skeleton_fingers
ShinRa Guard
I love this game so much. I didn't finish it because my brother's friend lost it but I'm hoping SE does an HD collection of the PS2 FF's (besides XI) so I can see it end.
FFXII: Love It or Hate It?
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The Joker
Ex-Soldier
After being burned by X and X-2, I was initially quite skeptical of XII when it came out. However, I bought it and decided to give it a chance. I was pleasantly surprised with it, and I now include it among my top five or six Final Fantasies. Sure, I don't like Vaan or Penelo all that much, but I do like the other characters in the game. Basch and Balthier in particular. I also enjoy the huge amount of sidequests and hunts to spend time with. Ivalice is a huge, intricate world and I dug it. I also thought it was pretty cool to have the changing weather patterns within locations. It can be clear and sunny one minute, but then have a rainstorm appear quite suddenly with new monsters to tackle. That was a clever little twist to things in my view.
Musically? I admit, I thought it was nothing great. I really can't remember any songs from the soundtrack that stand out to me. That does lower it a bit in my estimation.
I'd count it as a good Final Fantasy, but it didn't catch me in that special way that others did in order to reach my "epic tier" of FF. That's not to say that I think it's a bad game, I don't. It's just a few steps below my elite FF's.
Still, I liked it despite my initial reservations, so it gets a thumbs up from me.
Musically? I admit, I thought it was nothing great. I really can't remember any songs from the soundtrack that stand out to me. That does lower it a bit in my estimation.
I'd count it as a good Final Fantasy, but it didn't catch me in that special way that others did in order to reach my "epic tier" of FF. That's not to say that I think it's a bad game, I don't. It's just a few steps below my elite FF's.
Still, I liked it despite my initial reservations, so it gets a thumbs up from me.
Final Fantasy XII. There were many things to adore, hate, and just feel sort of in between about.
Battle system.
Encountering enemies in this game was completely different from all the other Fantasies in which battles were random and it took you away from the outside world and into the battle field. In this game it allowed you to pick your battles (aside from bosses) where you could avoid a battle completely with only a few scratches while still roaming the world of Ivalice.
This was a new take on the series that got some getting used to. It broke tradition, but it found a way of working just fine.
New to the battle system were gambits. They allowed you to sit back and watch your characters fight without much effort on your part. However, setting up gambits to match the situation can become tedious. Turning off gambits puts you in full control of your characters.
All in all, the battle system was good.
Rating: 9.5/10
Actual story.
There was not much going on with the story at all. It felt a bit rushed and short when you boil it all down. If you did not have to travel so much, then the game could have been finished in less than a day. It was interesting, however, from a political point of view. The characters lacked depth and most of their personalities were non-existent. I honestly did not care what happened to any of the characters in the game. The emotional attachment to the characters was not there.
It was not the worst I have seen, but it could have been a lot better.
Rating: 5/10
Graphics.
Everything looked very nice. CGI cut scenes were gorgeous. The world of Ivalice was extraordinary and character designs were very well done. All in all, it was eye candy that did not disappoint.
Rating: 9.9/10
Game Length.
While the actual story may be short, there are definitely enough side quests and exploring to keep you busy for a long time.
Rating: 10/10
Overall.
This is a very unique game and I would encourage anyone who has not played it to do so. While it may lack depth in places, it makes up for it by giving you plenty to do.
Final Rating: 9.3/10
Battle system.
Encountering enemies in this game was completely different from all the other Fantasies in which battles were random and it took you away from the outside world and into the battle field. In this game it allowed you to pick your battles (aside from bosses) where you could avoid a battle completely with only a few scratches while still roaming the world of Ivalice.
This was a new take on the series that got some getting used to. It broke tradition, but it found a way of working just fine.
New to the battle system were gambits. They allowed you to sit back and watch your characters fight without much effort on your part. However, setting up gambits to match the situation can become tedious. Turning off gambits puts you in full control of your characters.
All in all, the battle system was good.
Rating: 9.5/10
Actual story.
There was not much going on with the story at all. It felt a bit rushed and short when you boil it all down. If you did not have to travel so much, then the game could have been finished in less than a day. It was interesting, however, from a political point of view. The characters lacked depth and most of their personalities were non-existent. I honestly did not care what happened to any of the characters in the game. The emotional attachment to the characters was not there.
It was not the worst I have seen, but it could have been a lot better.
Rating: 5/10
Graphics.
Everything looked very nice. CGI cut scenes were gorgeous. The world of Ivalice was extraordinary and character designs were very well done. All in all, it was eye candy that did not disappoint.
Rating: 9.9/10
Game Length.
While the actual story may be short, there are definitely enough side quests and exploring to keep you busy for a long time.
Rating: 10/10
Overall.
This is a very unique game and I would encourage anyone who has not played it to do so. While it may lack depth in places, it makes up for it by giving you plenty to do.
Final Rating: 9.3/10
This has to be the "strongest" numbered FF title I've played, after FFX.
Why? It offers so much to do, and just on one disc. Hunts add a whole new dimension of exploration to the game, and while it gets difficult, it does get exciting. It makes up for the short-lived main adventure.
As far as story goes, I actually very much enjoy it. (They could've made Vayne much less of a pansy, but that's besides the point.) There was a strong balance of politics and understanding of human nature, it felt as if even our world could actually experience/suffer through it. Amazing.
Character development was shallow on everyone, bar Ashe and Balthier. Then again, I can see why. No other protagonist was really all that interesting.
The battle system was a nice breather from what I was used to. It took me a while to get used to Gambits, though. But skill development was way too easy.
All in all, it's a fantastic, well-made RPG. Sure, it has it's downsides, like any game, but they're so trivial.
Why? It offers so much to do, and just on one disc. Hunts add a whole new dimension of exploration to the game, and while it gets difficult, it does get exciting. It makes up for the short-lived main adventure.
As far as story goes, I actually very much enjoy it. (They could've made Vayne much less of a pansy, but that's besides the point.) There was a strong balance of politics and understanding of human nature, it felt as if even our world could actually experience/suffer through it. Amazing.
Character development was shallow on everyone, bar Ashe and Balthier. Then again, I can see why. No other protagonist was really all that interesting.
The battle system was a nice breather from what I was used to. It took me a while to get used to Gambits, though. But skill development was way too easy.
All in all, it's a fantastic, well-made RPG. Sure, it has it's downsides, like any game, but they're so trivial.
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soldier first class
Blue Mage
I have mixed feelings abouy it but I voted love it rather than hate it. It could have been better but it could have been worse too.
DarkFuture
Chocobo Breeder
I actually got hooked at first since it has a totally different type of gameplay compared to what I was used too... A touch of strategy comes in through the gambits, but as always a lot of patience needs to be exercised if you really want to complete the game.
One thing though: I didn't really feel the story...
One thing though: I didn't really feel the story...
I personally like this game, though the story could have been more well developed, I really love the Battle System. I love the idea of not having to do random battles and just being able to roam freely with monsters all around.
The story, though very short when you look at it, it was very mature and entertaining. Also, the way it was advertised made it seem like the main character is Vaan, when indeed the story is about Ashe. Even if Vaan is the character you use for the first few hours of the game, you don't get much from him and almost feel like he doesn't belong there. Generally speaking, the player can find it difficult to even relate or care for some of the characters since there's not much story that divides well between each character.
The difficulty was one of those things that was really off the scale at times, especially when trying to obtain the Zodiac Spear and making Bazaar Items, which in it self, is not very well explained in the first place, making things very frustrating when trying to get the Tournesol, etc without the use of a guide online.
So again FFXII is a great game but it could have been better if some of the difficulty for acquiring items would have been more balanced, and the characters would have had more story.
The story, though very short when you look at it, it was very mature and entertaining. Also, the way it was advertised made it seem like the main character is Vaan, when indeed the story is about Ashe. Even if Vaan is the character you use for the first few hours of the game, you don't get much from him and almost feel like he doesn't belong there. Generally speaking, the player can find it difficult to even relate or care for some of the characters since there's not much story that divides well between each character.
The difficulty was one of those things that was really off the scale at times, especially when trying to obtain the Zodiac Spear and making Bazaar Items, which in it self, is not very well explained in the first place, making things very frustrating when trying to get the Tournesol, etc without the use of a guide online.
So again FFXII is a great game but it could have been better if some of the difficulty for acquiring items would have been more balanced, and the characters would have had more story.
I really like it. So far it's the only FF (XIII is not a FF) since VII I haven't replayed though (still haven't beat the final boss actually - at least I think I'm at the last boss) but I'm thinking of going back and doing it again. The world of Ivalice is amazing, so huge ad there's so much to do. But I'm playing VII right now so manybe after...
Hate, hate, hate.
It's the worst game I've ever played in my entire life. It's just horrid. The characters are just like paper, the storyline...where the heck is it? I don't see what the big deal is. Stop them Empire people? Whoopdee...no emotional drama? The game's 'storyline' is as slow as Christmas, and I can't stand it. I hated the battle system and the overall world that the game takes place in. It's just a horrid game.
It's the worst game I've ever played in my entire life. It's just horrid. The characters are just like paper, the storyline...where the heck is it? I don't see what the big deal is. Stop them Empire people? Whoopdee...no emotional drama? The game's 'storyline' is as slow as Christmas, and I can't stand it. I hated the battle system and the overall world that the game takes place in. It's just a horrid game.
mikey_boson
ShinRa Guard
I'm of the opinion that as a Final Fantasy, the game was dreadful. I think that the intention was there to make it a great game but when it all came together it was, in simpleton terms, an epic fail.
CHARACTERS: I felt no connection to the characters whatsoever and just did not feel like an integral part of them. Compared to Cloud, Squall, Zidane and Tidus where they all had great backgrounds and characters that developed around you as the game progressed, FF12 had nothing like this. The characters just felt thrown together and the interactions and relationships between them had no substance at all. Nothing really developed between them, they didn't become a team and they just didn't become a part of you.
GRAPHICS: On the PS2 there were games like Gran Turismo 4 which highlighted how good a game could look on a console. Then on the other hand there was 12. For a game that was released towards the end of the PS2's life when developers should be getting the best out of the console, again FF12 failed. The graphics weren't bad, it's just they weren't very good at all. Again, you could tell there was potential to make the scenary looked beautiful, crisp, sharp and colourful but it just ended up being dull and grainy - the game wasn't good to look at. In this modern era where graphics seem to be the be all and end all of games, I will always choose storyline and gameplay ahead of graphics if the game is good enough. With a FF though, you want something that is rich, deep and vivid to look at but FF12 just didn't do this.
GAMEPLAY: Personally, i could go either way with the gameplay - I neither liked it nor disliked it. Maybe as a stand alone game, the gameplay would have been good but as a FF, i don't think it worked. Instead of actually looking at the scenery when running around, I spent almost all the time guiding my character by looking at his dot on the mini-map to avoid enemies and find out where i was going. Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't a FF all about exploration and looking at the locations instead of guiding a dot around a map...?
STORYLINE: Easily the worst part of FF12. I don't think the translation from Japanese to English helped but the dialogue was awful. I didn't understand why characters were deciding to travel to where you had to go, I didn't know why I was doing things in the places I went and I don't know how the main bad guy fitted in to everything. The characters didn't seem to make sense when talking sometimes - for example people like Balthier and Basch spoke as if they were from england in the 1400's as if there were in a Dickensian novel. Whereas in other FF's where there was a chief instigator who was usually out to destroy the world meaning you knew who you were fighting and why, FF12 did not have this. 6 random people were randomly thrown together to randomly roam random places to accomplish random things to finally (and randomly) defeat some guy who is apparantly evil?!?! I'm sorry but the storyline was rubbish - it didn't involve you, it didn't make sense but the worst crime of all for any FF is that I didn't care what happened. In 7 I really wanted to defeat Sephiroth, in 8 you knew the evilness of Ultemecia and in 9, your evil twin Kuja was out to destroy the world and you had to go kick his ass!!
As a game on its own, FF12 probably isn't too bad. If they sorted out the dialogue and storyline to make them both comprehendible, I'd give it a 6 out of 10. However, the fact it's a FF, the graphics are very average, the characters are not memorable, the gameplay is ok and the storyline is confusing, FF12 would get 3 out of 10 from me. What should have been a good game turned out to be a major failure.
CHARACTERS: I felt no connection to the characters whatsoever and just did not feel like an integral part of them. Compared to Cloud, Squall, Zidane and Tidus where they all had great backgrounds and characters that developed around you as the game progressed, FF12 had nothing like this. The characters just felt thrown together and the interactions and relationships between them had no substance at all. Nothing really developed between them, they didn't become a team and they just didn't become a part of you.
GRAPHICS: On the PS2 there were games like Gran Turismo 4 which highlighted how good a game could look on a console. Then on the other hand there was 12. For a game that was released towards the end of the PS2's life when developers should be getting the best out of the console, again FF12 failed. The graphics weren't bad, it's just they weren't very good at all. Again, you could tell there was potential to make the scenary looked beautiful, crisp, sharp and colourful but it just ended up being dull and grainy - the game wasn't good to look at. In this modern era where graphics seem to be the be all and end all of games, I will always choose storyline and gameplay ahead of graphics if the game is good enough. With a FF though, you want something that is rich, deep and vivid to look at but FF12 just didn't do this.
GAMEPLAY: Personally, i could go either way with the gameplay - I neither liked it nor disliked it. Maybe as a stand alone game, the gameplay would have been good but as a FF, i don't think it worked. Instead of actually looking at the scenery when running around, I spent almost all the time guiding my character by looking at his dot on the mini-map to avoid enemies and find out where i was going. Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't a FF all about exploration and looking at the locations instead of guiding a dot around a map...?
STORYLINE: Easily the worst part of FF12. I don't think the translation from Japanese to English helped but the dialogue was awful. I didn't understand why characters were deciding to travel to where you had to go, I didn't know why I was doing things in the places I went and I don't know how the main bad guy fitted in to everything. The characters didn't seem to make sense when talking sometimes - for example people like Balthier and Basch spoke as if they were from england in the 1400's as if there were in a Dickensian novel. Whereas in other FF's where there was a chief instigator who was usually out to destroy the world meaning you knew who you were fighting and why, FF12 did not have this. 6 random people were randomly thrown together to randomly roam random places to accomplish random things to finally (and randomly) defeat some guy who is apparantly evil?!?! I'm sorry but the storyline was rubbish - it didn't involve you, it didn't make sense but the worst crime of all for any FF is that I didn't care what happened. In 7 I really wanted to defeat Sephiroth, in 8 you knew the evilness of Ultemecia and in 9, your evil twin Kuja was out to destroy the world and you had to go kick his ass!!
As a game on its own, FF12 probably isn't too bad. If they sorted out the dialogue and storyline to make them both comprehendible, I'd give it a 6 out of 10. However, the fact it's a FF, the graphics are very average, the characters are not memorable, the gameplay is ok and the storyline is confusing, FF12 would get 3 out of 10 from me. What should have been a good game turned out to be a major failure.
f0r3ver&alw@ys
Newbie
This was actually the first FF game I had ever played, so I wasn't sure of what to expect of it. When I first played it, I thought it was one of the best games I had played (up to that point in my life) The story was interesting, even though originally I though it was going to be based around Vaan and not Ashe. Now that I've played the other FF's, this still remains to be one of my favorites. The gambit system made it so much easier to grind levels and just sit back and relax. The characters were some of the best, and the graphics were amazing for the PS2.
Kage Kazumi
ShinRa Guard
I rather enjoyed it (what I played of it so far). Liked the take on the battle system and the graphics for its time where quite good. I would say it is my favorite FF game on the PS2.
I don't quite "love" FFXII, but I do like it a lot.
The graphics were good, and the character designs were as good as you'd expect (except for Vaan, I didn't care for his design much). Ithought Vaan and Penelo were fairly useless, though, as far as the story goes. Granted, a couple of nobodies can hardly be expected to be as important as an ex-soldier, a princess, and a famed sky pirate (whose father is an important scientist), but Vaan and Penelo just sort of tag along. The music was adequate, but nor particularly memorable (except for Kiss Me Goodbye).
The overall story, and how serious it was compared to other games, along with the battle system and the graphics, are really the best things about the game.
The graphics were good, and the character designs were as good as you'd expect (except for Vaan, I didn't care for his design much). Ithought Vaan and Penelo were fairly useless, though, as far as the story goes. Granted, a couple of nobodies can hardly be expected to be as important as an ex-soldier, a princess, and a famed sky pirate (whose father is an important scientist), but Vaan and Penelo just sort of tag along. The music was adequate, but nor particularly memorable (except for Kiss Me Goodbye).
The overall story, and how serious it was compared to other games, along with the battle system and the graphics, are really the best things about the game.
Cloudysky
Blue Mage
I loved it. I loved the feeling that you could explore the world, and also that you fight enemies right there on the field instead of going to a seperate area to fight battles. The gambits were fun to play with, and as I said before, exploration galore. Add that along with sidequests and hunts, and you have, in my opinion one of the best battle systems ever made. My only complaint is the story. It was kind of bland, and most of the characters didnt really have any depth to them, but overall I loved the game.
Infelious Zalez
Chocobo Breeder
I LOVED Final Fantasy XII .. I was greatly disappointed with XIII's battle system. I miss the wit of the characters in XII, they were so much more...epic in my opinion. XII is still my favorite game. I found it revolutionary for the franchise.
I'm currently replaying the game again and I remember how much I love it.
It has its faults and I don't think it was worthy of its 40/40 review in Famitsu, but I still love this game to pieces.
I love the characters, the plot, the battle system, the world, the OST, the voice acting, almost everything.
The plot and characters should have been fleshed out a bit more, but that's my only gripe really.
This is the first playthrough in which I've gotten the Zodiac Spear. w00p. Next it's the Whale Whisker. I hope these weapons are worth it
It has its faults and I don't think it was worthy of its 40/40 review in Famitsu, but I still love this game to pieces.
I love the characters, the plot, the battle system, the world, the OST, the voice acting, almost everything.
The plot and characters should have been fleshed out a bit more, but that's my only gripe really.
This is the first playthrough in which I've gotten the Zodiac Spear. w00p. Next it's the Whale Whisker. I hope these weapons are worth it
Honestly I preferred the International version of Final Fantasy XII, it came with a choice of jobs- which I love. The license grid was a bit more interesting too. The battle system is really fun over all and the gambits are clever. The cutscenes are really lengthy and a bit uninteresting at times and given that the player can "skip" any cut scene, no one can really get into the story. I feel that Panelo has no reason to be in the party? I'd rather Migelo take her place haha! But anyways out of the final fantasy series? i'd give it a 7/10
kratoscar2008
Final Master
Last worth to play FF for me. FFXII has a excellent (Contrary to what most people believe) battle system, some people say that the game play by itself but try and go to eat while facing a boss, lets say zordiac, and tell me how it goes.
I didnt care for the history but the side quests gave the game a good time while completing them, at the end is the gameplay and sidequests that expands a rpg lifetime and ultimately worth of the game so for me is totally worth to get.
I didnt care for the history but the side quests gave the game a good time while completing them, at the end is the gameplay and sidequests that expands a rpg lifetime and ultimately worth of the game so for me is totally worth to get.
haha i set the game while i was too low of lvl going against Yiazmet and left the game for a whole week and it beat Yiazmet by itself
it was fun but it really did need work on the battle system