Final Fantasy 12

[Seriphina]

K so i have had this game for a couple of years now and when i first got it I got a good many hours into it (you know how long these gamees are). But, as i do with so many games and books, i put it down and tried to return to it later to pick up where i left off without much success.

I have read a few threads where people slate this game as being awful.
What is the general consensus?
Do you like this game?

 

[joshuaayt]

I love FFXII- maybe not quite as much as I do X-2, but then I'm a sucker for standard ATB.
People typically seem to say it is awful because

1. It is very different to most of those before it. Forgetting the different battle style, I've heard people complain about only controlling one character in combat (Which is weird, because you can change party leader *during* combat
2. The characterisation was lacklustre (Except for Balthier, obviously. Even straight guys love Balthier), and Vaan was (as well as kinda annoying) more or less a superfluous character, despite being set up as the protagonist.

But, of course, your opinion on a game is your opinion; no one can tell you if a game is worth playing through except yourself (And, apparently, Yahtzee. But he's a charismatic British fast-talker, so that's a given, no?)

 

[manythings]

Well the plot was kind of ok and once you get the hang of setting up your auto-cues you can basically just leave whenever there are enemies around.

My main problem was the fact that the game seems to just leap from plot point to plot point without any information between them. I'd say you could live without ever finishing it.

I own it and I've finished it. Also I agree with the previous poster Vaan was just really a non-character and balthier was far more interesting (I always say him as the "Han Solo" to Vaan's "Luke Skywalker").

 

[Agayek]

My primary complaint with FFXII is that the story is absolutely garbage. It makes no sense, the characters are remarkably boring, and it seems to lack a sort of overarching narrative.

The gameplay is surprisingly good though.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

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[HEADING=2]I'M CAPTAIN BASCH![/HEADING]


Yeah, I actually really enjoyed what I played of it. 20 hours or so...Then, some game came out and stole my attention. I forget the game that stole me away, it's been so damn long.

 

[DanielBrown]

I havent played it for a few years, but I remember not liking the characters or the combat system at all. When you dislike two of the most important factors in a game it pretty much goes downhill from there. The game felt more like an MMO than a FF-game.

I'm one of the few who actually liked the random turn-based combat in Final Fantasy. Was more fun than this auto-combat trend they use now.

 

[Adzma]

It's one of the few FF games I haven't actually played because of the negative rap it received. I for one love my characters well developed and interesting and the consensus seems to be that XII had neither.

 

[CManator]

FF12 was ok, I can certainly think of worse FF games.

However, there are many cons.
- Bland unoriginal story and cast (even balthier was only mildly interesting)
- With enough gambits, the battles played themselves
- No specialization, any character could have any skill or weapon so who you put in your active party is irrelevant. If you wanted character variety you had to intentionally build your characters differently. This was also my main issues with FF7 & 8.
- They set it in Ivalice but made 0 connection to FFT
- License system. I get some good equipment but cant use it until I find and unlock the license for it. It's actually not a bad concept but it could've been implemented better. Like maybe you unlock licenses for more powerful equipment by killing enemies with that type of weapon or wearing that type of armor. this could also help in the specialization area, since if you want to build a character a certain way you have to actually use them that way first.

Ironically my favorite part of FF12 was the hunts and sidequests and I found myself progressing the story just to unlock more of them. I also loved how many areas went deeper than the original visit and progress was impeded by more powerful enemies and/or sidequest keys rather than plot convenient barriers. Lhusu mines is a good example. I wish more games took this approach to exploration. I loved the in-depth bestiary too but it should've shown enemy stats as well, atleast after scanning them. Finding and defeating all varieties of enemies has always been one of my fav aspects of RPGs partly because it goes hand in hand with exploation.

So imo FF12 is a mixed bag of great and crappy elements and the result is a mediocre game overall.

edit: actually it did show enemy hp & weakness during battle after you scanned them. God its been a long time lol

 

[busterkeatonrules]

I can see why some FF fans were disappointed with XII. It is a considerable departure from what we're used to, and not all the changes work quite as well as one would hope.

However, I personally enjoyed the game. I love non-linear exploration, and FFXII is practically MADE of it. And that new fighting system actually works a LOT better than the traditional turn-based one from previous games. It's just a matter of getting used to it, which is done in minutes if you try.

Also, I like Vaan as a protagonist. Granted, he has very little to do with the plot, and he's pretty much just along for the ride, exploring the world for the sake of it. But isn't that exactly what the PLAYER is doing?

If we were to explore Ivalice through the eyes of the more plot-significant Balthier, who has been travelling the world for years, most of what we got to see would have felt mundane and unimpressive, as Balthier has seen it all many times before. But to Vaan, who has never been outside the city of Dalmasca and the surrounding desert, everything is new. Everything is amazing.

So while the other characters are concerned only with advancing the (decidedly uninvolving) plot, Vaan has the same motivation as the player!

 

[ManaAdvent]

Eh, the story was okay, but slightly average. Also, I didn't like the battle system all that much. Not really into MMOs. Another thing is the cast wasn't all too memorable and Vaan felt unnecessary or didn't come out as the protagonist after you get Ashe on your team or just didn't get much involved with the plot.

 

[shawyer]

I personally loved the game. I completed it and even attempted a second play through. Sure, the characters and story were not leaping off the page, so to speak, but I dont think any one who played the game can forget characters like Fran or Balthier. I also quite enjoyed the music. And the places visited still come to mind, even after all this time. And I have gamed a hell of a lot since FF12. The battle system was pretty good, as well. I think it's about time that RPGs evolve past the ancient battle system it's employed for so long.

It ultimately comes down to taste. One size does not fit all. So, even if everyone else hates it, you may find something about it that keeps u coming back.

I think the overall experience of FF12 was worth the "bad" parts.

 

[Akihiko]

Definitely my least favourite Final Fantasy. It isn't a bad game by all means, I just didn't find many of it's features great personally. I didn't really enjoy the battle system, although I could have looked past that. Wasn't a fan of Ivalice, either, again I could of looked past that too as I still managed to enjoy Tactics despite it. Then theres the licence board(Apparently the Zodiac one is an improvement over it, but you'd need a way to play copied games, or have a pc that can emulate it) which was iffy. What really caused me to stop playing the game before completing it was how drawn out the story seemed to be. The world map is massive, and since the teleport crystals you can use are so rare, you'll end up walking everywhere, even to places you've already been. It can be tedious, especially when you have to walk through many different equally big areas to get to the next plot point with very little character interaction in between. If you enjoyed the battle system and enjoyed the world of Ivalice, it probably wouldn't be half as annoying.

I think the best thing would to be keep trying it, and see whether you like it or not. As it's very subjective whether you like it or not. I can see some people liking the features I just didn't like, it's just down to taste.

 

[Ashcrexl]

three things:

1)focus of the story is on politics, not character, which sucks
2)grinding, grinding, grinding, shit this game is hard
3)vaan

but other than those things, it really isnt that bad. but those three things have put me in your situation of never having finished it and being too lazy to continue

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

I really could not get into it. There were too many unanswered questions to remember and the combat was pretty messy once you had a party of four going.

 

[NeoShai]

Absolutely loved it. I clocked 200 hours on my first playthrough and am now playing through again using the enforced class challenge. I love the battle system and the no random encounters was the best decision ever.

 

[GundamSentinel]

It is I think my favorite FF to date. The story wasn't too great, but the gameplay more than made up for it. It is an MMO without the things I don't like about MMO's, so it suits me fine.

 

[The_Decoy]

I loved it, spent a week playing it during holidays a couple of years ago and clocked 122 hours >< Then again I'm a sucker for JRPG's and FF in particular so I'm not exactly unbiased...

 

[Hellion25]

When I first played through it I hated it. Disliked the gambit system and I felt the plot was particularly weak, which disappointed me even more so as it came from the guy who wrote Vagrant Story.

However with hindsight the game had a lot of good about it. I could see myself getting better into the gambit system now that I'm not expecting it to be the same kind of game as the ones that came before it, plus the whole bounty thing is pretty cool. Penelo's existence is still completely pointless though.

 

[Padwolf]

I really liked the game, I quite liked a few of the characters, like Balthier, though I agree that other characters were not that great, like Vaan and Penelo.The plot was alright, it wasn't very exicting, but it was still enjoyable at times. The music and the scenery were good too. At first the gambit system got on my nerves, but I got used to it and came to like it.