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Give em' both a chance. Just make sure you paying attention to the... "assets" that all the female characters in FFX-2 portray and you'll be fine(at least that's what I do). As for FFXII, yes it doesn't have the eye-distracting boom booms of the other game but it's combat can be a refreshing change of pace that, although inferior to turn-based fighting, is quite fun for at least the first play through.

and about the lead of ff12 don't worry, he doesn't play much of a role. actually that's one of the critisisms of ff12. that the lead doesn't have a lot to do with the story.

what most people don't know though is that originaly balthier, the 30-35 years old character in your party, was supposed to be the lead.

he was a LOT cooler, he has a shirt, and he uses a gun :O .
also he has the best voice acting i've ever heard in a video game.

but square was afraid the emo anorexic teen guys of japan, the games main target audience, wouldn't connect with him so they made vaan,
the anorexic girl looking character without a shirt we all know and hate.

but thank god he doesn't talk too much in the serious scenes, he's more like the comic relief of the party

The it's hard to know their sex is because they are drawn the same way. No kidding, they are drawn the same way and then added secondary sexual characteristics. In the case of male villains they have secondary female characteristics too.

I once saw a drawing of it but I can't finf it.

General_Norris wrote:The it's hard to know their sex is because they are drawn the same way. No kidding, they are drawn the same way and then added secondary sexual characteristics. In the case of male villains they have secondary female characteristics too.

I once saw a drawing of it but I can't finf it.

I think I know what you are talking about, but I thought it was a fake for laughs

I put about an hour into 12. I was confused when I started playing as a soldier and things weren't awful. Then I got to be the main character and it's just too much. The combat system doesn't seem to be my thing, the setting was done better in Tactics on the playstation (those gameboy games don't count, a book world? No thanks. Gameplay was okay though, I might pick either of the two sequels up.) and it just doesn't seem to be clicking. Maybe I've been playing stuff too far away from it. I've fond memories of playing VII IX and Tactics, and somewhat fond thought of VIII and X, but honestly, this is just too off putting for me to stick with. I'm going to just sit on it for a few months and see if I can find time for it.

X-2 I played for a half hour and quit as soon as I found the save point. There's nothing wrong with female storylines and bright fun worlds, but I don't think this is for me at all. I just, I don't know. I'll try it again in a few months probably, but I really doubt my opinion can change. I had to play it for myself and see just what was going on. The rock concert did it for me. It's one thing to have an effeminate lead character, its a whole other to have an effeminate game.

While I'm at it, I'll talk about Kingdom Hearts 2. I recall the first having a horribly long intro. Probably three hours of talking on an island and nonsense before anything happened. Anything to do with the stuff I signed up for, mickey mouse, final fantasy, and all that. This game has me playing as a little kid with his friends, doing mini games. Then some scenes of guys in cloaks talking. It's as if they took any sort of user friendliness and open gameplay right out. I tried this at least three occasions, so that's maybe two hours or so into it and it told me I was on day four. I decided to look up how many days I had to spend with this kid stuff, and it made my face melt off. Here's a picture.

I think story is an area where Square games are really hurting these days, so I've found myself playing their games more for the gameplay

I really feel FFX2 and FF12 have more to offer for people looking for challenge and non-traditional combat. FFX 2's story is pure and utter excrement, but that combat system I loved and I enjoyed fighting through the secret underground dungeon which had some fun and tough challenges.

FF12 really drew me in because it had TONS of optional quests many of which featured difficult battles that really required you to use proper strategy, preparation and really, really make the most out of the gambit system as there were some battles where it simply wasn't possible to properly manage everything you needed to do forcing you to at least have some actions on auto-pilot. There were bosses in that game that could take over an hour to defeat. Not to everyone's liking and I understand that, but man it felt good to fell those beasts.

For Kingdom Hearts 2, it's fun to play through if you've ever liked Disney. Nice getting to play some classic Disney movies and such. I have never made any sense out of the Kingdom Hearts storyline. It's all utter nonsense to me and the game is plagued with all of the ridiculous anime cliches that have pretty much made anime a niche for young kids and teenagers today, while making anyone over 21 embarrassed to even call themselves anime fans. I always like the combat though. Combos, magic, summons, transformations, there is a little bit of everything thrown in and big epic bosses and high production value were always enough to keep my interest even when the story was shit. KH 2 dumbed down the difficulty a bit too much though, at least here in the edited, unfinished American version that I played. I mean there is a strategy for Sephiroth that makes you practically unkillable as a recall.

I think Square could use a shake up of some kind within the company. Their characters and storytelling are getting a bit lame. FF12's story wasn't too bad in my opinion, but it wasn't memorable either.

Gamerforlife wrote:I think Square could use a shake up of some kind within the company. Their characters and storytelling are getting a bit lame. FF12's story wasn't too bad in my opinion, but it wasn't memorable either.

I agree to that! ever since the merger with Enix (not saying its their fault or anything) square is like a shell of what it used to be. yeah sure they do pull off some good games once in awhile, but they also messed up a lot more. good example the mana series. i absolutely loved the mana games back in the day. and now we get knock offs that dont play like the originals and absolutely suck. i was hoping dawn would of been great. i love the look and it had promise. Alas...i was wrong.......i wanted to cry.

X-2 made me lose hope in final fantasy until i played XII . Even so i still don't like square ever since they merged with enix.In my opinion the magic stopped with VI.I know some people will argue that VII is the best in the series but i guess im a black sheep.Even then chrono trigger totally wiped the floor with anything square had made previously and since. I am not really excited about 13 coming out either.It's getting to the point where games are becoming so cinematic that they are not really like games....I just want a fucking game not some lame ass 30 minute cut scene.I also hate this 360 vrs. sony debate that is everywhere these days.I own both systems and i still am going to get for the 360.I just like the system better.But i am wayyyy off topic.I recomend getting XII but not X-2

Not to pull an old thread out from nowhere, but I played Final Fantasy 12 again this month. I'm starting to like it, despite not liking any of the characters I've met. The gameplay is so interesting as far as battles are concerned, and I can't follow a thing anyone is saying to me.

I quit about another two hours in. I'm hoping to find some time to get past the first town. I gave up after having to search for someones lost kid at a shinestone, couldn't find them for nothing.

Eh, don't sweat it if you don't like 12. I think it's a pretty great game, but I honestly never finished it myself.

At least you tried it though. The game is pretty divisive, but it's one that I'd recommend most folks try despite it's somewhat lackluster reputation.