What's so wrong with FFXII?

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Ophiuchus

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Mar 31, 2008
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Onmi said:
raar raar raar
Someone needs a chill pill, and to learn the meaning of the word 'subjective'.

I'm sure the combat system was fine. For people who liked it. I was quite happy with the old system, the system that had worked perfectly well for nearly 20 years up to that point, and saw no need to change it. A lot of people agree. A lot of people don't. That's life.

I can't even be bothered addressing the rest of your rant, I'll just be repeating "a lot of people agree, a lot of people don't, that's life" over and over and that's a bit of a waste of everyone's time. Have a nice day.
 

The Rockerfly

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Dec 31, 2008
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Right I know why

[HEADING=2]The story[/HEADING]

The story was so dull and forgettable. Every single Final Fantasy managed to keep my attention throughout the entire game and every single one I can remember to this date. XII's bored me so much I had to come off sometimes to do something more entertaining.
The characters in XII were boring, annoying, half looked like transvestites and overall were just unlike-able

[HEADING=2]The combat[/HEADING]

Every single Final Fantasy before had a turn based combat system while XII's was a real time. In my opinion the community was drawn at this point because one half loved the turn based, while the other half loved the real time. I personally am among the ones who loved the turn based combat and since the other Final Fantasies sold so well with the turn based combat, it felt like Square Enix screwed the fans over. Granted the majority of complaints for the previous Final Fantasies was the combat system but at least they had the story, graphics or music to fall back on to if you didn't enjoy the combat

[HEADING=2]The music[/HEADING]

Do you hear people mention about music from Final Fantasy VII? Yes you say, that's because the music played was fitting for the settings and the instruments playing was usually right for the type of music being played. This is a massive factor, try playing a chase scene without any music and you feel no where near as motivated. While Final Fantasy XII's was pretty much remakes of previous scores but had an orchestra playing them. This may not sound like such a bad thing but if you hear the Final Fantasy IX's ukulele de chocobo and then listen to the Final Fantasy XII's version, you no longer get the light and playful feel for the chocobo but it feels much more dark. Even though it is exactly the same piece

[HEADING=2]The settings and graphics[/HEADING]

My final point, I didn't finish the game because I disliked it quite a lot because it had nor real sense of fantasy. It felt like I was going through a city with a few people in weird costumes. The settings also felt too random, one point you are walking through a sandstorm and the next screen you are on a mountain top. It felt really disjointed and random, not only that they were boring too.

I'm sure people will disagree with me and others will agree but it's my opinion and I didn't like it. Also there are much worse JRPG's and a lot worse RPG's out there but I don't tink anyone could convince me to ever actually finish it
 

Inverse Skies

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Feb 3, 2009
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The Rockerfly said:
You make some very good points. I don't mind FFXII, it's just that I'm finding it so hard to find the motivation to play the thing. When I do sit down and play it, I enjoy it. I don't mind the combat system and the game worlds are expansive and immersive. I just don't find the same drive others had, the need to see what happens next. The storyline isn't flash hot, and none of the characters are really that interesting. And yeah... they miss Nobuo Uematsu for the music for sure.

I want to finish it... but more to say that I have rather than because I love the game. It's ordinary, not bad but not FF standard.
 

GamingAwesome1

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May 22, 2009
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It's so wrong because it looks to be the same old, same old stuff as the previous titles, I have been able to keep my enthusiasm for FF for ages now, but this time I just find my interest waning and wanting something different.

But that is just my opinion other people may want it a lot! Some people might have different reasons.
 

Harlequin_Z01

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Oct 18, 2009
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I can only reiterate a lot of the points people have already made really.

After 10 games of the same but generally well done thing. Risks have to be taken and changes have to be made. This is a series which not only has done more or less the same thing for 10 games but has prompted an entire genre of games doing pretty much the same thing. So I applaud them for trying something else.

That said I wasn't a fan of it. The story and characters were understated and the battle system, while actually quite fun to watch at times, was lacking in the few shreds of interactivity that qualified past Final Fantasy's as a game. Once you got your gambits sorted and your characters all kitted up to be green mages the only thing that remained was the MMO style grindfest of putting your controller down in a place where enemies spawn frequently and walking away. That doesn't make for an interesting game.

Also it may be possible that my points are invalid and the game takes a turn for sheer brilliance during the last half because I never finished it.

Also also, lay off Balthier! He was the only character who kept me interested in that game.
 

Arcane Azmadi

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Jan 23, 2009
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You've pointed out that "fans" seem to dislike FFXII. This is probably because it's radically different from all FFs that came before it. Keep in mind that fans are stupid and hate it when things change: see "They Changed It Now It Sucks" [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheyChangedItNowItSucks].

Critics, who are generally much smarter than fans, loved this game. A countdown of the 100 best games of all time (a few years old now but still relevant) rated it the 8th best game of all time, even though they were supposed to have no more than 1 installment per series (it came in 10 spots ahead of FFVII at #18). So the correct answer is; ignore the people who don't like it; they don't know shit about what makes a good game.
 

Carnagath

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Apr 18, 2009
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Really, if you have not finished all the hunts in the game, you have actually not experienced it. Fights like Behemoth King, Hell Wyrm, Omega MkXII and Yiazmat are the reason why the gambit system is there and is shaped like it is. Those fights would be impossible to do in an old FF combat style, they are massive, long, hard and require constant refinement of your gambit strategy, DURING combat. The essence of the game is there, it is there that you begin to scrape the surface of what Square can do with this system. The story fights are laughable so that anyone can easily beat them, indeed, but if you own the game and stopped there, do yourselves a favor and go back to complete the hunts.
 

Loves2spooge

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Apr 13, 2009
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Onmi said:
And if your wondering if I'm a little pissed? yeah I am. XII is a sore spot because people are so dumb when it comes to it. and YEAH it is your opinion but guess what, that can still be stupid and I can still call it stupid! and when you hear the same drivel enough you just get sick of it.
Jesus Christ, calm down, you didn't make the game. And if you think people not liking something makes them dumb, then you yourself are stupid, or at least ignorant. Maybe if you listened to other peoples opinions rather than refuting everything they offer with an insulting remark you'd start seeing from a different point of view.

Some people just didn't like the game. I've played and finished the vast majority of Final Fantasy games and I can honestly see where they're coming from. The game can feel like you have little to no quarter over the plot thanks to an uninvolved main character, and the combat system while very well honed had its flaws in that it simply wasn't that enjoyable. Gambits were poorly implemented and people opted to avoid them in favour of controlling character actions themselves (which would've been good if they included the option), developing your character's skills were mis-directed, the plot was convoluted and unfolded in haphazard fashion. And these issues are just the start.

Personally, I think the biggest flaw with the game was that you simply didn't care about the characters, most of them seemed too set on the plot which players didn't care about anyway, and they had little to no influence upon each other. Let me put it like this; it's like my brother who's enthusiastic about cars one day decides to take me on a trip to a bunch of car shows, educates me on different aspects of the industry and mechanics, how the market works, key figures throughout the history of its development. I'll probably learn something along the way but more than anything I'll still probably not give a shit about cars!

It's just how it is. I wish it was a better game, and I wish I could've liked it more; but not liking it doesn't make you "dumb". If anything it makes you more open minded for noticing its flaws and not just seeing it as a Final Fantasy game.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Jul 18, 2009
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Avykins said:
The story sucked. It was sooo meh and forgettable that it was just a piece of shit. By the end of it I could not even remember who I had fought, who was the bad guy or what I was even fighting for.
It did however have the most enjoyable exploring and fighting system of all of them. Fuck your battle gauge. Let me set gambits and just let my characters do all the work for me!
My thoughts exactly.

I loved the fighting and the free roaming nature of the game. But the characters, Jesus Christ, they were BORING.
 

S.M.N._Fly

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Jul 6, 2009
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Good show, Rockerfly.

My own complaints about FFXII is that it's combat system was clunky as all get out. The pseudo-real-time system was... admirable (I guess, if you're looking at the fact that it's not the same as the other FFs), but it just doesn't work. A character should not have to ready their sword for 5 seconds before attacking, and the only use of positioning is in the back for magic and clipping with the enemy for melee (even then some of the characters will run right up to the enemies to cast Fire, possibly to augment the hatred one might already have for the character). To my knowledge, there's no dodge move. One can't dodge a move by running around an enemy due to the fact enemies have the ability to spin around to keep up with you, even in mid-lunge, or by simply running away from the enemy because all their attacks have enough force behind them that the air will hit you with full impact.

Clunky and not in the least bit entertaining, that battle system was.
 

ohellynot

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Jun 26, 2008
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Zeromaeus said:
MaxTheReaper said:
Uh, well, if you're asking me personally, I'd have to say "It's a JRPG."

I've never heard of a fan actually complain about it, though.
I have and I honestly don't understand it. (thus the thread)
never played it myself but I really want to.
I'm just being pikey, it only costs a fiver
 

Zeromaeus

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Aug 19, 2009
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Dude, calm down, its a game.
No, Vaan wasn't important, yes, you could do turn by turn tactics with each character, no, they're not stupid. Blah...
I think I'm getting a good idea of why people didn't like it. Yes, the pacing was about par with the tutorial section of Kingdom Hearts 2.
...
I liked the liscense board by the way. It wasn't hard to figure out where the various types of liscences were, and the quickenings were marked, so I thought it was kinda cool...
...
I also liked the new summons...
Zeromus, Adremmalech, and Zodiark were pretty awesome...
...
Thats just me though.

Vaan was probably my biggest amusement with the game because the whole adventure seems to be the karma wrought by Gabranth killing his brother. -Your brother died so you can hang out with Balthier, Ashe, and Basch (the main characters of the game)-

I never used Fran 'cuz I didn't care about Fran. She was an extra really.
(My party was Vaan (for his stats), Basch, Ashe/Balthier (I switched them out))

The music was so-so.

Honestly though, I've never spent more time on a Final Fantasy. Dark Cloud 2 and Pokemon are the only games that beat it in JRPG time.

On a side note I can't seem to beat Omega Mark XII. How can a mimic be that strong?
 

Da_Schwartz

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Jul 15, 2008
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I wish i had an answer for you. I'm a big FF fan, always have been, prob always will be. But there was just something about 12. Wether it was the plot, the score, the voice acting, or character + main game storylines, whatever it was i simply didn't care about what was going on. It never captured and enthralled me the way other titles did.
 

Zeromaeus

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Aug 19, 2009
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It seems fem. Cloud and Jay (of the Silent Bob variety) should keep FF XIII interesting...