WK Plays FFXII

[Wolf Kanno]

I need to get back to Trial Mode. Will be likely be a bit more challenging this playthrough since I'm not dual classing. I think I got to the early 70s in my other playthrough. I got stopped by Reddas underlings and their pirate underlings using guns.

[Wolf Kanno]

The Pharos begins!

I've just reached the Third Ascent, so not long now. I may still sneak into the Subterrain when we're done, but we'll see. XII is one of those games where I always enjoy my time with it, but it's so dense with content I need to take breaks towards the end. It was neat taking on the four cardinal beasts, or I guess I should say three, because the Phoenix doesn't appear until the Shadowseer fight. While it's a classic in eastern mythology and RPGs, I can't help but be reminded of SaGa 1 here. Helped that Kawazu was the Executive Producer at the end of the game's development.

The Pharos is easily the definitive final dungeon for this game, and I like the fact each floor has it's own challenges and puzzles to deal with. I feel this along with a lot of the other dungeons in this game are really underrated. While FFs dungeon design has always been varied in quality, depending on the entry, I honestly think XII was the last good one in terms of gameplay. XV had some good narrative focused ones, but XII has more puzzles and gimmicks that help them stand apart from other entries.

I managed to acquire Holy, and the Ascent I've reached should net me both Flare and Ardor, so we're near the end for my mages development. While the Sage Ring is easily the best accessory for them, I played around with a few options this time and have determined that the Opal Ring is easily the true MVP of the mage focused accessories. Being able to ignore Reflect status and save Gambit slot from needing to dispel it has saved me quite a few headaches and opened up strategies utilizing Reflectga more. I'll need to experiment on this again when I get to FFIX, since Vivi has some options that deal with weaponizing Reflect.

I think the biggest thing I wished I used more this playthrough was playing around with the Espers. Like FFX before it, the main team can be built into such a well oiled machine that it feels impractical to even use them, but XII is likely worse about since it doesn't have summon battles or a double Limit Break strategy to use. I should play with it more because I really feel you can make some nasty strategies using Zeromus and Shemhazai, especially since their limits can potentially do the most non-combo damage in the game. I think it would be fun to do a breakdown of them as well since they are criminally underutilized in this game

Likewise, once I acquire the last Espers, I'll need to do a proper Class assessment.