Somewhat Disappointing

I agree with Kyon. I think of cutscenes are like a reward. What better way to show the creativity and artwork of ivalice than through cutscenes. I love seeing the cinematic sequences, its amazing. To me there could never be too many cutscenes as long as they dont express pointless things. I havnt seen that happen in FFXII.

Another thing besides the "everyone being the same" that bothers me is how in final fantasy X, i felt like there was much more of a bond between characters and much more character development. Only person i really feel comes even close to the character depth in FFX is Balthier because you find out more about his past
and connections with Cid (his father) and how Balthier used to be a judge.

I cant think of anyone else that can compare to the FFX character development. Everyone in FFX had a pretty big role to play. What role does Penelo have? And i kind of figured out why Vaan was picked as the "lead" character. My guess is that he is probly the most neutral character.

But anyway, cutscenes rock, and theres not a lot i can say to make it a bad game. Maybe its a little short for my expectations in a FF game but the amount of time that is put into sidequests make up for the loss in story.
 
I also think the cut scenes are important. I look forward to experiencing a grander aspect of my environment. It makes the game have more depth rather than blundering through the game without truely understanding why you are doing what you are doing.

I especially love the in-battle cut scenes with the espers and quickenings. I think that is one of the major factors that made the series as popular as it has become over the years.
 
I personally enjoy the cutscenes, the graphics are beautiful. I always think they are important for the story, plot, character development ect ect..
To me it makes the game seem more real and fun, sometimes i cant wait for a cutscene to randomly appear. But thats just how I am
 
I just completed the game and now my biggest disappointment is the very easy boss fights through out the game. Some are long, but I never died from a boss. I don't mean side quest ones ( espers, etc.), just the main storyline bosses.
Especially the final bosses, Gabranth was a pushover as was all of Vayne's battles.
 
I thought there weren't enough cutscenes in this game. xD I would've liked it better if more character interaction had been attempted by the developers. It was still an excellent game, but you don't get to find out much about the individual charcters aside from the tiny little scraps they feed you off the table to whet your appetite.

But I suppose FFXII was more the story of Dalmasca and its people than the individual characters.
 
a noob's two cents

Ok gotta say that the cut scenes are great…they didn’t bother me one bit. For me it gives the game a more cinematic feel.
The inverted camera controls were cumbersome for like the 30 seconds it took to get used to them., though admittedly an option to switch it back to normal would have been nice.
The fact that giving the right amount of time each character could ostensibly become the same is a flaw I agree…though as has been mentioned before it was also a prob w/X.
 
I would say the main flaw of the game is the lack of interactivity in the story and small technical issues like the sheething and unsheething in battle mode which I was annoyed in long term and the inverted control...
In the story, I thought since Vaan was the only one other than Ashe who could see Prince Rasttle's Ghost (sry if the name is mistaken) would be of Royal blood... But this issue stayed unexplained and it was quickly forgotten. Now we could only guess why Vaan could see him but denied seeing him afterwards without any confirmation. This could be the source to the empty feeling toward the story. Dunno but when I finished it, it felt as if the story is incomplete...

To be honest, I thought there was more to it...
 
yarub said:
A few people that have posted don't seem to understand the definition of a cutscene. A cutscene is an instance in which you are taken away from basic gameplay in which you are not just in a regular conversation with an NPC. Walking around and talking to people isn't any problem.

There were hundreds of occurances where you would zone into an area, it'd give a nice little cutscene for the first time only. That's not a problem at all to me. However, when you take a few steps forward, it goes into another story where they spend ten minutes talking about various things. After the cutscene is over, they tell you to go talk to whoever. This whoever isn't even five feet from you. Guess what? Another cutscene.
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By that do you mean the cutscenes where like in the beginning of the game you had to go to Low Town in Dalmasca and stuff to Dalan? I don't see this as a real problem in the game that's my take on it.

I understand that Square Enix wants to play with their new technology, but it's not a game anymore. It's a movie with a few interactions here and there. Final Fantasy was better when you actually learned things for yourself. Final Fantasy XII literally writes it down word for word for word what you need to do, where you need to go, what you'll need, where to find it, etc. Where's the challenge?
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I like it better when they give me directions. When I played FFVII, I found myself getting lost a lot and it was annoying and I ended up circling the world like 7 times before I happen to "guess" where I needed to go and when I talked to people to find out where I had to go, I usually couldn't get much out of them either. A challenge? More like a game of cat and mouse running after Sephiroth. Actually, FFVII was to the point where I had to write directions down every once in awhile like "go North East" so I don't end up circling the world again.

Besides, if you had to do that in FFXII, it's a big place and airships rides aren't free and the foot walk alone is long in some cases. Sure you can hit a ride with a Chocobo, but they aren't cheap either. If you want a challenge, maybe FF isn't for you anymore. But who am I to tell you? I also find the "circling the world" thing to be a waste of time on gameplay as well. You can train your characters along the way, but what if you entered a place where the monsters were beyond your power to defeat? That would suck if I couldn't save the game and died after circling the world a million times; I find this more of a frustration than a challenge.

It really sucks that Final Fantasy is changing this way. Some of you may enjoy this new style. As for true rpg fans, they're getting further away from the initial style they ran with.
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True RPG fans? Are you labeling that to people of your simliar type? I know I'm not an RPG-addict, but I do appreciate where Square is taking their games. Sure the style is changing, but maybe Square needs to mix up things so they can make something innovative and creative or even do it at the cost of a crash and burn. I like change, it allows for other players to take up interest in the Final Fantasy series if they change up things. If Square never changed their FF games in some way or another, it's how they learn from their mistakes. Take note of what was bad or good and apply what they need in the future.
 
Well after reading some of ya'lls post, I'll throw my opinion out there as well. FF7 was the origination for those so called Cutscenes (for final fantasy) - or FMVs as others call it. Chrono Cross has them as well, and every Final Fantasy since 7 has made FMVs. I will say, Cutscenes don't make an RPG - but any game that you find that is current are adding these Cutscenes to the games even FPSes. Diablo, Warcraft(anything related to it basically).. Parasite Eve, Disgaea - You name it, there are cutscenes throughout each one of them.

People find it appealing to watch and get more involved with the story line. I do as well, and I love them for it. I even liked the cutscenes in Final Fantasy XI which was onlined based (Many of ya'll say it's not even part of the series, but I do). I hate where I have to read dialogue constantly, it makes my mind spin, I would much rather hear them talk than pick up important stories lines through constant reading.

Rpgs are Rpgs - you lvl up, you get your weapons, you buy or adapt your magic/weapon skill/defense , and that's about it.

The only difference is story line and interface. FFXII did a great job of it, and to be honest I would have like to seen a bit more of those FMVs. It ended way to quick, hince the reason why I'm stuck to doing all the End Game Content (Pharos -1,-2,-3, Ixion, the other mark[forgot name]) - Ultima Weapon.
 
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Kyon said:
True RPG fans? Are you labeling that to people of your simliar type? I know I'm not an RPG-addict, but I do appreciate where Square is taking their games. Sure the style is changing, but maybe Square needs to mix up things so they can make something innovative and creative or even do it at the cost of a crash and burn. I like change, it allows for other players to take up interest in the Final Fantasy series if they change up things. If Square never changed their FF games in some way or another, it's how they learn from their mistakes. Take note of what was bad or good and apply what they need in the future.
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So you're not a true rpg fan. What is an rpg? It's a role playing game. Firstly, you don't have a real role in this game. You play a group of characters. Every game has been very centered on one person thus far. In this one, you're led to believe it's Vaan. However, it's more about your country than it is yourself. After you leave Rabenastre, it's no longer about Vaan.

When it comes to the cutscenes, you could call a movie a role playing movie. Maybe that's a bit out there, but it's still a good analogy. There's nowhere near as much interaction in this game as there were in every single game before it. All you really do is fight in this game. There were only three times in the entire game were you were actually required to talk to people to find out information. Otherwise, you were babied the entire way. There was little to no challenge in this Final Fantasy. With previous Final Fantasys, strategy guides were huge sellers because the games were so difficult. Final Fantasy XII itself gave more information than the strategy guide did.

No one has to agree with me. I am merely pointing out what I saw and giving my comments on it. Once Final Fantasy hit X, it started to go another direction. Will it continue doing so? Probably. Doesn't change the fact that it's happening.
 
Have you even played final fantasy tactics? I mean come on .. RPGs are moving away on the traditional "One man one story basis" but it might do us a lot of good. First off in this story you can be in whoever's shoes you choose to be in.

That's why people are asking.. "Who's your favorite character?" There is no "main character" in my opinion. If you wanna be Penelo, Basche, Bathier, Vaan, Fran, or Ashe - you can actually go right ahead.

Everybody has an important part to play in this story. I would say Penelo is probably the weakest of the cast, but for everyone else, I would say they are pretty equal. Ashe is pretty much the only one who gets a little more credit.

Games like Final Fantasy 7 - You know of Cloud, Tifa, Aries, Sephiroth, Barret, Cid and others... but to be honest Cloud Tifa Aries and Sephiroth hog the lime light.

I mean heck they just introduced Derge of Cerberus which gave us a little more background on Yuffie and Vincent, even if it was a 3rd person/1st person shooter.

So I'm glad to see alot of people this time go their little Cut scenes, made for a good story. Oh and if you want hard in the game - OF COURSE IT'S NOT IN THE MAIN STORY LINE.. is it ever?

Side Quests / Marks / Optional End Game Content is where it's at.. Now that stuff is getting difficult - I'm on mark 44 and 45.

Going on lvl 85ish with all 3 characters in my main party and lvl 65ish in secondary.
 
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yarub said:
So you're not a true rpg fan. What is an rpg? It's a role playing game. Firstly, you don't have a real role in this game. You play a group of characters. Every game has been very centered on one person thus far. In this one, you're led to believe it's Vaan. However, it's more about your country than it is yourself. After you leave Rabenastre, it's no longer about Vaan.

When it comes to the cutscenes, you could call a movie a role playing movie. Maybe that's a bit out there, but it's still a good analogy. There's nowhere near as much interaction in this game as there were in every single game before it. All you really do is fight in this game. There were only three times in the entire game were you were actually required to talk to people to find out information. Otherwise, you were babied the entire way. There was little to no challenge in this Final Fantasy. With previous Final Fantasys, strategy guides were huge sellers because the games were so difficult. Final Fantasy XII itself gave more information than the strategy guide did.

No one has to agree with me. I am merely pointing out what I saw and giving my comments on it. Once Final Fantasy hit X, it started to go another direction. Will it continue doing so? Probably. Doesn't change the fact that it's happening.
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I see, fair enough. It's true though, that I would've liked to see more character development as the FFs have offered in the past. It's basically as you said it, we were spoon-fed, but since it is like that, I can't help but think that FF12 may be suitable to some children to play.

Hmm, I think there might be a possibility though, that Square wanted it to be a group of characters so you can pick one follow them around, or try to get a connection of them. But that sort of failed for me because I mainly liked Vaan, and nothing that special seemed to shine through yet in my 50 hours into the game as of right now... I mean the whole dream of him becoming a sky pirate and him moving on from a theif, I thought those aspects of him would've shone through more dominantly as opposed to being so shallow... I mean for awhile, it looked like Ashe was taking over everything with the journey near the beginning.

Since FF12 feels like its coming to an end soon for me, I may just do the sidequests to feel... satifisfied. I mean, this would've never happened in FF7... That journey was a long one. To be honest, I could never finish the final battle. It was the same for FF8, but for FF8, the disk was scratched so bad and the glitch was terrible in the final battle that I could hardly see anything on the screen... I don't own FF8 though, borrowed from my cousins.
 
I believe it is very possible that Square Enix is trying to take it in another direction. In one hand, they're taking away the challenge of the main story. In the other hand, they're giving you a lot more choices that you can make when it comes to what you're able to do outside the story. I do like the fact that you can play any character at any time. I refused to use Penelo. Props to them on that.

I guess I just like the role playing games that challenge the bloody hell out of me. Like with Final Fantasy VII. Did they ever tell you where you needed to go? Maybe a couple times. Haha. They made you figure out everything for yourself. I don't think I would have ever beat that game without my strategy guide. Even that game had side quests, and there was very little taken from the main story.

I unno. Maybe I'll join Square Enix and set em straight!
 
Heh well I agree with you on the most part, but not telling you where to go doesn't exactly make the game harder.. maybe more frustrating. I like the abillity to pay attention and pick up on where to go from other people - I mean for instance you shouldn't have to rely on a Strategy guide to pull you through in this game.

I might have had one of course, but that's because I like to do side quests and I don't want to spend over 100 Hrs running around in circles trying to find where and how they spawn. Personally the main story should let you know where to go even if you have to ask around , it makes you pay attention.
 
Chishu said:
Heh well I agree with you on the most part, but not telling you where to go doesn't exactly make the game harder.. maybe more frustrating. I like the abillity to pay attention and pick up on where to go from other people - I mean for instance you shouldn't have to rely on a Strategy guide to pull you through in this game.

I might have had one of course, but that's because I like to do side quests and I don't want to spend over 100 Hrs running around in circles trying to find where and how they spawn. Personally the main story should let you know where to go even if you have to ask around , it makes you pay attention.
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Bingo. Every game I've ever played, and every FF I've ever played was without a guide book. But then again, I didn't do side quests for each one of them (oh yeah, the Celestial Weapons in FFX, dear cheese cakes...) just so I can beat the main story and get on with my life. I consider it to be cheating when you use the books, or at least I'd feel cheated so I feel compelled not to use them. The most I would do is look at an online tutorial/walkthrough of the game to help me out when I really need it, that and I can't afford these $15 books. It's not worth it for me. I'd rather choose an artbook over a strategy guide to be honest. Not like I can afford neither.

Sort of like Kingdom Hearts. You can very well beat everything and get everything in that game without a walkthrough or a stratgey guide. That's an aspect that I like about it. Well, not exactly. I did have to look up the fact on how to get the Secret Ending, Another Side Another Story. Old times...
 
yarub said:
Yeah. It was such a little thing, but it gets really old after awhile; how the characters all have to completely stop to put their weapons away after no more enemies are in sight.
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You're right we should just go back to random encounters :rolleyes:
Another aspect to the game that I've decided I'm not in favor of is the ability to make each character ungodly at the end. By the time each character is about level 60, they will have had the chance to acquire every single license available on the board. The only unique trait between characters are the espers and quickenings. Otherwise, each character can have the exact same stats, techniquesm magicks, and equipment. Definitely not liking that. Really starting to pull away from the original idea that went into Final Fantasy.
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while i agree that it is far too easy to completly level them up, the fact that everyone can use any spell has been in almost every single game, save IX

and you people who are bitching about the controls, maybe you should play the game for more than 5 minutes before criticizing, yes they take a few minutes to get used to but its nice having complete control over the camera unlike every other game
 
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