FFXII appreciation thread!

After playing enough Final Fantasy XIII, which is virtually the exact opposite of this game, I've decided, I still love you Final Fantasy XII!

Really, for all the bitching this game gets, I can't help but feel that 90% of people's ridiculous non-realistic expectation. Thus I'm making a thread to list as many as reasons as possible why FFXII was a great addition to the series!

Goals:
1 achieved - 8:37PM 3/22/2010
10 achieved - 4:23PM 3/23/2010
100
1000
1001

1. Awesome amounts of side-quests that you don't have to wait until the very end of the game to have access to.

2. Innovative gambit system which allows you to have as much control over your party as you want.

3. love the ADB battle system

4. Sure the Quickenings were good, but at a price of all your MP, not the only thing you could use like in some other games :greenie:

5. Weapons and equipment with diverse effects, damage algorithms, and stats; that it made you more methodical on how you set up your party and your Gambits.

6. Deep, intricate story which left a lot unsaid and to the player's interpretation. Quite original for the series as a whole.

7. Gilgamesh. What more do you need to know

8. No smaltzy fake as teen love rammed down our throats at every oportunity, (see VIII and X)

9. Ability to change party mid-battle. USEFUL!

10. A hunt system that let you slay tons of powerful baddies while providing bits of humor mixed in.

11. Being able to set some gambits to be able to overlevel and leave the game on overnight, overday, come home and have my party go up 10 levels each. USEFUL!

12. Gorgeous and atmospheric graphics!

13. Cool-ish boss intros

14. Finally, a new Ivalice game!

15. Beautiful, diverse world, which is a thrill to explore.

16. Towns that are a legitimate pleasure to jaunt around in: Rabanastre, Upper and Lower Archades, Eruyt Village, and, my favourite, BHUJERBA!

Perfectly instrumented music by Hitoshi Sakimoto. Clash on the Big Bridge - need I say more about this great arrangement?

18. Fran is wearing what is not much more than a thong :bigsmile:

19. A unique treasure/loot system which can't be broken or abused and is arguably less tedious than chocobo breeding/racing for KOTR or Dark Matter farming for Ribbons in FFX...

...How'd that turn into a dig against people who whinge about it =/

20. A character-building and encounter system that not only allowed players to build their own rules and restrictions to enhance the game's replayability, but actually made certain extreme "challenges" both possible and fun.

the game would be if Matsuno had actually finished it ?

Do you think there would have been more emotion from the characters ?

Visible romance between Vaan and Penelo ?

More cutscenes tying events in the game together ?

Perhaps some shocker scenes that would have spiced things up a bit ?

:p

21. Balthier, and Balthier's pants. ;)

Seriously, those pants give Mal's from that one episode of Firefly some competition in the tightness department.

22. Not having to travel through a world map to get everywhere.

23. Arrows and guns actually mattering more than "You can put this character in the back row".

24. Knowing where the monsters are, so no random encounters!

25. Balthier has a nice accent.

26. Allowing multiple important characters instead of one "main".

27: Pretty espers :p

28. Fran.

Zodiark - not for pussies

I disagree with some points mentioned but I'll just name something nice anyway.

30. Zalera, the only cool Esper.

31. Fran's voice. I know Fran was mentioned already, but her voice deserves a section of its own.

32. The ability to freely travel many areas away from the story's plot point triggers and explore a good portion of the world without having to wait for the storyline to catch up.

33. Having a world with areas built to somewhat realistic scale and allows the player to actually explore most of it instead of having a constrained road with "pretty wallpaper", thus allowing the player to immerse himself better in the world cause it doesn't feel fake.

34: Square continued to take chances with its flagship series, creating new fans and nice (sometimes) debates among existing fans. :bigsmile: Mine is a bit flimsy.

>>> 35. Victory Fanfare..:luca:

36. Real-time on-field combat. FFXIII has a tremendously fun battle system, but when I'm trying to get somewhere it's annoying to run into a group of enemies. It's not nearly as obnoxious as random encounters, but it really makes me think back on and appreciate FFXII's unbroken-up exploration. There's something very satisfying in cutting down wave after wave of enemies while your objective is in sight and slogging on towards it without jarring, screen-changing interruptions.