Your Thoughts: FFXII

Time to sahre your thoughts about this magic game:D. To me:

Pros: Innovative gameplay, tons of sidequests, enemiesm skills, etc. ; good story, impressive graphics and good OST, Clan Centurio challenges had great moments.

Cons: Tons of enemies to loot from :P, no real background from characters apart of  Ashe,  limit braks dont have senseand relationship withj the characters and their skills.

Pros: great world and setting, Rabanastre, judges, Vayne, gambits, Cid, The story is very good the first 1/3 in the game, addictive, hunts, Balthier

Cons: not much character development, Vaan, the story is not so solid after a certain point in the game, Al-Cid, we did not get to see Rosalia, summons were useless, not a memorable OST(it was ok), the ending was not super bad, but it wasn't great.

Overall, this was a truly great game in my humble opinion.

Yes i forgot the Summons thing :?

Pros: great world and setting, Rabanastre, judges, Vayne, gambits, Cid, The story is very good the first 1/3 in the game, addictive, hunts, Balthier

Cons: not much character development, Vaan, the story is not so solid after a certain point in the game, Al-Cid, we did not get to see Rosalia, summons were useless, not a memorable OST(it was ok), the ending was not super bad, but it wasn't great.

Overall, this was a truly great game in my humble opinion.

nim22ama

Pros: The combat system is excellent, the story is great, and Ashe, Balthier, and Basch are epic win.

Cons: Lack of memorable tracks, Penelo and Vaan aren't developed well at all, and the ending is kinda dissapointing.

Pros:

• Huge variety of weapons that could be used by any character
• Gambits
• Quickenings were cool once you got good at them
• Magic system (letting you recover magic by walking made it worth using since you didn't have to keep going back to recover MP)

Cons:

• Some forgettable characters
• Plot holes (why are these people even travelling together? It makes less sense than the average Dungeons and Dragons party)
• Zodiark Spear

Pros:

• Huge variety of weapons that could be used by any character
• Gambits
• Quickenings were cool once you got good at them
• Magic system (letting you recover magic by walking made it worth using since you didn't have to keep going back to recover MP)

Cons:

• Some forgettable characters
• Plot holes (why are these people even travelling together? It makes less sense than the average Dungeons and Dragons party)
• Zodiark Spear

Darmi

Plot holes, I do agree with 100%, but I blame that on SE not giving Matsuno the creative freedom he needed for this game. He did not want Vaan to be the leading character, but they forced him. I won't discuss this further, but his departure did hurt the game. Had he stayed, this would probably have been my favorite game of all time.

FFXII started off differently because it was a tip of the hat to the FFT Ivalice, a story of political intrigue with a mystical evil pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

PROS: Excellent graphics, all characters except Vaan and Penelo (Balthier FTW), the speech style (absolutely loved the dialogue in FFXII), the immensity of the game, intriguing places, amazing story, and a staggering amount of side quests.

CONS: Vaan and Penelo, the OST wasn't on par with previous installments, summons were only gimmicky except for Zodiark (though they all have an interesting mini-backstory behind them)

I wish the party was more diverse with races, too. It would have been cool if Basch was a Bangaa and Penelo was a Nu Mou, heh. Also...I want playable Moogles. 

FFXII started off differently because it was a tip of the hat to the FFT Ivalice, a story of political intrigue with a mystical evil pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

PROS: Excellent graphics, all characters except Vaan and Penelo (Balthier FTW), the speech style (absolutely loved the dialogue in FFXII), the immensity of the game, intriguing places, amazing story, and a staggering amount of side quests.

CONS: Vaan and Penelo, the OST wasn't on par with previous installments, summons were only gimmicky except for Zodiark (though they all have an interesting mini-backstory behind them)

I wish the party was more diverse with races, too. It would have been cool if Basch was a Bangaa and Penelo was a Nu Mou, heh. Also...I want playable Moogles.

Khadaj32

I have to agree on the Panelo issue, she was a completly useless character from a storyline perspective, I personally think that had the story of FF12 been better and more interesting, FF12 would have a much, much better game, because I felt FF12's greatest weakness was its storyline

but in all honesty, I dont think a game should need spinoffs to make it better,I think FF7 was just fine without the movie (which sucked other then the cool fights), and dirge of cerberus (which I just reviewed).

if a game disappoints in the first itiration, no amount of spinoffs will save it

[QUOTE="Khadaj32"]

FFXII started off differently because it was a tip of the hat to the FFT Ivalice, a story of political intrigue with a mystical evil pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

 

PROS: Excellent graphics, all characters except Vaan and Penelo (Balthier FTW), the speech style (absolutely loved the dialogue in FFXII), the immensity of the game, intriguing places, amazing story, and a staggering amount of side quests.

 

CONS: Vaan and Penelo, the OST wasn't on par with previous installments, summons were only gimmicky except for Zodiark (though they all have an interesting mini-backstory behind them)

 

I wish the party was more diverse with races, too. It would have been cool if Basch was a Bangaa and Penelo was a Nu Mou, heh. Also...I want playable Moogles.

Darkman2007

I have to agree on the Panelo issue, she was a completly useless character from a storyline perspective, I personally think that had the story of FF12 been better and more interesting, FF12 would have a much, much better game, because I felt FF12's greatest weakness was its storyline

The story and the music killed it for me.

[QUOTE="Darkman2007"][QUOTE="Khadaj32"]

FFXII started off differently because it was a tip of the hat to the FFT Ivalice, a story of political intrigue with a mystical evil pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

PROS: Excellent graphics, all characters except Vaan and Penelo (Balthier FTW), the speech style (absolutely loved the dialogue in FFXII), the immensity of the game, intriguing places, amazing story, and a staggering amount of side quests.

CONS: Vaan and Penelo, the OST wasn't on par with previous installments, summons were only gimmicky except for Zodiark (though they all have an interesting mini-backstory behind them)

I wish the party was more diverse with races, too. It would have been cool if Basch was a Bangaa and Penelo was a Nu Mou, heh. Also...I want playable Moogles.

fffan9391

I have to agree on the Panelo issue, she was a completly useless character from a storyline perspective, I personally think that had the story of FF12 been better and more interesting, FF12 would have a much, much better game, because I felt FF12's greatest weakness was its storyline

The story and the music killed it for me.

in all honesty for me it was the lack luster story, I suppose the music wasnt bad, but not memorable either,

if the only character I liked was Balthier, then things arent looking good

[QUOTE="fffan9391"][QUOTE="Darkman2007"][QUOTE="Khadaj32"]

FFXII started off differently because it was a tip of the hat to the FFT Ivalice, a story of political intrigue with a mystical evil pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

 

PROS: Excellent graphics, all characters except Vaan and Penelo (Balthier FTW), the speech style (absolutely loved the dialogue in FFXII), the immensity of the game, intriguing places, amazing story, and a staggering amount of side quests.

 

CONS: Vaan and Penelo, the OST wasn't on par with previous installments, summons were only gimmicky except for Zodiark (though they all have an interesting mini-backstory behind them)

 

I wish the party was more diverse with races, too. It would have been cool if Basch was a Bangaa and Penelo was a Nu Mou, heh. Also...I want playable Moogles.

Darkman2007

I have to agree on the Panelo issue, she was a completly useless character from a storyline perspective, I personally think that had the story of FF12 been better and more interesting, FF12 would have a much, much better game, because I felt FF12's greatest weakness was its storyline

The story and the music killed it for me.

in all honesty for me it was the lack luster story, I suppose the music wasnt bad, but not memorable either,

if the only character I liked was Balthier, then things arent looking good

Balthier was the only character with personality, but I still hated him as much as the rest. None of the characters were memorable at all.

I think that Final Fantasy XII was a much needed breath of fresh air for a series that was in danger of becoming stale, in both the gameplay and story department. It does not have a main character, and I like that. Instead, the story takes a much grander scale and focuses on a massive forthcoming war and ties it together with a collection of people that are major players in it. It isnt character driven. IT is event driven. A lot of people see this as a bad thing because they see the characters as underdeveloped, but I disagree with this. The characters are no more or less developed than other FF characters. The story just doesn't focus on them. IT doesnt shove the character developement in your face like previous games. I also liked that the story was much darker than your typical FF and quite a bit more political. It was such a change from the norm.

What can be said about the voice work that hasn't already been said? It is fan freaking tastic. It blows all other Final Fantasy related voice work clear out of the water with just how good it was. IT stands up there with games such as Metal Gear Solid with how good it's voice work is. Some people said Fran wasnt that good, but I disagree. I thought her voicework was perfect for her. She struck me as being similar to Vulcans where hsedoesnt run on emotion so much as she does on logic, so the emotion tends to hide itself with her character. I thought that was cool.

Why shouldnt the voicework be good when the script that the actors had to work with was top notch? The scripting for this game is worthy of Stanley Kubrick. IT is, honestly, that good. IT is incredibly sharp and well written. It is like they took extra care to translate this one extremely well, and it shows. Matsuno's scripts deserve that attention to detail, though. Have you played Vagrant Story? That was his game as well and the script was every bit as good. He also did Final Fantasy Tactics, whose script wasnt all that great because of translation issues. IF you have played the PSP port of this game, however, you have seen what should have been. The scripting in that game is top notch as well. Nice job, Matsuno. You are amazing.

The music in this game is written by series veteran Hitoshi Sakimoto, whose other credits include the brilliant soundtracks for Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The guy knows what he is doing, and, if anyone should replace Uematsu as the series composure, it is him. The Theme of the Empire is a stunning and epic piece of work, and it just sets the tone for how good the music will be throughout the rest of the game.  It is, to say the least, beautiful. That being said, it is different. His music is more complex and more orchestrated than that of Uematsu, but it works. It is just as brilliant

What can I say about the gameplay? If you know me, you know random battles get on my nerves. NO RANDOM BATTLES! IT is the greatest thing to ever happen ti Final Fantasy gameplay. It took the traditional Final Fantasy battle system and made it work without the random battles. IT is the active time battle system without random encounters. That is all there is to it. IT is as simple as that, but it worked. I never got frustrated with this game because of the random encounters. When I was near dying, I knew I could get back to town without dying because I could just run back and not fear random battles that I cannot escape. Thank you! Finally. If you know me, then you also know that I dont like complete linearity in my RPGs (Final Fantasy X, I'm looking at you). This games world was massive and gorgeous. The jungles. The beach. The rolling dunes. IT was so gorgeous. I just couldnt wait to see what it would throw at me next. I loved exploring every nook and cranny of this games world. It was so beautiful and such a joy

Ok. I am done fanboying all over this game.

I think that Final Fantasy XII was a much needed breath of fresh air for a series that was in danger of becoming stale, in both the gameplay and story department. It does not have a main character, and I like that. Instead, the story takes a much grander scale and focuses on a massive forthcoming war and ties it together with a collection of people that are major players in it. It isnt character driven. IT is event driven. A lot of people see this as a bad thing because they see the characters as underdeveloped, but I disagree with this. The characters are no more or less developed than other FF characters. The story just doesn't focus on them. IT doesnt shove the character developement in your face like previous games. I also liked that the story was much darker than your typical FF and quite a bit more political. It was such a change from the norm.

 

What can be said about the voice work that hasn't already been said? It is fan freaking tastic. It blows all other Final Fantasy related voice work clear out of the water with just how good it was. IT stands up there with games such as Metal Gear Solid with how good it's voice work is. Some people said Fran wasnt that good, but I disagree. I thought her voicework was perfect for her. She struck me as being similar to Vulcans where hsedoesnt run on emotion so much as she does on logic, so the emotion tends to hide itself with her character. I thought that was cool.

 

Why shouldnt the voicework be good when the script that the actors had to work with was top notch? The scripting for this game is worthy of Stanley Kubrick. IT is, honestly, that good. IT is incredibly sharp and well written. It is like they took extra care to translate this one extremely well, and it shows. Matsuno's scripts deserve that attention to detail, though. Have you played Vagrant Story? That was his game as well and the script was every bit as good. He also did Final Fantasy Tactics, whose script wasnt all that great because of translation issues. IF you have played the PSP port of this game, however, you have seen what should have been. The scripting in that game is top notch as well. Nice job, Matsuno. You are amazing.

 

The music in this game is written by series veteran Hitoshi Sakimoto, whose other credits include the brilliant soundtracks for Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The guy knows what he is doing, and, if anyone should replace Uematsu as the series composure, it is him. The Theme of the Empire is a stunning and epic piece of work, and it just sets the tone for how good the music will be throughout the rest of the game.  It is, to say the least, beautiful. That being said, it is different. His music is more complex and more orchestrated than that of Uematsu, but it works. It is just as brilliant

 

What can I say about the gameplay? If you know me, you know random battles get on my nerves. NO RANDOM BATTLES! IT is the greatest thing to ever happen ti Final Fantasy gameplay. It took the traditional Final Fantasy battle system and made it work without the random battles. IT is the active time battle system without random encounters. That is all there is to it. IT is as simple as that, but it worked. I never got frustrated with this game because of the random encounters. When I was near dying, I knew I could get back to town without dying because I could just run back and not fear random battles that I cannot escape. Thank you! Finally. If you know me, then you also know that I dont like complete linearity in my RPGs (Final Fantasy X, I'm looking at you). This games world was massive and gorgeous. The jungles. The beach. The rolling dunes. IT was so gorgeous. I just couldnt wait to see what it would throw at me next. I loved exploring every nook and cranny of this games world. It was so beautiful and such a joy

 

Ok. I am done fanboying all over this game.

valereth-1

*agreeagreeagree*

And also agreed about Fran's voicing, I loved her manner of speaking. It's just Vaan's voice actor that I didn't like. While there is no technical main character as you said, Vaan is the "more or less" main (start with him, no matter who is lead he represents the party in towns/cities) and I just wish his voice actor was...different. The voice acting was good, just the voice actor wasn't stellar.

I think that Final Fantasy XII was a much needed breath of fresh air for a series that was in danger of becoming stale, in both the gameplay and story department. It does not have a main character, and I like that. Instead, the story takes a much grander scale and focuses on a massive forthcoming war and ties it together with a collection of people that are major players in it. It isnt character driven. IT is event driven. A lot of people see this as a bad thing because they see the characters as underdeveloped, but I disagree with this. The characters are no more or less developed than other FF characters. The story just doesn't focus on them. IT doesnt shove the character developement in your face like previous games. I also liked that the story was much darker than your typical FF and quite a bit more political. It was such a change from the norm.

 

What can be said about the voice work that hasn't already been said? It is fan freaking tastic. It blows all other Final Fantasy related voice work clear out of the water with just how good it was. IT stands up there with games such as Metal Gear Solid with how good it's voice work is. Some people said Fran wasnt that good, but I disagree. I thought her voicework was perfect for her. She struck me as being similar to Vulcans where hsedoesnt run on emotion so much as she does on logic, so the emotion tends to hide itself with her character. I thought that was cool.

 

Why shouldnt the voicework be good when the script that the actors had to work with was top notch? The scripting for this game is worthy of Stanley Kubrick. IT is, honestly, that good. IT is incredibly sharp and well written. It is like they took extra care to translate this one extremely well, and it shows. Matsuno's scripts deserve that attention to detail, though. Have you played Vagrant Story? That was his game as well and the script was every bit as good. He also did Final Fantasy Tactics, whose script wasnt all that great because of translation issues. IF you have played the PSP port of this game, however, you have seen what should have been. The scripting in that game is top notch as well. Nice job, Matsuno. You are amazing.

 

The music in this game is written by series veteran Hitoshi Sakimoto, whose other credits include the brilliant soundtracks for Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The guy knows what he is doing, and, if anyone should replace Uematsu as the series composure, it is him. The Theme of the Empire is a stunning and epic piece of work, and it just sets the tone for how good the music will be throughout the rest of the game.  It is, to say the least, beautiful. That being said, it is different. His music is more complex and more orchestrated than that of Uematsu, but it works. It is just as brilliant

 

What can I say about the gameplay? If you know me, you know random battles get on my nerves. NO RANDOM BATTLES! IT is the greatest thing to ever happen ti Final Fantasy gameplay. It took the traditional Final Fantasy battle system and made it work without the random battles. IT is the active time battle system without random encounters. That is all there is to it. IT is as simple as that, but it worked. I never got frustrated with this game because of the random encounters. When I was near dying, I knew I could get back to town without dying because I could just run back and not fear random battles that I cannot escape. Thank you! Finally. If you know me, then you also know that I dont like complete linearity in my RPGs (Final Fantasy X, I'm looking at you). This games world was massive and gorgeous. The jungles. The beach. The rolling dunes. IT was so gorgeous. I just couldnt wait to see what it would throw at me next. I loved exploring every nook and cranny of this games world. It was so beautiful and such a joy

 

Ok. I am done fanboying all over this game.

valereth-1

*Swirves to avoid wall of text* Man, that was close! :o

That being said, I agree with you. ;)

*Swirves to avoid wall of text* Man, that was close! :o

That being said, I agree with you. ;)

DrAwesomeMD

Pros:

Good Battle system,

Awesone sidequests doing hunts was fun

free roaming world lots of places to explore

fun boss battles

Cons:

Story was boring and bland

Lack of character development, characters were not interesting

Yiazmat- the battle was too drawn out and it takes too long to actually beat him

Pros:

Good Battle system,

Awesone sidequests doing hunts was fun

free roaming world lots of places to explore

fun boss battles

Cons:

Story was boring and bland

Lack of character development, characters were not interesting

Yiazmat- the battle was too drawn out and it takes too long to actually beat him

dbz987

[QUOTE="dbz987"]

Pros:

Good Battle system,

Awesone sidequests doing hunts was fun

free roaming world lots of places to explore

fun boss battles

Cons:

Story was boring and bland

Lack of character development, characters were not interesting

Yiazmat- the battle was too drawn out and it takes too long to actually beat him

valereth-1

Indeed. It was a story of political intrigue, more focused on the world itself than the characters, that was the point of it. There was no touching love story, no epic quest of self discovery. SE moved away from their traditional FF motife to focus on the world and the political behind the scenes plot twists that was the initial plot of the first step into Ivalice; Final Fantasy Tactics. After the emotionally driven story of FFX (which I immensely enjoyed) this was a nice change in the way of plot setup. And with Final Fantasy XIII seeming to be another emotional story with the focus on the characters, it's nice to see SE able to provide us with not only different stories, but different styles. 

Pros:

Good Battle system,

Awesone sidequests doing hunts was fun

free roaming world lots of places to explore

fun boss battles

Cons:

Story was boring and bland

Lack of character development, characters were not interesting

Yiazmat- the battle was too drawn out and it takes too long to actually beat him

dbz987

FFXII was modeled off of MMO's, and having played a few, Yiazmat was a familiar challenge. I really enjoyed that fight, it reminded of when WoW was still good, back in the day with Ony wipes, then Vashj xD

[QUOTE="valereth-1"][QUOTE="dbz987"]

Pros:

Good Battle system,

Awesone sidequests doing hunts was fun

free roaming world lots of places to explore

fun boss battles

Cons:

Story was boring and bland

Lack of character development, characters were not interesting

Yiazmat- the battle was too drawn out and it takes too long to actually beat him

Khadaj32

Indeed. It was a story of political intrigue, more focused on the world itself than the characters, that was the point of it. There was no touching love story, no epic quest of self discovery. SE moved away from their traditional FF motife to focus on the world and the political behind the scenes plot twists that was the initial plot of the first step into Ivalice; Final Fantasy Tactics. After the emotionally driven story of FFX (which I immensely enjoyed) this was a nice change in the way of plot setup. And with Final Fantasy XIII seeming to be another emotional story with the focus on the characters, it's nice to see SE able to provide us with not only different stories, but different styles. 

FFXII started off differently because it was a tip of the hat to the FFT Ivalice, a story of political intrigue with a mystical evil pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

 

PROS: Excellent graphics, all characters except Vaan and Penelo (Balthier FTW), the speech style (absolutely loved the dialogue in FFXII), the immensity of the game, intriguing places, amazing story, and a staggering amount of side quests.

 

CONS: Vaan and Penelo, the OST wasn't on par with previous installments, summons were only gimmicky except for Zodiark (though they all have an interesting mini-backstory behind them)

 

I wish the party was more diverse with races, too. It would have been cool if Basch was a Bangaa and Penelo was a Nu Mou, heh. Also...I want playable Moogles. 

Khadaj32

I think i'm starting to get what my other colleagues said about the topic creation haha.
I do keep hearing that people don't like Vaan or Penelo.. but why!? I like Vaan. Yes some say he's whiney and annoying, but I dunno. Seems like the character was meant to be that way to me.

[QUOTE="Khadaj32"]

FFXII started off differently because it was a tip of the hat to the FFT Ivalice, a story of political intrigue with a mystical evil pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

 

PROS: Excellent graphics, all characters except Vaan and Penelo (Balthier FTW), the speech style (absolutely loved the dialogue in FFXII), the immensity of the game, intriguing places, amazing story, and a staggering amount of side quests.

 

CONS: Vaan and Penelo, the OST wasn't on par with previous installments, summons were only gimmicky except for Zodiark (though they all have an interesting mini-backstory behind them)

 

I wish the party was more diverse with races, too. It would have been cool if Basch was a Bangaa and Penelo was a Nu Mou, heh. Also...I want playable Moogles. 

smootheyes2

I think i'm starting to get what my other colleagues said about the topic creation haha.
I do keep hearing that people don't like Vaan or Penelo.. but why!? I like Vaan. Yes some say he's whiney and annoying, but I dunno. Seems like the character was meant to be that way to me.

Vaan himself was okay, but his voice is so annoying. Penelo had potential to be a sweety, but...she didn't really do anything. Vaan instigated many of the events, so we know why he is there. Ashe is obvious, as is Basch. Balthier's motives seem unclear in the beginning, but are explained later, and Fran goes where he goes. All well and good, but...Penelo? What does she do besides scold Vaan and get kidnapped? The "fight for Dalmasca" reason is way too loose, as she barely contributes in conversations, or any important plot progression. Loved her in Revenant Wings, though.

I kind of want to play Reverant Wings. I was a bit thrown off by the art direction, though. It doesnt fit the seriousness of FFXIIvalereth-1

Revenant Wings is a LOT of fun to play. Definitely reccommend it.

[QUOTE="smootheyes2"][QUOTE="Khadaj32"]

FFXII started off differently because it was a tip of the hat to the FFT Ivalice, a story of political intrigue with a mystical evil pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

 

PROS: Excellent graphics, all characters except Vaan and Penelo (Balthier FTW), the speech style (absolutely loved the dialogue in FFXII), the immensity of the game, intriguing places, amazing story, and a staggering amount of side quests.

 

CONS: Vaan and Penelo, the OST wasn't on par with previous installments, summons were only gimmicky except for Zodiark (though they all have an interesting mini-backstory behind them)

 

I wish the party was more diverse with races, too. It would have been cool if Basch was a Bangaa and Penelo was a Nu Mou, heh. Also...I want playable Moogles. 

Khadaj32

I think i'm starting to get what my other colleagues said about the topic creation haha.
I do keep hearing that people don't like Vaan or Penelo.. but why!? I like Vaan. Yes some say he's whiney and annoying, but I dunno. Seems like the character was meant to be that way to me.

Vaan himself was okay, but his voice is so annoying. Penelo had potential to be a sweety, but...she didn't really do anything. Vaan instigated many of the events, so we know why he is there. Ashe is obvious, as is Basch. Balthier's motives seem unclear in the beginning, but are explained later, and Fran goes where he goes. All well and good, but...Penelo? What does she do besides scold Vaan and get kidnapped? The "fight for Dalmasca" reason is way too loose, as she barely contributes in conversations, or any important plot progression. Loved her in Revenant Wings, though.

Yeah Penelo is jsut the sidekick frined that keeps Vaan on track I reckon

i have the special limited edition version, but the battle system stinks! there are no random battles which is a good change, but you just watch your characters fight, doing that for 112 hours is boring after about 80 hours, but i wanted to beat itFinalFantasy49