You're not a Final Fantasy!

[Avarice-ness]

Yeah the cataurs are in the desert.

Honestly, -this- should have been an MMO, it plays like one and feels like one to me, and saddly, because of that I get the MMO mindset were I think I can skip 80 monsters, not level up, but still get far. I realize this is not the case as I hit my own personal record of Game Overs in two hours.

Then I was confused because it went from being Lord of the Rings-ish, to Star Wars-ish, to Vaan being Aladdin, and then I wandered into the movie dune for a bit to get a sunstone or what not.

I like it, but the only thing that makes me realize it's a final fantasy is the moogles randomly placed through out.

P.S. I just picked up my copy today, and only played for 2 hours, this is just my feel so far.

[Zeromus_X]

Don't worry Avarice, you'll feel much better later on in the game.

[Goldenboko]

Just what until you get to the mini-game in (SPOILER)Bhujurba

[Khaotic]

Doesn't feel the same to me, infact, I tend to let it sit for hours and forget its on while i'm playing FF11 - thats not normal for a hardcore gamer, infact, it proves that to me, the game is boring, and doesn't keep my attention. I think taking out the traditional battle system, they took away final fantasy, people can say whatever they want, but I saw final fantasy with the battle system, it didn't matter what changes they made to it, but making it so you run around with no random encounters, to me, was a no-no.

So you complain about no random encounters... then go play an RPG with no random encounters...

Getting rid of random encounters was a good move.

Apparently I can't have my own opinion on video games anymore! I mean, we're on a forum called Eyes on Final Fantasy afterall, so I figured I could have my eyes on it and say what I think about it. Besides, who's complaining? I simply don't like it, nothing wrong with that. Quit hating.

Apparently I can't have a differing opinion on video games anymore! I mean, we're in a discussion forum for FFXII after all, so I figured I could critique someone else's reasoning. "Questioning" is not "hating."

You say you don't like something for one reason, and then go play another game with that very same "flaw." I just found it interesting.

How are they the very same flaw? One is offline, one is online, I can communicate with real people, real friends, and also have purposes, its practically a virtual world, whereas FF12 is not, unless you enjoy doing things all by yourself. Lets not even get into details based on the two games, I was never even comparing them, just saying my attention was else-where.

Funny, I did not see any question in your last statement, so I fail to see how you were questioning anything. You saw an opportunity to start something with me, and you took it, thats the bottom line.

Don't get where you can't have your own opinion, I never said you couldn't, you have yours, and I have mine, so do yourself a favor and drop this meaningless debating.

[the_sandman]

welll..its obvious the thread starter didnt play any of the old school FF.

[Wolf Kanno]

Personally, I feel this game is definetly targeted towards the "old-school" fans. I personally love it, especially for that very reason. I love the fact that the game has broken several of the modern RPG cliche's (Oh my god! A strong-willed female lead that isn't afraid to get her hands dirty!) The world reeks of in-jokes and I'm happy to be able to summon the Lucavi from FFT.

The game overall, just has so much more thought put into it. It's a new FF for the fans that have been here since the beginning. It's more mature and relies on it's excellent story telling and it's deep rich world to draw you in. FF has always been about change and FFXII delivers in a good way. I remember having this debate with other FF fans ever since FFVII was released, and I'm certain we'll be debating about it when FFXIII comes out (With complaints like "It's too futuristic", or even possibly we'll here people whine about it being too much like an action game... who knows?)

I really like FFXII so far, and unless it pulls off some dumbass plot twist that makes no sense and ruins the point of the story for me (I'm looking at you VII and IX ) I can honestly say it's the first FF I've really loved since IV - VI. Hell, this game has already reminded me of why I really like the series (I may even find it in my heart to forgive SE for FFX-2... probably not but it came close...)

[Avarice-ness]

Personally, I feel this game is definetly targeted towards the "old-school" fans. I personally love it, especially for that very reason. I love the fact that the game has broken several of the modern RPG cliche's (Oh my god! A strong-willed female lead that isn't afraid to get her hands dirty!) The world reeks of in-jokes and I'm happy to be able to summon the Lucavi from FFT.

The game overall, just has so much more thought put into it. It's a new FF for the fans that have been here since the beginning. It's more mature and relies on it's excellent story telling and it's deep rich world to draw you in. FF has always been about change and FFXII delivers in a good way. I remember having this debate with other FF fans ever since FFVII was released, and I'm certain we'll be debating about it when FFXIII comes out (With complaints like "It's too futuristic", or even possibly we'll here people whine about it being too much like an action game... who knows?)

I really like FFXII so far, and unless it pulls off some dumbass plot twist that makes no sense and ruins the point of the story for me (I'm looking at you VII and IX ) I can honestly say it's the first FF I've really loved since IV - VI. Hell, this game has already reminded me of why I really like the series (I may even find it in my heart to forgive SE for FFX-2... probably not but it came close...)

Not to mention somethings being destroyed ever 5 minutes and every time you turn you think "Aww man, another thing I have to kill?"
I'm actually liking it now, it has the dark side I really like to games. =]

[James16]

This is much, much more of a quintessential Final Fantasy game than FFVII, FFVIII, or FFX. In fact, I'd call it the ultimate Final Fantasy game.

I 100 percent agreee with you. To me this game is jus freckin awsoem. There's jus so much stuff you can do. When youer tired of the main story line you can go to mob hunts. There is a verity of monsters from what ive seen an im not even that far in the game. I love the new battle system. I think its cool that the summoner get s to fight beside his esper. I think the espers look awsome. An the best thing to me is the Thousands of diffrent weapons you can get an use! Verses other FFs like FFVIII, dont get me wrong i love FFVIII but it sucked that your chars could only get like 5 or 6 weapons an that was all they could use. You couldnt give squall Ivreine"s guns. But in this one you can give anyone anything as long as you get the lincinse for it.An i think the floatin spells are cool. It reminds me of that Chris angel dude!

[Mirage]

I've only played for 14 hours, but it is definitely a Final Fantasy game.

[VengefulRonin]

I'm 44 hours into the game right now and still not even halfway through, and that just includes basic storyline and leveling, i havent even done the sidequests (and i tried doing a hunt or two but realized they're worthless). Yeah, the game got rid of random encounters, but i like it better that way. You can see whats ahead and know whether or not you should fight it, or if you're short on time or impatient you can avoid (some) the enemies. The gambit system makes fighting very smooth, and should you elect to do things the oldschool way, you can (just better make sure its in Wait mode).

Someone complained to me that its not a FF because you're not saving the world. Okay, technically thats true, because you're not out to defeat an egomaniacal psycho bent on destroying reality, however, you're defending the world against a conquering empire, and while thats not saving the physical world from destruction, you are trying to save everyone's current way of life, and that is just as important, dontcha think?

The only thing that i still dont much like about this game is the soundtrack, because its not Uematsu. Uematsu's songs are distinct and memorable. When i hear a song of his i not only remember what game it's from, but also the event/place where it was playing. In this game...that doesnt happen. Its nothing bad, but it sure as hell isnt anything special. At least half the time i find myself muting it and actually playing other FF soundtracks so i can have a nice background.

[Dewprisms]

While I prefer Uematsu's previous soundtracks to this one set aside from the games themselves, I prefer this soundtrack while actually playing. Why? I don't like games that have music that is super catchy- it distracts me and takes away from the enviornment of the game by putting the focus too much on one part. I prefer underpaintings of music that draw you in but don't distract.

[Ultros0]

Actually, I feel similar... I like Final Fantasy XII but i'm just not connecting to it like i have ALL of the other ones. There's not really a funny aspect to it... Quina from FF9, Lulu/Wakka from FF10.... There's just not enough emotion in the story line period... not even about love. Vaan doesn't seem very deep he's just like uhh i want to be a sky pirate. Also, about the humor issue, the bangaa and seeqs would be alot better if they had voice actors because then the game would be funnier... Altogether, i love ff12 because it brings back ff4 and ff9 to me, but it really isn't the same... Also the fact that espers are practically useless throws me off too... I am almost to the end... but have never really been surprised by anything in the story...it's just like ok this is gonna happen then lets do this... I also don't like that they still haven't brought back the world map and (SPOILER)being able to manually fly the airship. In fact they even took away from that because now you can't even walk on the airship!!!!! I don't know why noone has mentioned that.

I do like, maybe even love final fantasy 12, but i love it more like a crystal chronicles... I like that it's actually kinda difficult, and I like that it's not as linear as the past few....

[Ichimonji]

Final Fantasy XII arguably gave you the largest exploration aspect in the series, and you’re worried about a “World Map”. The entire game is the World Map. You’re going from place to place over massive regions of terrain, and you are able to find secret and optional areas by venturing away from your current destination at any given time. The only difference from the “World Map” that you are referring to is that it’s not scaled down to inaccurate magnitudes and proportions so that your character is the size of mountains; therefore reducing the graphical mapping and textures in addition to taking away from the lush feel of the game.

This is the 21st century. Videogames are far more advanced, and as a result there is no need to include a world map anymore. We have the capabilities of creating worlds that are so immense that we don’t need to scale down our environments to create the illusion of exploration. In terms of graphical engineering, reality is all the more possible in videogames. Sorry to disappoint you, but videogames will not scale down graphics to create a World Map anymore. This is the future of gaming. Also, when you’re dealing with a graphical powerhouse like Final Fantasy XII, it would just seem odd and out of place.

The only new generation game that I know of that has the most relevance to an old-school World Map would be Dragon Quest VIII. They were able to do this due to the nature of the game and its graphical components. They did not have to scale the graphics down because it was mostly one big field that connected to difference towns, and the graphics were already simplified (in a sense). You are able to fly in this map because of these reasons and for the fact that your means of transportation was a bird that is no larger than your own character. Again, due to the nature of the newer Final Fantasies this would be bizarre and out of place.

I wouldn't count on seeing a "traditional world map" system with the Final Fantasy games in the future.

[VengefulRonin]

*nods*

Why do you even need a world map in this game? You have the maps for the certain sections you're in and you can flip through different areas like pages, makes more sense to me. And its not as if you're traveling from continent to continet, because ivalice is one huge continent and as ichimonji said, you're traversing vast regions on foot. Didnt having an overworld and world map make everything seem kind of small? With this, you're running through the areas (which are pretty friggin big) and you can feel like you're just a small person on a large trek rather than big person covering supposedly vast portions of a continent very quickly.

Okay, Ultros, i dont know what the hell you've been doing in XII, but the summons ARE kinda powerful. Not to mention they're extremely useful. At first it seems that it might be bad since only the summoner remains on field with the summon, but since most if not all of the enemies gang up on the summon, this provides you a great opportunity to attack all you want. Also, the last time i checked, you CAN move around on airships, and those things are pretty damned big.

Ultros, you said you wanted voice acting for bangaa and seeqs so the game would be funnier? How would that make the game funnier? o_O Besides, that would just take even more resources for square, nor would it be necessary. You want a funny aspect like wakka or quinna...need i remind you that those characters (especially wakka) were basically crappy slapstick characters who took away from the feel of the game? And now for my favorite stupid thing you said:

There's just not enough emotion in the story line period... not even about love.

Dude....wtf....seriously, that is the most cliche, overused thing EVER. I'm sick of seeing the overly emotional or rebel/punk character get some princess or equally amazing chick because they traveled together so much that she falls for some aspect in his personality.

[VeloZer0]

By taking away the world map you are effectively 'shrinking' the world by a great deal. I suppose this doesn't conflict with the philosophy of not even having a story worthy of traveling the world for, but the world seems far, far more limiting.

I wouldn't say this doesn't feel like a FF, I wouldn’t just say it certainly doesn't feel like one of the better ones. I don't know how you can justify having the game play itself as being fun. The fact that 60% of the game (70% of all statistics are made up by the way ) can be played by having one finger on the analog stick the entire time and eyes checking back to the TV every 4 sec, well....