Final game in the series. If they are still making great games...then let them make great games. As far as it being the great game ever...who really listens to hype except morons? I don't think hype is even generate by the company...just hordes of rampant fanboys infecting the net. I am sure it isn't a perfect game and there are flaws...I just don't get this whole "it doesn't meet my personal standards for an FF and therefore they should stop making them". Really, you aren't the center of the gaming universe.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
FF8 had a crappy ability system that penalized magic use by making magic like throwing rocks at an enemy. If you drew 99 of most every spell when you found it, it was also trivially easy.
That's cuz you and millions of other players have entrenched the idea in your mind that you need to cast the spells in order to be effective. The point of spells in VIII is not mainly for casting, but rather, for fortifying your stats and status effect. 100 death spells junctioned to status effect is far more effective than you casting it 100 times.
I beleive the reason boss fights only give LP is so that people can try the low level "no leveling" challenges they do. Appearently you can beat ffx without using your levels once.
I stopped playing the franchise very soon after X came out. I heard 11 going MMO, and decided I was quits from Final Fantasy for awhile. I was almost disgusted when I heard about X-2. I envisioned Square as another of of EA's drooling lap dogs and almost swore off not only the Final Fantasy series but the company in general.
That is until I heard about what they did with XII.
Picked it up, I thought maybe it could possibly have some redeeming qualities that could perhaps restore my faith in Square. I was very pleasantly surprised to find out the entire game was a redeeming quality. It hit on every level a Final Fantasy is supposed to hit on and even accomplished some things that none other had. The most important is the story. Final Fantasies are operas, let's not kid ourselves. FFIV, VI, VII and VIII are very popular examples of this, empires are rising and falling, romances flourish and are tragically ended. Armies clash, the alliance and enslavement of great and powerful beings to aid or detriment the protagonist are occurring, you are affecting change on a world-wide level. The way in which XII tells its story is classic, classy, and every bit as intrigueing as a Grecian Epic.
Even the music lets on to the scope you are supposed to be on, deep and heart-wrenching. Bass kicks in when you're in danger, treble when you're coming out of a situation the victor. The music is supposed to make you feel as if the whole world depends on your actions, as the world DOES depend on you. They made a wise move by letting the music fade to the background a little and let the sound effects, the ambient sounds of the world around you help do the job. It's alot like the Rise of the Valkyries is heard softly in the distance as you hear the gnashing and clangs of combat, the entire Division of Imperial swordsmen draws near as klaxons sound.
Another level that this particular installation hit home on was showing you just the level of scope you're dealing with. In previous installations, you didn't particularly get a feel for just how menacing your foes are. Behemoths seemed to be caricatures, your party merely felling another foe as you continued on your path. The genious of the battle system they are implementing (Which is from KOTOR, BTW) is that now you know JUST how menacing a behemoth is. He's huge, he makes your party look like stick figures. Demon Walls are now exactly as their name implies, and actually seem capable of crushing the party to death if you don't defeat it in time. Espers are giant, their weapons mighty and powerful, seemingly appropriate for the amount of damage they do. The legendary weapons you procure that somehow have to justify the vast differential in damage output now do so graphically. Of course the Zodiac Spear is going to hit hard, look at the damn thing! You're seeing both the weapon and how it is used now, in previous installations you merely saw your party line up side by side, with your opponent in the distance. Now you see actual combat, not some spikey haired blonde with an emo outfit disappearing in midair and materializing 5 feet over an enemy with his sword pointed downwards. A man with an affinity for the deadly arts charges, raises his weapon and brings it down with devastating affect.
In all, FFXII got back to FF's roots. Telling an epic story, and getting you involved. Something I hope will be SOP for Square-Enix for the foreseeable future.
Of all the Universal Constants, here's one I know: Nice guys finish last
Meh, it's really the same as the other FFs I've played. Instead of hitting "X" over and over while you eat pizza and read a book, you're just keeping the controller next to you while you eat pizza and read a book.
And it's not like anyone's stopping the player from playing the game like it's turn-based; you can turn all of the gambits off, and hit "X" to your heart's desire. Have fun with that.
My only complaint is that, while they made trivial fighting easier (a very good thing), they also tripled the amount of trivial fighting required to complete the game (a very bad thing). The time between storyline and/or interesting fights is WAY too damn long, and the amount of grinding required between some sections is insane. Add to that some of the longest, most annoying dungeons ever, and you've got a recipe for not-fun.
My point is, this game would not be better with a classic fighting system; it'd be EXACTLY the same, except instead of having hours on end of boring play with 1/2 of the player's attention focused on the game, you'd have hours on end of boring play with 3/4 of the player's attention focused on the game (hitting x, occasionally healing or changing a target. Whee.)
I think that they got the battle system dead-on. You can even still play it as if it were turn-based, with no gambit system at all. Yay for choice. The problem is that they got (the story+interesting fights)/(grinding and walking around in dungeons) ratio WAY the hell off. I'm at ~50 hours, was super-excited for the first 10 hours of that, and have slowly become more and more bored with it. I'm sorely tempted to just read the damn story online somewhere, and go sell the piece of crap. It's that bad.
Mind you, I've liked other FFs, but always hated the encounter/battle systems, and played in spite of them. This one somehow fixed that, while fucking up almost everything else. The only things keeping me hooked are a couple of the characters, who are pretty well-crafted.
I found it strange that the review concluded by comparing the new battle system to traditional turn-based RPG gameplay (i.e. interesting vs. tedious). When I played through the game (months ago with the Japanese version), I found the real-time battle system was far more tedious than the traditional turn-based stuff. The main reason is the great increase in micromanagement. FFXII has relatively tough bosses (compared to the other playstation FFs), so there's a lot of micromanagement involved in healing and reviving characters. Gambits do help manage that aspect of the game, but I still found the micromanagement to be a boring chore. Plus, since characters will go about continuing their past actions (or Gambit actions) automatically, there are long periods of detachment from the battle (aside from the previously mentioned micromanagement). This made battles really boring for me, as I was either staring at battle menus or bored out of my mind while the characters attacked.
Plus, I found the lack of any real character development in FFXII to be extremely distressing. What's the point of an RPG that plays like a movie if the characters and plot are boring? The ending to the game was so badly executed that I was left wondering who they'd pull out for a final boss until the ending cutscene started rolling (my reaction was: "Huh? You're kidding..."). In my opinion, FFX was leaps and bounds better than FFXII (for the record, my favorite was FFVIII).
Don't forget this particular installment of FF, either. XII is a continuation of the FF:T storyline. 700 years later if I remember correctly.
Of all the Universal Constants, here's one I know: Nice guys finish last
I mentioned VII because I get obligatoraly flamed when I don't. I couldn't even finish VII, I find it highly overated.
VIII was my favorite, but besides that I really only truly love the 2D games...
Dear god thank you, it's about time I met somebody else who understood this concept...
Summons, though...I've never heard of any Japanese gamer who've found much use for them. The very first one is useful for a short while after after you get it, and the very last one is actually pretty powerful--although you'd be a lot more powerful than it is by that point. The rest are of very limited interest, if at all. Oh well.
Hmmm, I should restate my position a bit clearer...
The game annoys me in numerous ways, but like I said, it's still a good RPG overall. It's much more than the couple things I mentioned, as everyone seems to think those are my big beefs with the game or something. My biggest beef IS the combat system, which, while a good change of pace, I find either boring or too ridiculous in just trying to keep your guys alive. But overall I wouldn't say there's any major flaw, more like a LOT of minor ones.
So, I lied when I said I'm "hating" the game. I'm just "hating" it compared to all these bulls**t glowing reviews and people talking like the game is actually something big. It's a solid RPG, nothing more, nothing less. Maybe like, 8 out of 10...
Oh, and the Summons and "Limits", suck, HARD. And that's a big turnoff for me. Yeah, stupid reason, I know, but that's one of my things...
Yes, I loved VIII. I'll defend it to my death, best Final Fantasy ever. I've cosplayed Squall, he's the best. Don't care what you think, that game just did it for me. I find VII horribly overated. Maybe if they did a remake, but I can't get into the original. Honestly, the 2D games are where my true love for the series lies, especially in VI...
Yeah, I said the series should "finalize" already. That's just my disdain at the idea of 3 FFXIII's releasing. It's becoming more about whoring out the franchise than making a quality RPG IMO.
They were inspired by flintlock pistols that were built into an oversized bayonet, which was shaped somewhat like a cutlass. Mind you, they were not meant to be fired at the same time as you cut someone with the blade, like in Final Fantasy VIII. Historically, they were simply two weapons built into one.
basically final fantasy 11 but single player, new story, and a customizable ai?
DAMN!!! I've been waiting for like a hundred hours of gameplay for gambits Ally:blind, Ally:silence, etc... And I had that functionality all along! Next you'll tell me that they automacally prioritize who they cure, and I don't need a huge block of Ally:HPx% Cure where x = 10, 20, 30, 40, 50...
Off to go buy like five more gambit slots for each of my characters...
Mod parent up!
Every true FF fan has waited for this. Its the best since 6. 12 is a multiple of 6. Coincidence? I think not. I wondered how the game would fare without Sakaguchi. Strong as ever.
If you absolutely despise the game in this many ways yet give it a 8 out of 10, this game must be spectacular.
I totally agree. I put about 30 hours into that thing and the entire time I just wanted to backstab the king. I got so bored I unplugged my ps2 and havn't touched it since (may pick up ffXii after winter).
I've always been a fan of FFVIII. My first FF game was when I was about six, playing FF1 on my brand spankin' new Nintendo. I beat it around the time I was 8, by which time I was getting into the SNES (FF6...FF3...whatever it happens to be this week). Knew about the others (I was on the intarwebs, back before the trucks clogged all the tubes) in Japanese, couldn't play them.
Then I got a Playstation, and FFVII.
It was "meh." The storyline was bland and pretty uninteresting, even then; I've played through it a few times since then and found it still "meh." It hasn't aged well, in story or in gameplay.
FFVIII was the first game I ever bought with my own money from working, and I slapped that thing straight into my PSX when I got it. It blew me away, and its story is still the best, I think, of all the 3D Final Fantasy games. (FFIX gets points for being one big nostalgia trip.) FFVIII was the first one to tell a more mature story. It was the first one where Square's English translators didn't entirely bone the whole thing up. This may sound mildly puerile, but they'd taken the gloves off, at least to an extent. In earlier games, hell, the main character had never told $LOVE_INTEREST "I love you," or even "I like you." The earlier games felt a bit prudish in that regard.
Other ways the FFVIII story came out more mature than those that preceded and succeeded it...take Raijin and Fujin, for example. Seifer's gone off the deep end, and they're tired of it. So they leave. They don't try to change his mind, they know they can't. They don't fight him. They just go their own separate way. In previous games, the "villain" would have gone all power-trippy and OMFGBLAAAASTED them or the like. Instead, they just go. It shows, to me at least, a level of maturity that the series hasn't returned to since. (In FFX, Tidus whines like a girl whenever something doesn't go his way. How lame is that?)
-Ed
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
You can easily switch between every character to find that special item/spell - and once you find it, then make a direct line for it with the character you want to have it. Its just not that hard.
And if you don't like gambits, don't use them.
This is a repost of my impressions from playing the Japanese version (yay for living in Japan -- oh wait, you mean we get the Wii 2 weeks late? Drats.)
I have more affection for some of my non-plot characters in Disgaea ("Noooo, don't hit Margaret with the fireball, she only has 250 hp and is weak against OH YOU BASTARD YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT") than I do for any of the characters in FFXII. Not a single one of which I can name at the moment, incidentally. Vann or something? Vash? Whatever, whinny effeminate boy who is dating forgettable Japanese girl (who wears both the pants and the shirt in that relationship) and fated to rescue princess in distress, who currently hates his guts but we all know that will change. Throw in bunny-rabbit-who-looks-like-Storm, tank-straight-out-of-WoW-raid, and Air Pirate to round out the cast. They're trying to save the dutchy of whocares from the empire of whatever, which they can only do by gathering... what was it, I forget. Probably crystals. Thats generally a safe bet for a FF game, isn't it? I remember they spent some time in a mine. Was I trying to find a crystal? Or was I just trying to find the next cutscene? I don't know.
I've heard folks say there is no main character, which is more or less true -- I was equally bored with all of them. The only time one shows a spark of that old Square spirit is when Air Pirate says, ironically, "I'll tell you who I am: I am the main character of this story!" And for a period of perhaps 15 seconds I was thinking "Alright, I have passed the boring prologue, now we are going to get to some ADVENTURE". Nope.
It was about 10 years ago when I played FFVI for the first time, and you can see how low Square has fallen in the plot and memorable character department. Compare Air Pirate Dude with Edgar. The very first time you meet Edgar, he shows more panache than the entire party has in the time I've played FFXII. I remember his lines from a decade ago ("First, I'm captivated by your beauty. Second, I'm dying to know if I'm your type. I suppose your... abilities are a distant third consideration.") FFXII, I swear, its been maybe two months and I would have to wrack my brains to dredge up anything related to the plot or characters. Marle? Marsh? Whoseherface, the princess. I remember her skill readout like it was yesterday (I was aiming for white mage with a sword). Can't remember a thing she ever said.
Anyhow, I put 15 hours into it in the last week after writing this review, out of the hope that the story would improve. Yeah, thats a no. On the plus side, playing with the license board is actually quite fun, and the game is the prettiest thing I've ever seen, even without the cutscenes.
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
Thats it, I'm stopping giving Michael any black magic and switching him to a white mage. (Scary as this is, thinking of him as Michael Jackson actually makes him a more appealing character than the one thats actually in the game. Distilled water has more flavor than that cipher.)
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
Here's a place where you can sign up for a chance to get a free Nintendo Wii Console. They give one away per day.
http://nintendo---wii.notlong.com/
ePSXe makes episodes VII,VIII & IX of Final Fantasy completely playable on the PC.
And, PcSX2 plays X and XII reasonably well on a high end rig.
Like I said, I shouldn't say I "hate" it. It's a solid RPG, I've got enough review experience to see that. It's just, I really hate people talking like it's flawless like a lot of the reviews I've read.
That and in many RPGs only the active and surviving party gets experience which forces you to revive characters before dealing the killing blow on a boss to avoid uneven levelling.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
many anime productions show very young faces, huge boobs and much much skin. it seems that the age old preconception that japanese men tend to like under aged girls and boys isn't too far off anyways. even sailormoon falls into that category imho and if you still can't believe it (or if you are so full of it yourself and just can't admit it), try to watch some hentai from time to time, where it's really more than obvious. many animes are walking a pretty fine line there and i'm not sure, what to think of it really.
Not as lame as the whole imaginary blitzball player thing.
In July O7, I got a mac pro. There's no punchline. Just endless joy and wonder.
For example I'm level 20 going into some place with several level 38 monsters. When they die, they give about as much experience as three easier-to-kill things on par. I can either sit with a whole lot of enemies (getting more money) using just attack, or go after a high level, do the 'quickening' attacks a handful of times, then run away to recharge MP.
As far as not very good, maybe so, but going onto various forums I'm consistently lower than other people. One example was at Raithwall's tomb, my average member level was 13 or so, and people on forums were saying they were about level 18 or so. I didn't have to level then, though it was tough, but when I was level 16 going against Tiamat, that just was overwhelming and got devastated.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
I agree that it helps for stories to have an identifiable main character. However, there are many popular games where you do _NOT_ identify with the main character -- you become someone you are not and live through the avatar.
Prince of Persia, Perfect Dark, MDK, Final Fantasy VI, God of War... just a few examples of engaging games that have heavy story elements where you take control of powerful/specialized characters and experience the game through their eyes.
There are certain situations where a game becomes detached, impersonal, or confusing without an end-user sympathetic individual. This character can 'grow' with the game to adjust to increasing difficulty, and external characters can explain the goings on to this person as they are the "rookie", such that they are told everything they need to know about backstory or game mechanics in a natural way.
My point is that FFXII is not one of those games that needs this kind of avatar. A narrator gives you backstory. Optional CGs establish character relationships. And they could have expanded the role of the introductory sequence in which you take the role of a soldier during the "treaty signing" at the beginning of the game to learn additional game mechanics. Plus, all your characters are flexible (and largely undifferentiable) in growth, the total number of players just gives you extra life expetancy during boss fights.
From what I understand they wanted to introduce two stronger characters, hardened theif or ex-soldier resistance individuals to round out the cast to 6 (this allowed for 3 to play, and then 3 to swap in during boss fights). But the current Vaan and Penelo are entirely the product of marketing... I would have been happy if they dropped them and just let you have 4 active party members.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
You could at least imagine a halfway cool one. The characters who saved FFX were already dead.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
I just wanted to make it clear that Final Fantasy was a series created by Japanese people, and one of the primary characteristics of the Final Fantasies in the past and Japanese animation (rather anime) alike is the unrealistic, melodramatic hero-centric storylines where what would be considered grains of sand grow to become gods on earth.
A large majority of media from Japan, psychologically is very hero-centric. Dreams can come true, hopes come to fruition, and the underdogs always win. The past Final Fantasies each have very memorable characters that we all know and love -
FFIV had Cecil, Kain, Rosa, Rydia
FFV had Bartz / Galuf / Lenna / Faris, and their mishaps and adventures together
FFVI had Celes / Sabin / Locke / Terra / etc.
FFVII had Cait Sith, Red XIII, Tifa, Yuffie, Sephiroth, etc.
FFVIII had Squall, Rinoa, Seifer, etc.
FFIX had Steiner / Beatrix / Vivi / Eiko / etc.
FFX had Rikku / Tidus / Wakka / etc.
Each of the Final Fantasies had very distinct personalities, and invoked undertones of warmth, friendship, and companionship that created the magic of the Final "Fantasy". I see replies above have noted that FFXII is more "realistic" and "makes sense", however fantasies aren't meant to make sense.
To many, video games become an escape from the world into something that isn't real, an escape from the droll redundancy of everyday life, waking up to go to your 9-5 job, then going home to sleep, and repeating for day and day on end until you grow old and die.
To many, that melodramatic and overemotional character development and storyline proves to be one of the key points that was consistent throughout the FF series that many knew and love.
However, FFXII doesn't have that, so to me, it's not a Final Fantasy, but it is still a great game.
I have to say I love FFXII. The plot is indeed very intricate and political, full of deception, tact, and whatnot, and the battle system is quite innovative. It is a game that will revolutionize how video games will produce games in the future. The gambit system is neat, allowing programmable AI, the seamless transition is less annoying than random battles, and suffice to say it is an enjoyable game that consists of over 60 hours of game play easily.
Although I love FFXII, and think it's an awesome game, it's just not a Final Fantasy. Nobuo Uematsu didn't even do the score. It doesn't touch my heart in that special way that FF's usually do, but just because it's not an FF traditionally, doesn't mean I'm going to say it's a crappy game, because it's not.