Reviews of Final Fantasy XII

White Vaan Man

Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 18 April 2008 03:54 (A review of Final Fantasy XII)

I was really taken in when I first played this game. I was immediately impressed with the graphics, the cut scenes and the huge scale of the game that was about to open up in front of me. It felt like every inch the epic and I was not disappointed.

As I played further through it though, I did tend to stumble across things that bugged me or reduced my enjoyment of the game. My major concern was the repetitiveness of the dungeons. They can create a world with so many different landscapes and amazing unique features, but instead they've got lazy and reused the same format and textures for numerous dungeons. I still haven't completed this game yet, though I'm a good way through it and I think that if there is one more dungeon, I'm not going to have the energy to battle through it.

The battle system is revolutionary for the Final Fantasy series. It's still turn based, but you no longer have to input the battle commands. Initially I had mixed feelings over this as there is nothing less entertaining than clicking 'Attack' for several thousand random battle encounters. But when you come to a boss, it's good to think that your tactics are operating in real time, rather than just reliant on a pre-battle plan that you have in your head. Of course, you can change your tactics at any time but this is eventually more time consuming and usually fails to kick in before a major character in your party dies.

There are plenty of plus points though. The world map is huge and you genuinely have a lot of ground to cover on foot (I've seen it listed as a negative point, but I think it's much more appealing to have an expansive game than one that feels almost claustrophobic - like Final Fantasy X). The voice acting and characters in general are superb, with only the main character being frustrating enough to want to punch repeatedly in the face. Side quests are plentiful and entertaining, though there is the lack of a worldwide sidegame to take your mind off of things when the story gets too intense.

All in all this is a thoroughly entertaining game, but it is not 'the best final fantasy'. I would put it at third place in my top three. It's a step up from FFX and I anticipate another in the form of FFXIII. They will hopefully blow the power of the PS3 away with that one.

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Final Fantasy XII review

Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 4 April 2008 07:46 (A review of Final Fantasy XII)

When I finished Final Fantasy X-2, I thought it was time to say good-bye to Final Fantasy. It's not that the game was bad, but the lack of genuine spirit of the series, flat characterization and rather thin story made me think that perhaps the creators of the series have finally run out of creativity. I say "finally", because up to that unfortunate installment, every single Final Fantasy game was blessed by artistic inspiration, no matter how controversial it was.
I felt that there was a need for a radical change. A change that would take Final Fantasy onto a whole new level. The gameplay innovations of "Final Fantasy X-2" were too superficial and didn't make up for the lack of story-telling quality. I dreamed about a departure from the conservative, static battle system of Japanese RPGs, about expanding the game world, about introducing new story-related ideas while preserving the serious, emotional approach to the story.
And then "Final Fantasy XII" came, and it was like a miracle. Everything I was hoping for was there. A gameplay revolution in the world of Japanese RPGs, which was at the same time a genuine, high quality Final Fantasy game.Customizing your characters has always been one of the strongest aspects of Final Fantasy series. Every game provided you with new and entertaining ways, be it switching jobs in Final Fantasy V, junctioning GFs in Final Fantasy VIII, or using the sphere grids in Final Fantasy X. The system in "Final Fantasy XII" is actually quite similar to this last one. You also have a large board with all kinds of abilities you can unlock. The difference is that here every possible ability can be gained from this board and you are not restricted to a certain path, allowing a totally open-ended customization. You decide what kind of weapons and armor your characters will be able to equip, what spells they will learn, what enhancements they will get. Everything is up to you. You can turn the cute little Penelo into an axe-wielding barbarian clad in platinum armor, or you can have the powerful soldier Basch wear magician's hat and cast white magic. There are also plenty of very useful augmentations to learn, such as automatically gaining MP when dealing damage, increasing defense when HP critical, and so on.
Most of the complaints I've heard about this game are highly subjective, and I don't want to descend to the fanboy level and to ramble about how they took out my favorite feature X from Final Fantasy Y and how it utterly ruins the game. Yes, I also loved Nobuo Uematsu's music, but this game has a totally different musical style and nothing can change the fact that it is excellent in its own way.


Lets see the positive and not positive points of it:
+ Great overall concept and execution
+ Exceeds the boundaries of Japanese RPG
+ Fantastic combat system
+ Plenty of exploration in a large world
+ Excellent story and characterization
+ Lots of creativity in style and design
+ High production values
- Story is not always perfectly paced
- Some minor gameplay problems





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FF in epic proportions!

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 16 March 2008 06:13 (A review of Final Fantasy XII)

Utilizing the fact it was created in a time when disks were capable of holding vast amounts of data FF12 is the most epic and vast Final Fantasy of the series. Its towns and villages are HUGE and the world map IS a world, unlike FFX where you had "big areas" but it felt like a small jaunt.
The story in this is a little more adult than the previous titles, i think it decides that being a serious franchise is far better than selling out to the new generation of idiotic children we are spawning. Its like watching real films after years of watching teen flicks, you suddenly realize that you have been missing out on something brilliant all along.
The characters in this are great, the voice acting has improved leaps and bounds since the days when Yuna laughed in FFX and all you heard was "ha....ha....ha" The only trouble is they INSIST on having the main characters voice be that of a whiny American adolescent. There is no need for it!
This game is challenging, more so than previous ones. There is an insane amount of scope to the game, and you can basically form the characters in any way you want. You get to chose the weapons, the magic, what each character will do in any given scenario. I love the fact it gives you so much control, you get to adapt to each surrounding and figure out your own style of beating the game. (For example, i had my characters using mainly sledge hammers to batter their way through their enemies for most of my game, reflecting my personal preferences. Others perhaps would prefer to use bows? Or rely heavily on magic. The choice is entirely yours!)

There is so much to do in this game that il be honest i pretty much skipped most of it for sake of completing the story first. So now i am replaying it as i need to tie it all up, the game is worth replaying.
If you played through 9 and 10, and didnt like them (i liked them a lot personally) you owe it to yourself to set things right with Final Fantasy 12! It is a lot better.

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Good, not great

Posted : 2 years, 1 month ago on 3 November 2007 06:06 (A review of Final Fantasy XII)

7.5 is what I want to give this game, but it wont let me.
I decided I would rent this game before I even thought about buying it because of the new battle system. After playing it, Im not impressed, but not to disappointed either. The battles lack any sort of action, half the time you just stand there waiting for the gauge to go up so your character can automatically attack the enemy you tell him to. It starts with choosing what you will do, say you choose attack, you then choose which enemey to attack, run up to it and wait, after that you just stand there, you cant even dodge and blocking random. If you choose to fast a spell, you choose which spell you want to use, then on who, you then wait for the gauge to fill up again, cast the spell and thats it, you will not do it again, nor will you go back to attacking normally, you have to enter that in again, but most regular enemies can easily be defeated by your regualar attacks, magick is really only good for the bigger enemies, bosses or if you just want to defeat the enemy quickly.
Oddly enough its not completely boring. You can go on hunts for certain enemies and rewards, along with the usual Final Fantasy secret weapons etc from various side quests that could easily be missed.
So there is plenty to do, but I strongly recomend that anyone who wants to play this game, to try before you buy.

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Soap Opera?

Posted : 2 years, 6 months ago on 8 June 2007 11:08 (A review of Final Fantasy XII)

It's taken me a little while to get used to this one after playing X and X-2 so much. This one seems to be more "serious" and "dramatic" with all its politics and betrayals and such while the previous were light and fantasy-y (yeah, that's a word in my dictionary).

Of course the graphics are amazing and the overall look of the game is great. There's plenty to run around and do, side missions and all. You can run around to try and kill stuff or explore whatever you want but you are (sort of) forced into the missions because you have to lvl up and upgrade weapons, armor, etc, or you will be killed.

Quickly.

As I said, at first I was "eh" about it but now I can't stop playing! I think I have plenty of game left to do, and I may try and cover the entire license board (or so I think). So much to do and so little time...

The music is a little cheesy for my tastes. But still a 10.

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My Last Fantasy

Posted : 2 years, 11 months ago on 29 January 2007 01:06 (A review of Final Fantasy XII)

This is without a doubt not only the worst Final Fantasy game I’ve ever played, but one of the worst games I’ve ever played, period. I believe that if this game was called anything other than Final Fantasy, game critics would have layed down the bitch-smacking it heartily deserved.

I was a die-hard FF fan. I still consider Final Fantasy VII, the game that brought me into the series, a game I could still pick up and play with all the enjoyment I did back when it first came out in 1997. But apparently Square-Enix has no notion of its heritage beyond roman numerals and this year’s atrocious Dirge of Cerberus and now FFXII have brought the hard-death to my love of the series.

The biggest problem among the many is the lack of character development. We’re thrust into a gigantic world war with an evil empire and a small rebellion and that’s all well and good. That tends to be the set-up of these games (big guy vs. little guy), but there was always a commitment to the characters that drove the story forward. How is it that Final Fantasy VI, with its 22 characters, manages to create interesting, compelling arcs for everyone while FFXII with only six characters, has as much character growth as an ad for tampons (actually, the tampon commercials have an edge because those women manage to find a solution to dealing with their monthly visitor while this game diddled me around for fifty hours).

I kept sticking with the story wondering when it would get interesting and it never happened. The first six to ten hours are spent just trying to introduce all the characters and their motivations (The disgraced soldier wants honor! The street-kid wants Revengture! (that fun mixture of “revenge” and “adventure”) I want my time and money back!); motivations that always seem miniscule when constantly compared to the giant backdrop of the dull political and diplomatic intrigue. The game’s big bad is Vayne Solidor and despite a neat intro scene, the writers decided to just make him power-hungry and be done with it. Guys, you have to live in the shadow of Kefka and Sephiroth—Step up.

The game can’t even really choose a protagonist. It starts off with Vaan who has a voice actor that’s doing his damndest not to make the character seem like he leaped straight off the pages of Tiger Beat. All the voice acting is great and it’s a shame that we don’t get more of it in trying to develop these characters. No, the story is too busy spinning its wheels because once you get everyone together, it’s time to follow a big boring path not once but twice. I don’t know if this counts as a spoiler since nothing of consequence happens, but if you’re super-worried, then stop reading and find out how terrible the game is on your own.

So here’s what’s gonna happen: You’ll pick up a shard cut from a special crystal and handed down by the Dynast-King. You get it after spending five hours dungeon crawling and boring fights. Thanks goodness the Gambit system takes the pressure off the X-button (or at least that’s the idea; more on that later). Then, you’ll take the shard to a special elder. The elder will tell you he doesn’t know anything but gives Ashe, the game’s real protagonist and indecisive bore that you wouldn’t want to run a Hardee’s let alone a kingdom, advice about where to go next.

Okay, now do it again. Then, you’ll reach a section where everything is explained through the introduction of a mythical force that hasn’t even been mentioned in the game up to that point. Along the way, you’ll get little glimmers that make your characters more than paper-thin, but the game refuses to slow down and let you give a damn about any of them.

Final Fantasy XII takes the high-level of character gameplay customization available in MMORPGs but totally forgets that when you create a character in those games, you’re responsible for all of it and you’re really making an alter-ego. Here, the names and looks and histories of these characters already exist (half-assed as they may be) so if you want any more development, use your imagination or read some fan-fic because as far as the writers here are concerned, their work is done.

Unfortunately, the gameplay isn’t that deep and is constantly sabotaging itself. A lot of reviewers have raved about the rewarding Gambit system, but none of the ones I read mentioned that the system is completely undone by the periodic introduction of a “guest” to your party. These are characters who will lend a hand in battle, which would be great except that you have no control over them at all. This fucks things up when I want to focus my attacks on one enemy at a time and the labotomized AI wants to go off, fight another enemy, and divide my forces letting me get my ass kicked.

Yes, Final Fantasy XII does deserve credit for being difficult but it’s not always fair. It would be one thing if the game was consistent, but in the opening when you’re weak, you’ll be sure to find a couple of monsters that should you accidentally steer too close, will fuck your shit up. This would be fine except after about a third through the game, this stops happening and only “Rare Game” (part of one of the game’s many boring sidequests) has the potential to beat you outside of boss fights. I’m also hesitant to give the game credit for having battles take place in-field rather than cutting to a separate battle screen, because other games were already on top of this and I don’t think I should give FFXII credit for not being more irritating than it already is.

Speaking of more irritating, another feature is the License Point system. It’s the natural progression of FFX’s Sphere Board except since those characters had personalities, they had reasonable routes to travel. Here, every character starts at the same point and can be anything…in theory. Again, like with the Gambit system, it falls apart under simple scruitny. Sure, Basch can be a healer, but the game gave him a bit of a head start with some fighthing augmentations and he already uses a sword. Why would I push him out of his way to use a staff and healing magic?

With this idea of total customization already slightly crippled out the gate, the License Board becomes even more frustrating as it’s not simply a matter of purchasing abilities. With the exception of augmentations, everything must also be purchased. You can spend your points on whatever you want, but since you have no idea when it will be available to buy in a store, you could just be pissing away your license points. And not all items are available for purchase. You want something fancy like the ribbon or a high-grade weapon and you’ll have to do some side-questing and item-fishing to get the item out of the bazaar.

And that’s where the game’s greatest paradox comes into view: there’s A LOT to do. The problem is that none of it is any fun. For example, there’s the Clan Centurio side quest where you defeat specific monsters and rank up. This would be fine except the process must work like so:

1.) Accept hunt from clan board petition .

2.) Hunt down the petitioner and double-accept his task.

3.) Find the monster and kill it.

4.) Go back to the petitioner for the reward.

5.) Discover reward was not worth effort and curse loudly.

And while teleport stones are available in the game, you’ll still be doing a lot of walking around and fighting through non-targets before you finally reach your super-tough mark. Hope it doesn’t kill you because then you’re gonna be sent back to your save crystal which probably isn’t close by.

And the rest of the quests are either fetching stuff or the world’s most infuriating fishing game. I especially like when part of the fishing side-quest asked me to go on a fetching side-quest. And if you’re anal-retentive like me and have a need to finish what you start, you’ll be hooked but you’ll also be hating yourself. The only way I could tear myself away was through rationalizing that even if I completed everything the game had to offer, I would only be super pathetic since I still hated all of it. It also made switching the Guitar Hero controller and game in and out a bit of a bitch, and I enjoy that game waaaaay more.

Final Fantasy XII seems to highlight what other FF games did right and then do the complete opposite. The Sphere Board is now the broken License Board. Fascinating villains worth fighting is now Power-Hungry Emperor #1125. Personal storyline sidequests are now an off-handed quip or a throw-away line. Summons worth tracking down are now furstrating efforts in futility (Summons are almost entirely worthless in this game). Limit Breaks are now a dumbed-down slots game.

What pains me is that I’m sure there are better RPGs out there. Magna Carta, which I mocked earlier today, could be one of them, but I would never know because they don’t have the big Final Fantasy brand name and all the gaming-media attention it carries. And with all the positive reviews, it looks like Square-Enix now has license to continue making sub-par entries into the series. Well, it’s a good thing all those gaming journalists don’t have to pay for their PS3s or their games because I’m certainly not dropping one cent on Final Fantasy XIII. No, my money will be going to better games that don’t coast on previous successes.

Shame on gaming journalists for praising this unquestionable bore of a game. Shame on Square-Enix for bending over loyal fans and taking their money with pretty-yet-hollow games. And shame on me for spending almost seventy hours wondering if and when Final Fantasy XII would start being fun.

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Best FF Game EVER

Posted : 2 years, 11 months ago on 29 January 2007 07:28 (A review of Final Fantasy XII)

As Final Fantasy games get developed over the years, the developer keeps offering new systems that we grow addicted to over and over again.

The latest installment of Final Fantasy game, FF12, is the best one ever in terms of graphic, battle system, story, and game world. FF12 offers massive world players can interact with. Characters development are excellent. Voice-over acting is also top notch. This is a game worth having for all RPG lovers out there.

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