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.

[Karifean]

All the espers that deal damage scaling based off their HP got pretty broken in Zodiac Age which casually tripled some of their HP values. Exodus also falls under that. Just try and summon them sometime and see for yourself ^^

[Wolf Kanno]

Good to know. I'm like right before the Sun-Cryst right now. Hashmal is done, and he even had high enough health to survive long enough to use Quakja, so lucky him because even Exodus and Shemhazai didn't survive long enough to get off their specials. I did screw around a bit, because I was hunting down the items on the floor and forgot I have to screw up the puzzle to access one of them. But hey, we now have Flare and Ardor along with a White Robe. So I have the strongest spells for all three color classes of mages in my party.

Gabranth is likely going to get destroyed in his fight, so I'm thinking of giving him a handicap by making him fight Basch alone, with Reddas' Gambits shut off, and I'll have Basch use a sword and shield combo instead of any weapons from his actual Monk class. Poor Gabranth, I'll fix my PSP and play some Dissidia to finally give you a win.

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[Wolf Kanno]

Minor Update!

Finished the Pharos, unfortunately for me, Gabranth's defense was high enough that Basch did no damage to him, so I switched it with the Treaty Blade and managed to prolong the fight long enough to actually see some of Gabranth's special attacks, which was nice. The fight with Cid and Famfrit afterwards was more laughable because I decided to fight Esper with Esper and had Balthier showdown his dad with Zalera. Famfrit is definitely my favorite Esper from FFTA and kind of a neat lore to coincide with the Cloud of Darkness.

After that, we get some major story revelations, some touching family aspects, and Balthier being sweet on Fran. I'll miss Reddas. Honestly, with the guest characters that come and go, as well as the fact that Sky Fortress Bahamut looks like a mechanical tornado, and having to climb and unnecessarily tall tower of magic to obtain a forbidden ultimate power that ultimately results in a story characters death, I am starting to see how obvious it is that FFXII is making serious nods to FFII.

Afterwards, I opted to take down Zodiark, which surprisingly went smoother than my last playthrough despite him still being a cheating ass whose opening Darkja attack still managed to auto-kill my opening party in both attempts. I also found a Ribbon in the Mines, which is pretty neat, because I don't think I've ever managed to get this item in XII before. I've also unlocked three of the four Mark Hunts for the Pharos area, and I may do them all, but I'm stopping short of fighting Yiazmat. Once those are done, I'll finish the game and move on. It's been a blast, but the burnout is real.

I'm really wanting to get to FFIX before the year ends since it's the 25th Anniversary of the entry.

[Wolf Kanno]

And done... sort of.

Obviously I still have Yiazmat to deal with, but I also didn't really bother with Shadowseer either because I did not feel like going through Subterra after finishing the Ixion Mark Hunt. Oddly, Ixion gave me more problems than Pyrelaster who usually ends up being more of a challenge for me in previous playthroughs, but my team managed to wipe it out fairly quickly despite his level doubling boost he gets at critical that allows him to one-shot everybody. Ixion also gets this boost and suddenly her Thundaga spell destroyed my team, except for Basch, because he was wearing a Rubber Suit. I then learned that Ixion's melee attacks are also Thunder element, so she couldn't do anything to stop Basch solo the fight. Besides that, I also managed to take down two Magic Pot's without getting destroyed and forgot how much I like their Ivalice design. Their lore was also pretty funny, but the Sage Lore was really fascinating because it gave more depth to the Light of Kiltia religious sect, but to my surprise, I didn't realize it also would reference FFTactics directly by name dropping St. Ajora who according to the timeline, is physically active at this time frame.

After that, I decided I had done enough for this playthrough and decided to just end. I got one more sad fight against Gabranth and then proceeded to squash Vayne like a bug. But honestly, I like the Vayne fight, I love the fact his final form has him turning into a Mecha Bahamut with a Terraflare move that would make any Bahamut summon proud. I love the fact I get Larsa and even Gabranth as Guest characters for the fight and Struggle for Freedom is such a badass final boss theme. Honestly, a lot of the boss themes in this game are great with special mention going to the Espers as well. I also love the part after you win wherethe party looks all relieved and happy and are staring off into the blue skuy, before an airship fly byes and exp[lodes, reminding the party and the player they are still in an active war zone. I have a sneaking feeling that was Kawazu's doing.

Compared to all the FFs I've played up until this point for the marathon, XII has the best one, bittersweet, informative, still some fun mysteries to be had but I appreciate that we got a "where are they now?" segment and Penelo doing to monologue takes me back to Krile doing it in FFV.

I'm going to do a minor break down of the classes I used to update what they are like endgame and with Esper options, before I do my final thoughts.

[Wolf Kanno]

Quick overview of the classes. This is not in any particular order.

White Mage: Gets more useful the further you go in, especially once you acquire a Sage Ring. The class is okay in story mode unless you're doing a low level run, at which point its vital. The class really shines as you deal with powerful Marks or Esper fights, as well as areas the game that try to overwhelm you like the Necrohol of Nabudis or the Pharos. Most of it's optional abilities deal with increasing HP or improving combat use by granting access to better weapons like Daggers and Greatswords or by increasing survivability with HP upgrades. Overall, a solid class. If I could change something, I would give the class access to Haste, but I can see why they don't since it would weaken the time mages position. I also would switch out it's offensive weapon options of Greatswords for Hammers instead, so the class feels closer to the earlier versions of it.

Red Battlemage: This class is superb for like 75% of the game but certainly get overshadowed by endgame. Great spell selection and surprisingly powerful with it. I like the fact it gets exclusive access to Arcane magick and the Ardor spell. Maces are solid weapons and letting the class always have access to a shield is great. The optional upgrades the class gets are solid as well with access to Tier 3 elemental magick and Cure magick . Greatswords give it a stronger end game melee option, and Channeling is never an ability to look down on. I do wish that instead of Heavy Armor, it got Light Armor options instead. The defense boost is appreciated, but an HP boost would be more useful and Light Armor tends to have more practical secondary effects that would be useful for a mage.

Knight: Solid class that just gets better the further you go in. They are tanky in the early game with a shield and sword combo, and 1h swords like Deathbringer and the Blood Sword have far greater longevity than they deserve. The class really begins to shine towards the second half of the game once their HP and defense options make using Greatswords more viable. At this point they become a serious damage machine. Being one of only three classes to gain the Genji Gloves also makes this class super powerful by endgame. The biggest issue with the class is just how slow it is,but we need to balance somewhere. Optional abilities are not bad. Mostly access to some mid and high tier White magic and more Battle Lores. I do think it's weird Revive and Telekinesis are optional skills though. More Phoenix and Potion Lores would have more sense. I also feel the class could have had more variety if some optional upgrades were accessing mid tier katanas, axes, and spears.

Monk: As usual, SE loves their Monks and this class is certainly weird for it. They are good fighters and poles are freat weapons, it's just a shame the class doesn't get access to Genji Gloves normally to take advantage of the weapons high combo rate. Unarmed is okay as well. The class probably gets some of the best choices in terms of optional skills such as a lot of high end white magick for support and healing, as well as swiftness upgrades and access to Soul Eater. Basch almost ended up getting the majority to the Espers because the optional skill list was mostly amazing. With that said, I feel like Monk, in a reversal from it's counterpart in XI, is mostly useful as a support class. My Knight/Monk combo in my first file was devastating. Though a Foebreaker/Monk class would be ideal as well too. But yeah, with all the optional white magick, Basch ended up being my switch out for my white mage Vaan. The only downside to the class is its lack of access to magick gear to boost MP and no Channeling or status boost licenses.

Black Mage: Excellent Class, since the TZA version gives you early access to the elemental weak/vulnerable gambits, this class is superb throughout the game and the magic boosting staves and damage limiter removal make this class dominating for the crowd control and dealing damage to bosses. It might also go into why it has the worst optional set of the classes I used. Most of it either giving the class Hand Bombs, which is useless because of elemental magick being so useful in this game and staves are great for boosting said option. You can get heavy armor, but as mentioned earlier, by endgame HP is a bit more useful. Some access to Light Armor would have been far more useful.

Shikari: Like Knight before it, this class starts to shine best once you can drop dagger/shield combo for Ninja Blades. The only real challenge with this class is debating about setting them up for survival or going the full ninja route and boosting their speed with gear. All of the Ninja Blades are optional gear, and thankfully with quickenings, but it is annoying you have to choose between the Iga and Koga blade, though the lore implications are amusing. The rest of its options are mostly there. I feel guns should have been an earlier access option as once Telekinesis is opened, it's less useful. Lack of the Genji Glove options is also weird and likely what I would have done for an optional unlock.

[Wolf Kanno]

Final Thoughts:

I've said this before, but I will say it again. For me, this was the last great FF in the series. XIII is just not good and its sequels kept trying to limp it along. XV was good, but very rough overall. XII though scratches all the itches I need. Gameplay is sold and the Zodiac Jobs just makes it flat out better. The story and cast are underrated but pretty solid, and the game still feels fresh despite being almost twenty years old.

About the only real complaints I have are the randomizer chests, of which the TZA version puts a band aid on, but doesn't really resolve my issues with it. I like treasures to be meaningful and while I will suffer the conceit of RNG for random drops, I feel extending that to treasure chests was just cruel. Especially since this is one of those entries where equipment and items really matter. Other than that, I really wish the fishing minigame had larger fonts and a bit more generous times for the input and the footrace is blah. The Bazaar could also be more user friendly and I'm sad the ITZJ and TZA versiosn didn't try to address that either. The main story difficulty is also abysmal but unlike other entries with this problem, the sheer amount of extra content with Mark Hunts, secret bosses, Esper Hunting, Rare Game Hunting and optional dungeons and secret areas keeps the game feeling challenging throughout, so the easy story mode is just less noticeable. The gameplay is fantastic, and I'm sad we didn't get two more games with ADB instead of whatever XIII was trying to push on us.

While the game is certainly taking notes from XI's playbook, it's also fixing a lot of the issues I have with it. XII is more streamlined, less likely to waste your time, and it's maps are more compact and impactful. Quickenings could be better, they truly embody the idea of a desperation attack since they are unreliable, but seeing how I'm about to enter the Limit Break age where they are all glorified "I win" buttons, I should cherish the fact they are nerfed so hard in this game. I also wish Espers were a bit more useful. They're not bad, they issue is that they fall into an awkward middle ground that makes them impractical. In story mode, they are wrecking balls that sap some of the already weak challenge in the main scenario, but in side content, they are not as useful as a well setup team, which is where XII takes a bit more from XI's pedigree. A well built team with good gambits will often work way better than flashy Quickenings or cool Espers. I will say, not having access to a Time Mage and nearly unlimited Haste outside of Motes was annoying in this playthrough, but not super difficult. Still, it's a shame because the Espers are super cool. Though I guess it's interesting how of my top five FFs, three of them are notable for having the worst iterations of the Summon ability

This time around, I really started to enjoy Vaan and Penelo more. I've always had a soft spot for both of them but it was fun seeing both of them really shine this time around and I find it kind of adorable that Basch sort of acts like a guardian for them both as well since he interacts with both of them quite a lot in cutscenes. I also really love Gabranth and I'm a bit sad he doesn't get as much love from the fanbase despite the fact he's the face of XII in the marketing and merchandise. Like Vayne is a bit flat as a villain, but Gabranth brings a lot of drama to the story and he's honestly fighting with Dr Cid for the Hammiest Villain award in this entry.

I also just love this games side characters, Fran's sisters, Migelo, Joey, the Rabanastre street orphans, the ghost Nu Muo, and so many more. This game is honestly packed with great characters and little narratives that make this game so fantastic. In fact, this is what I mean when I saw the Mark Hunts in XII are the best. These beings have narrative purpose behind them. They are not just treated as extra quest nonsense like in XIII and XV. Many of them are name dropped and referenced by regular NPCs, many of them are part of little stories with NPCs that explore some of the game's themes of Freedom and duty, while others get attached to recurring NPCs. Like it's fun doing the Marilith Hunt for the Sandsea Pub owner who wants to use the creature to make a special wine he owes to a friend who bailed him out, only to discover later after the quest the special friend is Migelo. Or the mother using the legend of Diabolos to scare her son straight and kids around Bhujerba talking about the scary ghost story the don;t believe in, only to get aksed by a kid to actually hunt the demon and discover it was real and the petitioner is the souls of its victims. Or how about the quest that ties up Ba'Gamin's story thread while also creating this cool narrative among Clan Centurio thinking one of their own is hunting Clan members? The Mark Hunts are more than just extra battles, they help breathe life into Ivalice and I was crazy to think I could get through this game without doing any of them. The World building in this game is amazing and I would dare say on par with even XI despite having years to build on its own lore with expansions, though XII does have spinoff games to fall back onto as well.

While XI turned out to be a fun adventure I am happy to have finally tried, XII has still been the best entry I've played so far in this sort of backwards marathon. Of anything I am grateful I finished XI first because I feel coming into it from XII would have made me judge it a bit harsher. I'm happy the re-release and the games own legacy of inspiring the next generation of RPGs like Dragon Age and Xenoblade have kind of vindicated this entry among RPG players. This game is also the one that brought me to this forum, so I have a lot of sentimental attachment here.

Fantastic Game, last great entry, Matsuno and the Ivalice team as a whole are amazing, so when are we going to finally get a new entry into Ivalice?

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