Final Fantasy XII (12) first PS2 game I beat

[ZeroAX]

I've had the International version for years, but never really had it in me to play through the game again in that version. Maybe one day. I think it's probably just the emulator/settings you have that make it look that much better, Xeogred. From what I recall, it looks exactly like the US release in terms of graphical quality.

Which reminds me, one day I have to follow the guides on this site and replay FF IX with amazing juiced up visuals.

[Exhuminator]

Just wanted to say FFXII is my own personal favorite Final Fantasy. I put about 109 hours into the game and loved nearly every minute. Awesome battle system, great characters, excellent plot, fantastic graphics and music, and hunting down those marks was so much fun. But that's just IMO... because I can definitely understand how some FF purists didn't appreciate all the changes.

Also I think it was Gamerforlife saying it felt like he was coaching a team with the gambit system. And he's right:

Ito drew inspiration for gambits from plays in American football where each team member has a specific job to do based on the conditions and desired outcome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XII
Yeah it's Wikipedia but the quote is sourced to Ito's interview on the Final Fantasy XII Collector's Edition Bonus DVD. I've read in other interviews Ito designed the battle systems being influenced by American Football. Such as this one: http://www.1up.com/features/final-fanta ... to-science

So yes the coaching aspect was deliberate indeed.

[alienjesus]

One last thing I want to say, just to illuminate the amount of bullshit that exists among the gaming community (and the world in general). About 90 percent of what you see Xenoblade do as a game is copy and pasted from FF XII. Yet, people love to bash FF XII and pretty much every FF game to come out in the past decade or so and talk about Xenoblade like it's the most original game ever made and the savior of the jrpg genre

Truth.

FF12 is my 4th favorite Final Fantasy game, and it gets a bum rap. Every time I put in Xenoblade Chronicles I think to myself "I'd rather just play FF12, which is pretty much this game but done much better."

Glad to see some nice comments on it here.

I think I prefer Xenoblade to FFXII, but I definitely agree that Xenoblade does a lot of stuff similarly. It may be stuff that was done in MMO games before either, but it does seem odd to me that people hate the battle system of FFXII and love Xenoblades when they're both so obviously MMO inspired and similar.

Although I do prefer Xenoblade, FFXII is one of my favourite FF games of the ones I've played so far (I, III, IV, V, IX, X, XII). IX is my favourite for sure, and probably V right after, but XII definitely rounds out the top 3.

I'm not sure why people think this doesn't feel like a Final Fantasy game. It seems like it fits into the series style much more than VII or VIII do to me.

[ZeroAX]

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Although I do prefer Xenoblade, FFXII is one of my favourite FF games of the ones I've played so far (I, III, IV, V, IX, X, XII). IX is my favourite for sure, and probably V right after, but XII definitely rounds out the top 3.

I'm not sure why people think this doesn't feel like a Final Fantasy game. It seems like it fits into the series style much more than VII or VIII do to me.

There's your problem right there. Those 2 are the best selling FF games of all time, which means that for most people those games defiend FF. They weren't there to see the big changes in the series. The change from turn-based to ATB. The change from chaning multiple classes to having specific characters play specific roles (or the change to all characters being pretty much the same).

So the changes brought on by FF XII seemed too much. I disagree ofc. I even found XIII enjoyable for a single game (even though I think it's a failed experiment and the series should revert and try finding a different way forward).

BTW you haven't played FF VI? Dude you should SERIOUSLY play that game. Best FF imo, and in general it is very highly revered by the retro gaming community.

[alienjesus]

BTW you haven't played FF VI? Dude you should SERIOUSLY play that game. Best FF imo, and in general it is very highly revered by the retro gaming community.

One day. I own and haven't yet beaten VII, VIII, X, X-2 and XII, so I'll probably play through those first. FFI and FFII are games I need that are much cheaper to acquire than 6 aswell.

[pierrot]

I've never actually beaten VI (although I've played through ~80% of the game) and I would actually lump it into the group with VII and VIII of games that really turned the style of the FF series on its ear, yet enjoyed mass appeal, so it's what people look back on as defining the series. I think nostalgia lends more to the legacy of those three games than anything else, honestly. Not to say it isn't a decent game; Anyone who enjoys Chrono Trigger is bound to get a kick out of VI.

That said, I was pretty surprised that you haven't played through VI, haysues, but if IX is your favorite of the series, then you're all right by me.

[ZeroAX]

I've never actually beaten VI (although I've played through ~80% of the game) and I would actually lump it into the group with VII and VIII of games that really turned the style of the FF series on its ear, yet enjoyed mass appeal, so it's what people look back on as defining the series. I think nostalgia lends more to the legacy of those three games than anything else, honestly. Not to say it isn't a decent game; Anyone who enjoys Chrono Trigger is bound to get a kick out of VI.

That said, I was pretty surprised that you haven't played through VI, haysues, but if IX is your favorite of the series, then you're all right by me.

I honestly don't see how IX is that different from VI. They both have a medival Europe theme to their cities, with great emphasis put on magic in their story. I guess VI has a more steampunk vibe, but I think IX has plenty of that too. Don't forget Limblum.

It is a throwback compared to FF VII and VIII (specially VIII which went full sci-fi), but not that far from VI.



I'm not dissing the game ofc, I LOVED FF IX. It's my 3rd favorite FF game.

[brunoafh]

I've never actually beaten VI (although I've played through ~80% of the game) and I would actually lump it into the group with VII and VIII of games that really turned the style of the FF series on its ear

Fundamentally, VI didn't change the series any more than IV did, which was just working off what II did (more focus on story/plot, bigger scale). I've always felt like people were kind of exaggerating when they say VII (or any of them) changed the series. It's been a gradual evolution from the very beginning, with nothing that really sticks out as something completely different (well, until the post-Squaresoft era, but even XII and XIII have many of the basics that define a traditional FF game).

Also I really need to replay IX. It's been so long, I've been wanting to revisit that game forever. It's one of my least played FF games for whatever reason. I'm not really sure why, as I do like it quite a bit.

[pierrot]

I've never actually beaten VI (although I've played through ~80% of the game) and I would actually lump it into the group with VII and VIII of games that really turned the style of the FF series on its ear

Fundamentally, VI didn't change the series any more than IV did, which was just working off what II did (more focus on story/plot, bigger scale). I've always felt like people were kind of exaggerating when they say VII (or any of them) changed the series. It's been a gradual evolution from the very beginning, with nothing that really sticks out as something completely different

Granted, but to me, the series was built on distinct, well defined job classes, and at times, the ability to shift classes. This is one of the reasons I think XI is really a more remarkable addition to the series than most fans of FF will admit, or even care to find out, because it's MMO. II did break early from this (I can't even call it a tradition, at that point) and certainly shares more in common with VI, VII, and VIII than anything else. I don't typically care for FFs that loosely define jobs without some ingenuity to them, though. I don't love X (I hate the story) but I enjoy the sphere grid, so I can live with the mixing of job structures. (I'll admit, I give XII a bit of a pass because I like Matsuno's style.) VI, VII and especially VIII don't really make me feel like one character can be set in a specific role much better than another. VI is probably the least offensive in that way, but I don't really find it to be all that exciting a game to begin with. The overall style just feels too brooding, and too pretentious to me. I find the twist to be a bit mundane, and the opera scene actually bored me--I don't understand what's so special about that at all. Those are my issues though, I'm well aware that others love the game, and it's often highly recommended. I do like VI better than VII, for what it's worth.

[ZeroAX]

Granted, but to me, the series was built on distinct, well defined job classes, and at times, the ability to shift classes. This is one of the reasons I think XI is really a more remarkable addition to the series than most fans of FF will admit, or even care to find out, because it's MMO. II did break early from this (I can't even call it a tradition, at that point) and certainly shares more in common with VI, VII, and VIII than anything else. I don't typically care for FFs that loosely define jobs without some ingenuity to them, though. I don't love X (I hate the story) but I enjoy the sphere grid, so I can live with the mixing of job structures. (I'll admit, I give XII a bit of a pass because I like Matsuno's style.) VI, VII and especially VIII don't really make me feel like one character can be set in a specific role much better than another. VI is probably the least offensive in that way, but I don't really find it to be all that exciting a game to begin with. The overall style just feels too brooding, and too pretentious to me. I find the twist to be a bit mundane, and the opera scene actually bored me--I don't understand what's so special about that at all. Those are my issues though, I'm well aware that others love the game, and it's often highly recommended. I do like VI better than VII, for what it's worth.

Meh to each his own I guess .

But that's the greatest thing about this series, no? How polarizing it is, and how every fan has his favorite game. I'm pretty sure, that for all the hatred XIII gets, there are Final Fantasy fans who consider it their favorite. And that's fine by me