Official Final Fantasy XII thread (likely spoilers inside)

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
yeah ilya i actually agree with alot of your gripes... however, as far as it compares to most other non-ff rpgs out there, its still very good bordering on excellent.

[/ QUOTE ]

eh, i sorta agree...i wouldn't say very good, probably more like above average. if we adjust for sheer graphical horsepower i.e. the video-game equivalent of inflation, i can pretty easily name a good dozen JRPGS that IMO are as good or better....phantasy star IV, legend of dragoon, chrono trigger, ffIX, ffX, ffX-2, shadow hearts, DDS, Persona 2, breath of fire dragon quarter, anachronox (a PC game, but basically a JRPG at heart), septerra core (same deal), dragon quest VII, dragon quest VIII....and that's just non-"action," Japanese-style, RPGs.

but it could be i'm just getting tired of the whole genre....

[rbenuck4]

Just beat the game. Currently watching the credits. Wanted to brag

[DonkeyKongSr]

I just did, too. The end boss was pretty cool, but as usual for FF, not very hard.

[durron597]

[ QUOTE ]

-- Gambit system is somehow both cumbersome and underdeveloped.

[/ QUOTE ]

yes, but not unusably so, it's not that bad

[ QUOTE ]

-- Interface in general is poorly thought-out.

[/ QUOTE ]

how so?

[ QUOTE ]

-- It takes way too long for the cool gambits to become available.

[/ QUOTE ]

meh, are you talking about self gambits? what other cool gambits are you looking for?

[ QUOTE ]

-- Story has no emotional hook.

[/ QUOTE ]

it gets better when you get to Archades, and Ashe is pretty cool throughout the whole game

[ QUOTE ]

-- Music is underwhelming compared to previous FF games.

[/ QUOTE ]

granted

[ QUOTE ]

-- Developers should have used the gambit system to let players field all 6 characters at once....or at least let players switch characters on the fly! This aspect of the interface is a big step back from FFX.

[/ QUOTE ]

um, you can switch characters on the fly, as long as they're not targeted (their name is red)

[ QUOTE ]

-- Game's too easy unless you intentionally gimp yourself. When it does get harder, it doesn't really get funner.

[/ QUOTE ]

enemies start being 10+ levels more than you when you get past the salikawood

[ QUOTE ]

-- Shallow gambit system and 3-character limit means that player skill doesn't matter enough relative to level differentials.

[/ QUOTE ]

level differentials get higher. enemies get tougher. you're almost at that point.

[ QUOTE ]

-- The spells and techniques that allow for the cleverest strategies take too long to unlock.

[/ QUOTE ]

play faster. use golden armlets.

[ QUOTE ]

-- Having to play guessing games on the license board is lame.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's actually pretty obvious where things are. And it's not that bad with golden armlets.

[ QUOTE ]

-- Augment section on license board is lame, these passive abilities should just have been incorporated into the leveling-up process.

[/ QUOTE ]

meh, i disagree

[ QUOTE ]

-- It's impossible to get 100% without consulting a FAQ or buying the guide -- I'm sure that's not an accident, which is so uncool.

[/ QUOTE ]

this i agree with, it's my biggest gripe with this game

[ QUOTE ]

the cinematography and art direction in the cutscenes are awesome, i'll happily admit.

[/ QUOTE ]

ashe is cool, cid is cool, the second to last dungeon is cool as hell, balthier is awesome even though his backstory is boring

[A_C_Slater]

I'm right at the end, but I want to get the Ragnarok sword from Ixion before the final boss battle. He kicks my a$$ though. I finally got his life bar down to about 20% and then he starts with these MP drain spells and then finishes me off with Sleep/Thundaga HYCHACHACHACHA!!

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

-- Interface in general is poorly thought-out.

[/ QUOTE ]

how so?



[/ QUOTE ]

you can't see the exact effect a weapon/armor will have on stats while shopping;
separate gambit boards means you have to keep flipping back and forth if you want a reminder about which path leads where;
no option to save favorite gambit setups for quick retrieval;
having to sell loot is a pointless timesink;
you have to go into the main menu to change characters during battle, which takes 6 button presses minimum (vs. the seamless switching in FFX) (unless I'm missing something huge?? But I just tried pressing like every possible button combination and couldn't switch characters w/o going to menu screen);
incomplete hunts aren't separated from completed ones and you have to enter a subscreen if you need a reminder about where you are in the hunt;
"status" and "equipment" screen separated w/o a good reason;

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

-- It takes way too long for the cool gambits to become available.

[/ QUOTE ]

meh, are you talking about self gambits? what other cool gambits are you looking for?


[/ QUOTE ]

i mean the self gambits, yeah. it takes, like, 40 hours to start getting most of them!

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

-- Story has no emotional hook.

[/ QUOTE ]

it gets better when you get to Archades, and Ashe is pretty cool throughout the whole game

[/ QUOTE ]

alright, maybe so...although I'm a little skeptical as I don't really care about Ashe at this point. in any case, i gotta admit i prefer stories that get interesting around the 0-1 hour mark.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

-- Developers should have used the gambit system to let players field all 6 characters at once....or at least let players switch characters on the fly! This aspect of the interface is a big step back from FFX.

[/ QUOTE ]

um, you can switch characters on the fly, as long as they're not targeted (their name is red)


[/ QUOTE ]

see above, but what i actually meant to say here was that the developers should have let you field all six characters on the screen at once, fighting alongside each other like a real MMORPG party. i suppose that may have been too much to ask of the PS2.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

-- Game's too easy unless you intentionally gimp yourself. When it does get harder, it doesn't really get funner.

[/ QUOTE ]

enemies start being 10+ levels more than you when you get past the salikawood

[ QUOTE ]

-- Shallow gambit system and 3-character limit means that player skill doesn't matter enough relative to level differentials.

[/ QUOTE ]

level differentials get higher. enemies get tougher. you're almost at that point.

[/ QUOTE ]

again, i don't see why i should have to wait that long for the game to get challening in a fun way. but i'll grant it's kinda unfair to trash FFXII for this when almost every JRPG is guilty of the same or worse.

[ QUOTE ]

-- The spells and techniques that allow for the cleverest strategies take too long to unlock.

[/ QUOTE ]

play faster. use golden armlets.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

-- Having to play guessing games on the license board is lame.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's actually pretty obvious where things are. And it's not that bad with golden armlets.

[/ QUOTE ]

i agree when it comes to stuff like light armor and black magic, but stuff like katanas and hand bombs just isn't intuitive. not least because WTF is a hand bomb.
golden armlets are awesome and are essentialy perma-wear from the time you first get them until the license boards are done....so it's too bad they limit the game's strategic depth by taking up the one available accessory slot. i think the 2xLP ability should have been a hunt/quest reward instead. or maybe a series of augments, although as I said I'm not crazy about those. Btw the reason I think the augment section is lame is that, while it makes your characters lots more powerful, it adds very little in the way of strategic depth/possiblities.

[ QUOTE ]

-- It's impossible to get 100% without consulting a FAQ or buying the guide -- I'm sure that's not an accident, which is so uncool.

[/ QUOTE ]

this i agree with, it's my biggest gripe with this game

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah...god I hate that about FF games. so evil.

[meccaNES]

[ QUOTE ]
Just beat the game. Currently watching the credits. Wanted to brag

[/ QUOTE ]

I set the controller down when i beat it. I Didn't fight the last three fights i ate chips while everything took care of itself.

[DonkeyKongSr]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Just beat the game. Currently watching the credits. Wanted to brag

[/ QUOTE ]

I set the controller down when i beat it. I Didn't fight the last three fights i ate chips while everything took care of itself.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL, my friend who beat it about a week ago just happened to call me right at the beginning of the last battles. I barely was paying attention and didn't even bother pausing. My gambits were set well enough that I destroyed him.

[bdohaney]

Yeah, I am in the process of going for everything. I am level 75ish (well, my main characters I ever use anyhow)just got Ultima, and got my ass handed to me by Zodiarc after I got him down about halfway. Whenever I finally get to the actual end, the fight isn't even going to last an entire minute.

At any rate, great game, and the most devastating strategy I found is... Tournesol+GenjiGloves+Haste+Bravery+Berserk... Once I get Basch even higher, I'll put the Masamune back on him to get more combo potential (even with the lower attack rating, will still probably be close to 9999 per hit, just a LOT more hits)

Seriously. You just watch the monster's health bar plummet. That and the early trick of the Nihipoloa or whatever and using the remedy... Just so wrong...

Has anyone here killed any of the really hard fights, like the Hellfire wyrm or Omega XII?

[chuckleslovakian]

Yeah I beat the Hell wyrm, with reverse and lure he isnt too bad at all. He takes a long time to kill. Yazmat on the other hand I have no real desire to beat