My favorite part about is the political drama. That's what makes the game for me.
My favorite part about is the political drama. That's what makes the game for me.
Atmosphere. For me the story was just okay (I kept waiting for it to pick up more and then I beat the game) and only a handful of characters thrilled me, but oh my God that atmosphere.
I can't say it's the best exploration game I ever played, but roaming around the world from the deserts of Dalmasca to the deepest depths of Henne Mines to the lost kingdom of Nabudis was an absolute blast. With a soundtrack that made each of these environments richer and a bestiary that gave a background to EVERY SINGLE MONSTER IN THE GAME.
And then there were the hunts of which each had a (side story) purpose to defeat besides just "beat a big monster."
This is why I won't get Zodiac Age. I can't. I can't pour 400+ hours into a game anymore. It's too much to do over again.
+Variety of huge, gorgeous and amazing environments to explore.
+Random loot
+Lots of secrets that reward you for exploring
+Has to be the Final Fantasy with the most content
+Great music by the Tactics composer. I really like his style. The Esper battle theme is the shiz.
+IMO great combat. Loved that the speed stat allowed characters to attack more than once in a turn (for their auto-attack). I would slap cat-ear hood and cast hate on Vaan and he'd do 9 or 10 9999 hits per "turn". They did a good job updating the ATB system. Really, the main difference between this games ATB system and other ATB games in the series before it is that it was a lot faster-paced so you had to automate at least some of it it and it got rid of repetitively selecting things in menus over and over again. Unfortunately not everyone saw it that way.
+Esper design. They were useless in battle, but I like that they went dark with the art direction here.
Lamia's Tiara- Headgear in FFIX
Lamia's Flute- Weapon for Eiko in FFIX
Lamia in FFV- a enemy
appearance: a lady with long brown hair, wearing a tiara...half woman and half snake.
Lamia in FF3j- A Harp
Lamia in FFL2- An enemy
FF2j Queen Lamia, at one point she even gets Frionel in a bedroom with her and jumps on the bed and says "take me!".. before she turns into her snakey self. She serves as a mini boss in this game (as Queen Lamia).. and after you fight her as a mini boss, regular lamia's become random foes and later on in the game, Queen Lamia's become random foes as well.
LamiaScl. an item that paralyzes foes.
According to legend, she was once a Libyan queen (or princess) who fell in love with Zeus. Zeus' jealous wife Hera deformed her into a monster and murdered their offspring. She also made Lamia unable to close her eyes, so that she couldn't find any rest from the obsessing image of her dead children. When Zeus saw what had be done to Lamia, he felt pity for her and gave his former lover a gift: she could remove her eyes, and then put them on again. This way, though sleepless, she could rest from her misfortune. Lamia envied other the other mothers and took her vengeance by stealing their children and devouring them.
Um, can we talk about the dialogue? It's the dialogue that makes this game.
I think the voice acting deserves a mention to say the least. The amount of efforts they put to give voice to those characters is astonishing imo.
FF games played so far: FFIV; FFVI; FFVII; FFX; FFX-2; FFXII; FFTA; FFXIII Trilogy
Currently playing: Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (PS3)
Favourite FF games: FFVI; FFXII
To be honest with you, my favorite part of Final Fantasy XII was obtaining Espers. I loved it. I loved how each had it's own conditions and hunting it and finding it was so unique. I have to admit that once I got them I did not use the earlier ones in battle as much, but the adventure to capture them all and get them to side with my party was pretty thrilling.
Attempting to get Zodiark in that final dungeon was a pain in the ass. I spent countless hours leveling up and whittling my way back there only to find no save point and die deep into the Esper battle. I did obtain it my 2nd attempt, but I broke my DualShock 2 controller in the process after my 1st defeat.
I'm a water dude, jet skis, water pools
Surfin' the (waaaave), I'm hurtin' the (waaaave)...
"Oh Yes" ~ Juelz Santana
FF games played so far: FFIV; FFVI; FFVII; FFX; FFX-2; FFXII; FFTA; FFXIII Trilogy
Currently playing: Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (PS3)
Favourite FF games: FFVI; FFXII
Right now?
Either the Eruyt Village theme, or Mt. Bur-Omisace theme.
Pull my Devil Trigger!
More than anything, this game has an amazing sense of discovery. Gathering the materials to brave a sandstorm and hunt a Wyrm, clearing out an area of wildlife to lure out Cluckatrice chicks, learning the different weather conditions and the way they affect locations all worked to make Ivalice feel "real".
Hell, the dungeons felt like age-old relics of a forgotten time. I loved the Tomb of Raithwall, and while the Tower of Pharos and the Great Crystal were long as sin, I felt like I was actually going through a Rite of Passage to claim powers unknown. There's a philosophy to XII's design that (to me) goes beyond a simple video game dungeon design (FFX's Cloister of Trials being an example). I felt like I was going through real temples, each with their own rules; I don't think any two dungeons shared a puzzle mechanic, and few of them were so simple as "put this key in this door to progress". Instead I had to decipher riddles and discover elements unique to each dungeon I was currently in, and that's a COOL feeling. I can forgive the game's plot being so sparse when the world is so well thought out.
Returners Represent!
The music.
It's one of my top 5 FF's but I think the character advancement, battle systems, and gambits are excellent and had the series chosen to go that route with an open leveling system that allowed you to - gasp - smurf up your characters is immensely satisfying.
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