My thoughts on FF12

lol Meph making a final fantasy post!

Anyway, got this game a little while ago. Haven’t finished it yet, but I don’t think I can be too far near the end. REGARDLESS, I have played enough of it to offer an opinion.

And it is this: Square have made an engaging RPG that is not SO engaging, it dominates your life. What I am saying, is that it is an RPG for the casual gamer.

I have found that I can leave it for days on end, or just play an hour here and there after work, and it didn’t effect my enjoyment of the game, or my understanding of what was going on, in the slightest.

I think it has something do to with how it plays a little bit like a MMORPG. I have never played a MMORPG, so I am kinda guessing on this one, but I think I am close. I like the way the game plays out in nice little episodes and the fact you can choose to hunt a couple of marks or explore a bit without having to take a huge bite of the story is pretty good for me. Sort of like GTA, in a way. You can ‘fuck about’, and it’s an okay thing to do!

I don’t really like the story, but again, that helps. I don’t find myself losing track of time because I am completely enveloped in an awesome tale. I am not having these episodes where I start playing at 6pm, realise it is now 2am, and that I have to be up for work in a couple of hours.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s possible to sit down and have a MAMMOTH session – but it is not necessary and it doesn’t suck you in without you realising 5 hours have passed.

Basically, I have found this Final Fantasy to be a rather laid back and casual affair, unlike its predecessors, who wanted to move in and keep their toothbrush in the bathroom after only a couple of weeks.

Hmm, so pretty much the exact opposite feelings of this guy (Thread 42243).

Meph, YOU KNO’ I AGREE WIT’ U.

I agree with you all the way there.

For me, it was the lack of cut-scenes. Especially when you do a bunch of side-quests at once. I bet that if you did side-quests/hunts periodically throughout the entire game it wouldn’t be so bad. But if you do a whole bunch of side-quests at once, you really forget the storyline and aren’t reminded of what has happened in the game.

I do appreciate the different view that Square Enix is trying to sell instead of the "Love Story". I guess that they obsessed over trying to sell the whole politics thing and forgot to put more character developement in and shit like that.

I don’t know, I think the story works fine in this instance. If the gameplay hadn’t been so fun, then it would really be an issue.

I like the fact that the maps seem to be slightly smaller than in previous offerings, which I prefer – you don’t have to spend ages fagging about in one area. Also, is it me, or are there a lot more save points as well ?_? I just really like how you can tackle this game in bite sized chunks, or doing a whole load of it in one sitting.

I don’t know if there’s more save points, but perhaps the fact that there are both regular Save Crystals and the Gate Crystals makes it feel like there’s more.

i just picked this game up a few days ago, but hadn’t touch it yet. cause got to finish ffx first, lol

One thing I do dislike it though, are the Quickenings.

They just look fucking stupid =/

HELLO I AM FRAN AND I CAN FIRE POWAR FROM MY FEETZ LOLZ

and later in the game they become useless

I am only using them to finish off marks/bosses who get stupid high defense when they reach HP critical, tbh. I am basically in it for the MP.

Also: espers. What is the actual point ?_?

The merits, or lack of, of both Quickenings and Espers have been discussed and debated a fair amount in various threads in this section. You can find some good discussion of them in this thread (http://forums.ffshrine.org/showthread.php?t=39866">this thread</a> in particular, as well as <a href="http://forums.ffshrine.org/showthread.php?t=35604">this thread</a> (Espers) and <a href="http://forums.ffshrine.org/showthread.php?t=34683) (Quickenings.)

Also, is it me, or are there a lot more save points as well ?_?

I’m about 77 hours into the game, i’m at the start of the lighthouse area, and i always find myself MASSIVLY disappointed when a save crystal ISN’T a crystal bug. They’re so cool….

On the topic of quickenings, I found myself relying on them alot when i first got them around Raithwall, then i got them for the huge mp boosts and stoped using them unless there is a tonne of weak guys and i need a blackhole. They’re very gimmicky.

Fran is cool.

I really like this game. It has my favorite story over all other FFs. I think it catches a lot of flak from fans who are certifiable anime-addicts. 🙂 It definitely follows a different kind of story arc than typical FFs, which is great for me, because I feel like the other previous games have had very simple, good-vs-evil, save-the-world stories that I’ve grown tired of. I think the story of FF12 is more mature, to say nothing of character development (except vaan and penelo, granted). I find the characters extremely rich and well-defined, identifiable in the real world.

Yeah, I agree with the author, this feels geared more towards the casual gamer. If SE made their games like this from now on, I would not be disappointed. 🙂 (And actually, it seems as though they’ll be making "families of games" for a while now. Maybe each game will have a different style suited to a different type of gamer?)

It has my favorite story over all other FFs.

As brilliant as I think the game is, this opinion is rooted in the accesibility of play, the wide array of interesting and consuming side quests and the excellent combat dynamic. Certainly, my opinion is in no way helped by a story which revolves around magic stones. Not saying you are wrong or anything, I just think maybe a little crazy. I am not huge into anime either, ftr, all I’ve ever seen is Cowboy Bebop and Trigun, the former is spectacular and I didn’t finish Trigun, SO YEAH.

i finished my licenceboard a few dozen hours in and now i feel like all my chacters are the same. they just look different. still love it though.

The most anoying part is that an international version of the game, currently planned as a Japan-exclusive title named Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System, is set to be released on August 9, 2007 as part of both Final Fantasy 20th anniversary and Ivalice Alliance campaigns.[122] The game will include twelve License Boards available (instead of the original one), each corresponding to a different Zodiac sign and job. The battle system as a whole will also be tweaked; guest characters and summons will now be controllable by the player, and pressing the L1 button will accelerate the game’s speed. Additionally, the game will feature the English voices and the widescreen 16:9 ratio support of the North American version, as well as a bonus disc based on the one initially released with the North American version. Other new features such as new licenses, new spells and new gambits have been shown as well. A new "Trial Mode" will allow the player to hunt monsters 100 different maps to gain items and money. There will also be a "New Game+" option, as well as another unannounced mode of play.

Which makes me feel that FFXII is incomplete, and that japanese FF fans get the complete version.
Come to think of it Capcom released Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition, some time after they released DMC3. And they released it in all countries too. Why cant SE release Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System outside Japan? I know the did the same with FFX-2 International (at least we got FFX International) but its not fair. Were we only beta testing FFXII so that the japanese audience could get a more complete version? It sure feels like it. Guess we got screwed……again.

Anyways, I feel that quickenings ruins the gameplay. I can defeat allmost any monsters/bosses (so far) without any trouble. (maybe I can play this blindfolded?) It would been much better with overdrives/trances etc. instead of quickenings.

Dont get me wrong, I like FFXII. But it does not feel like a FF game at all.
Its feels like an offline mmorg to me, and it aint right. Maybe SE needs to get FF back to its roots, and take a long look at what made FF so great in the first place. Having a seperate battle screen alows for better graphics; monsters, characters etc. instead of a free roaming world and fighting monsters directly. ATB is much better than ADB. The monsters looked much better in FFX than in FFXII. And thanks to gambits i dont have to play this game at all. All i have to do is walk around from city to city, speak to npcs & let the AI beat the monsters and bosses for me. I realize that since FFXII uses ADB, than gambits is a must. But it does not change the fact that with well programed gamits, you loose the game and your left with an interactive movie instead. Also I think that having an open job system also ruins the gamplay. It should be closed more like FFI or switchable like FFV (obviously not FFX-2). It would make the game more challenging.

But then again FFXII is not for hardcore (final fantasy) rpg fans either, it is for casual (rpg) gamers.

And I guess that with FFXIII, it will deviate more from (the good old) FFs.