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Quote (Zeromus_X @ 1st November 2006 21:32)

I'm enjoying it so far. I'm pretty blown away by the expansiveness of it, the last time the beginning town blew me away with its size was FFIX (which makes it seem like they give special treatment to every three games in the series ).

Which is one of the reasons I decided to take a look at it. I agree with Dell about the story/characters looking to be ripped off from the FFX series and I never was into that style. In fact, pretty much all the assumptions he's harboring also left me figuring to let it pass.

But that I think that special treatment your talking about is a guy by the name of Hiroyuki Itô. He directed my favorite Final Fantasy (VI) and my second favorite (IX) and he's come back for this one, and for that, I was willing to put my doubts aside.

I'm only a few hours in, but it seems my trust in him has paid off. The gambit system is taking some getting used to and I'm not too thrilled about having to buy all my skills, but the gameplay's smooth and the story is moving along a bit quicker than usual, which I like. All in all, I think I'm gonna like this one.

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Arts

Farts

Twarts

I figure I'll get it and play it over winter break. But wow, you guys are getting me excited, the last thing I need is an addicting video game right now, haha.

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The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

I've been playing it for about 2 weeks and I am in love with the game, the characters, the license board and the new combat system. From how far I've been in the game, I can honestly say it's an involving storyline, much like FFVI... The graphics and FMVs are amazing, as well.

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"You underestimate the strength of a Jedi's mind, Brejik. A mistake you won't live to regret, " -Bastila Shan(Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic)

Quote (Aether Master @ 13th November 2006 02:09)

I've been playing it for about 2 weeks and I am in love with the game, the characters, the license board and the new combat system. From how far I've been in the game, I can honestly say it's an involving storyline, much like FFVI... The graphics and FMVs are amazing, as well.

Oh good if the story is like 6 and the system works i really want it now.

I hate how they never release anything in england until its been out everyware ese for about a year.

Quote (Aether Master @ 12th November 2006 21:09)

I've been playing it for about 2 weeks and I am in love with the game, the characters, the license board and the new combat system. From how far I've been in the game, I can honestly say it's an involving storyline, much like FFVI... The graphics and FMVs are amazing, as well.

i think its sort of a mix between VI and Tactics. two great stories in my mind

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

Sad to say, unless XIV is any good, XII is going to be the last new Final Fantasy I play mainly because XII just doesn't look at all appealing to me. Yes, the story is very much like Tactics(PSX version) with a good portion of it a lot like Final Fantasy VI. Besides that, the airships are very Star Wars-esque and the battles near the beginning are pretty cool.

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"You underestimate the strength of a Jedi's mind, Brejik. A mistake you won't live to regret, " -Bastila Shan(Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic)

Hmm...I'm going to keep buying FF until they stop making it, but I will say that I strongly believe S-E needs to STOP.

I'm kind of like...I'll be sad if FF stops, but I really think it should.

FF12 is good so far. It's pretty massive, but the battle system is considerably less annoying than the past FFs.

Then again, it doesn't feel very FF-ish because of that, but..hey. :\

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"You're so beautiful! ...You're a man...?!"
-man in Troia bar, to Cecil

Quote (Aether Master @ 12th November 2006 21:09)

I've been playing it for about 2 weeks and I am in love with the game, the characters, the license board and the new combat system. From how far I've been in the game, I can honestly say it's an involving storyline, much like FFVI... The graphics and FMVs are amazing, as well.

Quote

Sad to say, unless XIV is any good, XII is going to be the last new Final Fantasy I play mainly because XII just doesn't look at all appealing to me. Yes, the story is very much like Tactics(PSX version) with a good portion of it a lot like Final Fantasy VI. Besides that, the airships are very Star Wars-esque and the battles near the beginning are pretty cool.

Wait, I'm confused, you were in love with it yesterday, but the next day it's not at all appealing?

What happened?

--------------------

The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

I'm nearing 60 hours in, and I still love it.

The hunts are great, I like how you can do them pretty much any time, as long as you have a teleport stone and access to an orange crystal.

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I had an old signature. Now I've changed it.

Regarding that...does anyone know where I can farm Teleport Crystals with relative ease? The only ones I've been getting are from Montblanc for clearing missions and such, and even then, I usually use them to do more hunts and then get back on track with the story.

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OSonic Rave
/ \Last Arcanum
[ ]Strike Raid
XRagnarok

For that, Zeromus, go to the Bazaar in Rabanastre and talk to the merchant from the clan. He sells you teleport stones, and other things depending on your rank.

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I had an old signature. Now I've changed it.

I am all for FFXII...in more ways than one! The graphics, gameplay, and ADB system are astounding.

For one, the liscensing board is a huge improvement over the sphere grid from X and X-2, because you are not bound to one certain path, you can have any character learn any kind of attack, wield any weapon, and wear any armor or accessory in the game. I can live with only one quickening per person, but one summoning per person seems kinda limited, depending on how many total there are in the game. Good thing they only cost 10 pts!!!

secondly, the graphics are amazing, mimicking those of FFX and X-2 in obvious ways, but with one large difference. This is that not only are there more CG scenes, but the fact that the buildings are insanely detailed

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

and even weather comes into play, eventually changing up the kinds of monsters on the field.

Some of these factors can really affect the way you level up.

I also love the fact of learning any skill with any character. This way, for those of you who are tired of seeing the girl cure and heal and attack from a distance can now have Ashe battle with broadswords (by default!!) as well as equip them with hammers, black magic, and ninja moves...all at the same time.Besides that though, i usually set my characters first learned attacks to their personalities, such as black magic, maces/hammers/swords, hvy armor, and Fire/dark attacks to Basch's repetoire of skills liscenced.

One downside i have seen is the long waits between scenes or areas, where music is playing and the scene is loading. This can get annoying, but is worthwhile to wait out. Another thing annoying me is how hard it is to earn gil. Selling my wares i find isnt enough to get the skill worth 9000 gil!!! Players of tactics/T.A. will recognize many areas

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

including Giza Plains, Ozmone field, The Jagd's, and the Nu mou, Viera, and moogles.

Followers of the classic tactical RPG's will love this game, even though it is set in an RPG world almost void of walking on squares to cross a distance.

Be aware of the ADB (Active Dimension Battle) System though. This new system allows the entire area as battle field, so numbers of monsters can eventually culminate and maul your team ded! If used well, it can be totally to your advantage.

Review by DrkMagimaster282
Included my opinions in it too, just had a lot of spare time to gather my thought on the game for others to view for an idea...

This post has been edited by DrkMagimaster282 on 14th November 2006 23:32

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<DrkMagimaster282> MWAHAHA. I,
DrkMagimaster282, shall wreak havoc and destroy...
<Mother>TIIIIIIMMYYY...are you planning evil, unkind revenge again in the bathroom??
<DrkMagimaster282>UMMMMMMMM...NO.

CoN day is May 27th, 2005
Join elder-geek.com for unbiased reviews, no console wars here...

the only thing i can find to complain about is that there is a boss every six seconds. it makes finding new strategies very annoying.

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

I find the expansiveness of the areas and the length it takes to travel through the world to get along the story more annoying, I usually look forward to boss battles!

Quote (Elena99)

For that, Zeromus, go to the Bazaar in Rabanastre and talk to the merchant from the clan. He sells you teleport stones, and other things depending on your rank.

Thanks a bunch, Elena! I was wondering where I could get more. Whew. I'm glad they aren't only found. xD

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OSonic Rave
/ \Last Arcanum
[ ]Strike Raid
XRagnarok

Oops, I meant to type in XIII, haha.

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"You underestimate the strength of a Jedi's mind, Brejik. A mistake you won't live to regret, " -Bastila Shan(Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic)

The guy in Balfonheim sells stones [200g] in the game, but you can buy 'em from the clan provisioner in Muthru Bazaar if you're a Headhunter, which means killing ten marks and having thirty thousand clan points. I really wish I had done more hunts earlier in the game, to get the Bubble Belt and Bravery/Faith. Haven't gone back down to fight the second boss at "the place south of the Feywood" just yet, but those should be of great aid.

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It's gonna be a glorious day
I feel my luck can change

I might try it when my brother comes back for his holidays with the only working PS2 we got... Dammit it was a gift for the 3 of us! not only him; cheap bastard.

The reviews are not really good so far. I tend to read bad reviews (high score reviews tend to only say that the game rocks without any argument).

Some points that disgusts me:
- The license system (for weapons & armor)
- Random treasure chest contents
- Battle-wise, characters aren't much unique

Overall, it looks like an average game. I will still have to rent it.

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Sayonara

Quote (Zodiac @ 16th November 2006 01:14)

-Battle-wise, characters aren't much unique

Actually, the characters just aren't unique in general.

I'm a big fan of character development/social structure in video games, and I have to say that FFXII is extremely disappointing. I haven't thought any of these characters to be remotely interesting - in fact, they all seem to be very plain personalities merely hiding under exotic masks (thief, criminal, princess, "viera," ...sure, it sounds like an exciting mix, but the chemistry of this crew is pretty lame.)

The only thing I really like about any of these characters is Fran's accent. Their personalities are too typical. Balthier, the unlikable and self-interested dragalong-of-criminal-descent; Basch, the victimized-yet-loyal knight; Penelo, the useless concerned friend of Vaan, the annoying common-thief-who-someday-wants-to-be-a-blank; and Ashe, the overly-predictable and self-righteous princess. And so on.

I give my solemn thanks, though, that Vaan and Ashe did not end up romantically involved...though that may have just been the writers' fate. With so little chemistry of any kind, positive or negative, it would be kind of hard to develop that sort of thing, wouldn't it?

The storyline is typical of older FFs, and I don't really mind so much, but the fact still remains that it is slightly to linear and...well...yeah, predictable.

By the way, did anyone else notice that the voiceovers sounded like they were all done in a can of tuna?

As far as gameplay goes, I'm sorry to admit that I never really cared for gameplay all that much. I'm just a lover of a good cast and a good story who found something wonderful in the FF series.

...Sadly, FFXII has not been up to par.

And...Oh, Uematsu - it's just not the same without you!

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"You're so beautiful! ...You're a man...?!"
-man in Troia bar, to Cecil

How much did you play of it, Prince? From the way you post, it sounds like you finished the game.

About the characters not being unique: while that is true, it's because the game is allowing the player to make the character what they want. Personally, I've made Fran and Penelo my long-range magic-users, on bows and crossbows respectively, with Basch as the heavy-hitter axe-wielder, Balthier with poles and spears, and Ashe and Vaan as the sword users. You can give people different magic, too, so you could have a white mage, black mage, time mage, green mage, arcane mage, etc. You can hand out stats as you like, and get people on light armour, mystic armour, or heavy armour.

I didn't like the licence system at first, but that was before I understood it. Now, I love it. You also get LP from doing hunts, so if you find you're low, just go on a hunt.

I do agree about Vaan, however; I don't like him at all. I would also love an explanation about why these characters are able to do Quickenings. I can see why Fran would be able to, and maybe Balthier (he could have learned from Fran), but Penello?



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I had an old signature. Now I've changed it.

I'm actually not that far into it (stopped playing last night at the fight with Vossler,) but I've been thoroughly spoiled by friends.

And I was speaking on the characters' personalities, not their customability - unless you were addressing Zodiac.

I'm not picky about gameplay. :\ As gameplay goes, I love it (except the constant bosses, but maybe that's just this point of the game.)

Though, to be honest, I've been switching back and forth between playing FFXII and FFIV, and...so far, IV still has my attention. (laughter)

This post has been edited by PrinceofDamycan on 16th November 2006 21:32

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"You're so beautiful! ...You're a man...?!"
-man in Troia bar, to Cecil

PrinceofDamycan, your judgement of character personality based on spoilers provided by friends is folly. Personality cannot be coveyed by secondary sources, you must witness them yourself. Your placement in the game is still too early, there is much yet of the characters you must observe.

Vaan and Panelo are NOT the heroes, you must pay attention to the game to deduct who are the true heroes. Indeed the kids are playable at the start, and Vaan fufills the role of player avatar, but they are witnesses, sidekicks even, to the real actors of the plot. Expecting Vaan and Panelo to be central, or consistently useful even, will only bring disappointment because that is not their roles. For once, the teen stars are not superhuman. Your one-line pigeon-holes of characters, Prince, are only vaguely accurate at best.

I am surprised there is so little conversation about this game. Am I to seriously believe that only two threads in a Final Fantasy Forum discussing any relevance to the post-released FFXII? Even still, there is only a post every two days in this thread. Are people not playing this game? Are they only playing this game to ignore forums? I'm only at the edge of finishing the storyline, and I feel already there is an essay's worth of reflection and debate.

Thus far with any negative I've seen to the game, the claims are only mildly valid, but weak. Furthermore, those that give negative response to the game seem to always fall into the category of players that played less than 10 hours into the game. This is not a 15 hour game, it is not a 30 hour game. This is a 50 hour game. Even then, that is a conservative estimation for a player who rushes through story as best as he can. It would behoove critics to compose proper argumentation with their findings of fault. This is not a hard task to do. Simply remember that along with the claim, there should be specific evidence, an actual citation from the game. Without it, others cannot see where judgement is falling, and credibility is dismissed.

If the victory pose after the boss battles gets too annoying, you CAN shortcut it. Simply pause the game before the death animation finishes, and press X to skip the scene. You will be instantly brought back to gameplay, avoiding the cheesy congratulations.

This post has been edited by SaintWeapon on 17th November 2006 00:35

im also pretty surpirised that (from what ive seen)

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

there isn't a love story undertoning the game

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

You're supposed to be grateful, chocobos.

But yeah, the ending theme song seems too out of place, but it's a pretty song, I guess. >_>

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OSonic Rave
/ \Last Arcanum
[ ]Strike Raid
XRagnarok

oh trust me, i am grateful. theres nothing worse than having to sit through a sappy love scene (yes i hated it in VIII too)

im currently at Balfonheim port, and taking it slowly. i dont want to miss anything

Edit

i cant believe i spelled 'scene' as 'seen'. EYE CNT TPY

This post has been edited by dont chocobos rule? on 17th November 2006 02:28

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

I'm rather fond of all the characters, but I can't stand how Ashe can't talk without a huge sigh. Every time they cut to her or show her face, she moans and groans. Just got through Ridorana Cataract and she must've done it five times in a row in one scene. But, so far I just breached 100 hours into the game and am enjoying the late-game peace. Found about 40 of the 80 rare monsters with a little trial and error, but I really loathe having to go back into Giruvegan or the Pharos; those places were pure evil and I can't stand 'em.
Anyone else found a lot of rare game yet?

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It's gonna be a glorious day
I feel my luck can change

ive found about three, three meaning killed three. i got lazy while i was training, ive seen about 50

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

One good point about dungeons is their immersiveness. It's not just a few sections strung together to get to an end. There's always some sort of trick to keep you from merrily strolling through. Quite often there's a moment of considering whether to push through at the same pace, that small element of fear, but more importantly the feeling of letting the place sink in. You know that where you tread is untreaded, this sense of honor in discovery.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

The aesthetics are simply gorgeous, I bet you at least enjoyed the detail of Giruvegan. The size of Ridorana is absolutely stunning, the sight before entering is jarring, giving that epic sense of adventure. I was elated to find windows peering outside, the thought such beautiful sky juxtaposed outside the walls of a legendary, almost sacred, monument of mystery. In that second tier, those drums of ambience added intensity to the exploration, nay survival, of the tier's challange. Sure, towers have been done many times before, but I seldom felt the height of a tower like this.

Thank you for correcting me, SW. But - I don't mean that I was spoiled by my friends in that they told me the rest of the story. I mean I watched them play through the entire game (in parts) before I decided to buy it for myself.

Though, that just goes to show you that even all the things I pointed out earlier didn't push me away from playing the actual game, myself. (laughter)

I'm not saying this is a bad game, at all. I meant that I had, for some reason, some expectations of Final Fantasy getting exponentially better and better in progression as a series of games, and FFXII isn't exactly oh-so great. In fact, that might be impossible, given its predecessors. (laughter) I guess what I mean is: Final Fantasy should stop with some dignity and stop now. I'm just feeling that there is no more originality left for this poor series.

Anyway, about that voiceover thing - That was seriously annoying.

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"You're so beautiful! ...You're a man...?!"
-man in Troia bar, to Cecil

I just started the game, and after 3 hours of playing so far so good. I can't wait to resume the development of the story and the leveling up of my characters. The new battle system is pretty good. Turn based was great back in the day, it was about time Final Fantasy took advantage of all the new technologies and latest advancements to improve the traditional system we all know!

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PS3 tag: TipoDLuffy

"...quite possibly the greatest game ever made"

Can you switch of voiceover yet withoutmuting the tv because it was really annoying in ff10 cos tidus sounded like he was 12