Hey is there could someone describe the love story/s in Final fantasy 12 for me cause I don't know if I want to play it or not. I only like final fantasies with romance.

P.S.
don't put to many spoilers in here please

There's no concrete, game time romance.

To be fair, there is only one game-time romantic relationship that it seriously developed in any way, and any serious development on that doesn't come until way late in the game. Honestly, if you're looking for an FF game with romance, look elsewhere. FFXII would be an excellent game to pass if that's your taste.

Oh well I already started and im like 7 hours into the game but from what I hear thats not very far.

No, it really isn't. If you just do the story line it could probably take a good 40 or more depending on how much leveling and all that you do. Although one of the best parts of this game is the all the sidequests so doing that can definitely take well over 100. I'm at 93 hours right now, and still have a few more espers, 2 hunts, Omega Mark XII, the whole fishing part, and hopefully to grab a few of the nicer weapons as well.

Yeah. Hours doesn't necessarily give us the best estimate of where you are. Would you be interested in providing your current location?

i believe the romance between the cactuar and the level 99 red chocobo is quite beautiful

I just got to Bhujarbu, or however you spell, it for the first time. Before I started the game i thought there was going to be some between Ashe and Vaan but now im hoping for Vaan and Penelo. Do you guys know if anyone of these relationships develop at all?

You will see more of Vaan ashe hints and Blither ashe or Balither Fran. Its all how you want it to go. But no look for a character named lamant for Penelo trust me you shall see it.

There is no Vaan / Ashe and Penelo / Larsa (it's "Lamont" that he goes by, but only briefly) is only a misdirect. And I don't know what this Balthier / Ashe is --- Balthier / Fran are obviously a couple.

I could actually see some Balthier / Ashe hints...specifically Ashe's last spoken line (aka word) of the entire game.

...but not really. I think Ashe was just on the rebound the entire game, LOL.

If I had to force myself to see a romance, it would be more along the lines of Vaan / Penelo. Frankly though, I prefer to not couple anyone in this game. As much as I love FF romances, I think it's best they didn't force anything.

I know but those are the ones I like call me a romantic but Ashe/Vaan Balither/Fran and Penelo/Larsa are my choices. But Eh I know beyond Fran Balither hints of Ashe/Balither there is no romances. Oh Agent thanks for fixing my mistake but the person asking doesn't know who Larmont was or is yet so I was trying to keep it spoil free.

Mmm, okay, but it's a minor spoiler at best and it doesn't really give away anything, since the name "Larsa" has just as much meaning as "Lamont" to somebody who doesn't know the game.


Anyway, you're free to fantasize about whatever romantic attachments you want, but I don't see any of the choices you made as actually being real within the context of the game.

Vaan and Ashe connect several times Larsa and Penelo have a few moments and I don't need to get into Balither/Fran and there a few moments such as the ring payment and a few others that hint Ashe/Balither. I am not trying to argue just say there are hints in game.

As much as I absolutely adore Larsa (my personal fave in the game), I had a creepy feeling that any Larsa / Penelo romance would've just grown into an Anakin / Padme scenario, lol. ...and Anakin became very creepy (ain't that an understatement?)

There are hints of one-sided Ashe/Balthier (her feeling towards him), but I feel his connection to Fran, be it friendship or something more, is far more substantial. There's a strong relationship there built on trust.

Ashe isn't entirely over Rasler, the game makes this quite clear. I think she and Balthier share a connection, but not enough of one to justify the hoardes of Ashe/Balthier fanfics I've been noticing.

Vaan and Penelo are certainly close, but the feelings are pretty platonic for most of the game. Larsa has a decided interest in Penelo, though at his age it's probably him being noble and gallant. It's actually a popular pairing in Japan, from what I understand.

Basch is the most straight-laced character ever, I swear.

Truthfully, Drace and Gabranth might be my OTP for this game. They're very close but conflicted; the level of understanding between them is heartbreaking, especially given what happens to them.

I know but as creepy as it is to say that was one of my favorite scenes because of all the drama and character devlopment you see in Gabranth. And I am with you on too many Ashe/Balither while I like my romances I understand they are seriously on the back burner with this game.

Vaan and Penelo are friends, with the potential for more. They seem to be getting a fair bit chummy in the ending, so there's potential.

Larsa and Penelo --- there's some connection, I'll agree, but I think more only a sense of friendly concern, but perhaps with some potential.


I have heard Basch / Ashe bandied about before --- but Basch is concerned with duty, his only interest is protecting Ashe, not being romantic with her.

I have heard Basch / Ashe bandied about before --- but Basch is concerned with duty, his only interest is protecting Ashe, not being romantic with her.

Which sucks for Ashe cause that boy cleans up well! Haha!

I think it's just easier to pair Ashe with any of the three main males in the game because she makes a connection with all three at some point. There are cut scenes where Ashe talks privately to Vaan, Balthier and Basch. This doesn't happen with Penelo or Fran, so it's hard to draw a connection. A bizzare example would be a Penelo / Basch relationship. I don't see how Penelo could ever have a romantic relationship with Basch since she could not have said more than 4 words to the man.

I pretty much guessed there wouldn't be a Pennelo/Vaan romance thing going on, as my described them as treating each other as brother and sister.

Im out Lhusu Mines so I know Lamont is Larsa now. I really hope its Vaan/Penelo cause Larsa/Penelo would be gay, hes so short and ugly. Vaan could take his little ass.

is there any definate relationship at the end of the game like ff8 for example with Squall/Rinoa or does Square leave you guessing.

is there any definate relationship at the end of the game like ff8 for example with Squall/Rinoa or does Square leave you guessing.

Clearly leaves you guessing. There's no make out scene in a lake, no princess jumping into her hero's arms, etc. As you can see, all the posts above have been nothing but speculation.

PS - and take that back about Larsa. You'll find he's most likely the best character in the entire game. I adore him.

I agree Larsa is cool espically how he evolves from Hero-worshipping-little-brother to a man in his own right. As for in the arms and Etc the only thing that we truly get is Fran in Balithers arms but that has an explanation for if you don't think Balither/Fran happens why someone would think that I don't know but some people do.

I third the Larsa worship. He's my favorite character - I adore him.

Gah I hate Larsa. He's a friggen dude that looks and sounds like a girl >.>

He's 12, leave him alone. He's bound to sound like that anyway, considering his upbringing (not that he sounds girly, but you know, how he speaks).

Larsa was badass. So don't make fun of how he dressed either, because that was fitting with the theme. I mean even Balthier had frilly sleeves.

My only complaint aganist Larsa was the wierd cape/symbol thing he wore on his back. That and he gets 2 weapons while I don't. Did anyone realize that the Axe in Larsa's left is a smaller version of the one Judge Ghis used I found that a little wierd the first time I saw him with it.

Larsa's a twelve-year-old boy. He's not exactly at the peak of his masculinity yet. Have you listened to a twelve-year-old boy's voice? Kinda girly.

I thought Larsa had a katana...but the Golmore Jungle is really dark...

He has a Saber and an Axe weapon thing. I first thought it was a Rapier but at the end you get a good look at his weapon from the tip down to the crossguards and quillions. The blade has a curve with little bumps in the edge near the Crossguard so it is a Saber. Also Katanas don't have Basket Hilts only Sabers and Rapiers do. It was to help defend aganist the usual side Dagger Main Gauche that was paired with those weapons you could bring up the Basket and turn it as the weapon came in to deflect and bring your blade in for a strike.

Are you a sword buff or some such? Because I have noticed you seem to have quite a bit of information on the certain weapons and styles of weapons that are found in this game, and their real life counterparts.

Yes I make wooden ones in fact I am working on a wooden Kora Reddas's Right hand sword. I have made a few metal ones but I don't have access to metal or forge very often so I have a mirror Doa Broadswords sitting gathering rust because I can't finish them. I have enjoyed and researched swords since I was 5 or so when I was taken to a medieval Fair and got my first wooden one. I am currently working on learning Dual weapons which is not easy for a right hand dominat person to do. My experince in weapons are European, Japanese, Chinese, Roman, Greek usually the same as roman, and I am branching out into African, Arab, and other like countries. It is suprising some of the weapons that come out and how easy it would be to adapt to be a perfect anti-which eer country you want. An example is the Kora that unusual three Prong that is at the tip is very heavy use it on Plate armor and it will crush it and tear it if done right easiely. While I am no expert I try to learn as much as I can I just got instructed on how Chainmail is very good aganist Swords and Arrows the Weave and motion of the links prevents an easy strike into the hole of the link this opening it and reaching the flesh underneath. I had been taught that it was cheap armor designed to stop sword strikes but was weak aganist Thrust and Arrows which an arrow is basically a long range thrust. Only the really cheap Chainmail was like that using bigger links so there would be less need for links and thus creating openings. So I learn something new or at least I try.

Even though he's twelve, he still doesn't have to look like a girl. Seriously, first time I saw him and his hair, thought he was a girl.

I will agree with that and shamefully thought he was cute till he talked then it was Oh its a guy excuse while I slam my head into a wall. I can tell in real life who is a Guy who is a girl and who is pretending games just screw with that rader though. But even if he does look girly I like his personality and the descions he owns up to that is what makes him great not his looks not his sword arm but the fact he turns his back on the brother he worshiped all because it is the right thing to do.

Agreed, Larsa has some cajones there. It takes balls to turn on your brother and help the right people. Especially when your brother is the ruler of your country and could have you killed. Also, I was wondering, what type of sword is the Excalibur and Ultima blades, or if they're just purely made up. Not sure if this is the right place to ask that but whatever.

The Excalibur is a real sword or so legend will tell us weilded by King Aruther Un Pendragon of Camelot in Britian. The Legend sword is descriped as a Bastard sword or a Broadsword depends on the telling. As for FFXII version it is a Great sword classifaction more akin to a German Zwiendher-sp?- VERY large swords though not as wide as that. Very Few Great Swords have a Blade width like that and none in that fashion of edge. So the Size and rough Design is real the one presented in FFXII gameplay is false same goes for Ultima blade which has no legend counterpart. Also the Great swords Save the Queen and Claymore are real designs though Claymore is mislabeled. A true Claymore is a scottish blade Very skinny for its length and usually has a Hand length of leather where the blade starts to act as a clip since you can't sheath a blade that long and get it out easily. The Claymore presented in FFXII is more akin to a Nodachi of Japanese origin though with a wider width then what is norm and different Hilt Pommel and Guard. Save the Queen is more akin to most Great swords the sloping triangle shape gives weight and strength to the blade while still retaining a usable shape and weight. If you wish to see what a Great sword in combat looks like watch Brave heart which William Wallace has a Claymore. For a Game refrence play Nigthmare or siegfried-sp?- from Soul Calibur they use true German Great sword Fencing style which utilizes centriculer force and gravity to speed their 20 to 30 pound blades to deadly weapons they had to these men were armored in plate or Heavy armor and using heavy swords they would tire easily if they didn't create the style they did. .
Hope that answers your question.

Much appreciated. It's interesting to see where they gather some of their weapons from in real life.

Your welcome. What I crack up on are the unrealistic things they do with the weapons or the unrealistic weapons they come up with. Some of the Swords and bows defiently most of the maces and daggers fall into this catogery. As for Vaan he jumps onto his GREAT SWORD like a pogo! It would snap or dump him on his kester in real life most swords flex a little but the weight Vaan is appling to the blade would snap it and if it didn't it is a thick sword that he would have trouble lifting let alone using 20 to 30 pound blade anyone? I know 30 pounds doesn't seem much put for an example pick up your TV then imagine swinging that around expertly with control while dodging and blocking sword strikes. Not easy and the guys who can do that in real life plus armor have my admiration. I would be using Half-Plate like Gabranth's armor mostly leather with a few Light weight pieces of metal to protect myself in the vital areas. His armor is light weight and has curved plate which has more strength and less need for thickness then a flate plate. It also helps aganist Maces Hammers and Axes since the metal wont or less likely to dent into the flesh if it is curved away. His armor also uses the curve to turn the strike and not accept it couple it with movement and while it will dent the armor he could escape with little true damage or restricting of movement from a hammer blow the most Anti-armor weapon EVER. If a Chest plate gets dented into the chest it hurts to breath limiting your breaths saping your strength and depending on where it is at restricting other movement shoudler areas and sides being the usual areas.
So yeah I laugh and impressed with the design of FF in turns. Though I usually despise most Ultaimit weapons for the unrealistics. FFVII some of FFVIII-Quistis Zell and Irvine- some of FFIX-Stiener armanet and freya- and some of FFXII-bows guns lance hammers and some of the Swords- weapons are exceptions on this case.

Alright well I think we have officially gotten pretty far off topic here. So I'm gonna try and steer it back.

Fran and Balthier- romance. Other than that nothing really, unless anyone has some ideas that have yet to be discussed here, that pretty much sums up the romance of this iteration in the Final Fantasy universe.

Well, unless you count non-playable character romance, yeah.

Balthier is with Fran, and Vaan is with Penelo. Although the later is only confirmed (word for word) in the upcoming FFXII:Revenant Wings sequel for the DS.

FFXII: Revenant Wings? Okay, this is new to me. Hmm, I Googled it, but was only able to come up with 26 hits, and only eight of them Google thought worth showing without having to click for more results.

umm... romance?? oookay then... why not go play FFIV instead? FFXII as far as I know doesn't dabble too much in it, then again I have never actually played it so I am not a good judge.

I see where he is going with it so far a few images of Vaan and Penelo have been released where they are being chased by someone or something and Vaan is holding her Hand. That is why he thinks that. I don't really know the scan I have does have the Kanji articile visible but it is blurry and my Kanji is very rusty so I can't really tell what it says but it is still too early in development for couples to be 'leaked' yet so nothing concreate just eoples imagination so far.

Xanthos it does have some romances but they are muted in the extreme. So far there are Balither/Fran, Balither/Ashe, Ashe/Vaan. Vaan/Penelo, and Penelo/Larsa shown slighty in game but only hints and nothing beyond Fran and Balither are more then that. While Balither and Fran some try to say it isn't anything beyond Partners those who have worked with lovers before know the truth on the matter. Plus who wouldn't want to jump the Sexy bunny girl Fran? If she was real of course bad things would happen if you jumped your TV not only to the TV but loss or damage of 'certain' parts as to hurt.=)

Hey Revaninja: That's totally untrue. I've read in interviews and in SCANS that it is the case. You're no frikin mind-reader so don't you dare try to tell me what I think. That's totally overly rude.

Then please post those scan and articles please because I have seen nothing except Japanese ones so far and poor quality at that. So please post your pics and scans that show this.

As for being a mind reader why when you would give me Rigor mortis in the head would I try?-Joke to be clear-

I Dont think I'll be able to find it again. It was posted on GoNintendo.com and the poster translated the japanese article. You might go check it out if you want, but the way the site works, it's very hard to browse the news and find the old ones.

Well, either find it, or don't badger us about something you can't prove.

Wow, the atmosphere in this forum is really friendly. I guess a lot of people need to work on their social skills in here... starting with you Agent00.

Agent is one of the mods don't piss a mod off okay. But as for our attitude you did come on pointed out something and said something you can't back up. We have people all the time coming on posting false or incorrect things that we have to track down and prove. For instance take Jagd thread I have said the rift was Jagd I then had to give a location where airships where in the rift and type. So you see it is not rude for us to ask you to prove something its just us trying to filter all the stuff that comes in. So please find your articile and then find one more, translation is hard as many grammer spelling and just wierd errors that show up in games testify, for us to say yes it is real.

Plus one fact that buggs me is that a game that is still being devolped is being said to confirm a couple when said game is still being made for japan. It sounds too much like a mistranslation to me who can speak and read japanese abit I haven't done it in a while. Vaan is with Penelo as partners that much is true but how easy would it be to mistranslate it into something else? Very easy so please find proof.

And the Rigor Mortis joke will stand until such time.

I'll stick to what I said, and we'll see in the coming months, as interviews get translated. I'm not here to spread rumors or anything. If I can find it, I'll post the link here.

Clearly leaves you guessing. There's no make out scene in a lake, no princess jumping into her hero's arms, etc. As you can see, all the posts above have been nothing but speculation.

PS - and take that back about Larsa. You'll find he's most likely the best character in the entire game. I adore him.

Alright I take it back I guess im not far enough into the game to make judgements, I just entered the sandsea.

Dude, you just need to backup what you say. Nobody's trying to be unfriendly. This is a forum to share information, so if you have information then you should show it to us. If you can't find it though do not keeping arguing about it until you've linked to it.

Also any romance that may or may not exist in the new DS game is irrelevant thus far. First of all, that games not out yet so it's hard to make any strong argument for or against the depth of romance in it. Also this is about the romance in ff12, and there is no romantic connection of any strength between Penelo and Vaan besides a purely platonic relationship.

Balthier call Penelo "Vaan's girl" at least once during the game. I won't post a screen shot of it though. Anyone who's played the game should already know that. No need to see the 2 of them in water kissing and crying to realize they're together. The focus of FFXII was not a romantic story, so they didnt accentuate the 2 love stories in it (Balthier-Fran, and Vaan and Penelo).

Friendship does not imply intimacy. I saw very little in that game to necessarily make it concrete that the two are romantic.

**************SPOILERS****************
***READ ONLY IF YOU FINISHED THE GAME***

No? Balthier and Fran call themselves partners... and you know what happens with them in the end.
At the end of the game, Penelo calls herself Vaan's partner. Now I know this is a stretch, but I saw it as a parallel to Balthier and Fran's relation.

There is a VERY different way of behaving Balither and Fran have compared to Vaan and Penelo. Penelo is like Vaan's sister to him while Fran is the Partner Balither can't live without. Vaan protects Penelo because he she her as his ONLY living family. Balither Knows nearly all of frans secert her past and her moods. Plus there is way More Vaan playing with Penelo like one would their sister Golmore jungle, Pon coast, Sandsea entrance so forth and so forth more play and teasing in their relationship.

As for Balither calling Penelo 'Vaan's girl' if I rememeber right that was on the way to rescuing her and was Balither's way of naming her. It wasn't plot wise deep enough for Balither to really know who she was beyond has connection to Vaan and was caught because of him. I am not saying no romance but I think you are jumping the gun on some of those scenes. I will double check since I am going to start a new game finally in the next few days.

I mentioned it was a stretch if you read my post carefully.
During the whole game, I thought they were together and that Square Enix just werent going to do yet an other love story like they did with IX and X.
***************SPOILER BELLOW********************
And it is not that much clearer that Balthier and Fran are together until the very end movie.
They just call themselves "partners" and never go into hugs or kisses together. Just like Vaan and Penelo. At the end, Penelo says "every sky pirate needs a partner, right?" Like Balthier and Fran called themselves during the whole game, and ended up with babies later... So even if it's a stretch, it's easy to conclude that they are together. They's re always hanging together, and the way she talks about Vaan at the end feels like she have some deeper connection with him. Even if Square-Enix didnt explicitly showed them kiss, I dont think it's that much hard to figure they are together.

OMG

VAAN GOT MARRIED TO A CHOCOBO!

You're awesome, Frasier, haven't seen you around this section lately. Always good to see you here.

There's something so comfortable in the way Balthier and Fran interact. They just know each other. Almost all of their communication is meaningful and non-verbal. Balthier speaks to be witty and Fran speaks to enlighten, but he doesn't need to impress her and she doesn't need to tell him anything, as he already knows.


SPOILERS:

I think one of my favorite signs of this was when Balthier told Mjrn that "you're as foolhardy as your sister," referring to Fran's perhaps hasty decision to leave the Wood. The fact he knew all about her family history is important; Fran, while polite, isn't exactly chatty.

And the hand she places on Balthier's cheek after his father passes away is so touching and beautiful. His expression is amazing when she tells him to run. The way they communicate is rather unique in any Final Fantasy, I think. Two people rarely trust each other so deeply with such great results.

******SPOILERS AHEAD*******

I also enjoyed all the subtle ways they showed Fran and Balthier's affections towards each other. I think it was a real refreshment to see a story where the love stories were already established. Enjoying these subtle touches like those you already mentioned mary_sonnie, were part of what made this game stand out compared to FFX for me. No melodrama or anything, just a politic driven story with subtle love stories thrown in it, so it was definitely a change of pace compared to previews entries. I like the way Penelo always tease/make fun of Vaan for being so naive (a quality we always find in characters who have a pure heart). In fact, the game contained less dialogs than all the previews games in the series, but everything that weren't spoken were shown using facial emotions that worked way better for the most part. You could feel the pain and the determination to make things right in Basch's face for example.

Although FFXII's story is not as deep and complex as those from FFVI, VII and VIII, the execution in which it was told crushes all of them.

I admit, I think Fran has possibly the cutest line in the history of all cute lines in the ending FMV.

For some reason, I felt that maybe Fran and Balthier were together in the past, but have now become friends? Or maybe they were starting to show interest in one another again. They were extremely comfortable around each other, but at the same time, Balthier seemed to be "friendly" towards a few others along the way. I'm not really sure why I saw this in the two of them, but I did. I don't mind the pairing of the two, but I feel like it was something that was being rekindled, rather than started or steady.

What I saw in Balthier and Fran's relation was that they both accepted each other for what they were.

Just themselves.

Balthier, a charmer. And Fran, a marginal who wanted to see the world.

I still wanna know who the lucky chocobo was.

Boco, Forevercloud the FF8 Semi chocobo game mascot.

i never got to play FF 8 to far, was it good

Eh it was alright in my opnion neither the best or worst I have played why don't you check out the FFVIII section to find out more.

Ah Boco, of course. That makes sense. I'm upset they didn't invite me to the wedding though. Oh wait that's because there's no romance in FFXII. I forgot, why do we have this thread again?

because some romance lover said he didnt want to play FF12 unless it had romance like FF10

I'm playing my third game now, and I noticed something about Penelo and Vaan... During the parade, Penelo approaches Vaan and takes his arm very softly.
I think Square-Enix wanted to portray them as being in love, but in a not really mature manner. No kissing, no hugging. Just a young love like you'd expect kids to have.

hahaha, just happend to drop by and read all the drama about who loves who. its like highschool all over again :D

vaan/panelo- duh, panelo too shy to ask him, and vaan is oblivious.

ashe/basch -not a chance

fran/bal - pictures speak louder than wordsl



Happy Valentine's day

because some romance lover said he didnt want to play FF12 unless it had romance like FF10

that would be me lol but im still playing it.
Final Fantasy 8 is great btw

VosslerxBasch sounds such a good pairing..

hahaha, just happend to drop by and read all the drama about who loves who. its like highschool all over again :D

vaan/panelo- duh, panelo too shy to ask him, and vaan is oblivious.

ashe/basch -not a chance

fran/bal - pictures speak louder than wordsl



Happy Valentine's day

LOL I thought he was picking his nose for a second... ^_^

One its Penelo and 2 I like Ashe/Vaan and Larsa/Penelo. I like Basch the character I just think putting him with a girl almost HALF his age is a bad idea no offense to those who do have relationships like that. But it truly is a matter of Opnion in this game.

The only Pairing that is a Fact is Balither/Fran too much hints and Back up Offical artwork. that pic above? Yeah they show it at the end so Mwhahaha.