Final Fantasy XII
polycounter lvl 18
Picked up FFXII special edition last night and played it for about 2 hours. It starts out darker than the Final Fantasies I've played (8, X & X-2).
Combat is kind of strange, I don't have a party yet so I don't have any experience with the gambit system but it is nice that you can actually see the monsters on the field, I have a feeling I'll have to avoid powerful monsters now that it isn't random encounters. The other thing I like is the ability to avoid some powerful attacks, you will get a warning that the monster is readying a certain attack so you can run out of the blast radius or get out of it's way if it's a direct attack like flame breath.
I've noticed that the textures aren't as clean looking as FFX, there's a more painterly look to them, in some cases it looks nice, but Vaan's abs look like they were chiseled out of stone which would look out of place on anyone, let alone a 14 year old.
Overall the game has a bit of an MMO feel to it, I'm not sure how I feel about that yet.
Combat is kind of strange, I don't have a party yet so I don't have any experience with the gambit system but it is nice that you can actually see the monsters on the field, I have a feeling I'll have to avoid powerful monsters now that it isn't random encounters. The other thing I like is the ability to avoid some powerful attacks, you will get a warning that the monster is readying a certain attack so you can run out of the blast radius or get out of it's way if it's a direct attack like flame breath.
I've noticed that the textures aren't as clean looking as FFX, there's a more painterly look to them, in some cases it looks nice, but Vaan's abs look like they were chiseled out of stone which would look out of place on anyone, let alone a 14 year old.
Overall the game has a bit of an MMO feel to it, I'm not sure how I feel about that yet.
Replies
If anything, im giong to beat this game to see all of the fucking sick art in it. Those guys have really masterd a bad ass unique style.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/howToGetI...tores=true#tabs
ordered mine today, free shipping too
I went out and got this one. I just felt more connected to it than all the others. Like the moose said, the artwork blew me away too. I really enjoy games that are super tight and consistant.
Marcus Dublin
Artist - Kaos Studios
Im not sure about the battles yet, It's cool, but weird at the same time. Like the first time you go on a hunt for that tomatoe, there's like a friggin TRex out there that is like lv 30. So that's kinda crazy.
The licsense thing is wierd too. But I'm sure I'll get used to it. I plan on playing a loot more tonight though.
The way this one starts out reminds me a lot of FF 3/6, with such a dark and disturbing introduction. The visual design is really reminisent of 2/4, which I definitely love. When FF7 started the whole futureistic visual style, it was fun, but the last two were so far removed from the classic sword-n-sorcery stylings that it was hard to remember what the 'fantasy' aspect was.
The new combat system, it just rocks. It's amazing how Square keeps reinventing the interface and coming up with something more engaging.
The opening cinema... just beautiful. That's what the final battles of The Phantom Menace should have looked like!
The architecture, too, is amazing.
The production quality of this game makes me weep
And my favorite part, the main character isnt a complete angsty idiot! Sorry to all the Tidus fans, but that dude was dumb as hell.
But yeah, story is very awesome, almost a lot like the FF tactics storyline. I love it. Love that soundtrack too, kick ass score.
now you owe me a dinner whenever I take the train up to NYC with that saved money
Frank the Avenger
BTW.. great game. Penelo girl is super cute I want to eat her up. hahah
Marcus Dublin
Artist - Kaos Studios
PS: No prob Lee3Dee drop an e-mail next time your in the City.
The story is more in line with what you'd expect from a new Tactics or Vagrant Story game. More about opposing political factions and less "demon-out-to-control-the-world"
I think it's fantastic that they decided to hand over the IP to their vagrant story team. Everything about that team's style oozes into this game. The visuals, the music, aesthetics, the dialogue and story... all remind me of what I'd expect from a new Tactics/VS game.
*restrains self*
...no..time... to..play......argh....!!!!!
It looks like an interesting departure from the norm of the series, some reviews like this while others are critical of it, so I look forward to getting into it. I don't like the lead roles being the usual bratty sounding teenagers, but it looks like they aren't as emphasized as previous FF games.
i thought this one is a sort-of sequel to Tactics? isn't it set in Ivalice?
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I believe Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is set up in the same world as XII; I'm not sure that the original Tactics for PS is in that world though.
FFXII's score is my favorite of the series; something about the music is just amazing. Not to downplay how good Uematsu's work is, but Sakimoto's driving orchestral pieces really seem to capture the essence of their theme.
Back to getting inspired from all the gorgeous art and designs!
Also just by watching the game, do all the characters of this world have blonde/light brown hair?
I'm about 16 hours into it now and I can't stop playing, I freaking love it. The only thing I don't like are Vaan's abs.
For the life of me I can't figure out what went wrong there. Everything else in the game is so well done, and even some of the other characters have nicely painted abs, but for some reason Vaan just looks completely retarded
Back to playing, I've got monster bountys to cash in.
Actually, the camera is pretty bad in general. I'm surprised they didn't get chewed out more for that.
But aside from that, it's cool so far. Vaan not being an idiotic loser like Tidus is a big plus thus. Voice acting is good, the faces actually show emotion now, story seems engaging, and combat is interesting. I like how you can choose your speed, and I like how positioning comes into play now. You can block and kite enemies.
License board is a little intimidating to begin with. So much freedom to do whatever you want, no guidance at all, whatsoever. I forsee having to grind to make up for gimping myself later.
Neo: Only the good guys have blonde hair
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Wow!If that's not an Aryan message...then I don't know what is. Haha. I'm only joking, I don't think the game has White Supremacy undertones.
For me it was the kind of experience that makes you ashamed to NOT be doing something as cool/creative/original/beautiful.
here is his blog http://www.yaz0r.net/
i still cant get over the art. the Judge designs and skins are just too good. I love the blue on Vaan's pants, and the multi colored checker things on characters.... asdf;kasjf. its too gorgeous.
I'm finding myself having a very hard time getting into the story. Whether it is because im playing at night, or with 20 (wow, how did i really type 12 there?!?) hours between play sessions... i dont know. There seem to be too many characters and too little development, with too much information and interwindings of relationships / fucked up names. Balthier happens to be the coolest fucking character ive ever seen in game though, that character just oozes charisma and power.
It's like watching a complicated movie in 15 minute increments over a several week period.
The art is so depressingly good. And, to me, it's even more impressive when you consider the limitations they had to overcome
Spark
Would be cool to get a final fantasy competition on sometime, as there is just to much good art to ignore a contest on.
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As long as it's original, FF inspired, stuff.
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I've read complaints about the gameplay, any of you took enough time off from admiring the graphics to talk about that?
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I'm 8 hours into it and I'm loving the gameplay, I was on a hunt for a specific type of monster and I got tired of killing all the other monsters that attacked me so I just started running away from them. I used to find random encounters really annoying when you were backtracking or doing a side quest, especially when you're getting attacked by easier monsters = crash, wait for intro animation, kill monsters with one hit, winning pose, loot.
I'm starting to like the gambits, I've got Vaan set up to mug any foes that are HP critical (you can only mug HP critical foes). You'll also eventually get enemy weakness gambits so you can set up something like this: if enemy is weak to fire, cast fire on them. Gambits don't completely take control of your party, you can still pause and issue commands as usual, and even control your party leader with gambits on (you control one member of the party and the other two are AI control)
The license system seems pretty interesting but you can only see licenses in a radius of already purchased ones, I'd like to get a map of all the licenses as well as a description of how the different weapon types work.
All in all it's a pretty good game, I haven't come across any groan-worthy parts yet (like FFX's HA HA HA or the entirety of FFX-2). Ok, they did use one worn out cliche with Basch, I won't spoil it for you.
Marcus Dublin
Artist - Kaos Studios
PS: 13 hours in and loving it! Lvl: 13
I'm starting to like the gambits, I've got Vaan set up to mug any foes that are HP critical (you can only mug HP critical foes).
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Hey, I've got a dumb question for you. I set up a gambit to do the same thing, only the other party members always kill the damn thing before the poach goes off. How do you stop them? I'm guessing there is another gambit I need to get.
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Balthier happens to be the coolest fucking character ive ever seen in game though, that character just oozes charisma and power.
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Quoted for truth.
Great game btw.
Hey, I've got a dumb question for you. I set up a gambit to do the same thing, only the other party members always kill the damn thing before the poach goes off. How do you stop them? I'm guessing there is another gambit I need to get.
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Honestly, I set it up before I left for work so I haven't tried it out yet. You may need a foe HP <= gambit (I haven't seen them yet but logic says they exist)
No more battlescreens, either. It's just like CT where the menu just pops up when a battle engages.
The AI is actually well done, and is probably what led to the decision to have the gambit system in the game (to show off AI coding). Like Justin said, you can set up a series of comands for each character. Each command is them prioratized. If the commands don't meet the described requirement, the AI moves on to the next command. And so forth.
It's actually great if you just want to back track or grind for money, exp, etc. You basically just walk around and let the AI kill things for you. Bosses can be a little too much for the Gambit system. Mainly because the gambit commands you assign are treated as items in the game. So they need to be found. You have very basic commands early in the game... to prevent the AI from taking away gameplay experience from the player.
Fleeing is as simple as holding down R2 and running away from enemies. You can, if you wanted to, run away from every monster in the game, but the bosses will slaughter you. As far as I can tell, the game bosses are at a set level.
The questing if an improvement over 10. 10 was on rails, and gave the player very little freedom to move about. FFX12 has an environment system more similar to 11 and, if you think about it, a closer 3d representation of how exploration was handled in previous FF games... sans the huge overworld map. It's like if you were to take the top down views of the 16-bit FF games... then turn it into 3rd person POV with camera control.
What were the complaints about the gameplay?
I do think at the moment, that certain fights can be difficult. Some of the hunting sidequests require a bit of thinking and leveling up to complete.
The Quickenings seem too random for their cost. I did one last night that magically chained 3 times (how??!?!?), and did 10k, 12k, and 9k to these tuscan raider type guys. I get full MP again... fuckin thing does 250 damage. I tried again later, and used two quickenings during the same go, and did about 2k damage, in a 3 chain. Melee damage seems extremely reliable, but that stuff is such a gamble.
For a slight UI complaint, you can miss how much damage you do all the time. Leveling up is sometimes missed when you have a melee party leader and ranged people leveling up. They could have made use of the lower right a bit more.
my only final gripe is the 'CONGRATULATIONS' bullshit. Everything is so immersive and great, then they throw that tripe in. Every time i see it i want to turn the game off... but then i realize i should save first, and quickly forget about it. It bothers me so much because they congratulate you for something they dont explain. You just beat these 4 goo guys we threw at you!!!! YAY CONGRATULATIONS!! watch as it runs away and you dont actually kill it! Now sit here with the words on the screen for another 30 seconds while we rotate around your dudes! The 'special' encounter stuff never explains its purpose other than a brief introduction and the 'grats' screen. Angers me. So help me, if it does that at the end of the game, i will be a sad puppy dog.
All in all, im really, really enjoying it. Combat, while gambits make it seem basic, is actually pretty involved and fun, gambits just make life less mundane and less x down x down down, x down, x reptetive crap and micromanagement. When you get to boss and have to micromanage, its fun
Fighting the cluckatrice Elite Hunt last night was a blast... the fight lasted about 10 minutes while i had 2 Gambit healers spamming my damage guy, and attacking / swapping people in and out betweeen. Boss battles are a lot of fun, and definately a 'break' from the mundane farming of bone scraps ($$$$$).