Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Just beat XII for the first time...

  1. #1

    Default Just beat XII for the first time...

    Just beat FFXII for the first time, this being the zodiac version, I'd never played FFXII before.

    Before I started the game, I was worried - this is because I am a huge fan of VII, VIII, and IX, and also a big fan of IV and V. However, I never 'felt' X (it was ok), disliked XIII, and had many issues with XV. So based on my opinions of X, XIII, and XV, I had the idea in my head that I was not into 'modern' FF as much. (Or rather than the word modern, you could just say 'post ps1 era').

    But man, was I wrong. XII was a pleasant surprise, and in my opinion, it absolutely craps all over XV, XIII, and X. My issues with those games? Well, XV is ok, but never really felt like an FF to me, and I found the open world too boring and samey. X was decent, but I just didn't love it. Something felt off, and the voice acting did not help. And XIII... well I just didn't like that one full stop.

    Whereas XII.... actually has decent voice acting, and a very interesting open world (yes I'd call it open world, I know it's connected areas, but there's loads to explore in each area and the maps are very large).

    XII's world was great and varied - you have rabanastre, which reminded me of tatooine from star wars. Deserts, jungles, ancient ruins, sky towns, coasts, snowy mountains - a wide variety of locations, all of which looked beautiful. But XV.... the world looked all the same to me. It was just.... texas.

    I dunno, this post may not have much of a point, but I just wanted to sing my praises for XII and tell you all what a pleasant surprise I thought it was based on my FF preferences previously.

    And yeah I mentioned star wars, well this one felt more star wars than ever. Rabanastre = Tatooine. Those alien guys are very star wars esque too, ya know, the breed that Migello is. You even have tusken raiders crossed with jawas as those people living near the sandsea. Balthier is like Han Solo, and is even wanted by a bounty hunter. Gabranth is like Darth Vader. Much of the music sounds like star wars score-esque music too. The music for the uplands location, the T something uplands (I forget the name) in particular has a part that sounds so much like a particularly famous star wars hook. Then you have all those airships. It managed to feel so much like star wars without even including space. Amazing. I know square have star wars references in the FF series here and there (biggs and wedge etc) but this one felt the most obvious for me.

    My only criticism of FFXII is that it is too overly long. Is it just me, or is this game like so much longer than any other FF game? Some of the dungeons went on forever, particularly the pharos tower. I dunno, maybe I'm getting too old and impatient, but this game felt too long. That is one of my few criticisms, the others being the barriers where enemies become immune to attacks and magic and you have to wait it out; and the other criticism being traps. Oh and Disease - that is one horrible status effect.

    But overall, a great game. I don't hear it talked about a lot among FF fans.

    Oh and Dr Cid was insane.
    Last edited by Jarvio; 09-15-2017 at 07:09 AM.

  2. #2
    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Nowhere and Everywhere
    Posts
    19,544
    Articles
    60
    Blog Entries
    27
    Contributions
    • Former Cid's Knight

    Default

    You're not going to get any arguments from me. XII was a fantastic game and probably the last good game to have the FF moniker attached to it besides a spin-off here and there.

  3. #3
     Master of the Fork Cid's Knight Freya's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Yer pants
    Posts
    26,207
    Articles
    277
    Blog Entries
    34

    FFXIV Character

    Freya Meow (Sargatanas)

    Default

    Maybe a big factor why you like it over the other newer games is it's more fantasy than modern fantasy. I know XIII and XV are both very much modern with fantasy elements. XV more so.

    Personally I'm a fan of the fantasy with some.modern things such as airships and guns but not overboard with cars and bikes.

  4. #4
    Radical Dreamer Fynn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Tower of the Swallow
    Posts
    18,929
    Articles
    57
    Blog Entries
    16

    FFXIV Character

    Fynnek Zoryasch (Twintania)
    Contributions
    • Former Editor
    • Former Cid's Knight

    Default

    Yup. XII is pretty excellent and I am so happy so many people are warming up to it nowadays. It got pretty significant backlash back in the day. I loved the worldbuilding and the more subtle story that really defied my typical expectations of an FF plot.

  5. #5
    Shlup's Retired Pimp Recognized Member Raistlin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 1999
    Location
    Spying on Unne and BUO
    Posts
    20,583
    Articles
    101
    Blog Entries
    45
    Contributions
    • Former Cid's Knight
    • Former Editor

    Default

    FFXII is a great game. It's such a beautifully open world full of things to explore. SE has never captured that feeling in any other FF since the PS1 era, although they at least tried in XV.

  6. #6
    'Just Friends' Formalhaut's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Glenwood
    Posts
    13,325
    Articles
    54
    Blog Entries
    5

    Default

    Yeah FFXII is a game that many people are warming too. I think The Zodiac Age really helped with that: I know Mr. Carny was very lukewarm towards the original, but loved the remaster with all the additions. FFXII: TZA is really the definitive version of the game, really.

    As for the traditional vs. modern fantasy, I generally swing towards traditional, but perhaps with the latest modern advance (like airships, the first guns, that kind of thing).


  7. #7

    Default

    I always felt like I was the only one that liked FFXII when it first came out. I'm currently playing through The Zodiac Age with my wife and I'm even more in love with it now. The world just feels really alive, the cities are bustling and feel "lived in", and there are so many large, interesting areas to explore. I would love more than anything for FFXVI to explore more of the Golden Era of Ivalice.

    A side note, there's something really satisfying about chaining and farming items in this game.


    "... and so I close, realizing that perhaps the ending has not yet been written."


  8. #8
    Edge7's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    874
    Articles
    1
    Blog Entries
    6

    Default

    Playing Final Fantasy XII again after High School was one of the best decisions I ever made. Definitely got a lot more out of it once my tastes matured; I used to think it and FFXIII were bad for equally opposite reasons; but a lot of the things I didn't like about FFXII: its lack of direction and how downplayed the character development is, are some of my favorite things about the game.
    Returners Represent!

  9. #9

    Default

    I absolutely hated XII when it came out, but it has come to be my favorite game in the series . . . to watch other people play. I still can't get past combat in the game, but I adore just about everything else about it -- Vayne, notably, is probably my favorite villain in the series, and I love seeing some of the strategies people come up with.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •