Something wrong with this game?

[CloudySky]

Something is really wrong with this game... Seriously.
Well I play PAL game, I'm 70 hours in the game, most of that time I trained!!! Is it really FF? :rolleyes2
Even more, 70 hours in the game I still have no clue what Vaan and Penelo are doing in this party! If Ashe likes Vaan then she hides it real good I must say. Vaan and Penelo had like 2 lines each during all that time.
I know 10 times more about Larsa and his family than about my own party. OK I suppose it's nice to know your enemy, I can predict them being final bosses. If I'm wrong - down with politics!
Another thing which doesn't make sense at all as not being to able to save before fighting hunt marks. Did SE forgot it's not a PC game? Jeez my dieing rate in this game beaten all other games I've played so far, seriously. Such as couple or more deaths until I find out I can/can't beat this mark and making strategy, no wonder I still beat only 10 marks, 70 hours in game!
At the beginning of a game I was dieing a lot to elementals until I learnt that I better run on sight.
And totally was let down by this game yesterday, when after 1 hour fight against super speedy and tricky chocobo I finally got him down to critical hp and then he literally KOed out my entire party, all 6 people while I was trying to run as I understood that his meteor attack is almost twice faster than I'm able to heal, not talking about any way to finishing him off. Jeez... And to think of it, I thought my hatred to chocobos after FFX is unmatched...
End of rant.

P.s. Is it really FF game? I usually love to train near the end in any FF game, I somewhat hate training in this game and I have to train all the time if I want to beat marks-bosses.

P.s.s. don't post spoilers please, I got this game only 2 weeks ago.

[DK]

I've done about 15 marks and i'm level 39 after 45 or so hours of the game. I could have done more but I just can't be arsed looking for them atm. It's not really about levelling up, it's about strategy. People have completed all marks at lowest levels possible before, 122333, so yeah.

[Setzer Gabianni]

Well what do you know, most FF games require you to train.

Yes it is an FF game..and so what if you have to train to defeat mark bosses? Do you expect to breeze through everything without doing no..training?

[Renmiri]

Story is weak, characters are bland and yes, you do need to grind 5-6 levels between missions.

But leveling up is more fun now that you can use gambits. And hunts aren't needed to finish the game. If you don't enjoy them, don't do them.

[CloudySky]

I've done about 15 marks and i'm level 39 after 45 or so hours of the game. I could have done more but I just can't be arsed looking for them atm. It's not really about levelling up, it's about strategy. People have completed all marks at lowest levels possible before, 122333, so yeah.

I find it really hard to believe, 15 marks in 45 hours that's 3 hours per mark, when do you did story to get marks and got levels if that's barely the time needed to get to mark try on it couple of things, get killed, reload get killed again and then leave area and go to train for 3 hours to get back and get killed again, etc.? Seriously, very hard to believe, unless you don't try to find how to kill it and read the guides of Japanese guys, they probably have beaten this game ages ago.

Well what do you know, most FF games require you to train.

Yes it is an FF game..and so what if you have to train to defeat mark bosses? Do you expect to breeze through everything without doing no..training?

That's not true, I played all FF games I never had to grind unless near the end, so I pretty much know what I'm talking about. One of reasons why I never had to train, there is a save point right before every boss (with very few exceptions) in any FF game, so you can try as much as you want until you find the strategy. Levels you gain while going through game is enough until final bosses and I was fine with that for 20 years mind to notice. In this game almost all the time I train and I'm nowhere near the end of the game. For me that doesn't feel like FF at all.

Not talking about the fact that I was enjoying training in most of FF games, because encounter rate of random encounters was easy to predict, while in FF12 monsters have really weird spawn times and I end up traveling way more than actually getting into fights.

[DK]

I find it really hard to believe, 15 marks in 45 hours that's 3 hours per mark, when do you did story to get marks and got levels if that's barely the time needed to get to mark try on it couple of things, get killed, reload get killed again and then leave area and go to train for 3 hours to get back and get killed again, etc.? Seriously, very hard to believe, unless you don't try to find how to kill it and read the guides of Japanese guys, they probably have beaten this game ages ago.

They aren't that hard, really. After doing the first three I didn't so any for a while when I was doing story and levelling, then I came back and did some more after a while and I was pretty much stronger than them. As for higher things like Gil Snapper and stuff like that, they aren't particularly hard either. No mark has given me any trouble at all, really. In fact the only time I've been wiped out by a strong monster was when Firemane killed me when I had no potions and crappy gambits first time I fought it, and that wasn't even a mark.

Of course, opening every fight by equipping the Nipohaloha and then using a Remedy might have something to do with it being easy but yeah, none of them are particularly hard anyway. Not yet, at least.

[CloudySky]

DK, you do understand that what you said is ridiculous I had no way to get Nipohaloha I got it only now (and I had no idea of it existance too)! So I had to kill gilsnapper and ringwyrm without it and I don't understand how you had no problems, these 2 marks almost drove me crazy, I leveled a lot for them, like 10 levels and it took me way longer than 6 hours anyway. Chocobo is killing me inspite of what I try he is just faster than my party, immune to everything as far as I noticed and he gives me creeps! So back to training for me...


Renmiri, yes gambits makes training easier but not faster, because we have to find what to train on, and it's a pain. At lower levels I found out that skelies in Lhusu mines have fast respown rate, but after chaining 46-60 of them they stop to spawn at all it seems.
I'm still struggling to find something that good to train for my current level 35.
Besides, I was leveling all my party (all 6 people) till level 30 until I realized how long does it take, so now I level only 3 and I kinda have feeling I might regret that later...

Although constant training bores me, more I'm bothered by lack of personal stories of Vaan and Penelo, others could have more of acting like humans too.... And I miss posibility to talk to my party so much... it hurts...

[Mirage]

Pft, you don't need to train if you're good at RPGs.

[Old Manus]

P.s. Is it really FF game?

[Tommo]

Pft, you don't need to train if you're good at RPGs.

agreed... all my mates at college who have this said all they done is train and train and there like 65 hours into the game and are more leveled up then me but ive still done more of the story then they have with ease. im only into 40hours and on my way to feywood (think its called) and im still doin bits and bobs e.g. doing hunts (just got on mark 6 hunts) and still finding it easy.. not died once... yet lol

[DK]

DK, you do understand that what you said is ridiculous I had no way to get Nipohaloha I got it only now (and I had no idea of it existance too)! So I had to kill gilsnapper and ringwyrm without it and I don't understand how you had no problems, these 2 marks almost drove me crazy, I leveled a lot for them, like 10 levels and it took me way longer than 6 hours anyway. Chocobo is killing me inspite of what I try he is just faster than my party, immune to everything as far as I noticed and he gives me creeps! So back to training for me...

I don't know what hunts you've been doing, or more to the point not doing then, because I'd got the Nipohaloha before I did Gil Snapper and Ring Wyrm. Gil Snapper was especially easy, I was running around attacking it and occasionally curing and then it just died. As far as I was aware I'd barely dented it's HP but it just died after about 5 minutes. Didn't summon, didn't quickening, nothing. Was about level 30 IIRC. And Ring Wyrm was even easier, all it did that was a pain was cast Immobilizga, and that wasn't much of a problem.

[CloudySky]

Well Tommo, then my 20 years of playing games, mostly RPGs means nothing and I got bad at RPGs suddenly after I got this game.

65 hours in game, you have done twice more hunts than me in 70 hours? I haven't got single 6 lvl hunt yet, I still struggle with lvl 5 hunts and still can't kill this stuff. Wow just wow!

Meaning more training for me.
As far as I noticed it has nothing to do with being good at RPGs, since it's not a story what makes this game pain, but hunts.


DK, everything you say has a very little sense to me, I try every hunt when I get it, meaning when it's available. I don't know what will happen later, will I be able to return and kill them or not. I have only 1 summon still and it was 1hitted by chocobo when I tried to summon it to keep myself from dieing.
When I got ringwyrm and gillsnaper I was nowhere near level 30 anyway, quickenings doesn't work any good, cos they often leave half or all party without MP, I don't like them.

[Pete for President]

The thing with hunting marks is, don't do them right when they become available, continue with the story a lil' more and come back later. I had trouble beating the ringwyrm first, but I just came back a story-chapter later and I had no trouble at all.

[Neo-Omega Mk XXV]

Pft, you don't need to train if you're good at RPGs.

Not the softest way to say this, but I agree .
The only "grinding" I did from time to time was to accumulate loot to buy some better equipment. I did get slightly stuck at a few spots like the Sochen Cave Palace, but other than that I was able to take care of most of the bosses by using tactics. Sorry, but if you need to level up by 5-6 levels between each mission, you haven't learned to play this game properly. OTOH if you don't want to grind, you _cannot_ play this game like other FFs, i.e. mostly by banging away at the "fight" command and then healing when you need to.

Some hints based on my experience: have dedicated magic users with mystic armours and staves/rods. Use them to cast slow, blind, gravity, silence (when appropriate), and other offensive spells as well as curing spells. The fact that offensive magic is effective in this game allows space for significantly more varied strategies than in previous FF games (where offensive magic usually sucked relative to regular attacks from the better fighters, at least when its MP cost was factored in). Moreover, bosses are sometimes vulnerable to certain status afflictions such as slow and blind. Take advantage of this. Also make liberal use of stat-reducing technicks like addle, expose, wither, etc. Have your entire party under protect at all times (after a certain point the game). Try not to fight monsters in big groups whenever possible, and know when to run away. If a certain class of monster keeps wiping the ground with you, just avoid them when possible. If all monsters in an area are wiping the ground with you despite your best efforts, then try to get new equipment or activate additional licenses, and only if this fails should you level grind.

After 70 hours I had around 20 marks if my memory serves me right, and I finished the game in 90 hours with around 27 or 28 marks finished, and my highest level was 48. I've also been gaming for around 15 years, and I didn't have the problems you did. Yes, this game has less character interaction than the other post FF5 FFs, and the story seems to happen more "behind the scenes". These are the game's weakest points, though I don't feel the story is "bland". It had the potential to be much better though.

[Jerseymilk]

Another thing which doesn't make sense at all as not being to able to save before fighting hunt marks. Did SE forgot it's not a PC game? Jeez my dieing rate in this game beaten all other games I've played so far, seriously. Such as couple or more deaths until I find out I can/can't beat this mark and making strategy, no wonder I still beat only 10 marks, 70 hours in game!
At the beginning of a game I was dieing a lot to elementals until I learnt that I better run on sight.

You do realize there are various Save Crystals throughout all the areas in this game right? :/

And totally was let down by this game yesterday, when after 1 hour fight against super speedy and tricky chocobo I finally got him down to critical hp and then he literally KOed out my entire party, all 6 people while I was trying to run as I understood that his meteor attack is almost twice faster than I'm able to heal, not talking about any way to finishing him off. Jeez... And to think of it, I thought my hatred to chocobos after FFX is unmatched...
End of rant.

So the hunt was really, super tricky. Not everything is always fair after all. Sometimes you have to work for stuff. Are you saying you don't want a challenge and just want to breeze through a game?

And you don't *have* to spend a ton of time training in this game if you don't want to. For example, I've spent tons of hours leveling and training to accomplish expecially the hunts, but that's how I do it with every FF game. FF12 is no different trust me, and I've played every FF game and been an RPG player for as long as you have. Conversely, my fiance finished the game very quickly and was able to also complete most of the hunts with significant less training time and lower levels than me. Once again, that's his common method with every RPG he plays, including all the other FFs he's done.

And ya the hunts can be hard, but they're not compulsory. In general sidequests in RPGs often are harder than the main storyline. At least in my experience. For all I've said concerning leveling up, when it came to hunts, I also knew I needed to use patience and strategy to win.