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I was absolutely disappointed in FFXII for several reasons. The story had loads of potential and I admit I was thoroughly enjoying it for the first few parts of the game. I was looking forward to having so many things cleared up or things to be explained, but the thrill just stayed where it was and never got better. There was so much to be seen and had with lots of the characters and the storyline, but instead of expanding on this, most of your gameplay hours are spent on those tedious dungeons that don't really change from one to the next. Hack and slash for a few hours is all I can remember from those.
The cutscenes were very well done, and the voice-acting really came through this time for the English release, however, it only pointed out more just how much more the story could've been developed, and how much more the characters could've developed. A nice five minute cutscene turns almost redundant before your eyes as you spent the next 389247 hours in a dungeon you'd rather not do.
Oh, and by the end of the game, I just had to ask the question: Did Vaan and Penelo *really* have to be in the game? Penelo was a useless character in terms of plot, and Ashe--in my opinion--would've held fine on her own. Vaan was particularly useless in comparison to the amount of attention they gave him.
I think the character development.... just sucked. Vaan had no reason to be in the game because he never had a role to play. Same as Penelo.
And I totally fell for the "traitor" thing for Basch...PFFFTTT ya right. You forget about it after about an hour of having him. Fran was OK but her story is barely dealt. Balthier was the bst character but as Fran, his story didnt develop as well either.
The only real character that devloped was Ashe, but after a while it she just became so cliche.
I'm not going to argue on the story because it can be summed up in two words....Empire and Nethicite.
C'mon S-E HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT MAKES AN FF GAME FANTASTIC !!??
I loved FFXII, but I agree that the story was sub-par. The game was extremely fun with the new battle system, but the story never really had any 'wow' moments except for maybe the beginning and end of the game IMO. The middle is where it really lacked.
I'm glad that they didn't just recycle the typical plot/character devices used in previous games - such as the melodromatic love stories and Identity crisis themes as suggested by Desi.
The story is just more mature, more political and you actually have to use your brain to sometimes fill in the gaps - this is a positive thing, I think, as it doesn't bludgeon you over the head with obvious exposition scenes that explain every last detail of the story/characters or thrust forced 'emotional' scenes on you every five minutes. It's just a different style of writing to previous games and that's no bad thing. The answers to the questions raised by the story are all there, you just have to work some of them out for yourself rather than the game holding you by the hand and telling you everything. It actually credits the player with having some intelligence in that some aspects are open to the individual interpretation of the player.
The gambit system seemed a little odd at first, but becomes more flexible and vital as you progress. It's depth is incredible and the more effort you put into using it, the more tactics and strategies become available to you. It's another example of having to use your brain to get the best out of the game, and this is a positive thing.
As for Vaan not having a role to play, he is mainly there to be the eyes and ears of the player - he is not meant to be the typical 'young boy with a destiny' character as seen in previous FF games. Is that really a bad thing? He is an ordinary boy thrown into an extraordinary situation and he grows and matures as a result of his experiences. His character development is just more subtle than what we are used to seeing in the FF series. His comparitive 'ordinariness' just makes everyone else seem more impressive, more larger than life - Ashe for example would not have as strong a presence as she does if we were controlling her and seeing the story from her point of view.
To sum up, FFXII is in my opinion one of those rare games that doesn't sugar coat or dumb down anything in it's attempt to appeal to mass audiences and it actually treats the player with the courtesy of assuming they have some intelligence. This is not to say that previous FF games don't do this, it's just that FFXII is the best example so far.
As for Vaan not having a role to play, he is mainly there to be the eyes and ears of the player - he is not meant to be the typical 'young boy with a destiny' character as seen in previous FF games. Is that really a bad thing? He is an ordinary boy thrown into an extraordinary situation and he grows and matures as a result of his experiences. His character development is just more subtle than what we are used to seeing in the FF series.
Pretty much.
I'm not going to argue about story here but I will defend Penelo. I used to hate that girl but when I actually got around to looking at her character I apperciated it. Penelo, is a pessimist always seeing the bad end of things(opposite of Vaan) and hands down one of the more mature and down to earth female characters in FF. She doesn't run around acting like a kid but more as an adult figure in the story since no one else is there to be it(everyone else are rebels of some kind). Now I can agree that she doesn't develop a lot but mainly because she doesn't need too.
Oh and Fran brought sexy back. Those other f***ers don't know how to act. And she is what? 200 years old! I swear she had already developed her character in 200 years.
I was just so pissed off on how the game turned out. I was convinced that it would be one of the best FFs, heck even Famitsu gave it a perfect score.
I guess I jumped the gun.
My breakdown of it:
OKish plot/story but executed in a poor way
Music lacked that vibe
Characters had no development and they werent a "team." Where is the emotion for teh characters? I didnt find any.
Gameplay is fun, but I prefer originallity
So overall its just a total letdown compared to other FFs.
FF12 is the only one since 7 i havent played (excluding 11) i will play it just because...i hope 13 doesnt dissapoint although im starting to have my doubts...
Well...I actually really liked it. Maybe I'm just easy to please, but I found it really fun after you get past the first couple hours of the beginning. I didn't really like how a lot of the people looked the same, though. Other than that, I loved it.
I used to love it... Now I don't even touch it. 120 hours is long enough for me. I agree with the Vaan/Penelo thing. Neither of them had ANY role at all. If it were Reks instead of Vaan it would've been better. Penelo shouldn't even exist.
I'm at the last part before the final level, and I'm almost afraid to touch the game again. I've learnt to fear the dull dungeons.
The battle system is great, but I find the Espers are totally useless. Your party could do a hell lot more damage than just you and an Esper, making them completely redundant. The Quickenings were decent, but were only useful against espers, bosses, and rare monsters. I'm not wasting all of my MP on a single monster.
The license system is another great thing. I get pissed when I have to reach a certain level or get a certain job to wield a weapon.
Now the weapons were basically the same as the other games. Ultima is only the fourth most powerful weapon now. Along with the original ones, there are many other powerful weapons that are XII exclusive. Like the Tournesol, Wyrmhero Blade, or the Zoidac Spear. That's good.
The storyline really is lacking. Evil Empire destroys another empire, and a member of the noble family of that empire seeks to restore their country to its former glory. Can anyone say "Cliche?"
Overall, I'd rate it a 7/10. It was good at first, but... Well, it gets worse as it progresses.
I'll probably never do another playthrough on this game again. I've never been so pissed off on an FF game. Its been nearly 5 years since the last "real FF" and after 5 years.... we get this? *breaks disc in half*
Damn hard to beleive the reaction to the game from FF fans, we havent gotten a worthy FF games since FFX..i guess it goes without saying something is missing..Sakaguchi. Fingers crossed for FFXIII, hope it doesnt dissapoint
Damn hard to beleive the reaction to the game from FF fans, we havent gotten a worthy FF games since FFX..i guess it goes without saying something is missing..Sakaguchi. Fingers crossed for FFXIII, hope it doesnt dissapoint
Just so you know Sakaguchi(excutive producer means nothing) didn't work on FFX and X sucked anyway.
Just so you know Sakaguchi(excutive producer means nothing) didn't work on FFX and X sucked anyway.
umm Sakaguchi was executive producer of Final Fantasy X, and the game was friggin awesome..it went downhill from FFX-2 on, and sakaguchi is listed as executive producer for that too, but he really had little to do with that game
Executive producer means alot, perhaps not every day development of the title, but he had to do with the finances, he had to say this is good, this is not good and so on, so its obvious how that may have an impact in what direction the game takes..i beleive he was in the process of leaving square when FFx-2 came around
A Letdown *no spoilers*
