Ah, yes, Final Fantasy XII, one of the last titles on the PS2. I recently found it in my brother's room, and since he has a 360, I decided to "borrow" this game.
Now, from a perspective, this game has awesome graphics for PS2. The cutscenes look meh 360 type, and even the battles look cool. If the voice acting hadn't been lackluster, this could have been extremely good.
The battle system is summed up in one word: WAIT. As in, I have to wait to attack, wait to cast spells, and wait for my opponent to hurt me. Sounds fun, doesn't it?
Characters are bland at worst, whimsical at best. Vaan sounds like he's a modern day Sonic the Hedgehog, off being a do-gooder who pisses off the government. Basch is the guy who got screwed who always apologizes. Balthier is the classy sky pirate who somehow wants to help Vaan. Fran is kind of like the Final Fantasy version of a Playboy bunny. Penelo is the common "protagonist's childhood friend". Princess Ashe, from what I've seen, is a moody drama queen who hates being a peasant (but whatever, her husband and father both died, so who cares).
Sounds are pretty good, okay for a PS2 game. Kind of down for a Final Fantasy, but still mediocre.
Story is EXTREMELY confusing, but still fun to play. There are a lot of plot twists, some good, some bad.
Special Parts: The License Board was a factor in this. Using License points, you can obtain Licenses (not drivers, silly), such as weapon capabilities. Gambits are Square's way of saying "Here's a complicated battle scheme to play with....oh, and so you don't kill yourself issuing commands manually, here's something to help you issue them beforehand."
Overall, I have enjoyed this game. I am already at the part where you rescue Penelo in the mines in Bhujerba.
So any comments about this game?
FF2 and FF12 are decently fun at times but I honestly few them as horrible compared to the rest of the series. If you like 12, I recommend FF4, 6, 7, and 9.
But yeah, fun stuff.
Unlikable characters + Meh plot + typical MMORPG battle system = Fail
The game was beyond disappointing for me. If the story and characters(Bathier aside) weren't so unlikable I'd totally finish the game. I really didn't mind the battle system much, yeah it bugged me that it wasn't traditional but I figured "hey if the story is good who cares". Unfortunately, the story is just...bland beyond belief.
There is a reason why Vaan wasn't in Dissidia and Gabranth was there in his place. Vaan is possibly the worst main character in any RPG ever, and Square Enix knows it and regrets it.
A thread, discussing experiences about a particular game? Where have I seen it before...
Anyway, I'm not bothering to play through XII. I want my Lord of the Rings Star Wars hybrids out of my RPGs, thank you.
As soon as I met Balthier, I was like "Why am I playing as sucky Vaan again?"
I finished this game and will give scores:
Graphics: 8/10. These were good, for the most part.
Gameplay: 4/10. The MMO type battle system was cool at best, crappy at worst. Also, lazy gamers only have to walk around and gambits do the rest.
Story: 6/10. The story was pretty good, since Vaan didn't play a major role.
Characters: 2/10. This is THE worst part of the game. Mainly because of Vaan, who is the weirdest/gayest RPG protagonist I have ever seen. Oh, and he's just going along for the ride. 8/10 if Balthier; 7/10 if Ashe; both with Vaan and Penelo being cut and a Moogle and Bangaa taking their places.
Music: 6/10. Do I need say more?
Replay Value: 2/10. The ONLY reason to replay is to re-do the story.
Overall: 4/10.
tl;dr game is okay. Vaan sucks.
Just a quick question for people. Between this and FFX, which one would you suggest getting? Thanks in advance.
Quote from: Gamree on February 16, 2010, 10:39:30 PM
Just a quick question for people. Between this and FFX, which one would you suggest getting? Thanks in advance.
X by a landslide.
Probably X.
Holy intercourse play Final Fantasy X over XII. It's a hell of a lot easier but the characters, story, gameplay, and music are so unbelievably superior in comparison.
Oh good. Glad to see it's one-sided. That makes making a decision that much easier. =D
I played through X and gave it a 7.5/10.
Quote from: Violet on February 17, 2010, 07:54:50 PM
I played through X and gave it a 7.5/10.
Weak
It's better than a C. Aside from Lost Odyssey it's probably the closest to traditional JRPG perfection.