Final Fantasy 12 from where I sit isnt worth the time...
Story-- Wow let me try to put this into prospecitve. There is an uprising and a kingdom is overthrown in the process there is a knight thought to be a traitor and also thought to have killed one of the main chracters brother. The Princess was also thought to be dead but low and behold she pops up later. The band of mischrent band together and fight off what seems to be a corupt government, but as usual ends up being much more. The Premise is standard fair, but the tone, pace, and liberty of this game is quite out of place. At least it doesnt have that Final Fantasy Flavor. There is little to no humor, there is rare times when your on the edge of your seat. It just doesnt fit the bill.
The Gameplay-- Well this is a mixed bag for me. I like that they tried something new but the completely did away with what was FF. I dont mind how you battle, but it seems like its a never ending romp of running around and leveling up and it takes forever to do that. Can they make up their mind on if its going to be real time or active battle the mixture of the two is quite weak. As you cant real run from more powerful creature as they will catch you and strike you down. Trust me they will catch you. The Job board is brilliant in that it limits you and causes you to consider what you want your characters to do. What is dumb about it is that you can only use one Summon or esper per character. Speaking of which why in the blue blazes does it take so long to get one. You can play over ten hours of the game and not get one. In every other FF with in a few minutes or an hour you are granted a summon. I hated that, I cant express that hate enough. What were they thinking when they did that. Summons are a homage and tradition. Well needless to say gameplay is a mixed bag to me.
The Graphics --this has to be the strong point for this game as it is absolutely drop dead beautiful. The back ground, the characters, the mogs, almost everything screem breathtaking. The Music -- Wow I was so disappointed here its not even funny. There is almost no background music as you play. I dont remeber a single theme song. If there are they are quite forgetable. WHERE OH WHERE IS THE AFTER BATTLE THEME SONG. Why would they do away with that. Where is the theme to pump you up after a job well done or a hard fought battle. That my friends sucks!! The music dept has taken a nose dive for some reason and I want to know why.
The Replay -- Im not sure about this as I can barely make it through this game the first time. Its that bad, and while you might not agree with me somewhere in there this rings ture to real fans of the series. Over all I am thouroughly disappointed in FF 12. I expexted so much more and got nothing. No Ifrit, Bahamut, or Odin......this is a crime against humanity. The only Identifiable things here are MOGs, Chocobos, and Cid. Other than those things this game can hardly be called a Final Fantasy. It wasnt easy for me to write this, but as I pointed out ealier its the truth to me. I cant even say that Final Fantasy 12 was a enjoyable game, it takes super long to get into and when you do nothing keeps you there. At best its mediocre. Sorry guys and gals, but take soloace in knowing that there are old favs like FF7, FF8, FFX, FF4 and the like to redeem this lacking title. PEACE and dont be cruel!!!