anyone else think XII was a letdown?

[squall2]

my fave FF is FF8 since it was my first lol but all the rest are awsome. like everyone else i waited years for XII and when it came out i was dissapointed. yeah the graphics are great but the gameplay and battle system just isnt the same and didnt feel right like in the others. is this the direction that alll the FF's are going to take? i hope not. maybe the turnbased system was best afterall?

[Hae]

It wasn't the system that disappointed me, it was a boring story that put me to sleep.

[Moklin]

Yeah. The game was a big letdown. I dont know if story was bad or good because i didnt understand a damm thing. The english some chars used was so difficult to get. Remenber that scene when Ashe and CIA found that weird gods? But...i inderstood that Penelo and Vann are stupid chars. I want to be a sky pirate! Batle System was so boring....no...Gambits are boring. I intput some gambits in the begining and i slighty changed them in all game. The game was so easy...i never did a single thing to defeat bosses. They said that Judges would be an imprtant factor in history but you only see some of them in entire game and because they have that mask you dont know who they are..............i could write a big text here.

[Hitoshura]

I hate it from the bottom of my heart. I usually hate a game more if it was one I was looking forward to. This game had potential, could have been great. All they had to do was fix the horrible story, characters and gameplay :cunning:

[mercy0001]

Indeed i waited for it since 2004. And i was very dissapointed! Everything wasn't just Final Fantasy. I didn't had any FF feeling with this game. When it would be A FF tactics game. It would be great but it wasn't good for a FF.

i hope this isn't going to happen with FFXIII. Because i don't really like that sci-fi feeling. I hope FFXIV will be like FFX and i'm already looking forward to it O_o I'm so addicted... I look on 5 FF fan sites every day since FFXIII was announced, i watch the latest FFXIII trailer every day and the older trailers once in a week... I live only for FFXIII and think every day of it ... i'm to obsessed ...

[Pixel]

Why is this in FFVIII's forum? D:

And, I think it was AMAZING. :aldo:

As for it felt nothing like FF, it felt like FF. People are just resistant to change. Ben Mattes, the producer of the new Prince of Persia (which got good reviews) got criticized for its easy gameplay (you can't die).

Read that here: http://kotaku.com/5117346/prince-of-persia-producer-feels-his-game-is-risky-underappreciated

Now, I agree with the ending of that post on Kotaku. Fans are wayyyyy to resistant to change. Sure you say you want it, but, you really don't. All I keep hearing when new XIII scans appear is "WOW, those look great, hopefully it won't be like XII, I want it to be like a normal FF!"

Gtfo over XII, it tried a new thing, something you have to do EVERY SO MANY SEQUELS. And some loved it and some hated it. So, chances are, they will meld the old and new.

EDIT: Thread moved to the proper forum. :wtf:

[Rhiannon]

..........

I agree with Nocte. People just dislike change. I was surprised and rather content with everything that was different about Final Fantasy XII.

..........

[Zezlar]

Why is this in FFVIII's forum? D:

And, I think it was AMAZING. :aldo:

As for it felt nothing like FF, it felt like FF. People are just resistant to change. Ben Mattes, the producer of the new Prince of Persia (which got good reviews) got criticized for its easy gameplay (you can't die).

Read that here: http://kotaku.com/5117346/prince-of-persia-producer-feels-his-game-is-risky-underappreciated

Now, I agree with the ending of that post on Kotaku. Fans are wayyyyy to resistant to change. Sure you say you want it, but, you really don't. All I keep hearing when new XIII scans appear is "WOW, those look great, hopefully it won't be like XII, I want it to be like a normal FF!"

Gtfo over XII, it tried a new thing, something you have to do EVERY SO MANY SEQUELS. And some loved it and some hated it. So, chances are, they will meld the old and new.

EDIT: Thread moved to the proper forum. :wtf:

I agree, Although the battle system was repetitive it was a decent change. Almost every games battle system gets repetitive after awhile. The only beef I had with the game is that the specials sucked (even though they look cool) and that place Giruvegan was a pain in the ass unless you cheated. The story was very well done, you can't really blame SE if you just can't comprehend it.

[Moklin]

What i really liked was the music, Is XIII´s composer the same than XII´S?

[liljc91091]

To me it was the worst ff Ive ever played I didn't really like the battle system it was boring and the story was predicable

[Wacka14]

XII was outstanding in every way. The deepest Breath a fresh final fantasy air I'd had since VII. I guess the kiddies didn't like that it was very political in nature and alot less flashy.

I was blown away. The music,story, Voice acting, animation(aside from Vaans abs) was all top-notch^_^

[liljc91091]

XII was outstanding in every way. The deepest Breath a fresh final fantasy air I'd had since VII. I guess the kiddies didn't like that it was very political in nature and alot less flashy.

I was blown away. The music,story, Voice acting, animation(aside from Vaans abs) was all top-notch^_^
What are you trying to say <_< lol XII wasn't a bad game it was good I guess I was just expecting more. It didn't feel like an FF to me

[GalvanizA]

FFXII is my fave game in the series from a gameplay perspective (Gambits off for the party leader!)

[OujiMakaSan]

my fave FF is FF8 since it was my first lol but all the rest are awsome. like everyone else i waited years for XII and when it came out i was dissapointed. yeah the graphics are great but the gameplay and battle system just isnt the same and didnt feel right like in the others. is this the direction that alll the FF's are going to take? i hope not. maybe the turnbased system was best afterall?

I had a feeling that it was disappointing, the game seem so suckish it looks so boring and i didnt even play the game yet, just b/c i assume that it sucked. Such a shame!-_-

[Fenryr]

I enjoyed it from the very beginning to the very end. I went through it with my brother as we usually do with such games, and I must say the experience was fantastic. I found it to be slightly short, but then again I failed at the secret bosses and never really went back to them.

Other than that I completely agree with Nocte. It was a new experience, some would inevitably dislike it. I on the other hand, enjoyed every aspect of it.

[Fantasy]

XII Was Such A Disappointment, For Me Personally. Usually I Keep All My Games Fresh But XII I Just Did Whatever With It To The Point It Got Under My Rug And Scratched To Death.

[Icysparks2009]

my fave FF is FF8 since it was my first lol but all the rest are awsome. like everyone else i waited years for XII and when it came out i was dissapointed. yeah the graphics are great but the gameplay and battle system just isnt the same and didnt feel right like in the others. is this the direction that alll the FF's are going to take? i hope not. maybe the turnbased system was best afterall?
Haha, Final Fantasy VIII and X were my favorite Final Fantasy games. Both had characters I really cared about, and a storyline and environment which kept me hooked to the end. I never finished FF XII partly because I got bored of it, and partly because when I got back from college half a year later and played it, I totally forgot where to go, or what had happened so far in the story. Not that I really understood the story...

Like some people said, I am all for some change. It keep things fresh. But it's got to be interesting too, and I don't think FF XII did that. Not to mention, I felt that it was too much of a Star Wars ripoff, as FF XIII is shaping up to be as well, judging from the trailers.

For those who liked FF VII, VIII, and X, I think that FF Versus is going to be THE GAME that we've been waiting for, for a long long time. I can't wait for FF Versus to come out! I haven't felt this much excitement for a game since FF X seven years ago =)

[Nex]

Loved it. From my experience on the internet I've found the people who didn't like the battle system didn't even understand it.

The story on the other hand was a let down. Half the FF audience didn't understand it (I've heard a theory that the average American isn't intelligent enough for it, which I personally find credible...), but the REAL issue was the story after Bur-Omisace.

The story was brilliant (but different from a normal FF) until Bur-Omisace, then it and all character interactions disappeared. There were only a few cutscenes for the rest of the game.

Anyway, this probably isn't the best forum to ask about FF12. There are A LOT of FF12 haters on this forum. It's my favourite just because of the gameplay, and I've played every main FF except 3 and 11. My favourite series.

[liljc91091]

I Guess everyone has different taste. I hated XII it was fine in the beginning but in the middle something happend and it just became so boring,but I beat the game anyway

[Purple]

I thought it was great. Sure, it veered away from traditional FFs but it was still a great game in my book.

[Sanji]

It's not my fav but I still think it's a great game, one of the best game I've played. The story was very good, the gameplay was awesome and the scenery is the best of every FF. The only thing that disappointed me (apart from the dubbing that's horrible) is the lack of emotion. The end of Ridorana is the best cutscene of all FF, but the rest wasn't so emotional. And that's not the story's fault, they just choose to have big dungeons and lots of freedom instead of some talking between the PGs. They seem to have learned from their mistakes though: the scene between Lighting and Snow when she hits him sounds very emotional.

[Cliff]

i realy had a lot of fun with ffxii the only thing was, what others said before. a really boring story. the battle system, and chaining etc was a lot of fun.

i hope xiii turns out to be better ( story ) :p

[Oldrich]

I LOVED the system.. I hated the story :(

System was way too cool and I enjoyed leveling up my team and even bosses were fun.. But the story... So huge dissapointed 4 me :(

[Cliff]

hehe, we know ^^... mybe a nice new topic, "the best part of the ff xii story".

[Jext]

The battle system wasn't bad in my opinion, in fact it was sometimes fun for me (during boss fights and in cool areas like the Judge's ship). But when I was grinding out in the bland fields killing chickens and wolves it felt like a lackluster experience (like an offline MMO).

[ag Fuireacht]

i wasn't dissapointed as i wasn't aware of the games creation so it was alright to play, but i think Jext above me there has the right word - BLAND >_<, i hated the music, the characters were completely insipid aswell except Fran she was coo' ^_^

[Lord Of Dumbasses]

i wasn't dissapointed as i wasn't aware of the games creation so it was alright to play, but i think Jext above me there has the right word - BLAND >_<, i hated the music, the characters were completely insipid aswell except Fran she was coo' ^_^

You talkin' about her ass right? xD I didn't really like FFXII because the gambits system was somewhat repetitive, yet I can't stop having the feeling that if I would play International version I'd love it...

[Sanji]

If you don't like the Gambits turn them off :wtf:

[dilldoe]

it was an alright game man, it was playable. But it didnt feel like FF to me. There's something lost in translation there. I got Last Remnant, last month :P same again man, there's something missing.

[sobchack]

in terms of story and character development, yeah it was pretty thin. but just about everything else about it was better than 10. in fact, i feel like i would have liked the characters pretty well if they'd been elaborated on a bit

[sobchack]

also yeah, music was shit

[NEALBLEWMEONCE]

I think FFXII was a victim of its own hype, to a certain extent.

It wasn't a bad game, it just wasn't what was advertised to those of us who watched the trailers.

The first 15-45 minutes of the game are incredible, then it sort of breaks down into monotony.

I thought the battle system was great; I just wish it was faster paced and more in depth/tweaked.

[Hunted10]

I liked XII for the switch from standard turn based gameplay. It gave the series room to grow. The storyline was good...it could have been beefed up a bit, but it is nice to see that square is not just trying to make the same setting for every FF game.

[The Awaking]

It wasn't a let down just bad timing. Also FF 12 should've been FF 11

[Dark Chaos]

Final Fantasy 12 has a great gambit system,as for the story...I think is a little complex.what I mean by complex is that people with childish thinking wouldn't like the story very much........

..........I didn't like Van'speed he runs too slow and enemies hit you without touching you.

[Astraia]

The story is very disappointing. It had sleeping gas all over. The voice audio kinda sounded like they were talking inside cans... I dunno. I am very disappointed with this game. I thought the story was interesting when it was still unreleased, but when it came out....oh crap. And the lead guy Vaan, looks like a fag. His abdomen looks wierd too.

The gameplay is so-so, and the gambit system is perfect for slackers like me, but i still prefer the atb system. Oh, the minigames are cool here anyway. Tons of items and optional bosses with a colossal amount of hp. (hi yiazmat and hell wyrm.)

...still, thumbs down for me.

..I just hope Lightning's story won't disappoint us, since most of the guys in charge are the ones who made xii...

[Hynad]

In fact, most of the guys in charge are those who made X and/or X-2.

[Moklin]

The story is very disappointing. It had sleeping gas all over. The voice audio kinda sounded like they were talking inside cans... I dunno. I am very disappointed with this game. I thought the story was interesting when it was still unreleased, but when it came out....oh crap. And the lead guy Vaan, looks like a fag. His abdomen looks wierd too.

The gameplay is so-so, and the gambit system is perfect for slackers like me, but i still prefer the atb system. Oh, the minigames are cool here anyway. Tons of items and optional bosses with a colossal amount of hp. (hi yiazmat and hell wyrm.)

...still, thumbs down for me.

..I just hope Lightning's story won't disappoint us, since most of the guys in charge are the ones who made xii...


The first paragrafh you wrote. I coulnd agree more. Chars voice looks compressed, i dont understand how no one said that in reviews

[NoctisXStella]

Yup the game was a big Letdown. The storyline was boring it put me to sleep. The battle system is like WTF!!!

[Stella Nox Fleuret]

I really hated FFXII. I didn't liked FF Tactics either, since XII had elements from it. At the first, I thought that it would be more that politics, but sadly it wasn't.
I didn't liked the battle system or the world either. The characters were okay... They could have done better. Ashe was worth, but Vaan was ew.
Then the villain was quite stupid too.

[namyrb]

I very much enjoyed this game, but I was a little disappointed in that even though it takes place in Ivalice, there weren't too many connections to the Tactics lore. I'm sure there were some, but nothing big to make it seem as though it was the same world or used the same mythology (as in the the FFXIII games sharing the same mythology while not being directly related to one another).

[1nOnly]

One funny thing is that people complains when they get a story with many big clichés, and when its like FFXII you still hear complaints..

Personally i didnt like the game (because of the story, i rather have big clichés than politics), never even finished it but the game was a good, it did many things very well and it wasnt as easy as many claim it to be, I was very excited of the idea with no more random battles and a big "open" world.. I was enjoying the sidequests more than the main story.

It was a good game, but it just never felt like a FinalFantasy to me

[namyrb]

I did like the difficulty level of the game. I mean it wasn't incredibly hard, but I have many memories of running into some random place, get attacked by some monster and then thinking, "holy shit I'm going to die unless I get the hell out of here..." Then you try and run but they swing at your from 20 feet away with their claws and end up hitting you somehow and it's over... I think I'm gonna go play it again...

[doomed_soul89]

it was both hard and easy, if you tried to use a strategy or magic it was hard, if you just spamming attack and buffs it was easy the game really sucked, it felt more like a mmorpg then a turn based rpg, it wasn't even turnbased, everything just spammed attack all at once, it was just so horrible, and there was no mix of monsters in battle, it was just 3 on 1 every time plus the characters were all the same from the start practically, and to clear the whole licenses board was way too easy and the majority of it was useless, just the augments, buffs and white magic, that's it, it was lame

[Astraia]

....this game just gave me a headache. Just the thought of it makes me cringe.... And this game has sleeping gas.

[Mystearica]

About the only thing I REALLY enjoyed in this game was the hunts

This game had two problems... well maybe three or more :blink:

1- The lead? Vaan? REALLY?????????????????

2- It had absolutely NO emotion whatsoever! The game felt like I was going from Point A to Point B.... that's it <.....< I mean FFX was sooo much more flawed that FFXII (my opinion) but I really enjoyed it more 'cause it had more "emotion/feel" to it. This game felt like I was staring at a statue

3- The music OMG! I hate it! I think the only FF with worse music was FFX-2. Dun get it me it's GOOD but it had the same feeling throughout. I could be blindfolded and you can play FFXII tracks and mix in other game tracks and I could tell you which came from FFXII. Also, the fact that the music was so static... made the game feel static (yeah good music = helps set the mood)

4- ???? w/e I'll fill the gaps in later when my brain is functioning better


Overall... I feel like I waited soooo long for this game to come out - I was following the game since day 1 of it's announcement... and maybe because I had so much anticipation and it was delayed so many times that I felt it was a let-down

[Astraia]

Point A to Point B, huh. Reminds me of the gruesome task of having your party walk an EFFIN GREAT DISTANCE just to get to the Raithwallshit whatsoever.... *groans*

[Sundance Kid]

I don't know if I'm assbackwards but this is one of the few FF games I like in the entire franchise. I mean I really enjoy the Tactics series and FF6 but that's about it. I don't know what it was about this game it just really took me in, I mean I put a good 150 hours into so far.

[Hynad]

it was both hard and easy, if you tried to use a strategy or magic it was hard, if you just spamming attack and buffs it was easy the game really sucked, it felt more like a mmorpg then a turn based rpg, it wasn't even turnbased, everything just spammed attack all at once, it was just so horrible, and there was no mix of monsters in battle, it was just 3 on 1 every time plus the characters were all the same from the start practically, and to clear the whole licenses board was way too easy and the majority of it was useless, just the augments, buffs and white magic, that's it, it was lame

Easy huh? You probably didn't battle against Ultima, Zodiark and Omega Mark XII...


As for the rest, I completely disagree. But I think Nex might have a better way to explain it all (If I must be honest though, I just can't be arsed...). So I hope he'll step in.

Your complains about the game's aspects you stated just seem like you don't understand how you played the prior games.

Yeah, you read that right.

[Little Miss Scarlett]

I agree with Nocte and Nex, especially about the story losing something about half way through. If they'd carried on the same way throughout the game it would have been a lot better and more engaging. I'm one of the seemingly few that liked it and even I'll admit that I didn't have a clue what was going on towards the end because I'd sort of lost interest. But then the second time through it was much better, probably helped by the fact that I didn't give up playing after every other boss, really ruined the flow first time round.

As far as I'm concerned, the battle system is instantly better than all the others put together because there were no random battles. I really enjoy setting up the gambits.

It was only the third one I played, after X and X-2, so maybe I'm just not familiar with the "FF feeling", but I still find that argument ridiculous. If you don't like it then fair enough, but you'll have a lot more fun in life if you enjoy things for what they are rather than slag them off for what you want them to be.

Out of interest, does anyone know what most Japanese people's opinions are on this game?

[Ivan]

This game is lame. It's so wrong in so many ways. Yeah, the graphics and sidequests are okay but they're missing out on the important stuff. I hated the story because it was so dull, and you just have to configure your gambits and just use the analog stick most of the time during battle. It only becomes challenging when you fight the optional bosses or by turning the gambits off. FFXII also lacked character development, they only provided us the character backgrounds. Last but not the least, Vaan is hideous.

[rutea7]

i liked it. story and character-wise was very good. i liked the hunts too. gilgamesh was hilarious.

[doomed_soul89]

I agree with Nocte and Nex, especially about the story losing something about half way through. If they'd carried on the same way throughout the game it would have been a lot better and more engaging. I'm one of the seemingly few that liked it and even I'll admit that I didn't have a clue what was going on towards the end because I'd sort of lost interest. But then the second time through it was much better, probably helped by the fact that I didn't give up playing after every other boss, really ruined the flow first time round.

As far as I'm concerned, the battle system is instantly better than all the others put together because there were no random battles. I really enjoy setting up the gambits.

It was only the third one I played, after X and X-2, so maybe I'm just not familiar with the "FF feeling", but I still find that argument ridiculous. If you don't like it then fair enough, but you'll have a lot more fun in life if you enjoy things for what they are rather than slag them off for what you want them to be.

Out of interest, does anyone know what most Japanese people's opinions are on this game?

no random battles made it horrible, all you did was spam attack and mist chains for bosses, and of course heal, I mean it took no skill, there were no strategies that worked better then attack and the mist chains were just stupid because you used all your mp to use it, so then you don't use any magic or skills (not that you used them anyways) but you can just throw an ether to do it all over again, it felt more like a bad mmorpg then a final fantasy, the hunts were the only good thing about it, everything else just sucked, I think you just don't like random battles, but if that's the case just go play WoW I really don't get ppls issue with random battles, the way XII did it just sucked, although super mario rpg the way they did it without random battle was good, (touch an enemy go into a fight with like 3 monsters mixed instead of just 3 on 1 in FFXII, but it had platforming elments in the field, FF doesn't)

[Astraia]

This game is lame. It's so wrong in so many ways. Yeah, the graphics and sidequests are okay but they're missing out on the important stuff. I hated the story because it was so dull, and you just have to configure your gambits and just use the analog stick most of the time during battle. It only becomes challenging when you fight the optional bosses or by turning the gambits off. FFXII also lacked character development, they only provided us the character backgrounds. Last but not the least, Vaan is hideous.

....ooohh I TOTALLY AGREE, especially the hideous Vaan part.

..yeah let's not forget those stupid quickenings which consume all your mp. And it's hell when you do that to an enemy not even knowing that a stupid paling is activated. *punches wall*

...i can rant about this forever.

[Alazais]

It had some aspects that were great but it did fall down in some areas.

The quality of the voice acting was great, I really enjoyed the speech they used. Balthier was a great character and the graphics were awesome... yeah thats about it for the good stuff.

Not enough character development, music could have been better, too political, where did the romance element go? There's always one in FF games and I like to think it's kind of important even if they never go in depth with it and ugh... you'd think with that epic development time it would have a decent mini-game.

I loved Chocobo racing in VII, I adored the card game in VIII, I have actually spent longer playing IX's Chocobo Hot and Cold then I have spent playing through the storyline and X's Blitzball was great fun, if only the first time around. XII had... MORE FIGHTING AKA RUNNING AROUND IN CIRCLES WITH AN ANALOG STICK, mmm fun.

All said and done I did actually enjoy it, because it did enough right. XIII already looks better so lets hope yeah!.

/rant mode off ^_^

[Zezlar]

FFXII is my 4th favorite FF game. It is really good, but the Ivalice games are really controversial.

[vieya]

I think FF12 has good and bad aspects since this topic is about the letdowns I'll say those.
The characters feel underdeveloped. The main character feels like he shouldn't be the main character Ashe feels more like it.
The game feels inconsistent. Sometimes it takes a few hours to move the story along other times it feels like forever.
The battle system feels new but at the same time feels flawed. Many magics and techniques aren't available until it is useless to even have them. You get 5% chance of something good appearing and if it doesn't they compensate by giving you 10 gil. I don't mind having more gil even if I don't get the good item, but sometimes it's like I waste so much time for nothing.
Quickenings feel useless unless you chain and even then sometimes it still feels useless. The bad thing is if you suck at the chaining(like me) than you only dish out less than you can with your normal attack which feels like a waste. I don't like that the quickening shares the bar or MP with magic. I makes you vunerable after you use it especially if you didn't do much damage.
Espers are uncontrollable and so are guests which sucks.
I actually like that the license board isn't job/class specific it would be nice to have that option though. It's always good to have options.
I'm pretty surprised with it.

[jinotokyo]

I liked it quite alot, but the story literally bored me to death. The story was so political, that I felt it basically lost the Final Fantasy magic in the game. Sure, it's a change, but for some fans, it was boring as hell. I liked the settings and ideas of it all, but Vaan and Penelo were absolutely horrid characters with little purpose. The gameplay was alright, and a decent change, but the gambits made battles kind of boring, and made it seem like something to watch rather than play, until you probably reach those optional marks that take 2 hours to kill.

[Moklin]

I found this game so boring that it took me a whole year to finish it ( only the storyline).

[Eighty88Eight]

I always felt this game was made for me. It had all the things I love about FF all put together by the worlds best game designer. Music, story, characters, battle system, artwork... Aside from the obligatory bullshit Disney song that Uematsu composed, there are no truly glaring flaws for me.

[Ayane]

i love FFXII except Vaans part, wth was he doing in that story anyway? XD

[Hae]

i love FFXII except Vaans part, wth was he doing in that story anyway? XD
He wanted to be a motherfucking skypirate right right right?

[Hynad]

And avenge his brother's death.

[Falsate]

without character development. (continue the chain).

[shiva99]

raises hands /

[Living Tear]

I didn't read much of the posts in this topic, but 'd llike to share some of my opinions about the game anyways.

The story was boring and it confused me. The characters were bland and lame.

The battle system is just tedious and repetitive. The music didn't feel much FF to me.

The voice acting was pretty good.

So in the end, the game is just an Lord of The Ring and Star Wars inspired video game.

1/10

[Hynad]

Sigh... a typical, uninformed opinion...


Star Wars... LOTR... *yawn.


You could say that for just about every "epic" games out there, and you would still be wrong.




And not to sound like an ass, but I "loled" at your confusion.

[Living Tear]

Hahahahahaha yeah... I got a little lost in the story >.>

You may laugh as much as you want. At least, I was in some sort of amusement for you, and probably everyone else.

heh.

[Hynad]

Don't worry about my rather direct way of mocking your opinion.

The important thing about FF XII is that I enjoyed it greatly. :P


But to be confused by the story?? It was even simpler than X. :wtf:

[Living Tear]

Its fine.

And thats true.

But i have to disagree with you on your last statement though :P
For me, I felt that FF X's storyline, was much easier to fallow. I felt that I had more grasp on things that were going on. But in XII... Well... Too much Information...

Well.. Thats just me.

[hotspot]

I think that ff 12 was a let up... if that's even a real word ^_^" I thought that ff 12 was great and better than 7 and 8 (which i despise both of). I really liked how you could customize your characters and give them whichever magic and weapons you wanted, customization is key. If there is no customization the game can get boring pretty fast becuase it's all the same thing over and over, which is also why i favour games with lots of playable characters like suikoden, chrono cross or la pucelle tactics. Becuase with all the characters you can change your party everytime, making it more interesting. It's all about changing things even if a little, like they say variety is the spice of life. Without variety it gets pretty old fast.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

FFXII was definitely not a letdown. The story was more interesting than that of most games, and gave you more of a feel for world events, which in turn let you understand the world of Ivalice better, which is something a lot of FF games don't do very well.
The characters were fairly interesting and despite the comparative lack of character development, were all fairly entertaining. Vaan was supposed to be more bland than other characters because he was 'your' eyes into the world of FFXII and I think they did a fairly good job of making him unimportant in the grand scheme of the storyline whilst keeping him an important part of your own interactivity with the world.

The character customisation could have been handled better, but as it is it was still fairly good imo.

[Death Penalty]

Politics over character development doesn't do much for me. I don't empathize as well with quests for political gain, for land and country, as I do with stories that deal with more personal things. While I appreciate that the plot in FFXII dealt with great things, there was a distinct lack of human touch in the characters and in the world as a whole. The only one who held even a slight bit of charm for me was Balthier, and that was partly ruined by the fact that one could tell just how hard the developers were trying for that charm. I think that with a bit more character, FFXII could have really appealed to me.

Oh, and I do have to say that a battle system that encourages you to let the computer do all the thinking is really annoying. The gambit system (practically mandatory for some of the content) was obnoxious and not at all fun. Bleh. The gameplay didn't have any totally major flaws, but it lacked a certain flow and personality that I've come to expect from Final Fantasy games. The Quickening system was not very intuitive. On the plus side, there were some encounters for which the system actually really worked to instill a sense of epic scale. Fighting one of the secret marks (a behemoth, I think) I remember drawing back and going 'woah', for having little Vaan on the field approaching this baddy and tangling with him in real time really hit a note with me for presenting the sheer size of that beast in a way that a static line of three characters taking turns could not.

I would say that yes, I was let down by Final Fantasy XII, but it's not because it's a bad game. It's just that this particular installment was not the game I expected; the story wasn't for me, the combat wasn't for me. The game was still undeniably of the highest quality.

[Charmander]

I didn't read much of the posts in this topic, but 'd llike to share some of my opinions about the game anyways.

The story was boring and it confused me. The characters were bland and lame.

The battle system is just tedious and repetitive. The music didn't feel much FF to me.

The voice acting was pretty good.

So in the end, the game is just an Lord of The Ring and Star Wars inspired video game.

1/10

This pretty much summarizes my opinion on the game. The storyline felt way too political for me and I couldn't thoroughly enjoy it. I got real into it at the beginning because of Reks, but soon lost interest after the first half hour. :cookie:

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

It takes a couple hours for the game to truly kick in and become really good, as is the case with most FF games. You really need to work on your patience :awesome:

[Saabon]

FF12 is a like-it or hate-it kind of game, huh?

For me, I think FF12's battle system was genius. The gambit system was a good implementation (Though I have to agree, gets a bit tedious when the boss you are fighting changes styles), and for someone who takes around 5 minutes to decide my turn in FFX, letting the computer to do the thinking is a good change, when compared to say, KH2.

And oh, I love the fact that you don't go to a different screen for battle. I didn't like those.

The storyline is a bit non-fantasy for my liking, but it has its own charms and really grip you once you get the gist of it.

One thing I have to complain though... WHY THE HECK ARE THE DUNGEONS SO BIG. DD: There is not teleport rock for in the middle of the desert or something, and so you have to walk ALL THE FREAKING WAY to an anchor or save point just to go somewhere else.

Though I can really see the effort that is put into this game, with the amount of maps, monsters and events. =D I love games like that.

I just think that this game is a really good departure from the classic style, both from the storyline and the battle system.

But UH. I am still a bit iffy about how Rassler died. >>

[<that guy>]

i personally loved ff xii, the story to me was very good if you really got into it. The world had so much to it, there was the history of ivalice and the political intrigue in the story, all that made me so immersed in it. but i guess most people just want a straight up cliche love story.

[AerisEthereal]

but i guess most people just want a straight up cliche love story.

Wrong. No one said "omfg Ashe and Balthier should totally haev hooked up and gotten married and fallen in laaaaaav". The problem most people (myself included) had with the story was that even though it had a great worldly plot, it was missing out on the character side.

We really only got a tiny glimpse into their personalities, their struggles, etc. Every other FF game has had that, some more than others...some being more emo than others. I'm talking Squall especially. I. Loathed. Him.

If Final Fantasy XII had been able to get deeper into the past of all the characters, their personal and emotional struggles, etc, it would have made for a better game. More people would have been able to connect to the characters, instead of trying to connect to the world of Ivalice, which is an inanimate object.

Try as hard as you'd like, you can't connect to a fictional world as much as you can connect to a fictional person, and if you don't believe me, try reading a book that has next-to zero character development. It'll be the most boring thing you've ever picked up.

[Death Penalty]

Wrong. No one said "omfg Ashe and Balthier should totally haev hooked up and gotten married and fallen in laaaaaav". The problem most people (myself included) had with the story was that even though it had a great worldly plot, it was missing out on the character side.

We really only got a tiny glimpse into their personalities, their struggles, etc. Every other FF game has had that, some more than others...some being more emo than others. I'm talking Squall especially. I. Loathed. Him.

If Final Fantasy XII had been able to get deeper into the past of all the characters, their personal and emotional struggles, etc, it would have made for a better game. More people would have been able to connect to the characters, instead of trying to connect to the world of Ivalice, which is an inanimate object.

Try as hard as you'd like, you can't connect to a fictional world as much as you can connect to a fictional person, and if you don't believe me, try reading a book that has next-to zero character development. It'll be the most boring thing you've ever picked up.

^ I'm pretty much in agreement with this. If a cheesy love plot was all it took to make me love a game, I'd be drooling over FFVIII now wouldn't I? I just want characters I like, and that maybe feel like people. I just can't get as worked up about a nation, especially when it seems like good old Vayne Solidor wouldn't have been that bad of a ruler.

The characters were just plain. They were pushed to the side for the sake of bigger things, and it seems to me that they didn't have to be. The grand politics and sweeping war were impressive, and mixing that with a bit more heart would have really won me over. That's all I'm saying.

[Kuja Las Vegas]

You guyz do know that the guy who was making FFXII either quit in the middle or died or something, so another team took over and from his notes constructed the second half of the game? That's why the second half of the game felt kinda tacked on, and not as polished as the first half which has more plot and character interaction.

It's hard to continue on something when the original author leaves or dies. The Wheel of Time series is like that now that author Robert Jordan died. They brought in another guy to finish the series. Will his writing be as good as Jordan's, or will it never come close?

That's an analogy for FFXII. The original author quit or died or something.

[Death Penalty]

It's hard to continue on something when the original author leaves or dies. The Wheel of Time series is like that now that author Robert Jordan died. They brought in another guy to finish the series. Will his writing be as good as Jordan's, or will it never come close?

I was just beginning to accept his death, and you have to come in here and reopen old wounds?! You're a sick sick monster.

[XtremeFlash]

Yes, I do think it was a really big letdown...
I was expecting much more than that honestly. XII is a failure as a Final Fantasy game in my humble opinion

[Death Penalty]

Yes, I do think it was a really big letdown...
I was expecting much more than that honestly. XIII is a failure as a Final Fantasy game in my humble opinion

Oh.

Erm.

Just curious, how can you pass judgment like that already? The game isn't even out in JAPAN.

EDIT: Unless that was a typo. That could have very well been a typo.

[Eighty88Eight]

Although the context is a bit out of whack, what I said earlier in another topic is applicable here:

But there was plenty of character development. It simply wasn't of the kind of ingratiating, phony introspection you find in most games. Your feelings towards the game aren't disputable, I believe you when you say it didn't draw you in, but it wasn't because of character development. I suppose you could say the main conflicts of the story were external, worldly matters instead of any character conflicts. Actually the Judges were the only real characters in serious conflict, and because of this they were probably the most sympathetic figures of the story. However, I think XII had the most realistically defined and developed characters in the series, and this fact plays not a small part in the voice actors' effectiveness.I also think the formal detachment of XII, as apposed to the exuberant sentimentality of FFX(and of every other PS era FF to a lesser extent), rubbed people the wrong way. Personally speaking, I couldn't have been more caught up in the drama of Ashe's struggle and the conflict between the Judges. I thought some of the writing was fantastic, and the sequences up in Mt. Bur Omisace(and the intercutting that goes on between that scene and the death of Drace) are as moving as anything in gaming history. Thats my take at least.

[XIII_Lightning]

I basically hated everything about XII. The character designs, it being in Ivalice, the summons, the story, the battle system, the license board. I don't appreciate this crap about it being one of the highest rated FF or whatever. Vaan is reason enough to make the game suck. It is without a doubt my least favorite FF. Major disappointment.

[Death Penalty]

Ingratiating and phony might be the wrong way to put it. The reason that the characters in most things have such prominent emotional displays is because to present character change in a realistic fashion is too subtle to be at all cinematic and takes too long to be interesting. We can't travel with the main characters every second of their journey in real time and take in the little details and moments that forge bonds and cause developments in real life. So the viewers cut away to the main points, the peaks of emotion. Your point of view has a lot of merit, and as you say isn't really disputable. It worked for you, it didn't work for me. It just seems that realistic characters don't work very well in a medium like a videogame: They come off as lacking in personality. Maybe I'm just not equipped to appreciate the subtlety of it all, and most likely this sort of story just doesn't do it for me.

[Shinobiden]

I..... enjoyed it u__u.

Possibly in part because I didn't buy it until spring last year. I was never hyped about it in the first place so there wasn't much to be dissappointed about really. One of the main reasons I had for not buying it when it came out was that it took place in Ivalice, among other things, such as the art style and soundtrack. But after watching some splitplaythrus of it on youtube, I finally had the urge to play it myself :)
Since then, Ivalice, with its distinctive styles has grown on me, and the hunting quests and bazaar kept me playing for almost 200 hours. The things that really sucked about it for me were the poorly presented(imo) political story, and Vaan and basch's..... fasion tastes. But since 90% of the game never really required the use of specific characters I simply played the majority of the game with an all female party :p
But then again, I also think FFXII would have been 50% better if Vaan and Penelo were moogles :awesome:

[XtremeFlash]

Oh.

Erm.

Just curious, how can you pass judgment like that already? The game isn't even out in JAPAN.

EDIT: Unless that was a typo. That could have very well been a typo.

It was definately a typo TT.TT

thank you

[Falsate]

You guyz do know that the guy who was making FFXII either quit in the middle or died or something, so another team took over and from his notes constructed the second half of the game? That's why the second half of the game felt kinda tacked on, and not as polished as the first half which has more plot and character interaction.

It's hard to continue on something when the original author leaves or dies. The Wheel of Time series is like that now that author Robert Jordan died. They brought in another guy to finish the series. Will his writing be as good as Jordan's, or will it never come close?

That's an analogy for FFXII. The original author quit or died or something.


Other than the fact that he probably read that from Wikipedia.. yes we know that he left his own project. Also, I didn't really feel any difference between the first and second part of the game.

[XIII_Lightning]

But then again, I also think FFXII would have been 50% better if Vaan and Penelo were moogles :awesome:

HA! That's a good one. Now, if they WERE moogles, would they still be playable characters? Because that might make it a little more entertaining for me. That would be the next best thing to not having them in the game at all.


But I would probably still hate the game with a passion.

[Little Miss Scarlett]

Other than the fact that he probably read that from Wikipedia.. yes we know that he left his own project. Also, I didn't really feel any difference between the first and second part of the game.

Uh uh, the game definitely went downhill after Mt. Bur Omi-something. Went up again in the Dr Cid scenes and the ending, but otherwise lost something. Whatshisname leaving actually does a good job of explaining why.

[Falsate]

It went downhill for you, but it had no effect on me. Are you saying the game affected you emotionally that you felt there was a part of the story left out?

[Little Miss Scarlett]

After that point it just turned into dungeon crawling, with a pretty uninteresting cutscene thrown in every five hours. Before then, the characters did interact a bit, not so much as other FF games, but still better than nothing. Then apart from a few exceptions, whenever there was a cutscene it was just them taking about what they were going to do next.


The story was actually quite interesting if you take the time to think about it, but I don't think it was very well presented. Well, they obviously did something wrong considering how many people dislike the game.

...And the judges would've been much more endearing if I could tell which one was which.

[Eighty88Eight]

I think its to XII's credit that it's so divisive to the fan base. And although it got mostly fantastic reviews, if you really look at them closely there is a lot of divisiveness there too. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[nufftings]

wow lots of diff opins but, 4 me the abs system was what made this game great .dont get me wrong i luv turn based combat but the abs system felt like natural game progression the only ting i would complain about was the zodiac spear that was a hustle 2 get u 2 buy the guide!! the monster club was the nuts!! the feelin u get when u fufill the parameters 2 make monsters appear(again u defo needed guide) and then the final monster has about 30 energy bars!!! ican c why pepole were let down and its interestin 2 hear about the guy leaving/dyin.remember this is a ps2 game were talkin about.:D

[Moklin]

wow lots of diff opins but, 4 me the abs system was what made this game great .dont get me wrong i luv turn based combat but the abs system felt like natural game progression the only ting i would complain about was the zodiac spear that was a hustle 2 get u 2 buy the guide!! the monster club was the nuts!! the feelin u get when u fufill the parameters 2 make monsters appear(again u defo needed guide) and then the final monster has about 30 energy bars!!! ican c why pepole were let down and its interestin 2 hear about the guy leaving/dyin.remember this is a ps2 game were talkin about.:D

right..................................:wtf:

[moogleboi]

XII is almost the only main FF game I didn't complete, so that says something. I can't remember why, but I know I didn't think it was that great in some areas.

I'm probably a minority in saying the AI system was a cool feature.

[Nex]

XII is almost the only main FF game I didn't complete, so that says something. I can't remember why, but I know I didn't think it was that great in some areas.

I'm probably a minority in saying the AI system was a cool feature.

Trust me, that's not a minority. The people who didn't like FF12 are louder, not more common. I made a poll on a major gaming website recently and about 80% of all votes like some aspect of the game, especially the battle system. The Gambit system was critically praised and the majority of fans like it.

[Death Penalty]

Trust me, that's not a minority. The people who didn't like FF12 are louder, not more common. I made a poll on a major gaming website recently and about 80% of all votes like some aspect of the game, especially the battle system. The Gambit system was critically praised and the majority of fans like it.

I don't like the gambit system because it encourages you not to play the game, rather to watch your characters play it for you. I know that superbosses like Yiazmat practically required that all of your characters (party leader included) were set on a strict automatic routine. That's just not fun to me.

[Falsate]

Not to mention how tedious it could be to to watch them defeat that damn thing. In the ending, I look back at FF12 as a great time playing it and was different.

[nufftings]

right..................................:wtf:
right what say somthing u fool!!!!

I don't like the gambit system because it encourages you not to play the game, rather to watch your characters play it for you. I know that superbosses like Yiazmat practically required that all of your characters (party leader included) were set on a strict automatic routine. That's just not fun to me.
but has a boss like yiazmat been dun before.....no. i went and made somthing 2 eat while my party kicked ass. i bet moklin could not even fufill the parameters 2 get him up. mug

[Death Penalty]

but has a boss like yiazmat been dun before.....no. i went and made somthing 2 eat while my party kicked ass. i bet moklin could not even fufill the parameters 2 get him up. mug

The real question is is a boss that takes hours of you doing nothing fun? No, no it's not.

[Naunen]

right what say somthing u fool!!!!


but has a boss like yiazmat been dun before.....no. i went and made somthing 2 eat while my party kicked ass. i bet moklin could not even fufill the parameters 2 get him up. mug

----Har har. You're funny already. Use http://www.finalfantasy-xiii.net/forums/images/dark_vb_v2/buttons/edit.gif if you've got something extra to say instead of double-posting. -_-

[Obscura]

The story plus Vaan/Penelo were a let down, the hunt system was alright though. Not a horrible game, but it shouldn't have been a Final Fantasy.

[SkyRav]

The battle system to me was the best out of all the other games. I loved messing around with different gambit combinations (berserk + haste = 3x speed yayyy! kick ass!). The story suked though and arcadias buildings looked like something from mister roger's neighborhood >O. Characters werent that great either besides Balthier, he was the leading man.

[Frost]

The game in my opinion was awesome.

[Element Engine]

It was a solid game, but in no way revolutionary.

[PKK]

The only thing I really like in XII, was the scenario. It's really awesome.

[Purple]

I thought this game was great. A Balthier spin off for the PS3 please. (As if, I know)

[ffxiiielixir]

I like the scenario, but I just didn't connect to the characters. Some more subtle interaction, personal cutscenes would've done the trick. I like the change in battle system, but I hate the License Board. It's a bore & I filled that bxtch with the quickness.

[AngelCaelum]

I love FFXII!! =D:D:D:D
The characters are less annoying when compared to those of FFX AND FFX-2(In my opinion anyway) I couldnt stand some of the characters in FFX!!!!!!! >_<
The plot is simply awesome in FF12
the only thing i was not too fond of was the license board.......

[Fun Yun Fang]

Erm. Well, it balanced itself out in my opinion.

I will admit,the storyline was a big BIG letdown for me. pretty much spend all the time running around following the footsteps of 'king raithwall' in an attempt to stop the empire.
I mean, I wouldnt mind a different setting for once, please. VII had Shinra. X had Yevon. they were both different to the typical thinking of 'bad character(s) - we must make it an army or empire!'. Shinra was killing off the planet. Yevon was blindly leading the people. It made the storylines deeper, and more involving.

The music? disappointed. I know, I know 'Uematsu wasnt there for XII' but thats still no excuse to make a letdown of a soundtrack.

We had a few original characters, I suppose. Balthier > Cid = Tidus > Jecht. They both had the whole 'bad father figure' thing, so that disappointed me. It wouldnt be much of a jump to assume that Vaan and Tidus are pretty similar, as is Rikku and Penelo. Yuna and Ashe both had the whole 'royalty of the land' thing thrust upon them. Common again. Fran was a nice change. and XII brung forward the Viera. and I will praise them on making a good race like that (one which I hope should be involved in XIV). Basche was...okay. Praise to them on Gabranth, though. He's just the sort of twisted, on-off baddy a good game should have. One which shows he has brains, and can think for himself. He also had an amazing weapon, but im not going into that whole spear/pole - two swords.

I liked the whole Guest character tag-along. but the constant extra nursing of some of them were horrible.

Well, I suppose its not as good as it is bad. but its not exactly the worst thing to come from square (X-2)

[WOLFPACK]

I thought so.I was cursed out and called names by people on Gamefaqs..so I quit that forum/site...

The mistreatment I received there caused me to hate the game and I never finished it.