Why should I replay this game?

[Fynn]

The license board is similar to the sphere grid in X, in the sense that you learn abilities, but you also gain licenses for armor & weapons. It looks like a chess/checkerboard, but it works pretty well. You're only able to learn things on adjacent squares from what you already know. Eventually, everyone can learn everything.

The cast is great. Vaa-aa-aan takes a lot of crap for being a dope, some is justifiable, most is overkill. The NPCs/temporary characters are also a lot of fun. XII utilizes races moreso than others from the standard series, even though only one (Fran) of your team is non-human.

The world is pretty massive compared to FFI-X. Lots to explore.

The sidequest aren't these annoying dodging games, but actually utilize the gameplay through hunts & searching for rare game.

The monsters are incredible. They range from whimsical, like the Cactoids & Mandragons to ferocious, like the Ring Wyrm. They may be overshadowed by XV's screenshots, but @ least you can play this game.

One thing people don't mention are the Quickenings. It's probably because there's a learning curve, but once you get the hang of them, they are great. Everyone has 3. Some are truly epic, like Balthier's Tides of Faith. You should search them on Youtube.

FFXII seems to take great influence from Star Wars, in spite of the producer's denial. It's the standard Rebels vs Evil Empire. Judges that resemble Darth Vader. Roguish Sky Pirate & his non-human co-pilot w/ cool airship. Princess dethroned by Evil Empire. Bounty Hunter chasing Sky Pirate. City in the Sky working w/ rebels behind the scenes. Lots of desert & dust. The list goes on.

Still, the story is much better than Star Wars. Nothing is either black or white, the warring factions are all just shades of gray. Typical Matsuno.

[maybee]

Why ?


Vaan's funny looking abs that's why

[Colonel Angus]

A shower would do him some good. He must smell like a marlboro.

... or a Malboro.

[Ayen]

Judges that resemble Darth Vader.

This was all I heard.

[Colonel Angus]

The license board is similar to the sphere grid in X, in the sense that you learn abilities, but you also gain licenses for armor & weapons. It looks like a chess/checkerboard, but it works pretty well. You're only able to learn things on adjacent squares from what you already know. Eventually, everyone can learn everything.

The cast is great. Vaa-aa-aan takes a lot of crap for being a dope, some is justifiable, most is overkill. The NPCs/temporary characters are also a lot of fun. XII utilizes races moreso than others from the standard series, even though only one (Fran) of your team is non-human.

The world is pretty massive compared to FFI-X. Lots to explore.

The sidequest aren't these annoying dodging games, but actually utilize the gameplay through hunts & searching for rare game.

The monsters are incredible. They range from whimsical, like the Cactoids & Mandragons to ferocious, like the Ring Wyrm. They may be overshadowed by XV's screenshots, but @ least you can play this game.

One thing people don't mention are the Quickenings. It's probably because there's a learning curve, but once you get the hang of them, they are great. Everyone has 3. Some are truly epic, like Balthier's Tides of Faith. You should search them on Youtube.

FFXII seems to take great influence from Star Wars, in spite of the producer's denial. It's the standard Rebels vs Evil Empire. Judges that resemble Darth Vader. Roguish Sky Pirate & his non-human co-pilot w/ cool airship. Princess dethroned by Evil Empire. Bounty Hunter chasing Sky Pirate. City in the Sky working w/ rebels behind the scenes. Lots of desert & dust. The list goes on.

You pretty much summed up what I have to say. Another thing that you forgot though is that summons are way more underpowered than they were in FFX and previous installments. While this sounds bad, it means that you have to think very strategically about when to use them. They aren't the 'summon and watch while they slaughter everything' types.

The summons have really cool aesthetics, but, as you say, are underpowered. My feeling is this is due to their set in stone gambits. They are only useful against enemies that are either overpowering, hunts & boss battles. There isn't a point of using them against minor enemies, even when you're just trying to clean house real quick & move on. They also have a habit of quickly dying if called @ the wrong time/in the wrong situation. As you say, you don't just call them to wipe out something in a pinch.

[Miss Mae]

And Balthier and Fran.

[metagloria]

cause you know... FFXII is Star Wars.

NO SHUT UP NO I CAN'T HEAR YOU *plugs ears* LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LAAAAAA

In all seriousness, this game is amazing. I've Order of Ambrosia'd it twice and solo-challenged it with Vaan. The world is huge and open and well-developed, and even farming for certain goals can be fun.

[Ayen]

I don't care for challenges, and I say I like open-world games but I actively avoid side-quests in Mass Effect and only play games like Fallout 3 and Skyrim for a little bit because I'd rather just follow the main story.

[Neptunia]

they stole the millennium falcon taking off from mos isely scene frame for frame, how can they deny that its star wars FF style. story is ok, rubbish pacing. oh wait reasons to play..... Penelo's leather esque almost skin tight costume shows off her arse well.

[Wolf Kanno]

Why should you play this?

- Great forward thinking battle system
- Brings back exploration as a feature
- Great cast of characters
- Good Story
- Bitchin' Soundtrack
- Deep customization in Matsuno's usual "not so obvious depth" way he's known for.
- Lots of fun references to past FF games sprinkled around everywhere.
- Well thought out world
- Cause they are awesome singing Disney Songs in French

- Most people agree it is much more fun the second time around.

[Neptunia]

Is it sad that I recognize all the songs in that video? even more so that I know the one starting at 4:36/37 is from Anastasia which is not a Disney movie.

[maybee]

I love how everybody knows that Vaan = Final Fantasy's version of Aladdin.

[Miss Mae]

With a shirt like his, who else could he be?

[Fynn]

With a shirt like his, who else could he be?

Shirt, what shirt?

[Skyblade]

I still just don't see the appeal of this game. The plot may be ok, but it's hardly great, even by FF standards. And the gameplay is the most mind-bogglingly dull affair in the series, as I literally just walked through everything with the Analog stick and only ever changed things up by using Quickenings on bosses. Heck, even turning off Gambits doesn't really help, because it just makes combat take forever, it doesn't make it interesting. The world is great, but the game's pacing ruins it and makes the entire thing feel like a massive dungeon crawl that you can't wait to get out of. The lore is fantastic, but is delivered to you in a way that makes you have to kill more stuff if you want to see more of it, even though you just want to avoid everything because it's so boring. The Mark hunts massively overshadow the actual well-written sidequests, and are boring and repetitive. The item progression is totally borked, with end-game items being available really early on, and the entire system being based around grinding for rare drops. The Espers are near worthless, because your party members are better for 99% of the situations. The battle mechanics are self-contradictory and annoyingly unfair. The "I'm Captain Basch" is the most annoying and nonsensical scene Square has ever written, easily beating out FFX's laughing scene. The story shifts gears massively at several points for no real reason. Vayne is still one of the most cookie-cutter evil villains in the series. Vaan has less involvement in the plot than any other character in the cast...

I just... I just don't get this game. I played it. I kept playing it because Ivalice is awesome, even in this game. But for the life of me, I can't figure out why I would ever want to finish it or go back to it.