About the battle sistem you're right. And the truth is that they didn't even innovated. It's very similar
to Parasite Eve. I was already discouraged to buy the game, but if you say it's really that bad...
Maybe the only thing that could save it is the story. However, they could put a similar story with a better gameplay.
And Final Fantasy should have sticken with the FFX-2 gameplay.
Final Fantasy XII game Review
Story & Playability
For years now Final Fantasy has made every RPG fanboy and fangirl foam at the mouth. While some have played many of the classics, most will say that it was Final Fantasy VII that got them hooked to this long running franchise. The problem has been that no other Final Fantasy has yet to live up to that high bar set back in 1997; will Final Fantasy XII be the one to dethrone the king?
The story takes place in the land of Ivalice. A land that is rife with war and tyranny. Many nations are being taken over by the powerful empire by the name of Archadia. Archadia has few leaders but the primary focus is on Vayne Solidor who rules over Dalmasca. FFXII follows an the ousted princess of that kingdom and a young boy with dreams of being a sky pirate whose brother died in the war with Archadia. Both youths are joined by the common thread of revenge against an empire that stole freedoms and love ones and in Ashe's case, her throne.
The plot isn't typical Final Fantasy fare which is to say a good thing and a bad thing. The crux of the story consists of Ashe & Vaan traversing the land with their band of teammates to discover the secrets of the power that Archades holds with its powerful stones called Nethicite and to gain their own power to regain control of what was lost and to prevent any further war. The story's strong point comes in it's well spoken dialog. Gone are the youthful angst (and borderline emo) scripts of teenage protagonists and instead we are treated to eloquent and thoughtful dialog much to the sound of olde English. The way the story is presented comes across as a high brow, intelligent romp into the politics of war and a history long gone. There is a definite gap between those who should speak with dignity and those of the common folks but it comes together very well in presenting a solid story.
HOWEVER, FFXII ultimately fails in the story department. While the story is solid and coherent it lacks that epic feel that is expected to come along with RPG's, that feeling of overcoming insurmountable odds to become a hero. There is no supervillian that you can truly hate only Vayne whom you rarely really see through the course of the game anyway until you fight him 3 TIMES at the end of the game. There is very little in the way of character development. Outside of Ashe there is no real sympathetic character with a deep and twisted past. There are no unexpected plot twists that blow the entire game wide open. It just ends up being unfulfilling in the end.
Rating:
Graphics
Note*: Review equipment consists of 29' inch Sony Bravia LCD running at 1080i via a PS3 through HDMI. Game appearance may vary slightly based on your equipment.
Graphically this game shows that the PS2 isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Square-enix always manages to pull out every bit of the juice that the PS2 can produce and does so once again without a hitch. In game graphics are solid all around and with texture smoothing and upscalling in place is made all the better with the slight removal of the jaggies on the characters edges. As expected with FF we get plenty of races of species of denizens throughout the game with many different distinguishing characteristics. Ranging from fat, bipedal pigs to everyone's favorite moogle all the way to the tall, big-breasted bunny girl. Each one holds their own special charm.
Cutscenes are where the game truly shines. The game does something few do and that is seamlessly transition from in-game to cutscene without the use of the load screen. You may finish a boss fight and begin running away and as soon as some explosion happens, you'll end up watching it in a beautifully rendered cutscene. Also unlike past FF games (I'm looking right at you 10) you aren't inundated with them, they come when they are needed and are in rather short supply. That makes them truly beautiful as opposed to being oversaturated.
Where the game loses it's miniscule point is in it's slowdown. There are few times in the game where if there are enough enemies and enough spells going on, you can be met with some miserable almost unplayable slowdown. God help you if there is 2 giant birds flying around casting Thundaga because it becomes a slideshow as you try to figure out what to do next.
Rating:
Sound
Maybe I'm just attached to the old days... well quite frankly the everyday, composition of Nobuo Uematsu so much so that I just can't imagine a game being tagged "Final Fantasy" without him. While this game was in development, executive producer Hironobu Sakaguchi left to form a new gaming devision and he took with him famous composer Nobuo Uematsu. Left to fill these enormous shoes was Hitoshi Sakimoto. He did a well enough job producing music for the game each appropriate for each situation, but it just lacked that feeling that Uematsu's music produces. There wasn't the heart-pumping boss music or that sad heart breaking ballad, only regular fare music all around. It becomes especially evident when you reach the final boss and you don't get the music that showers your body in goosebumps. I hate to use older games as a form of comparison but it's just so hard when you have this much of a precedence to match.
Voice acting on the other hand was extrodinary. Again I wouldn't give this game a '10' no matter the voice acting due to lack of voice selection option, but the English acting was quite good. As I said in the plot description, much of the diaglog is intelligent, eloquent speech that sounds of olde English and all the actors were careful to portray that as accurately as possible. The most notable characters to shine were Ashe (Kari Wahlgren), Vayne (Elijah Alexander) and Reddas (Phil Lamaar).
Rating:
Fun
Gameplay:
After playing the lackluster demo I was worried that the game would end up being boring and entirely too easy. I was right in every way. The usual turn-based battle system is now gone and instead goes for the active/wait battle system. There are no random battles, simply a see it, kill it battle system. You will see an enemy in the distance, hit X to bring up your menu, select your attack of choice and they will do it in real time. Your AI characters act based on what the game calls 'gambits'. Gambits are adjustable AI reactions to given situations. You can have up to 12 commands that your AI counterparts will act out based on whatever situation is at hand. You can have one character that will attack flying enemies until your main character reaches less than 50% health and then will cease their attack and heal you. If in the course of healing you, you are hit with a status effect that character will use the item or spell you programmed them to use to react to that. While that does allow for a lot of tweaking of your team it also leads to horribly boring battles. If you manage to set up proper gambits then you can easily go into a boss battle (final boss battle included) hit X X X and then sit there and watch as your characters mindlessly swat away an enemy until it perishes. Quite boring when your only real interaction with the game is the same three buttons over and over again.
The other negatives come in the form of dull, uninspired dungeon crawling the games dependence on levels and your need for a strategy guide. The gameplay seems fresh and fun for a little while but then simply falls into drudgery as all you seem to do is hop from one dungeon to the next or one forest to the next so that you can engage in more mindless fighting. The game takes in excess of 50 hours and most of it consists of you watching your characters beat up something while you do something more important like eat an orange with your hands that are doing absolutely nothing. As I said the game is also entirely too dependant on levels. If you get to a boss or one of your many bounty hunts and your level is even slightly too low you will be met with this "miss, miss, parry, miss, parry, miss" and only occasionally will you land any kind of hit. It becomes frustrating when you spend 30 minutes on a simple enemy because you are just slightly underleveled. But if you have the correct level for the situation, just hit X X X and sit back as you win the fight unmatched (again this also includes the final boss). Finally the last nail in the coffin (and in this friggin huge paragraph) is how much you NEED a strategy guide to get everything out of this game. I hate strategy guides, I won't use them until I beat a game. Problem is this game is riddled with one time only items. Many of the best items in the game are ridiculously obscure and you only get one chance at it. To get some Genji equipment you have to fight Gilgamesh but not kill his dog then wait until he casts his shield at half health. Once his shield goes away then you make sure you have the thief cuff equipped and then steal from him and you should get it. If you steal at any other time you get something like a Hi-Potion and never another chance to get this powered up equipment. In fact there might have been something about the waning of the moon and the vernal equinox in there but I could be wrong. Point is the best only comes to those who follow gamefaqs word for word or plop down $20 at their local Gamestop for that strategy guide.
Summary:
10 hours into the game I was convinced that the previously lost brilliance of the Final Fantasy franchise had returned. Overabundance of boring (and unskipable) cutscenes is now manageable (oh and skipable). The battle system received a complete overhaul. It was a story that didn't involve saving the world from some catastrophe or maniacal villain. It had all the ingredients for a new and fun RPG. But by the time I got to the 100 floor tower near the end of the game and found myself barely being able to stay awake I knew all was lost. By the time you find yourself at the end of the game, the carefully crafted story has taken a backseat to the drudgery of dungeon crawling boredom. Too many negatives dropped this game down in the end.
I'm well aware that my review is going to be considerably lower than most. Many people love this game and I'm sure I'll catch hell for this in the end. But I think that a guy who owns something like 80 other PS2 RPG's has at least a viable opinion... right?
Oh well maybe the shine will return in FFXIII.
Rating:
Final Verdict
5.6667 (average)
Reviewed by shoujoboy, Aug 08, 2007
Comments
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Reox Aug 08, 2007
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carl123abc Aug 09, 2007
I been looking at game magazines and reviews on the net, each one exeeds 90/100. but i dont get why..
I am playing this still XD, although i got it like 2 months ago, but the reason isnt because the game isnt hard, its because i got bored t_t, i agree with your battle system dullness and the change from turn based to real time really got me down V_V. mabey i will finish at the end of the year the way im playing it? ive already lost the storyline lol XD. fair review imo. bye bye -
royaldarkness Aug 09, 2007
Initially I was horrified at the new battle system, but I got used to it soon after. Other than that, I have to say I sorta agree with your review. Personally I would rate it a 7, I prefer it over FFX and FFX-2.
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Eternal82 Aug 10, 2007
I have to agree that FF12 was rather disappointing especially in the gameplay. Overally, I do agree with your review but I think a 6.5 would be more apt.
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ether92 Aug 11, 2007
I didn't even bother in buying it...
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ninasun100 Aug 21, 2007
I simply find Square-Enix has no good taste. That's all.
merged: 08-22-2007 ~ 06:27am
People...if you think FFXII's battle system was bad....hell, try playing Magna Carta Tear of Blood and post again. -
Northy Sep 01, 2007
It's true that FF XII was a bit of a disappointment, but that has pretty much been the case with every FF game since VII. (With the possible exception in FF IX.) If there's one thing I LIKED about the FF XII game, though, then that would be the fully immersive 3D world. This might very well be the first RPG where I spent a lot of time just running around and gawking at the pretty scenery, and I actually forgave the game a lot for that, because it's one of the things I like about games, especially newer RPGs.
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marysonnie Oct 13, 2007
I was very disappointed by the character development. Vaan and Penelo were just along for the ride. After Vaan found out the truth about Reks, he didn't have any strong reasons to continue, other than a poorly explored connection with Ashe. And Penelo? I guess she's just following her man, because that's what it seems like.
It later becomes clear why Balthier is involved, though reaching this point is like, how many hours into the game? Fran's connection to Balthier is stronger and more real to me, but Fran isn't really explored thoroughly. They've got a nice, subtle relationship going but the game doesn't give me enough.
Basch and Ashe are the ones who have a stake in the story from the very beginning. I didn't like Ashe at first (she's very abrasive) but she grew on me. I just couldn't empathize with her at all because her emotional distance made her inaccessible to me.
Overall, I don't know if the game deserved 5.67, but it definitely had its faults. -
sin-shenlong Jan 21, 2008
the game isnt that bad, i mean i dnt rely n gambits so it feels like the old ffs to me, plus i i balanced my characters differently so they dont all seem the same . i love the quickening system i think its the best limit system in all FFs to date, the summons are useless att times tho. I also like the story, its different, more about nations as oppose to real people, and unlike past FFs it isnt about whats going to happen next bt mainly what has already happened and how each character is dealing with it, the main theme to me i probably regret.
merged: 01-21-2008 ~ 09:33am
o and the music is ok.. bt i agree it isnt memorable- in all the ff games before i had the constant hum of music in my head especially the boss music and battle music bt in this game altho its pretty good its just not addictive. i prefer the musical jump in kingdom hearts 2 . so all in all ill give the agme an 8 so far. it just depends on what ur looking for and how u play the battles -
Odeena Jan 21, 2008
I'm only 10 hours into the game, but I agree with every point of your review on sound, graphics and gameplay. What ticks me the most is the gameplay -- it's exactly as you describe it: see it -- kill it -- end of story. This reminds me a lot of hack'n'slash RPGs like Diablo or the DotA map for Warcraft III TFT; for me, at least, it was sad to see the FF gameplay reduced to that much. Personally, I didn't use gambits -- good, old-school individual character control makes the game slightly more difficult and therefore a bit more enjoyable.
Will comment more when I'll have finished the game [should I ever :)]
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Northy Apr 14, 2008
Gah! Very late reply, but...
Quote by marysonnieI was very disappointed by the character development. Vaan and Penelo were just along for the ride. After Vaan found out the truth about Reks, he didn't have any strong reasons to continue, other than a poorly explored connection with Ashe. And Penelo? I guess she's just following her man, because that's what it seems like.
Or maybe they're just... you know, friends who grew up together? It's true that the story of FF XII lacked a certain punch, but I liked the fact that the teenage tagalong wasn't the center of attention the entire time in the game, like the protagonists of FF VII, VIII and especially FF X. Besides, I've played through the game, and I didn't see a single clue that Penelo has anything but sisterly affections for Vaan. Another plus point, because, again, they grew up together. Hell, Vaan didn't even annoy me, because he didn't have the ME ME ME syndrome hanging over him.So yeah, you're absolutely right. Vaan and Penelo was just along for the ride, and I found that delightfully refreshing.
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ryanwho Mar 29, 2009
Seems like you repudiated the game because you sucked at it. Sorry you couldn't appreciate how amazing Gambits are because you want to continue doing all that monotonous shit yourself. People like you are why the genre is in a slump.
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shoujoboy Mar 30, 2009
Quote: Seems like you repudiated the game because you sucked at it. Sorry you couldn't appreciate how amazing Gambits are because you want to continue doing all that monotonous shit yourself. People like you are why the genre is in a slump.
And douchebag comments like that are why you don't have any friends.
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ResonantSoul Jul 23, 2009
Never played FF. I might try, but eh.
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Onlyrockman Aug 01, 2009
Love the movie, but I dont think I'll bother playing the game since I'm not really a fan/ Thx
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SchRita Aug 24, 2009
Thanks for the review!
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nainoi Sep 13, 2009
excellent review
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SchRita Oct 31, 2009
Thanks for the review!
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rukasu44 Oct 03, 2010
I'm gonna play this game, I don't know when, though xD
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Distortion May 01, 2011
You know I was actually thinking about going out and buying this game again, since I really enjoyed the towns and feel of the environments but your review has made me realize I should just go finish FFIX or Dragon Quest 8. So thank you, and well done.
Also spoiler, the shine doesn't return at all in thirteen.
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