What do you think of the game?

[Renmiri]

I agree with you Hazzard, the Hunts and the world exploration WERE the game for me. I loved how each couple of hunts you had to adjust your strategy and there was no silver bullet. Spamming Curaga only works for a while. Reflect ? Ditto! Quickenings ? Same thing. Every couple of hours I had to adjust tactics and that was oodles of fun, but yeah, at the end a bit exhausting. I still have yet to play it for the second time.

I missed a story I could care for though

[Hazzard]

I loved how each couple of hunts you had to adjust your strategy and there was no silver bullet. Spamming Curaga only works for a while. Reflect ? Ditto! Quickenings ? Same thing. Every couple of hours I had to adjust tactics and that was oodles of fun

Exactly, (SPOILER)especially against Fenrir, and when you had to devise multiple tactics midway in battle against Gilgamesh. Superb!

[remnant1]

????????!!!!!!!!!!??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????adjust tactics?????????????i used the same tactics on every hunt and it worked fine,you must not play rpgs to often lolol.all i do is kill the dang things.if you cant do that,then you need to lvl up more

[Comet]

It was OK, I'm not gonna lie.

[Hazzard]

????????!!!!!!!!!!??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????adjust tactics?????????????i used the same tactics on every hunt and it worked fine,you must not play rpgs to often lolol.all i do is kill the dang things.if you cant do that,then you need to lvl up more

Huh? Is that directed at me, because the reason I "adjust" tactics is to find new strategies and expand my skills as an RPGamer, you must not play much RPG's, because using the same old tactics is dull and boring "lol". Also, if you can't kill off an opponent, it isn't necessarily due to lack of level, it may actually be the way you're approaching the foe, and the certain "tactics" which you are doing wrong.

[Finola]

Everything else is great except the story and the characters deepness. Though the videos look great there's nothing that really happens in them.
If the story and plot had been as strong as in X it would probably have been the best game ever.
But there's something i'm not sure what to think about... the new battle-system. You just got some free time and you're really not needed so what to think about that? The boss fights used to be something challenging (i'm not saying that there aren't challenging bosses in XII) and kind of exciting...differently at least... now you just guide your party in fight and you can go and have a lunch.

And one minus -- there's a lot frustrating running all the time -- which i hate.

[Renmiri]

????????!!!!!!!!!!??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????adjust tactics?????????????i used the same tactics on every hunt and it worked fine,you must not play rpgs to often lolol.all i do is kill the dang things.if you cant do that,then you need to lvl up more

Huh? Is that directed at me, because the reason I "adjust" tactics is to find new strategies and expand my skills as an RPGamer, you must not play much RPG's, because using the same old tactics is dull and boring "lol". Also, if you can't kill off an opponent, it isn't necessarily due to lack of level, it may actually be the way you're approaching the foe, and the certain "tactics" which you are doing wrong.

hehe ignore the idiot, Hazzard. Don't feed the trolls

[Setzer Gabianni]

Everything else is great except the story and the characters deepness. Though the videos look great there's nothing that really happens in them.
If the story and plot had been as strong as in X it would probably have been the best game ever.
But there's something i'm not sure what to think about... the new battle-system. You just got some free time and you're really not needed so what to think about that? The boss fights used to be something challenging (i'm not saying that there aren't challenging bosses in XII) and kind of exciting...differently at least... now you just guide your party in fight and you can go and have a lunch.

And one minus -- there's a lot frustrating running all the time -- which i hate.

Better then random battles.

[BG-57]

I found the game very addictive. It's one of the most sidequest intensive games I've ever played (which is not necessarily a bad thing). If you want to race through and just win the game it won't take you long, but if you want to experience everything the game has to offer, you'll need to spare oodles of time.

The battle system took a little getting used to but I enjoy it now. Visible enemies are always a plus. Getting supremely overpowered weapons early on was half the fun for me. It's interesting how the game makes areas and monsters available early on that can easily overwhelm your party if you don't prepare (and sometimes even if you do).

I like the storyline so far. Although I would have liked to learn more about the Judges.

[Bolivar]

BG-57's absolutely right - this is a very addicting game.

As an RPG, it's in a league of its own, as I don't think I've ever played a game that was so detailed. If you look at the scenery, there's constantly detail put into things you wouldn't expect, and the Bestiary is literally an encyclopedia full of information on the world and its backstory.

The setting is amazing - but don't expect FFT's Ivalice. This game's ivalice is like FFTA's, and the culture is representative of Egyptian/Mesopotamian civilizations during their heyday, which is real cool as it's probably one of the least explored cultures/civilizations in RPGs and especially Final Fantasy.

The battle system's on another level, too. Itou, the guy who came up with the ATB system in IV and perfected it throughout the series, added another dimension to it with ADB. You still have time bars that fill up, but everything is seamless, no battle screens, the idea is that you are constantly exploring. The Gambit system is great if you can get into it. Itou based it off of the NFL, where the coach selects plays that will predict the most likely outcome, and you adjust your strategies according to that. Very strategic and very intense.

As a Final Fantasy, you might be dissappointed. There's maybe 30 hours of actual story whereas there's probably up to 100 hours in sidequests and mark hunting. Don't get me wrong - this game has an amazing story. But the storytelling is amatuer at best. If you're expecting a deep plot with references to mythology and philosophy, and alot of effort put into developing characters, this game might let you down a little bit. To me it abandoned many of the mechanics that have made the series stand out among its competitors, especially the recent advances made in storytelling in the last few installments.

The music is good (some really great pieces) but it gets repetitive and al ittle boring about halfway through the game. The graphics are probably the best we're gonna get with PS2, the FMV's rivaling XBOX360 IMO. I spent more time on 1 file than any other final fantasy, so be prepared to get addicted if you can get into it.

[Wuggly Blight]

Not as bad as X but not as good as it could of been.

Music: Boring, nothing toe tapping like anything pre-X. Some rare good bits.

Characters: No development or even reason why most of them was even there, You stop and think, why is Vaan even HERE!?

Plot: The story is mostly Ive got the stone go to point B Ive got point B get the stone at Point c, rinse and repeat, It was abit dull. Most, if not all the story too place behind close doors far far far away, Your characters had no involment in the plot at all, Im not even sure if they knew what was ever going on. Very dull.

Setting: Good setting, But some of the places need some more history. However some places seemed insignificant as you never went there, You didnt know much about Ashe, she wasnt really developed, and her in her palace held no significence and you never (Properly) went there and it never had any real bearing on the story. Same with Arcades and such so theres no warm fuzzy feeling at the end, I didnt even care.

Battle system better, but weak crap summons, the system made the dungeon crawling better, which was, unfortunately the whole game.

[Setzer Gabianni]

Not as bad as X but not as good as it could of been.

Music: Boring, nothing toe tapping like anything pre-X. Some rare good bits.

Far from boring, but then that's me. I personally believe that most people don't like the music because it's a different composer, someone they're not used to.

[quote]Characters: No development or even reason why most of them was even there, You stop and think, why is Vaan even HERE!?[quote]

Characters do have reasons for being there so..

Plot: The story is mostly Ive got the stone go to point B Ive got point B get the stone at Point c, rinse and repeat, It was abit dull. Most, if not all the story too place behind close doors far far far away, Your characters had no involment in the plot at all, Im not even sure if they knew what was ever going on. Very dull.

Ha. Most plots follow the same format. You go to this place, do this. And so on and so on. The characters had involvement in the plot, so how they apparently didn't, kinda mystifies me.

Setting: Good setting, But some of the places need some more history. However some places seemed insignificant as you never went there, You didnt know much about Ashe, she wasnt really developed, and her in her palace held no significence and you never (Properly) went there and it never had any real bearing on the story. Same with Arcades and such so theres no warm fuzzy feeling at the end, I didnt even care.

You knew enough about Ashe actually. The palace? That had no importance/relevance to the story anyway really. And seeing as Ashe couldn't exactly go back there without causing trouble..

No warm fuzzy feeling at the end? This is the kinda game you'd least expect a warm fuzzy feeling from. Maybe from the cutesy titles, but this is probably the last thing FFXII would turn out to be. The ending FMV though, is kinda warm/happy sort of thing.

Talking about Archades - when you think about it, by the time you got there, Ashe couldn't exactly talk to a) Gramis (as he was dead) or b) The Senate - they got dismissed by Vayne. There was not much she could do with Vayne's being there/his stronghold whatever you call it being there. The capital had importance - you could find out a lot of things from the NPC's, less arrogant ones like. Plus, it was where Draklor Laboraties was.

Battle system better, but weak crap summons, the system made the dungeon crawling better, which was, unfortunately the whole game.

Erm..no? Forgot the open space hm? :P

Even if there was numerous, they were all designed pretty neatly.

I kinda agree with the whole summons thing. Useless in battle like VI's, but cool to look at and read info about.

Hope you don't take any of my comments the wrong way <3

[Cledarius]

I think, i've seen better FFs.

i don't like that battle system. I don't like it at all. It's just not FF for me. I liked the into-battel zooming.

And I don't like the main char Vaan (I know he isn't but you begin with him). He looks so stupid. The other chars are quite cool.

The new level system is totally crap.

The plot...well it's ok, not that great but ok.



just my two cents

[Setzer Gabianni]

I think, i've seen better FFs.

i don't like that battle system. I don't like it at all. It's just not FF for me. I liked the into-battel zooming.

And I don't like the main char Vaan (I know he isn't but you begin with him). He looks so stupid. The other chars are quite cool.

The new level system is totally crap.

The plot...well it's ok, not that great but ok.



just my two cents

Few things

1) The whole screen smashing you're mentioning? Not FF, so to say the battle system isn't FF, well, er, you're a bit wrong there.

2) The whole level system is crap? It's like the others..you earn so much EXP, you gain a level. Instead of AP, you learn LP.

Explain yourself a bit more dear >.o

[Hazzard]

As a Final Fantasy, you might be dissappointed. There's maybe 30 hours of actual story whereas there's probably up to 100 hours in sidequests and mark hunting. Don't get me wrong - this game has an amazing story. But the storytelling is amatuer at best. If you're expecting a deep plot with references to mythology and philosophy, and alot of effort put into developing characters, this game might let you down a little bit. To me it abandoned many of the mechanics that have made the series stand out among its competitors, especially the recent advances made in storytelling in the last few installments.

The music is good (some really great pieces) but it gets repetitive and al ittle boring about halfway through the game. The graphics are probably the best we're gonna get with PS2, the FMV's rivaling XBOX360 IMO. I spent more time on 1 file than any other final fantasy, so be prepared to get addicted if you can get into it.

First of all, I totally agree with everything Bolivar said here, and you certainly hit the nail in the coffin. Like I've said before, Final Fantasy XII had one of the best story-lines to this day, but ultimately wasted it. I was disappointed with how brief and short it was, and how they didn't even attempt to lengthen any of the more crucial parts, like experiencing times in cutscenes, of the party members emotions. They just really left out the good stuff in it. I'm still a little miffed at how much culture, mythology, philosophy and other features of history in Ivalice weren't thoroughly explained. Although the bestiary provided a reasonably satisfying amount of information, it would of been fun to explore Ivalice. Not the terrain, but the characters, Rozzarian areas, and other things.

The music was too repetitive, and I was aggrieved to find that the final boss music wasn't exactly unique, like the other FF's were. It was just another track to me. They could of spiced it up a bit more, but instead they left it unfinished, incomplete, and hardly on the status of other FF tracks.