Final Fantasy XII

[Oppenheimer]

Anyone noticed a bit of voice acting recycling? I just came from the Great-Chief in that village where everone wears masks, and the voice of the Great-Chief soudned the same as half the rest of the cast and most of the armoured leaders. Maybe it's just the accent that's making a lot of people sound the same. Or has anyone else noticed that?
_________________

[Yvl]

It's just the accent, I think, in combination with the muffling caused by the mask. I really didn't notice any peculiarly similar voices.
_________________

[Vincent Chase]

I spent a good chunk of time (about 85 hours) with this game over the Christmas break, but I didn't really get to beat it. Still though, I think I can offer a few words of advice.

Battles - The system was really fun, hands down my favorite system since Chrono Cross, but I did sort of make the game's battles easier. I always cast the big support spells on my party just before I go into battle; Shell(ga), Protect(ga), Haste(ga), Bravery and Bubble, and it makes things a ton easier. Bubble especially is pretty lifesaving for some battles, giving at least some sort of incentive to do the mob hunts (since you can only buy it at the clan shop). If you want, you can even cast them on your support party to make things really dangerous.

No Money - The game's also made a bit easier because enemies don't drop money (humanoids, like Bangaa, Seeq and the Urutan Yensa do). Instead, they drop loot which you turn around and sell at shops for money (or rarely use it in some sort of sidequest). Because of this, you have to go out and kill monsters (or level up) to get any money. You really need to do this because of the price of weapons and the skills that you have to buy. I've also heard that you can get some cool shit from the bazaar based on what you sell to them, but I haven't gone into it.

The Characters - Extremely likeable, though of the main party only Balthier is consistently great. The support characters and the enemies (though a little underdeveloped) are very interesting, though.

The Story - Meh.

Voice Acting - Far superior to that of FFX.

Espers - Are pretty cool, and if you get one you should get another, but some of them are crap. I saw someone talking about Zalera, he's crap and I beat him pretty handily at Lv 44. Cuchulainn is also kind of crap, but at least he can be handy against a boss that needs a dose of poison. I have nine espers, and plan to round out my collection as soon as I can play again and level up (party's average lv. 53.5, want to get to 60). Here is what I think of them:

Belias (Basch) - Don't really use him often anymore, but he got me through some tough times until I got the superior Mateus.

Exodus (Balthier) - He's pretty cool, non-elemental attacks are pretty handy.

Mateus (Penelo) - Still one of my favorites, because there are a lot of enemies weak to ice.
Zalera (Penelo) - Crap, because most bosses are immune to death. Bosses are the only time you really need the espers.

Cuchulainn (Ashe) - For a battle so hard in getting him (support spells before!), he's kind of crap. Most bo sses are immune to poison.

Shemhazai (Fran) - Pretty damn cool, so far the strongest storyline esper I have, but I haven't tested them all.
Hashimal (Fran) - Haven't used him yet, but he looks pretty cool. I just completed the Ridorana event on my last day of break.

Adrammelich (Vaan) - He's pretty good, but I haven't used him often, but he's easily above the level of Mateus and Belias
Famfrit (Vaan) - Haven't used him yet either, because I just completed the Pharos at Ridorana

That leaves only Chaos, Zeromus, Ultima and Zodiak, all of which I plan to add to the collection. They can save your heine if you end up in a sticky situation, and most of the battles give in the neighborhood of 50 LP (or 100 with the gold armlet), so I'd say to go for them.

The License Board - It's cool, but not really unique. At Lv. 53 I have it just about filled, four characters need the last license I'm missing and I'll be done with it. It's pretty easy to get licenses early, and you should. The top board should be first, since the augments really make a huge difference (my Lv 53 party is probably capable of beating the game), and you'll need to buy the magicks anyways, so why not? Early on, but a golden armlet from the moogle in front of Eruyt Village and equip it. You can walk across the sandsea killing Urutan Yensa easily as hell and just rack up the points. You should get the augments and magicks first, as well as Quickenings to make things much easier for yourself. Don't ignore the weapons though, since you kind of need those.

I think that's about it. I'm very glad that the series was taken in a refreshing new direction, and I almost want to waste money on the PS3 just to see what they're going to do with the 13th installment.

[Crono]

So I've beaten the game, and now I'm on the side quests to obtain Ultima, Zodiark, the last few marks, etc. My main party is level 66, but for some reason I have trouble fighting monsters in the penumbra, which are around 6-8 levels lower than my party. Does anybody know of a better place to level up to prepare for these last sidequests? Or perhaps someone can tell me what equipment their party used at this point, as that might be the reason I am having difficulty.
_________________
"Into battle we ride
With gods by our side
We are strong, and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill
And our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
We'll fight 'till the end, and send our enemies straight to hell!"

[Parallax]

Once more, this game's appeal for me has slowly drained away. It happened a couple times during the seemingly endless treks, first to Raithwall's Tomb, and then to Archadia...which was disappointing in itself, since at the end the things that occured, while cool, were very brief compared to the amount of time that it took me to rock my way all up there.

I still haven't beaten the game. I just completed a couple of monster hunts after finishing the Giruvegan event and I'm sitting at about level 62-63, which I suspect is more than enough for me to beat the game with. I want to complete all of the monster hunts and optional Esper battles before I finally finish the game, because I really enjoy those, but I also want to see the ending. Amazingly, I haven't managed to bother myself to do either of those things, even though I've had plenty of time over break.

For some reason, the game, while fun, just doesn't make me excited to play it. I don't get fired up for it like I have for other games, even within the Final Fantasy series in the past. It's not really a bad game, though there are portions of it that I feel could be better executed, but it's not a great game either, and there are just other things I could spend my time on. You know, like posting on internet forums about other video games. :)
_________________

He's a victim - not a perp - and I'm choosing to let him go.

[SuikoGator]

Agreed.

[Himuro]

This is probably the most disappointing game I've played, yes, even more than Suikoden IV.

I waited for this game for years, and yet it feels incomplete. The best thing about the game are the production values, to be sure. The game raises the bar extremely high in terms of voice acting, cutscene direction, art direction, and graphics, but the meat of the game (the gameplay and story) are both terribly weak and unfocused.

The best word I can sum up FFXII with is "potential". Yes, potential. Everything about it smears with it, but it's not a reasonably fun game at all, in fact, it's pretty damn tedious. The battle system either makes you have the game play for you, or have you wade through a cluster fuck of micromanagement that is the menu system in that game. It's just not fun at all. Yeah, sure, the gambit system allows to tone down the inevitable tedium that is rpg battles, but personally I would rather keep pressing nothing but the attack command than have the game play for me. Good idea, good premise, terrible solution.

The gambit system is the tip of the ice berg in terms of annoyances in this game. The license board is a piece of crap and I hate the people who ever came up with it. I have to buy the license AND the ability? Talk about a game that's a recipe for meandering in the plains for hours, leveling up. If you didn't only get 1 AP per battle it would have been bearable, but as it stands, it's the worst customization feature I've ever seen.

And the story. My God, is it poor. The game has an EXCELLENT and awe inspiring premise, and as a Suikoden fan I was jealous that Konami never put that much work into telling a Suiko story. The mature plot line, the politics, the subtle characterization..it was all great in premise, but the execution is lacking because the game doesn't know when to place a cutscene, or how long to play a custcene, or what to feature in a cutscene. You spend hours in a dungeon, and the reward is a cutscene of your party members saying,"Come on, let's head to the next dungeon lol!" and it gets real old, fast. If they went the Shin Megami Tensei route, I would absolutely love this game probably, because SMT knows how to balance stuff. Yes, it's a dungeon crawler, but they reward your dungeon crawling with fun gameplay and awesome cutscenes.

As it stands now, I've had FFXII since the day it came out and I haven't played it in exactly 2 months: since November. I'm not even half way yet. Do you realize how much of a record that is for me? Usually with FF games, I'm near the end in the span of 3 weeks. Not the case here.

Either it's because I've outgrown FF, or FF's outgrown me, but I just don't get an emotional impact from the series anymore. Shame, because at one time or another it was by far my favorite game series of all time. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

I give Final Fantasy XII a 7/10.
_________________
She knows stuff.

[Tullaryx]

To summarize how I quickly got tired of all the grinding this game required to get a balanced group I actually stopped playing the game and went to play the browser game Astro Empires instead.
_________________

[Himuro]

I don't even know if I'm going to beat it... at least with Suikoden IV, I still wanted to press forward and beat it. With FFXII, I don't even want to play it.
_________________
She knows stuff.

[Firefly]

I completely agree with you on all your points, Himuro, but keep in mind that MOST of the game's storyline and cool cutscenes are in the last 10% of the game.

Butttt.... in order to get to those good cutscenes and story, you gotta go through like 3 huge dungeons, vast plains and beaches, and a huge city (with a mindnumbingly boring required "minigame" of collecting "chops") during which there is barely any storyline or character development to be seen... haha, yeah, maybe it's not worth finishing the game then :)
_________________

[SuikoGator]

I sum it up with the statement I made earlier...

"Most Final Fantasy Games are so awesome I can't put the controller down. This Final Fantasy is so bad and tedious that I literally have to force myself to play."

I gave up on the game a long time ago. I don't plan to buy FF13, barring something unforseen. Which is sad, really, because I have purchased, played, beaten, and loved every final fantasy from 7-10. (Ok, I didn't LOVE 10, but thats another point all together, and it was still good)

Maybe when they remake FF7 or if they go back to the old battle system and quality in FF14 will I bother with this franchise again.

[Tullaryx]

I will go back to my old stance and say that the games began to go downhill once Hironobu Sakaguchi stopped being the major lead guy on the games. Final Fantasy VI still the best of the series for me.
_________________

[Himuro]

[Crono]

I fully agree with all your views on how tedious the gameplay is, how lame the story is, and how there is next to zero character development. However, even all this didn't stop me from being consumed by the game and playing it nonstop until I finished it. The game just kind of grew on me I guess. I am disappointed in it though, it could have(and should have, being an FF game and all) been so much better. Especially when compared to the series' predecessors, hell even FFX blows this game out of the water. I guess the pretty graphics and unique(at least to me) battle system is what kept me hooked until the end. And there's just something about the name "Final Fantasy" that will keep me constantly playing.
_________________
"Into battle we ride
With gods by our side
We are strong, and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill
And our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
We'll fight 'till the end, and send our enemies straight to hell!"

[Ryusei]

I actually gave up on the game. My reason was the same as what you guys posted above. I just can't stand running around for hours and kill monsters ceaselessly, and then get weak and undesirable awards after. For me, it gets tedious very easily. I can say that FF XII had great potential, but it just wasn't executed very properly. I don't think I'll probably have the urge to play this game again any time soon.