FFXII gets perfect score from Famitsu...

[Darkillumina]

[Arenegeth]

Well I don't have anything against the battle system and all that, and I like change (Suikoden III doesn't count) or seemingly evolving a game (not making bastard form, look at RE4)...

One thing that I don't like about XII is the characters, the main hero seems to be even worst than Tidus the "whiny punk" as I like to call him, and the rest seem like some sort of common town people like some generic NPC, but I will not criticize the game before I've played it and finish it my self, despite the "negative" feel I get from it compared to any main Final Fantasy before, I owe it to the rest of the series to give it an equal fighting chance.
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"I am ye who walks his own path and thus I walk alone"

[Himuro]

Vaan hardly looks whiny to me. Vaan in a common person, a street rat if you will. Basch is a traitor to the kingdom, an ex-Knight. Ashe is the ex-princess of the Kingdom. Penelo is Vaan's girlfriend. Balthier and Fran are sky pirates. The only truly common or normal people in your party are Vaan and Penelo. Since this game is more concentrated in politics, it will also concentrate on the war that's going on. Thing is, it's not really about the war per se, like say, in Suikoden games or Final Fantasy Tactics, but how war effects the common people (ie people like Vaan and Penelo).

Blackjack: No it's just that if you were a fan (apparently) of Final Fantasy's before, and you're not willing to even rent this one for some reason. Having no interest in it despite being a fan seems kinda odd to me, especially considering we know so little about the game. You said that the battle system has potential but it seems your reasons for having no interest in the game are based off of what you've seen from the plot and characters, but what I'm trying to say is that you can hardly make a judgement over something so subjective without actually experiencing it yourself. If I said that after watching the Suikoden V trailers that I wasn't interested in the game, despite the fact I'm obviously a fan of the series, because the characters don't look appealing and the story looks cliche' I would get funny looks here. Ofcourse I don't feel that way at all, but you understand where I'm coming from, right? Only so much story and characterization can be presented from trailers. I guess some people have support towards series they love more than others. *shrug*

Not liking character designs is personal, but I prefer them to anything Nomura's done. Yoshida's characters need more belts! And zippers! Nomuraaaa!
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She knows stuff.

[Arenegeth]

[Viewtiful Mukumuku]

I can see where you're coming from Himuro, but even if someone might like it when they tried playing, I don't see why they should if they have no interest in the game at all...

I'm gonna try it though, I'm not sure about the gameplay, but it could work out okay and I like the setting and designs quite a lot.
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"An army of squirrels is still an army" - Squirrel Mob, Magic The Gathering.

[Sydnee]

I've lost my interest in FF games 2 years ago since I've finished FFX, I never want to play another one. (I have FF X-2 but it's crap) I was one of those avid FF fans =P

I don't beleive in Famitsu's scoring (c'mon no game is perfect, better or close enough is much better -_- )

I'll just stick my nose with Suikoden. :D
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~ Securing the safety of mone---I mean uhh...people of Island Nations ~

[Himuro]

There is no such thing as a perfect score, just a game you suggest everyone try. 40/40, 10/10, 5/5..whatever. No game is perfect as even the really great games have bad things about them. It just means that they really suggest it.
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She knows stuff.

[poorguy171]

[Scrooge McDuck]

What is the point of rating something in the scale of 10 if you could not give the 10 rate? Is it a psychological thing?

A score of 10/10 in a gaming review is not called "perfect"; it is called "virtually perfect". It means that the reviewer feels that despite the unavoidable flaws the game has, the other features such as gameplay or story make the game very enjoyable so that the flaws do not matter.

Of course the appeal and significance of said strength as opposed to the flaws are subjective strictly to the reviewer point of view, hence virtually perfect.
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[Parallax]

I personally haven't got much interest in most of the new games that are released these days, regardless of who makes them, or what they are. There are some important exceptions, but the evolution of games has essentially left me in the dust. I would still choose to play the RTS games that were the biggest of my 'era', that is, when I had the most time for video games...games like Command and Conquer and StarCraft will always be better to me than the newer incarnations. Games like Doom 2 still leave me with fond memories, whereas Half-Life 2 which was lauded as such a fantastic game I found somehow...lacking.

Final Fantasy, however, is an entirely different ballgame. The Final Fantasy games are all intensely formulaic, or have been in the past, and combine certain elements that the game designers know will sell well to create what is essentially a remake of the previous game. Each one has small tweaks, and a completely new world and cast of characters, and generally an entirely new spin on the magic and battle systems (even if at their core level they're the same thing)...but really, you're playing the same core game over and over again. I still played them, up through Final Fantasy X...but I've liked each new installment of Final Fantasy less and less over the years.

I still prefer pixels and line-drawn graphics in most instances to new 3d type environments. Much of this has to do with bad cameras, and God knows the gaming industry has been filled with those, but I also just plain don't like the look of CG that much, no matter how good it looks. I still think animated movies, especially top caliber work (like some of the Japanese 'anime') look better than even CG of incredible quality like Final Fantasy: Advent Children. I'm less and less excited with each new RPG title that gets released. I guess that's why I still like Suikoden II the best out of the Suikoden games...that's why Final Fantasy VI is still my favourite FF game, and the like.

I do not for a moment believe that just because something is new, or different, that it is without merit, though. I'm not terribly excited about Final Fantasy XII, but I gave even Final Fantasy X-2 the benefit of the doubt, and at least tried to play it...and it remains as the only RPG in my fairly decent collection which I have never beaten. The gambits are being turned off, I can tell you that much (I hate AI control...) ...but otherwise, it doesn't look like a bad game to me, just one that I can't necessarily get excited about in advance of its release, and with so little real, substantative information, even available about it yet.

I can almost guarantee I'll still like Suikoden V better though. ;)
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He's a victim - not a perp - and I'm choosing to let him go.

[Scott]

I'll admit it. I'll probably end up buying and enjoying Final fantasy XII. I don't know If I'll think it's AMAZING, or even great, but despite Squar'e mistakes, the games are none the less ussualy fun. I think That not even giving it a chance to be good is a mistake. Plenty of people did that with final fantasy X, and missed out on a fun game.


I may not be overly hyped up for Final fantasy XII, but square should expect as much. how long have we been waiting for that game? 3 or 4 years now? Dumb Completion of Final Fantasy VII. Keeps delaying all the stuff I care about.

As for the scores? That's ludicrous. Seems liek Famitsu's been a little crazy the last year or so review wise. The score for Nintendogs is a perfect example. It was great the first day or two..then you just kinda stop caring and lose interest. The only reviews they do any more than I trust are the Musuo games. That's the one case where tehy always seem consistent in relaizing it may be a bit repetative, but it's still fun.

Bleh. Going all Kinds of Off topic. I suppose we can all just wait a little bit and see how the acctual fans like it. Then we can all decide weather or not it's going to be worth our time, right?
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To relive those Halcyon days of youth

[Himuro]

The reason FFXII was delayed was because Matsuno was sick, even hospitalized for months. He worked his ass off for this game. He was taken off of staff as the director when it was about 95% done, and they replaced him.
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She knows stuff.

[GallantWarriorGeddoe]

I never played FFXI so I don't know if this game has a crappy mix the old atb system, and FFXI's battle system as I remember seeing somebody say. I know for a fact I will buy this game as I always get new final fantasies when they come out. I played the demo, and my opionion was it was it seemed good. It had nice graphics, I liked the battle system that they had once I got used to it. So as long as they can get a good story, and some nice characters to go with it I will be happy with that. As a sidenote the only final fantasy that ever disappionted me was X-2.

[Tonberry]

I think I am with Himuro. One should not judge a game until one knows a lot about it. Knowing a few things will not allow you to make a good judge of the game. Final Fantasy IX, for example, which is a wonderful game, was not played by a loy of people, solely because only one of the characters out of the main eight was human. People can't look at the character beneath the horn, scarecrow hat, tail, etc.

Also, too many people buy into reviews. So many people hated Final Fantasy X-2, without giving it a fair chance. Sure, the characters are not that appealing, but the underlying storyline and themes were interesting. The music was decent. The ability system was wonderful. And if you're a graphics snob, you should be satisfied. So, make your own judgement before trusting the reviews of others. Only buy into the facts displayed in reviews. Make your own judgement.

I played the demo of Final Fantasy XII. I had a pretty good time. The music was good, the battle system was complex, but like Final Fantasy VIII and Suikoden III, I'm sure I'll grow to like it once I understand it fully. The graphics were nice. The character development looks like it might not be too great, but I don't know enough as of yet. However, the story looks well developed. I will definately buy Final Fantasy XII. It's from a game company I trust and I enjoyed the demo, so why shouldn't I buy it? Then again, I'm easily entertained when it comes to RPGs, but that is a good thing. :D

[jjrrs]

I just "got" this game to work and starting to play it this week, so far it's pretty good. I don't know any other games it would compare closely to other than FFXI, and it is obviously faster paced, better looking, and more fun to play than XI, kind of weird to keep getting links in a non MMO though... Now I truely regret not "getting" Genso Suikoden V in japanese first, playing it once and then replaying the NA version.

I'm about 5 hours in, just getting the hang of the battle system and the chessboard looking skills system, but can anyone tell me how long this game is? I'm reading a english translation FAQ from gamefaqs and I think it covers the whole game while is only 21 sections long, and according to it I'm going into section 5 in 5 hours... I'm guessing the later sections are much longer since a FF game won't be less than 25 hours, how long dose it take to finish this game?

also I hope to get some quick answers on minor gameplay questions:
1.of the items you find/steal, can you craft with them like in X? is it done in a shop like IX or is it an option that becomes available later under party menu like in X?
2.is there a way to gauge mobs or it does in japanese automatically but I just can't read it? are the mobs in red can't be defeated at current level or does it mean something else too?
3.once you open a skill/equipment on one character's board, can everyone use it if you buy it once(equipment have to be bought per person of course but can everyone qualify to use it)? are characters' personal specific skills bought as well or learned? Thanks
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