Final Fantasy XII

[Parallax]

I managed to keep all of my characters evenly levelled except for Vaan, who is 1-2 levels higher, since he never gets KO'd since I'm manually controlling him and such. I usually just swap people out all the time to keep their levels about even. I think I end up wasting more time grinding in that way though, trying to keep up with the curve of the game...but all my people have an obscene amount of licenses, so it's a trade-off.

[Oppenheimer]

[Delsaber]

For those who have had trouble keeping everyone at a decent level, there are a few small areas in the game which are perfect for rapid leveling. By far the most effective I've found so far is a spot called Overlooking Eternity in the northwest section of the Nabreus Deadlands, accessible via a hidden path along the northern part of the Slumbermead. Skeleton-type enemies called Dead Bones will pop out of the ground every few steps in this area which net almost 1200XP per kill.

So, just toss an Embroidered Tippet on your lower-leveled character(s) along with the best armor you can find, maybe cast Protect/Shell on them for added insurance, and you should have them pretty much on par with your leader relatively quickly. Some people have even reported XP gains in excess of 2 million within an hour of skeleton bashing, probably from the offensive use of healing spells like Curaga or Raise, or even Phoenix Downs. Personally, I just bash 'em. I can usually manage get a 45 or 50 chain on these guys before they stop respawning automatically; a quick run to the Slumbermead and back will reset the area (this is what the MMO kids refer to as zoning.)

The Dead Bones cast a few weak black magicks (Fira and Thundara, I believe) and make liberal use of Flash, so you might wanna put together a Shellga or Blindna gambit if either becomes an issue.
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[Yvl]

As I said though, after Archades, the story takes off at an immense speed. The dungeons get more interesting as well. Giruvegan and the last region of the Feywood are my favorite levels of all time now... nothing like fighting off hordes of insects that keep eating each other to gain like 10 levels, while having to worry about Behemoths lurking in some areas. And the music for those areas is just perfect for the mood.

Also, as I just discovered earlier today, after you beat the Mandragora Family (which is another fun battle), you can have Rare Game explained to you by those shady bangaa at Phon Coast. I'm about to do some reading up on that right now.
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[Agahnim]

I have very little left of the game to do, there is one more Esper left, one more Mark left and one more Optional Boss remaining. Beyond this, I have yet to enter and complete the final location of the game, but I had hoped to do all of this side-quest type stuff before I actually complete the game itself. Whats the point in unlocking weapons or items from defeating these optional monsters if you have no further battles in which to use them?

However, I am trying to decide which order would be best to tackle all of these monsters, and how much more preperation I will be needing before I will be capable of actually defeating them; I've heard that some of these battles can take about 2-3 hours to complete. I have Basch at level 93 with a two handed sword (Ultima Weapon) and I am hoping that I will come across the Excalibur on my way towards the battle with the last Esper and the optional boss. I only have Maximillian and the Magepower Helmet, but I have been trying to get better armour from the Rare monster in the Necrohol of Nabudis (with little success, I might add, after numerous attempts). My other two party members are Balthier (Masamune, Mystic Armour) and Penelo (Fomalhaut, Mystic Armour), but they are both only at Level 76.

I think one of the next things I will do is take Delsaber's advice, and try and level up all three of them as well as I can before I get bored. I reckon I could get Basch to Level 99 in good time without much trouble. However, any advice from people who have fought the aformentioned battles would be greatly appreciated, be it about which order I should tackle these fights, or what armour/items/gambits I should be setting up.

In other news, I really enjoy the Doctor Cid character. "Give chase if you dare it."
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"The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience."

[Yvl]

Indeed, Cid really saved the game.

Did you do all the rare game yet though, Ganon?
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[Agahnim]

[Parallax]

Well, taking the advice of Tullaryx and simply hitting the button as fast as I can when I see a symbol on the list at bottom right instead of trying to plan to activate Black Hole or whatever works remarkably better. In fact, I was treated to a Black Hole after a 23-ish chain of Quickenings, for an easy victory over the Mateus Esper.

I'm now about to embark upon the much-maligned journey to Archadia, and in the meantime, I've decided to clean up some Marks. I rather like this aspect to the game...unlike some other Final Fantasy games, I feel perfectly free to take a break from the main quest anytime I wish and go track down some supermonsters. They have good rewards, and the difficulty is appropriate, rather than being something obscene like the Emerald or Ruby WEAPONS for which more preparation was required than was needed to defeat the final boss.

As far as the game's difficulty is concerned, however, I do have a small complaint:

Someone please re-assure me that this game does eventually get to the point where simply casting Dispel Magic to remove buffs and then unloading a massive chain of Quickenings doesn't spell an automatic victory! Enemies without their "Protect" auto-buffs can suffer as much as 60,000 damage from a single chain of Quickenings which ends in a Black Hole from my party right now. That's astonishing! I think the only enemy I've fought so far who even has that many hitpoints was the Gil Snapper.

I recently faced down the elite Gil Snapper mark, hoping for a challenge or something. I was able to destroy him with Quickenings alone. It required more than one chain (two full chains, followed by what I could scrounge up with my sixth character...it amounted to an Inferno or so) but the first and second brought him down so low that the last one was simply gravy, because I didn't want to use any MP recovery items.

I know that enemies would have more than 60,000~ HP later in the game, but the power of the Quickenings would also rise as my characters continue to gain levels. This does become more challenging than simply hitting buttons to chain Quickenings, right?
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He's a victim - not a perp - and I'm choosing to let him go.

[poorguy171]

[Yvl]

[SuikoGator]

I agree with some of you. I have loved every single FF game (except for X. I thought it was just very average overall, but still a good rpg). Final Fantasy 12... I find it hard to sit down and play, it's almost like I have to MAKE time for it. Previous games I'd have to MAKE time to do things OTHER than play it. Previous games I just couldn't put the controller down. This time I find it an effort to pick the controller up and just play.

It is just tedious. Like someone said. You go through the oil rigs. The dessert. The Tomb. Then you have to go south. I'm actually at that part now, where I am heading through the land with all the unicornmonsters. I've been there for about a week. I really don't think I will ever finish this game, much less continue playing it at all.

[Masaya]

Add another addicted member to the list. Although I just started playing it this weekend, and have finals all this week. So I'm not going to be able to play it till after christmas :(. What I played I liked a lot. It seems very versicle as you can kind of mold all of the characters into what you like. I'm currently looking up the right and wrong way to pick licenses for each characters so I don't' mortally botch up the game. Although It really feels weird allowing all of the characters able to like every job class at the same time, but the end of the game. It seems to kind of take the fun out choosing your jobs strategically.
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[Ryusei]

[Sparhawk]

Sorry to interupt, but I have to ask. Is this game any good? Is it a buy or rent in your opinion?
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[SuikoGator]

I'd say rent. This isn't your standard Final Fantasy, if that is what you are accustomed to. If you like it after the first 10-20 hours, then buy.

I bought it and honestly can't see myself every picking it up again to beat it. I haven't played in several weeks. That said, I probably will play it again and beat it at some point :)