Playing FFXII makes me weep

RPGC Community The FFCompendium Forum
1

This game is really really good, and it’s a damn shame it’s probably going to be the last decent FF from now on. Playing this almost makes me forgot how they’ve driven the franchise into the ground with 5 million remakes of FF 1-5, and 20 FFVII sequels, and 50 FFXIII games and shit FF cameos, and this and that, but then I remember, and then I cry. Playing this game reminds me that yes, there was a time about 10 years ago where Squaresoft was one of the premier developers in gaming, and churned out quality title after quality title (and Ehergeiz, but back then they could’ve easily been forgiven).

FFXII’s story is the best since tactics. The english script is just awesome. The pseudo-olde English accents and dialogue actually fit the Shakespearian world of Ivalice rather well (I always thought FFT was Shakespearian in nature). The actual voice acting for the most part is good, kinda spotty in parts, but the best acted Final Fantasy yet. Fran’s voice kinda gives me shivers, but then she’s fucking hot as hell, so I look past it.

The battle system is kinda boring. Not because battles are too easy- Lord knows I’ve had my share of close calls- but because you dont actually do a whole lot. I suppose it’s like WoW meets ATB (of course you all know this, but… yeah), and going through the license board is tedious, yet strangely addicting. I like using it for Abilities and parameters, but it’s retarded I need to do it to be able to use equipment. It’s equally retarded I have to go though all that trouble to get a higher level technic, and then scrape together the cash to buy it to actually be able to USE it.

Since it takes place in Ivalice, some nods to FFT would be nice. I know the summons are named after the zodiac monsters, but why not some references to locales, or some bits of music? Of course that’s a personal preference.

So those are my thoughts so far. Despite the different battle system and different character designs (Non-Nomura is always good), it feels more like a Final Fantasy then the few that came before it.

oh, and bring back the Kitty moogles, I’m sick of the bunny ones.

2

If you are enjoying it why whine about the unknown quality of next FFs? You don’t have to play FF: Chocobo pies bakery if you don’t like the concept.

3

I’m assuming you haven’t finished the game to make such a statement.

4

I agree that FF12 has a great story. It just doesn’t have as much content as most games.

5

I can’t stand to play FFXII. I stopped about half-way through =/

6

I havent, but 8, 9, X-2’s stories were all Ass. X’s was actually pretty good, but FFT’s is still the best of the “Disc-era” FF’s.

7

Like sidequests, etc? Yeah… I was surprised. There’s really only a few side missions (if you count the Mark hunt as one), but they’re mostly pretty lengthy. A lot of them you dont get a whole lot of stuff for. I’ve just been doing the Mark hunt as an reason to gain LP and loot along the way instead of just mindlessly running around killing things for hours on end. Another thing that disappointed me is the music. Easily the second worst of the franchise (with FFX-2 being the worst). The music sets the mood, and does what its’ supposed to, but there’s no stand out tunes.

8

Not just the sidequests. There are huge stretches of rather pointless dungeons in between story sequences.
Just like the story, the music is more subtle than previous games. It’s still quality, but it’s a very different quality.

9

I try to be as kind as Cid but… I can’t. I just can’t. It’s like FFT, but without the part where you were made to actually give a crap about the characters.
It bored the hell out of me.

10

You’re kinder than I am. :stuck_out_tongue:

11

The idea of the story and the plot I was fine with, but the character development in XII is absolutely nowhere to be seen. I’m not asking for a soap opera, but in the final dungeon, Vaan’s take on the whole situation is pretty much “lol this is fun let’s keep going”. XII’s cast, aside from Ashe (who bordered on annoying with all the moaning), was very static. The PCs started strong and they all had tremendous potential, but there was almost no interaction between them and there was little passion for their quest. “There’s nothing better to do so let’s save the world!”

Vaan: This is so cool! We’re killing stuff on a neat adventure!
Balthier: I’m here to save the day! I suppose I’ll help the princess, after all, there may be treasure ::effeminate finger wave::
Fran: The mist is thick here (did she say anything else the entire game?)
Basch: Your wish is my command, Ashe.
Penelo: ? I honestly can’t remember her showing any emotion about anything.

Ashe was the only character who had a reason to be fighting. The only character XII gave me a reason to care about.

As a reference, I hated VIII with a passion, but the game had a much stronger cast that was rather memorable. They interacted with each other, they joked with each other, they cared for each other. I will always remember them, even though I didn’t like them. XII? Not so much. I’ll remember Penelo as my healer, Ashe as my tank and Vaan as my DD, but not much else…especially the other three. Well, I’ll remember Basch as a tremendous waste of potential.

As a tactical and challenging game, FFXI was outstanding and I absolutely loved it. The mark hunts were great fun and I enjoyed them more than anything else FF has offered offline since VI. (Well, I do have an exception: X-2 but defending that title is generally pointless…oh the horrah! The pure and holy lady Yuna reduced to a skanky ho :hahaha; ).

12

She was no more a “skanky ho” than almost any girl of her age in summertime in modern ages. She was liberated from her previous positions mainly because she realized they were all total bunk. People have often gone crazy over her transformation, but to be honest it makes perfect sense. When you’ve lived your whole life thinking you’d sacrifice yourself to the greater good, and you found out that was all a lie and you’d wasted every Saturday night of your youth being holy for nothing, what would you do?

13

I really felt sorry for Basch. Since I didn’t put him in my party, I literally never saw him again after his recruitment. And what the HELL was with that outfit?

14

The obvious answer is, of course, imitating Lara Croft.

15

Originally Posted by Cless Alvein
The obvious answer is, of course, imitating Lara Croft.

Wait, I didn’t know Croft was a pop singer.

16

Umm… I’m not done yet, can you use spoiler tags? Thanks.

17

With FFX-2?

18

Oh, no, I should’ve quoted Locke. I didnt read his whole post because it alluded to the ending.

19

There’s no spoilers, unless you consider the fact that character development stops about 25% of the way into the game to be a spoiler.

20

Get some beers, go to the disco and run wild!
FFX-2 was kind of odd, the first FFX was kind of, see what happens when you live your whole life without questioning your faith. FFX-2 was like, see what happens when you throw faith completely out the window, thing.

Also, what kind of fucking religion has a matron of respect like Lady Yunalesca? I mean can you just see a female nowadays from an orthodox faith dress like her?!