I like the license board better than the sphere grid, but I would have changed it so it wasn't all blocked out. But that was pretty much my only gripe (which was easily solved with the map that came with the strategy guide).
I'll take the license board over the sphere grid any day.
I like the license board better than the sphere grid, but I would have changed it so it wasn't all blocked out. But that was pretty much my only gripe (which was easily solved with the map that came with the strategy guide).
I'll take the license board over the sphere grid any day.
I've said this a few times before, but I wanted them to put "epic" licenses on the board. Things that can only be accessed after unlocking every square of a certain type (light armor, spears, etc) and cost 200-500 to unlock, but give you special techniques or bonuses. Like if you get every spear license, then you get a license that allows you to perform an area attack with your equipped spear. Or Jump. Or a multi-shot with bows. Shit like that.
I like the license board better than the sphere grid, but I would have changed it so it wasn't all blocked out. But that was pretty much my only gripe (which was easily solved with the map that came with the strategy guide).
I'll take the license board over the sphere grid any day.
I've said this a few times before, but I wanted them to put "epic" licenses on the board. Things that can only be accessed after unlocking every square of a certain type (light armor, spears, etc) and cost 200-500 to unlock, but give you special techniques or bonuses. Like if you get every spear license, then you get a license that allows you to perform an area attack with your equipped spear. Or Jump. Or a multi-shot with bows. Shit like that.
I just started playing this and I've got a quick question: How much stuff can you permanently miss? As in, once you pass a certain point, you can no longer buy item X which you need to make item Y, that just happens to be used in making item Z, the ultimate spear of assrape(I love FF8, but that just pissed me off). While I realize the system isn't quite the same, is there shit I need to check a FAQ to find that I can miss out on? I usually play until I am close to finishing the game, then just run around finding everything.
Also, for those Bazaar item things, do you need to sell X of this and X of that at the same time to unlock them? Or do you just need to have sold X of this and that in total to unlock them?
I just started playing this and I've got a quick question: How much stuff can you permanently miss?
Little to nothing aside from the Zodiac Spear.
While I realize the system isn't quite the same, is there shit I need to check a FAQ to find that I can miss out on?
Zoooooooodiac spear is about it.
Also, for those Bazaar item things, do you need to sell X of this and X of that at the same time to unlock them? Or do you just need to have sold X of this and that in total to unlock them?
The latter. Although when you buy an item, everything that contributed to it gets set back to zero, so if item X requires you to sell 3 widgets, and item Y requires you to sell 10 widgets, if you buy item X, you then need to sell 10 more widgets. If you don't buy item X, you can just sell 7 more widgets and buy item Y, but then need to sell 3 more widgets for item X. And if you sell 13 widgets and then buy item Y, you still need to sell 3 more widgets to buy item X.
Also, for those Bazaar item things, do you need to sell X of this and X of that at the same time to unlock them? Or do you just need to have sold X of this and that in total to unlock them?
The latter. Although when you buy an item, everything that contributed to it gets set back to zero, so if item X requires you to sell 3 widgets, and item Y requires you to sell 10 widgets, if you buy item X, you then need to sell 10 more widgets. If you don't buy item X, you can just sell 7 more widgets and buy item Y, but then need to sell 3 more widgets for item X. And if you sell 13 widgets and then buy item Y, you still need to sell 3 more widgets to buy item X.
This is the groin-punchy part of the whole loot->bazaar system. Why the fuck would you set it to 0? Why not, hell, deduct the fuckin' cost of the item?
This is why I never tried to get some items. That and lousy drop rates. I ground Humbabas for an hour before realizing you could only have one Beastlord horn at a time. Grrrrr....
It's incredibly good. Essentiall, it removes the monotony of hitting "attack", and leaves the player to focus entirely on items/status/buffs etc. The end result is much, quicker, more interesting combat. In some of the harder bosses, you'll almost be giving commands nonstop.
Why even include Attack as a selectable option, when it can be automated? Yawn.
It's incredibly good. Essentiall, it removes the monotony of hitting "attack", and leaves the player to focus entirely on items/status/buffs etc. The end result is much, quicker, more interesting combat. In some of the harder bosses, you'll almost be giving commands nonstop.
Why even include Attack as a selectable option, when it can be automated? Yawn.
Because sometimes you don't want to attack. Sometimes you only want one guy to attack. Sometimes you're fighting flying guys, who you can't hit with attacks. And sometimes people are playing the game who think Gambits ruin the game, and they can try playing without them and see how much they like it.
Beautiful, deeply flawed game. Absolutely there are some amazing elements to the title, some great moments, great designs, great environments, but they only served to make the game's flaws seem all the larger; there's part of an amazing game in there. There's very little character development and interaction. Since at least ffvi, I think most jrpg fans have come to expect some degree of non combat game events to fill out the experience. Without that, and with bland interaction in cutscenes, I couldn't help but care little for the world events and characters, and Vaan certainly didn't help the matter. There's no depth to the combat, but honestly, I can live with that if everything else comes together. The grid let's you make artificial decisions at best, as you can almost always get whatever spell or item license you might want; archetype choices are insubstantial, though I certainly sort of forced them on my characters to give myself the impression of some sort of depth.
Not the another Matsuno classic for me, but at least I liked it better than ffx...
It's incredibly good. Essentiall, it removes the monotony of hitting "attack", and leaves the player to focus entirely on items/status/buffs etc. The end result is much, quicker, more interesting combat. In some of the harder bosses, you'll almost be giving commands nonstop.
Why even include Attack as a selectable option, when it can be automated? Yawn.
Because sometimes you don't want to attack. Sometimes you only want one guy to attack. Sometimes you're fighting flying guys, who you can't hit with attacks. And sometimes people are playing the game who think Gambits ruin the game, and they can try playing without them and see how much they like it.
edit for civility
The only reason Gambits don't ruin the game, is that the game is even more boring without them.
Wait a minute, no, actually interacting with the game is more fun than Gambits. However, the way it is set up is tedious.
There is a whole lot of dungeon crawling and not nearly enough story.
And I'll take a sappy, overdramatic love story over a generic story with stale characters anyday.
I mean, it's still a Final Fantasy, so it's still very good. But the story really, honestly does not go anywhere interesting. It hints at interesting things, and then doesn't develop them. The main character is the least interesting one, the interesting ones don't get enough development, etc. Personally, I play Final Fantasies for the stories and characters, not the actual gameplay. If you play RPGs because of the battle systems, you'll probably love it. It has a really good battle system.
I'd replay IV, VI, VII, or IX if I had the time. I don't think I'll ever replay XII. It is worth a play once, though. Just don't expect it to be as epic in scope as the games preceding it.
I actually ended up really loving it - I thought I wouldnt once I found out about the change to the battle mode, but then it all just ended up working wonderfully, and the story was very good. It's not the best FF game ever, but it's definitely a good one, and I like how you can sort of choose whether or not to do a lot of the extra thigns (hunts, Espers) or just play right on through if you wanted.
Taken from my blog. Tagging it for size, but there's minimal spoilers.
NOTE: The following review will be kept mostly spoiler-free.
There was already a great deal of hype and excitement for this game, but it increased nearly threefold when it was revealed that Matsuno was the director. Even though I only played two of his works (FFT and VS), I acknowledged his superb writing and mature narrative. The man pulled no punches with either of those games, following a style closer to western novels than the standard anime storytelling of past FF games. I was truly looking forward to see what he would do with a main-numbered FF game at his control.
What a huge disappointment.
So must of us knew about the repeated delays and unspoken problems in development. We all grew worried when Matsuno reportedly had to step down to health problems. But the import reviews for the game were still very high, so hope remained. However, it was about 20-30 hours in when I realized just how much of Matsuno's touch was missing in the final game.
I understand that a stronger narrative requires stronger characters. The main party isn't your standard FF group; they don't form a tight bond as they travel together. In fact, the party is composed of sub-groups (Vaan and Penelo, Ashe and Basch, Balthier and Fran) that keep to themselves. I understand this was done with the intention of keeping the characters unique from the usual stereotypical RPG cast.
The problem is that the lack of character development TURNS these characters into stereotypes. Vaan remains a headstrong kid who dreams of being a sky pirate; Ashe is a vengeful princess; Balthier is a suave-talking sky pirate. No one ever evolves from these preconceived templates. The only character who comes close to growing is Basch, but it is really our perception of him that changes, while he remains the same.
I would have forgiven this lack of development if it stayed exclusive to the main party, but it sadly does not. Nearly every single NPC you meet in this game required more screentime than what they got; Vayne is supposed to be the main villain, and he got what? 10 minutes screentime total? Not only that, but he goes from a shrewd politician whose willing to share drinks with commoners, to a merciless warmonger by the game's end. Then there are characters like Larsa, Al-Cid, Ba'gamnan, Ondore, and even the Judges. These are all fantastic characters, but their screentime is far too brief. Gabranth's placement in the main logo is even more out of place as Kain was in FFIV.
Venat would've made for a far better and more appropriate logo image. There's even an entire continent that's central to the story, but you won't ever visit it.
But what about the gameplay, you ask? The gameplay certainly is entertaining. The Gambit system, while not perfect, represents a fresh way to play 3D RPGs, and it's something that I hope will not only get used in future iterations of the series, but emulated to some extent in other upcoming RPGs as well. The hunts are addicting as well, and I intend to finish them all. But the incomplete story clashes with the polished gameplay. There are a ton of areas to visit in this game, but very few of them affect the story in any way. You basically go to “spooky forest no. 4†because it’s along the way, and that’s the only purpose it serves. It isn’t like the Phantom Forest in FFVI, which was not only fun to play through, but also connected to the characters in a profound way.
Some people embrace the lack of filler, but when done right filler can prove beneficial to character development. One notable example is the Blitzball tournament in FFX. It served no purpose to the story, but it still fleshed out Wakka’s character while remaining fun. And it’s not like they needed to create new areas or scenarios to increase the character dialog; they could have easily made more cutscenes for every new area you enter, or added more relevent bosses (who thought it was a good idea to only fight 3 of the 5 Judges?).
Don’t get me wrong, this was still a very good game, but I wasn’t looking for “another good FFâ€. With the extra years of development, the increasing hype, and the promises from Matsuno, I was expecting a title that would revolutionize the Final Fantasy name for the next generation. Aside from the Gambit System, they failed miserably. This is only made more unfortunate by the fact that this game had all the elements of a real classic; the cast was there, the writing was top notch, the plot and the soundtrack. The world and art direction was spectacular, and I wanted to see as much of it as possible. But even after 90 hours of playtime, I feel like I’ve only traversed a quarter of Ivalice, as well as finish a story that was basically “Take princess to point A, then point B, then point C to wrap things up.†While the ending was well done, it basically told you to go buy the upcoming DS sequel.
Speaking of the DS game....I hate the fact that it exists. From what I’ve been told, it will mostly comprise of all the unused scenarios and plot that was left out of the original game. So basically, you’ll probably get all the character development and moving dialogue that the first game should have had, except now you’ll be able to experience it in tiny text with no stellar voice acting and static 2D sprites! Wonderful. Also, the lack of Matsuno’s influence is clearly apparent. I seriously grow worried that any future projects that become routinely delayed will have its content cut in half, then put into a DS “sequel†just to speed up the release date.
I truly am disappointed how the finished game turned out. When Zelda: TP was released, I could tell that the delays only helped in adding all the content the director wanted. If FFXII’s delays didn’t serve to add anything, then it should’ve been ready a year or two early. There’s no proof whether Matsuno worked too slowly, or Square made him finish too quickly, and we’ll probably never get the answer. The fact that Matsuno is no longer with SE is even more depressing; there will probably never be a game with the sheer amount of potential and polish that FFXII presented, even in its unfinished state. But given Matsuno’s track record of barely finishing any of his projects, I’m undecided if it’s for the best or not. I’d rather take a lesser but ultimately complete story than a beautiful story that wastes its potential.
In the end, FFXII represents what I both want and don’t want for future entries in the series. I want them to keep the more mature dialogue and darker narrative, but I don’t want them to skip on character development just to focus everything on the gaming portion. An RPG needs both good gameplay and a good story to work. I have high hopes for FFXIII, especially if they copy the Gambit System while ironing out its kinks (Vossler: “Beware of those lasers, they’ll alarm the soldiers. Look, a soldier!†(Runs right into the lasers). The story will probably be ill received, as it serves as a return to an anime-level of storytelling, and will likely have more than a few absurd plot points (Motorshiva), but at least Kitase and Nomura’s track record guarantees more rounded out character development.
I still wanted to see Matuno’s full potential at least once. Either he thinks too big, or Final Fantasy proved too big for him to handle.
In Short:
Great battle system, probably the best in any RPG.
Fantastic presentation and art style. Also music.
Potentially excellent story cut by more than half. Highly interesting characters and scenarios are limited to 2 to 3 appearances, at best.
Party members share no bonds, keep to themselves (a party with sub-parties within).
In short, it's another great FF game, but it had the potential to be the best. The waste of that potential makes it one of the most disappointing entries in the series for me.
I want to advocate the DS game. "Oh, here's all that dialog we wanted to put in the first game, but in all text!"
Posts
I'll take the license board over the sphere grid any day.
I've said this a few times before, but I wanted them to put "epic" licenses on the board. Things that can only be accessed after unlocking every square of a certain type (light armor, spears, etc) and cost 200-500 to unlock, but give you special techniques or bonuses. Like if you get every spear license, then you get a license that allows you to perform an area attack with your equipped spear. Or Jump. Or a multi-shot with bows. Shit like that.
Man, that would be awesome.
Also, for those Bazaar item things, do you need to sell X of this and X of that at the same time to unlock them? Or do you just need to have sold X of this and that in total to unlock them?
The latter. Although when you buy an item, everything that contributed to it gets set back to zero, so if item X requires you to sell 3 widgets, and item Y requires you to sell 10 widgets, if you buy item X, you then need to sell 10 more widgets. If you don't buy item X, you can just sell 7 more widgets and buy item Y, but then need to sell 3 more widgets for item X. And if you sell 13 widgets and then buy item Y, you still need to sell 3 more widgets to buy item X.
This is why I never tried to get some items. That and lousy drop rates. I ground Humbabas for an hour before realizing you could only have one Beastlord horn at a time. Grrrrr....
Why even include Attack as a selectable option, when it can be automated? Yawn.
edit for civility
Not the another Matsuno classic for me, but at least I liked it better than ffx...
Seriously.
... Just sayin'. <.< >.>
Wait a minute, no, actually interacting with the game is more fun than Gambits. However, the way it is set up is tedious.
And I'll take a sappy, overdramatic love story over a generic story with stale characters anyday.
I mean, it's still a Final Fantasy, so it's still very good. But the story really, honestly does not go anywhere interesting. It hints at interesting things, and then doesn't develop them. The main character is the least interesting one, the interesting ones don't get enough development, etc. Personally, I play Final Fantasies for the stories and characters, not the actual gameplay. If you play RPGs because of the battle systems, you'll probably love it. It has a really good battle system.
I'd replay IV, VI, VII, or IX if I had the time. I don't think I'll ever replay XII. It is worth a play once, though. Just don't expect it to be as epic in scope as the games preceding it.
XBL: QuazarX
Sappy, overdramatic love stories are generic stories with stale characters.
There was already a great deal of hype and excitement for this game, but it increased nearly threefold when it was revealed that Matsuno was the director. Even though I only played two of his works (FFT and VS), I acknowledged his superb writing and mature narrative. The man pulled no punches with either of those games, following a style closer to western novels than the standard anime storytelling of past FF games. I was truly looking forward to see what he would do with a main-numbered FF game at his control.
What a huge disappointment.
So must of us knew about the repeated delays and unspoken problems in development. We all grew worried when Matsuno reportedly had to step down to health problems. But the import reviews for the game were still very high, so hope remained. However, it was about 20-30 hours in when I realized just how much of Matsuno's touch was missing in the final game.
I understand that a stronger narrative requires stronger characters. The main party isn't your standard FF group; they don't form a tight bond as they travel together. In fact, the party is composed of sub-groups (Vaan and Penelo, Ashe and Basch, Balthier and Fran) that keep to themselves. I understand this was done with the intention of keeping the characters unique from the usual stereotypical RPG cast.
The problem is that the lack of character development TURNS these characters into stereotypes. Vaan remains a headstrong kid who dreams of being a sky pirate; Ashe is a vengeful princess; Balthier is a suave-talking sky pirate. No one ever evolves from these preconceived templates. The only character who comes close to growing is Basch, but it is really our perception of him that changes, while he remains the same.
I would have forgiven this lack of development if it stayed exclusive to the main party, but it sadly does not. Nearly every single NPC you meet in this game required more screentime than what they got; Vayne is supposed to be the main villain, and he got what? 10 minutes screentime total? Not only that, but he goes from a shrewd politician whose willing to share drinks with commoners, to a merciless warmonger by the game's end. Then there are characters like Larsa, Al-Cid, Ba'gamnan, Ondore, and even the Judges. These are all fantastic characters, but their screentime is far too brief. Gabranth's placement in the main logo is even more out of place as Kain was in FFIV.
Venat would've made for a far better and more appropriate logo image. There's even an entire continent that's central to the story, but you won't ever visit it.
But what about the gameplay, you ask? The gameplay certainly is entertaining. The Gambit system, while not perfect, represents a fresh way to play 3D RPGs, and it's something that I hope will not only get used in future iterations of the series, but emulated to some extent in other upcoming RPGs as well. The hunts are addicting as well, and I intend to finish them all. But the incomplete story clashes with the polished gameplay. There are a ton of areas to visit in this game, but very few of them affect the story in any way. You basically go to “spooky forest no. 4†because it’s along the way, and that’s the only purpose it serves. It isn’t like the Phantom Forest in FFVI, which was not only fun to play through, but also connected to the characters in a profound way.
Some people embrace the lack of filler, but when done right filler can prove beneficial to character development. One notable example is the Blitzball tournament in FFX. It served no purpose to the story, but it still fleshed out Wakka’s character while remaining fun. And it’s not like they needed to create new areas or scenarios to increase the character dialog; they could have easily made more cutscenes for every new area you enter, or added more relevent bosses (who thought it was a good idea to only fight 3 of the 5 Judges?).
Don’t get me wrong, this was still a very good game, but I wasn’t looking for “another good FFâ€. With the extra years of development, the increasing hype, and the promises from Matsuno, I was expecting a title that would revolutionize the Final Fantasy name for the next generation. Aside from the Gambit System, they failed miserably. This is only made more unfortunate by the fact that this game had all the elements of a real classic; the cast was there, the writing was top notch, the plot and the soundtrack. The world and art direction was spectacular, and I wanted to see as much of it as possible. But even after 90 hours of playtime, I feel like I’ve only traversed a quarter of Ivalice, as well as finish a story that was basically “Take princess to point A, then point B, then point C to wrap things up.†While the ending was well done, it basically told you to go buy the upcoming DS sequel.
Speaking of the DS game....I hate the fact that it exists. From what I’ve been told, it will mostly comprise of all the unused scenarios and plot that was left out of the original game. So basically, you’ll probably get all the character development and moving dialogue that the first game should have had, except now you’ll be able to experience it in tiny text with no stellar voice acting and static 2D sprites! Wonderful. Also, the lack of Matsuno’s influence is clearly apparent. I seriously grow worried that any future projects that become routinely delayed will have its content cut in half, then put into a DS “sequel†just to speed up the release date.
I truly am disappointed how the finished game turned out. When Zelda: TP was released, I could tell that the delays only helped in adding all the content the director wanted. If FFXII’s delays didn’t serve to add anything, then it should’ve been ready a year or two early. There’s no proof whether Matsuno worked too slowly, or Square made him finish too quickly, and we’ll probably never get the answer. The fact that Matsuno is no longer with SE is even more depressing; there will probably never be a game with the sheer amount of potential and polish that FFXII presented, even in its unfinished state. But given Matsuno’s track record of barely finishing any of his projects, I’m undecided if it’s for the best or not. I’d rather take a lesser but ultimately complete story than a beautiful story that wastes its potential.
In the end, FFXII represents what I both want and don’t want for future entries in the series. I want them to keep the more mature dialogue and darker narrative, but I don’t want them to skip on character development just to focus everything on the gaming portion. An RPG needs both good gameplay and a good story to work. I have high hopes for FFXIII, especially if they copy the Gambit System while ironing out its kinks (Vossler: “Beware of those lasers, they’ll alarm the soldiers. Look, a soldier!†(Runs right into the lasers). The story will probably be ill received, as it serves as a return to an anime-level of storytelling, and will likely have more than a few absurd plot points (Motorshiva), but at least Kitase and Nomura’s track record guarantees more rounded out character development.
I still wanted to see Matuno’s full potential at least once. Either he thinks too big, or Final Fantasy proved too big for him to handle.
In Short:
Great battle system, probably the best in any RPG.
Fantastic presentation and art style. Also music.
Potentially excellent story cut by more than half. Highly interesting characters and scenarios are limited to 2 to 3 appearances, at best.
Party members share no bonds, keep to themselves (a party with sub-parties within).
In short, it's another great FF game, but it had the potential to be the best. The waste of that potential makes it one of the most disappointing entries in the series for me.
I want to advocate the DS game. "Oh, here's all that dialog we wanted to put in the first game, but in all text!"
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But the funny thing is, everyone I know in real life hated it too.
BRAWL CODE: 3866-7685-8500
nobody in real life plays videogames
So very bought'd.