Rikku's first impressions...

[Brennan]

*Goes on a rant about people who don't like the game just because they think it's bad*
What is your problem Rikku?!
The game takes place in a war-torn era!
So what if the chocobos wear armor?
So what if the moogles look like rabbits? They still are cute!
So what if the game-play freezes when you select a command? It does that on about every other FF!
If you want the game-play to keep continueing when you select a command use "Acive" mode!
*Rant over*

[Northcrest]

I think you dislike it because it differs from x to like the game I think you need to see it as it's own game not a sequal to x.

1. Ditto

2. I just think that you are too use to X and expected almost the exact kind of gameplay or the way its played. In this game you have to remember that they probably almost had to use a new crew for the FF game play. Thats why everything is almost comepletely what you didn't think of with X. I mean yeah I didn't really like the way how they changed a bunch of ideas that kind of took away the Final Fantasy Flow but the gameplay was enjoyable. Wait until u beat the game you will love it.

[Wolf Kanno]

Wow, this thread has devolved into a X vs. XII argument and neither Renmiri or I was responsible... Check the skies children! The world is coming to an end!

I wanted to say, the moogles in FF XII shouldn't be that surprising. They use the same design as FFTA's moogles (Logical, they are drawn by the same artist, aren't they?). So FF XII's moogles should be nothing new or shocking.

Further, there's no point in me trying to say something positive about XII, you won't listen anyway. You're too spoilt by X.

Right now I'm playing X for the first time, after I finished XII, and can you please tell me how this game got so many fans? After the magnificent IX (and XII) I didn't expect something that... tries to make me stop playing by throwing all kinds of stuff at me that makes me swallow hard and feel a bit sick...

Ah well, each to his own. Some of your complaints make absolutely no sense to me but I won't try to understand. I feel that it's not worth it. Try to stop thinking that every FF has to be like X to be a FF, maybe then you'll like XII. I'll go as far as saying that FF X feels the least FF-ish to me.

Don't think I had no problems with XII, there were some problems, but for me the fantastic Final Boss and "Battle for Freedom" more than made up for all of my little problems with XII.

Lord I understand this too well. I still don't understand how X got such a rabid fanbase. :rolleyes2 And yes X is pretty bad about forcing things down your throat. It's the worse offender in the FF series when it comes to holding your hand and being linear.

Right now I'm playing X for the first time, after I finished XII, and can you please tell me how this game got so many fans?

It's one of those "you had to be there" things. I got X (and Playstation2) when it first came out, and it's hard for me not to have fond memories of it.

Now i'm going to get back to chrono trigger and try to figure out what's so special about it...

Speak for yourself I got X when it came out and found it too be really boring and disappointing. My feelings only grew stronger when I played through it a second time. I still feel it's the low point of the series and pray that no future FF tries to be like it.

As for CT... yeah, the game is far more impressive if you played it when it came out. It was mind blowing at the time. But I still feel the games overall charm holds up to today.

Back on topic... Outside of the fanboy/girl squabbling Rikku. XII is very different in storytelling and structure. Some like it, some don't. I personally felt Lady Ashe's struggle and the theme of freedom were beautifully told and it really connected with my personal feelings about the subjects. The game's realism with politics and dropping grandiose ideologies like "saving the world" felt refreshing after so many years of playing the genre. Granted I don't feel ever RPG should be like XII, but I felt it was a nice breather after playing through so many similiar games.

Hopefully XIII will learn from XII's strengths.

[Renmiri]

I gave Final Fantasy Twelve a try, I really did to see if I would like it...But more or less halfway through, I'm not impressed at all. Hiding a badly written story behind old english. Sorry, Square...You failed big time. Way too big of a change in my perspective.

I really tried to like it, I really did. But when it comes to what makes me bond with a group of characters...This falls flat.

I felt the same as you when I was in the middle of the game. I got to appreciate it better after I forced myself to proceed.

I think part of it was the hype and expectations. I was expecting something better than X, in my taste of games. When I finally forgave Square for not making an X-3 I enjoyed it more.

yet another FFX Fan boy who tries to hate every other Final Fantasy

Yep, sounds about right.

I thought that every X fan would dislike XII and vice versa but it turns out this is not true. There are actually quite a few people that like both.

You're too spoilt by X.

Good point.

Right now I'm playing X for the first time, after I finished XII, and can you please tell me how this game got so many fans?

It's one of those "you had to be there" things.

I bet in five years people will be asking the same about XII

Ugh, even I'm getting tired of people who don't give FFX the credit it deserves. The story was good, and the characters were some of the best in the series if you ask me

QFT!!!

It makes me laugh how so many people are like "my god! FFX fanboy" and you all sound like FFXII fanboys.. running to it's defence when someone merely comments on the game or expresses their opinion.

I personally enjoyed X more than XII. However, i love both games.

Told ya so. It is possible to like both

I think it is very normal for FF fans to be disappointed with XII (and perhaps with every new FF game). It changed a lot of things that were liked, not enough of things that were disliked, all the hype made people expect too much, etc... XII fans will just have to be patient with us "fanboys" that were expecting more of Square. To each his own.

[Vivisteiner]

Wow, this topic has somehow managed to get me hating FFX. Just like those FFVII fanboy threads.

When in reality, I think both of them are great games, and so is FFXII. But they are soooooooooo different, and as demondude said, that has caused all the hate. Both games have their weaknesses. FFX's emotion was sometimes over the top to the point of ridiculousness and FFXII's was the reverse. In FFXII you sometimes feel a lack of purpose whereas in FFX its like someones holding your hand and guiding you the whole way through.

Only FFIX got the perfect balance.

What is Final Fantasy anyway?
How can you claim that FFXII is not a proper Final Fantasy when you've only played FFX?

Consider though that if Final Fantasy weren't so versatile, it would probably not exist today.

[Shemhazai]

I got FFX as soon as i could after i had obtained the mighty PS2, after playing into it got nearly all the way i thought "Great, this'll occupy me for a while". Not long after i completed it and felt very disappointed at how easy-ish i found it compared to whe i first tried FFVII (which was my first escapade into the FF world, sometime around the late 90's, i was only ikkle :P.) it took me a good few months (bout 7 :$) but i felt satisfied once I had completed it (I'm no 'Fanboy'), and have to come to respect the FF series as one of the finest, IMHO The FF's have been getting better.

BUT, there is always a lowpoint to each game, for VII was how hard i found/find Emerald and Ruby weapon (Still can't beat em ) for VIII the materials needed to make better weapons were quite hard to find. IX was probably how much you had to run about (me being lazy i like to fly/sail about) X for me was the gameplay and those ruddy annoying battles. X-2 was quite poor i can't even remember completing it (i have btw). (I haven't found one for XI as my freakin' comp has packed up allowing me to play games on it so i only played it for about 2 months). for XII atm it would have to be that i don't feel armour has a large part to play, but thats me and it'll probably get me killed in the game somethime.

I Enjoy FFXII even though the story is 'a bit slow' and i find the Combat System very refreshing as are the change to the Moogles and the slightly tougher edge to the Chocobos.

All in all, most of the FF's were good, just that for me FFX wasn't as good.

Thanks for reading my long (probably boring) post
And Hello To Y'all I'm New. =]

TaTa, Shem

[Jesta]

yet another FFX Fan boy who tries to hate every other Final Fantasy

agreed

i did however firstly agree with some of the first comments originally made about 12. its lack of depth in its gameplay, the plat that has no real goal. the battle system was something i wasnt too fond of either. but those little things tend to ebcome obsolete when you give a gfame a chance and play it as it is and not compare it to others. we are there to play the game and enjoy it for what it has to offer, rather than criticise a game for not being more like a previous.

you need to open your mind to the possibility that a game is more than it first appears to be.

[Dirufan]

I don't know about anyone else, but I was absolutely STOKED about not having random battles. Granted, that is a major change from every other final fantasy in the series, but what's a game series without a little change from every other one?

That's why I like XII over X any day. X holds your hand through the whole game until you get to the final boss. Then you're able to do your sidequests, and by this point in the game, everything you work for is basically useless because you'll be way overpowered when you don't need to be.

And in XII's defense, FINALLY a game where you have to take a little time to defeat a sidequest boss. (Yiazmat) I'll gladly take the 7-10 hours to beat him, unlike FF VI where as soon as you learn Vanish and Doom, you've just beaten the game.

[Nifleheim7]

To pause the action around you to attack, use items or whatnot is irratating. Unlike in FFX or other installments that keeps the action around you going.

I'm sorry but I have to argue with this. You say about pausing the action in FF12 but FF10 keeps the action going? What a load of crap!! You can sit there all day and not get hit in FF10 because of the system. The action comes to a standstill while you just stand there. To me you just sound like a crazed lunatic fan of FF10.

I think he/she reffers to the character/monster animations rather than the game mechanics.
It is true that in FFX the character/monster movement continued when you were browsing the battle menu although it was purely for aesthitics.
The only part that i agree in Rikku's original post is about the story.I admit that i also haven't beaten the game yet,but i can clearly see that it's story is plot-driven rather than character-driven.By that i mean that the plot overweights the characters development.I'm always more intrigued about tales that are focused more on characters and less on plots.Or ones that keep a fine balance.
I think the main character in FFXII is Ivalice and not the actual characters.

[pspkilla]

To pause the action around you to attack, use items or whatnot is irratating. Unlike in FFX or other installments that keeps the action around you going.

I'm sorry but I have to argue with this. You say about pausing the action in FF12 but FF10 keeps the action going? What a load of crap!! You can sit there all day and not get hit in FF10 because of the system. The action comes to a standstill while you just stand there. To me you just sound like a crazed lunatic fan of FF10.

I think he/she reffers to the character/monster animations rather than the game mechanics.
It is true that in FFX the character/monster movement continued when you were browsing the battle menu although it was purely for aesthitics.
The only part that i agree in Rikku's original post is about the story.I admit that i also haven't beaten the game yet,but i can clearly see that it's story is plot-driven rather than character-driven.By that i mean that the plot overweights the characters development.I'm always more intrigued about tales that are focused more on characters and less on plots.Or ones that keep a fine balance.
I think the main character in FFXII is Ivalice and not the actual characters.

I have to disagree, the plot of the game is genious! So, if you didn't like this plot, I take it you didn't like Tacticts plot as well? It was a great game! The story lines are quite different than the usual save-the-world type plots. In this game, I feel that the story is alot deeper than most FF games, and the main character in this game, is pretty much everyone in your party, they all play a unique role in the story, the characters and plot were, I think, well balanced out. In FFX the story is good, though I must say this game has one of the best story lines in my opinion. The plot does really revolve around the main characters of the game, if you play further into it, you'll see what I mean, at first I had my doubts as well, but I gave it some time, and now It's one of my favorites in the series.

[the holy meteor]

I really liked the gameplay because I hated the annoying random battles. I just got tired of the loading times and it was especially painful in IX. However XII's battle system became extremely tedious and it probably had to do with the intensely long dungeon crawling. All those endless mazes aren't even that rewarding. I mean, all that for a little cutscene? And right after that, off we go to yet another 10-hour long destination. I thought it was hard to appreciate the plot because I always got off track on what the heck was going on.

It's been several months since I completed it and I believe it's the least memorable FF I've ever played. The characters seem to be forced to interact with one another from time to time. The only reason I even remember the main characters is because their names are listed right there in the main menu screen. Only Balthier and Fran (I LOVE her voice) are remotely interesting. Penelo just doesn't seem to have a purpose to be in the party.

The plot is okay, but nothing memorable or special. It's not my cup of tea. The characters don't seem to have much depth and bored me. By the time I got to the final dungeon, I was surprised. I know it was 60-70 hours since I started playing but whoa, I didn't realize the story was coming to an end. I thought the story was just unfolding. I understand that it's plot-driven which is different from the previous FFs but I don't think it was executed as well as planned. I don't mind not having a love story, though.

The music for the game is a complete letdown. Nothing memorable except the signature FF themes (such as the victory music).

XII's strong points are the battle system which I absolutely love, and of course the graphics. Other than that, I wouldn't bother playing this game ever again. High expectations might be the reason, but I did give it a fair shot and I still can't get into it.

I had to let it all out. I think FFXII is okay but not great. I enjoyed the game thoroughly and I never "forced" myself to finish it, but I admit I did enjoy the other Final Fantasies a lot more.

[Nifleheim7]

^Holy meteor,i share your thoughts exactly (i agree even at the part of Fran's voice)!!!
I finished the game a couple days ago (not a 100% completion since i got bored of leveling up) and i was thinking of writing my thoughts on this...but your post covered me 100%!

I just want to add that another let down for me was the art direction.I know that the team were fans of the Star Wars franchise but at the last (long) sequence i felt like i was watching the recent trilogy of George Lucas...Inspiration is one thing but this was just to much for my liking.Even the dialogues where as pompous and horrible as in the last Star Wars films.When i play a FF title i expect at least some originality...
Vayne was also ridiculous at the end and very cliched.

[Jiro]

There are always going to be people who will love one game so much that they will dislike games that are too different. But in my opinion, both games are good but neither are truly perfect. There is always going to be something that someone doesn't like.

[Goldenboko]

I have a few comments

For one, the gameplay is tedious to the finest degree. To pause the action around you to attack, use items or whatnot is irratating. Unlike in FFX or other installments that keeps the action around you going. To pause, then wait for an action bar to fill up, only to pause the game again is aggravating.

First off, if you play on Active the game never pauses, you are constantly in action which is a reason why some people can't play on Active. In fact, playing this game on Active makes it the only game where you will be deciding attacks and your party members will still be running around attacking, keeping the action around you far more then any other Final Fantasy to date. X was actually a step backward in the "keeping the action going" area, as it reverted back to turn base, which means a pause button is never necessary to slow things down, you can just sit and think and nothing bad will ever happen.

In other Final Fantasy games, when you defeat an enemy, you get exp. and gil at the same time, in Twelve; this is forgotten. I ask you why? It was practical and logical.

Practical, yes, logical, not at all. I'd like you to think about what you said for a moment, is it logical for you to go outside, and kill a Bear, and then find 100 bucks on its dead carcass?
Of course not.
Is it logical for you to kill a bear, skin it, and sell its fur for 100 bucks.
Yes, very.
FFXII's loot system was actually a step in the right direction when it comes to logic.

Another thing I was greatly dissapointed in was the appearence of the game. For a second there, I thought it was a Lord of the Rings, Star Wars crossover!

This has been said about FF forever :P But when it comes down to it LoTR was cool, and Star Wars was cool, why is crossing them so bad?

Chocobos in Ten were decorated in armor as well, but not to the extent of the ones in Twelve. Chocobo's are supposed to be realistic, but adorable. In Twelve, they lose their trademark cuteness. So have the moogles. Moogles have a cat-like appearence, but in Twelve, they take the shape of a rabbit! Way to break tradition Square!

The necessity of Chocobos being cute was never intended by Square, thats a personal fan opinion, personally I liked the representation of Chocobos in this game, because they where BAMF.

Moogles being Cat-Like is your interpretation, and to be honest, I dun know where you got it. Square always messes with the character designs, and FFXII's moogles looked fine, they still looked like Cats, just with rabbit ears.

You also said something about not having a main character....

Lets go back in time:
FFI: Characters never talked: No main Character
FFV: Galuf felt much more important to the story for the first half FFVbut then he had to go and get himself killed good job Galuf!
FFVI: One of the best FFs, many regard it as the single best, and guess what, it had no main character. There where only three you could Consider and thats Locke, Celes, and Terra, but each had just as much glory as the last.

2. Unfortunately this is the first FF that completely ripped off of another RPG series rather than revolutionize it, apparently Knights of the Old Republic had a much similar battle system to ADB. I've heard this from several people, maybe someone else can clarify this for me.

Wrong. KOTR was a deceptive fighting system, it appeared to be doing the same thing as FFXII but in reality it was a turn-based game. Plus KOTR's attack style really made the entire thing feel different from FFXII.

lol thanks for the, ummm... agressive clarification.

If you think thats Aggressive Clarification then you should see what happens when Tavrobel corrects someone. Mine was just lazy clarification, making it sound mean and cold. :P

[ff is da best]

well i just want to say somethin... i was suprised when i first saw the
new battle system how u can run around and fight not like the old ff
but i reckon that it was quite cool and saved sum time from having to see the screen smash when you encounter a enemy. but i still think that is cool just that i think ff12 is just so cooler but i will always rememba and still play the previous ff its just in my nature i guess.