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Your views on the Final Fantasy games?

Three of your favorite FF titles in the series?


  • Total voters
    482

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
FF1: Okay I guess. The remake has GILGAMESH though.

FF2: Meh.

FF3: Meh.

FF4: Meh.

FF5: The premiere of GILGAMESH. And a fantastic job system.

FF6: The remake has GILGAMESH. Otherwise only passable.

FF7: Meh.

FF8: Actually good because it didn't require a remake to have GILGAMESH.

FF9: Alleyway Jack is by far the best character the game has to offer.

FF10: Imagine a straight line. And GILGAMESH wasn't in the Idolmaster sequel either.

FFXI: Meh. The Gilgamesh here is a fake.

FFXII: Very amazing game. I'm sure it has to do with GILGAMESH being in it.

FFXIII: You know you are terrible when the best you can do is put in a ingame shop.

FFXIII-2 : Specifically some DLC. You know why.

FFXIV: Excellent game that integrates what matters. GILGAMESH obviously. Looking forward to the new GILGAMESH WALKER expansion.

FFXV: Imagine a very pretty straight line. With a fake Gilgamesh.

I think that about sums it up.
 

AJUMP23

Member
Larry David Hbo GIF by Curb Your Enthusiasm
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
you see, Cutty Flam Cutty Flam ? listen to this man.
The FFIX tangible copy for Switch is $44 or more still everywhere online. The game hasn’t depreciated in value at all yet

I'm still trying to visualize how I'm going to approach this game. Since it's the first FF game I'll play, I think I'll try to absorb everything I can early on. Thinking things through carefully, tactics, and strategy will be key

tumblr_mud4z0ujvg1qzkkr1o3_500.gif
 

Kumomeme

Member
FF1: Okay I guess. The remake has GILGAMESH though.

FF2: Meh.

FF3: Meh.

FF4: Meh.

FF5: The premiere of GILGAMESH. And a fantastic job system.

FF6: The remake has GILGAMESH. Otherwise only passable.

FF7: Meh.

FF8: Actually good because it didn't require a remake to have GILGAMESH.

FF9: Alleyway Jack is by far the best character the game has to offer.

FF10: Imagine a straight line. And GILGAMESH wasn't in the Idolmaster sequel either.

FFXI: Meh. The Gilgamesh here is a fake.

FFXII: Very amazing game. I'm sure it has to do with GILGAMESH being in it.

FFXIII: You know you are terrible when the best you can do is put in a ingame shop.

FFXIII-2 : Specifically some DLC. You know why.

FFXIV: Excellent game that integrates what matters. GILGAMESH obviously. Looking forward to the new GILGAMESH WALKER expansion.

FFXV: Imagine a very pretty straight line. With a fake Gilgamesh.

I think that about sums it up.
i love the FFXIII-2 version of Battle at the Big Bridge.
 
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Fushitsusha

Banned
The FFIX tangible copy for Switch is $44 or more still everywhere online. The game hasn’t depreciated in value at all yet
Nintendo eshop digitally... it's 50% occasionally, which is like $10 I suppose. That's a steal :messenger_open_mouth:

"I'm still trying to visualize how I'm going to approach this game. Since it's the first FF game I'll play, I think I'll try to absorb everything I can early on. Thinking things through carefully, tactics, and strategy will be key"

Yup, there are some series staples that will be fun to see how you discover... particularly in regards to the turn-based battles.
 
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DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
I loved FFX but I voted for 5-7. 5 had the best gameplay with the job system. 6 the best story and multiple character development, and 7 with the move to 3d graphics with also a great story.
 
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Cutty Flam

Banned
FFXII army, GET THE FUCK ITT!!!!!

Summoning a strong portion of the FFXII crew and other FF experts in search for answers about FFXII

What makes FFXII stand out? And can it be mentioned along with the greatness of FFVI through FFX, in the same breath? Can it be called a masterpiece, or is it just short of?

The game is on sale for $24.99 or 50% off right now. Last time it was on sale I passed it up, but apparently it’s really good?

Bash the game or praise the game, either is fine. What are your true thoughts on FFXII and how great this game is, if you don’t mind sharing?

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Shifty1897 Shifty1897 Xeaker Xeaker ShadowLag ShadowLag L lostinblue Red Rackham's Revenge Red Rackham's Revenge Imru’ al-Qays Imru’ al-Qays German Hops German Hops poodaddy poodaddy U unintelligent orange Upper_Management Upper_Management struggler_guts struggler_guts Fushitsusha Fushitsusha N NecrosaroIII Astorian Astorian DGrayson DGrayson Kerotan Frog Kerotan Frog hemo memo hemo memo Manji Uzuki Manji Uzuki TitanNut88 TitanNut88 Hydroxy Hydroxy Zambatoh Zambatoh TheInfamousKira TheInfamousKira AJUMP23 AJUMP23

ethomaz ethomaz V4skunk V4skunk Jooxed Jooxed D DonkeyPunchJr Captain Toad Captain Toad T Termite C crozier Paltheos Paltheos itshutton itshutton Desudzer10 Desudzer10 C Champomade C cartman414 royox royox small_law small_law Werewolf Jones Werewolf Jones Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius TLZ TLZ SlimeGooGoo SlimeGooGoo Nezzeroth Nezzeroth MeteorVII MeteorVII MagiusNecros MagiusNecros Exentryk Exentryk
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
Cutty Flam Cutty Flam FF XII is fantastic, probably my favorite of the post-PS1 games.

1. the characters actually talk and act like freaking adults with functioning brains, instead of walking, talking shounen anime tropes

2. God-tier soundtrack by the same composer as FF Tactics (actually it takes place in the same setting as Tactics).

3. battle system is awesome. Under the hood it kinda works the same as all the ATB games, but in this game you program and automate your party to your exact specifications. You can still manually issue commands at any time

4. Zodiac Age adds so many improvements it almost feels like a new game. It fixes almost everything wrong with the original.

Highly recommended if you want a kick ass FF game that’s a refreshing break from the shounen anime melodrama of the other games
 
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Krizalidx11

Banned
FF7 was the 1st one i played then i never stopped following them, ff12 was an interesting turn in combat and story telling but the story was cut short in production to finish the game before release


all in all Nomura should be kept for Kingdom heart games, he shat the bed in FFXV
 

Andodalf

Banned
FF 12 was the one of the first games I played that I really took ownership of my play though, it wasn’t just me tagging along with my brother. I really love the world and art style, as well as just the world of the game.

The combat is kinda weird, they were still working out how to deal with fully 3D games and active battles , but it’s fine. I feel like new people going into it would have a much harder time with it than either a modern action rpg or a bog standard Turn based game.


I’ve been meaning to play the Zodiac age, will hopefully get to it this summer!
 

Great Hair

Banned
Same as KevKev.

Played it for some time, then HL2 came and i have never finished it (sadly). Those few hours, i enjoyed. It was different. Maybe time to replay it, just don't have much time for gaming as of late.
 

ShadowLag

Member
Cutty Flam Cutty Flam FF XII is fantastic, probably my favorite of the post-PS1 games.

1. the characters actually talk and act like freaking adults with functioning brains, instead of walking, talking shounen anime tropes

2. God-tier soundtrack by the same composer as FF Tactics (actually it takes place in the same setting as Tactics).

3. battle system is awesome. Under the hood it kinda works the same as all the ATB games, but in this game you program and automate your party to your exact specifications. You can still manually issue commands at any time

4. Zodiac Age adds so many improvements it almost feels like a new game. It fixes almost everything wrong with the original.

Highly recommended if you want a kick ass FF game that’s a refreshing break from the shounen anime melodrama of the other games

All this right here, not much more needs to be said - and the god tier soundtrack bit is no exaggeration
 

Werewolf Jones

Gold Member
I haven't played XII since I was 16 but with the X3 speed function it makes the game go from a 6 to an 8 or so I've been told. Hiroyuki Ito the IX director had to salvage it after Mitsuno left so you might like it. The MC isn't an interesting one and it's literally Star Wars Episode IV but it's all good.
 

Ladioss

Member
FF 10-11-12 were so weird to me at that time : a Californian bodybuilded surfer, a MMORPPG and a Star Wars ripoff that played itself and drained Mitsuno from any creative energy for the remainder of his career. Such a weird time for FF (especially after how FF9 tried to "please" the older fans) and Square (the SE merge).
 

Gexxy1

Member
Best to worst:

VII
IV
V
XV
IX
X
VI
VIII
I
XII
III
II
XIII

Did not play XI, and XIV I played for about 10 hours before stopping.
 

Elysion

Banned
FFX has the most compelling world imo, since it has a strong, coherent feel throughout the game. Be it the visual design, soundtrack, or character design, all these aspects compliment each other beautifully, giving off chill, tropical vibes thanks to which the whole game has a very unique identity. And whatever one might say about the writing itself, the overall plot and worldbuilding (and the concepts underpinning them) are among the best in the series, and are beautifully tragic.

That doesn’t necessarily make FFX the best game of its series, since the lack of a traversable worldmap and the game’s overall linearity are pretty big negatives. But I think among FF games FFX is among those that has aged the best, thanks to its compelling world and characters. I‘m not sure the same can be said for some of its sequels. FFXII for example might have been the superior game from a technical and mechanical standpoint, but most of its characters (including the ‚main character‘) feel pretty bland and boring, which makes me less likely to replay the game.
 
Hmm, well FFXII has a lot of great traits. I talked about Zodiac age in my 2019 GotY vote.

What I said was that going from the smart, sophisticated dialogue of FFXII to Numa's "momz r tough" cringe moment in FFXIII was like switching channels from Frasier to Here comes Honey Boo Boo.

I want to add now that Squeenix dropped the ball with the extreme late game of secret bosses and ultimate weapons and all that, as they have done quite often. It was a giant crystal maze with no map and where every room looks almost identical and you gotta find random drops from chests. Very tedious.

Still a great game though. I particularly enjoyed the "Marks" where you hunt down a specific optional powerful monster with your party and you're free to take them on early in the game for cool rewards like rare weapons that you won't see for a long time otherwise. Having tons of optional superbosses stomping around the wilderness is in a lot of SP games that I love nowadays, like the Tyrants in Xenoblade, but FFXII back in 2006 was my first exposure to this kind of thing.
 
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Paltheos

Member
Cutty Flam Cutty Flam FFXII's a different cut of beef. Allot of the previous titles focused on wowing the player or immersing them in a world. 12's a much more grounded affair - Not without its beauty but it carries itself with a little more subtlety and elegance. ... It also sucks balls for the first 20 hours, which is a disclaimer I always have to put before the game whenever I recommend it. I love the game and dropped 150 hours into vanilla, but it takes a while to get going. Its gambit system for automatically macro-managing combat for the player is something that somehow hasn't been copied (similar style games like Xenoblade just end up being outright worse for not ripping off FF12 wholesale) but isn't fully available to the player from the outset (I think Zodiac Age changed this though?), and the many optional sidequests which is where much of the meat in the game is aren't available until that far in. ... And that first 20 hours includes a trek across a seemingly endless, desolate wasteland that is about as unengaging as it comes. The game looks and sounds so great once you get past the hurdle though!

Repeating again that this is a very different game though. Most of the previous titles bear Sakaguchi's stamp on them, even if Sakaguchi wasn't the man in charge (10 is such a Final Fantasy game). 12 is a Matsuno game through and through. Politically-dominated dialogue and action and Shakespearean presentations rule the roost. If you've played Final Fantasy Tactics, you shouldn't be surprised by 12.
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Besides GILGAMESH. FFXII has a political scenario and a lot of dialogue I can appreciate. If you like Vagrant Story, FF Tactics you will love the scenario behind XII because it has a general story but also an underlying political story as well.

Most FF's are gonna follow a group of adventurers, XII I feel had a more worldly and political feel.

And outside of Vaan the cast as previously stated feel like mature adults. Not saying Vaan is a bad character he just takes a lot of time to develop.
 
I love most things about FF12. I love the easy way it plays, I love the setting, the freedom in exploration it gives compared to most FF's, the music, the characters (even though they don't get much development, it still comes off better to me than the over-development some FF characters get, and they mostly avoid silly melodrama). The localization is probably the best of any game ever, the use of language is brilliant. I could listen to Fran talk all day. I wish the story was better and Matsuno had been allowed to do what he really wanted with the game, but it's still my favorite mainline Final Fantasy.
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
I actually grew to like Vaan on multiple play-throughs.

He works well enough as the eyes and ears of the player. He has the right motivation (war orphan who lost his brother). He had the balls to sneak into the palace right under Vayne’s nose, so it makes sense that Balthier would see his potential as a sky pirate. And he serves to remind the rest of them what they’re fighting for.

Most importantly he (and Penelo) shut the fuck up and let the more interesting characters have the spotlight most of the time. Much better than e.g. Tidus, who would constantly be loudly proclaiming his ignorance at every opportunity so the other characters have a reason to dump info on you. Or giving lectures about never giving up and believing in yourself and finding a new way, to his far wiser, more experienced, older companions
 

Exentryk

Member
I replayed the new Zodiac Age version a few years ago (when it came out), after playing the original game back in the 2000s. Below were my thoughts.

--

Had to rush through and finish the game this weekend to prepare for Ni no Kuni 2. Didn't get to do some optional content like the Subterra dungeon, Omega, Yiasmat and the Trial 100. Might come back to it in the future though.

Anyway, just want to start by saying the ending was so good. The cutscenes really are a stand out in this game. Below are my thoughts on the game overall:

Pros:
  • Cutscenes - Fantastically directed. Jun Akiyama is the man.
  • CG Sequences - LOVED these so much. I liked how many of them were mixed in with other cutscenes. Really makes them feel special.
  • Voice Acting - Probably best in the series. Al-Cid's actor deserves high praise.
  • Combat System - Love the Gambit system. I did feel this time around that I needed even more options/depth with this system, like multiple blocks to set your conditions and output.
  • Monster Hunts - These are very well implemented and great fun to complete.

Neutral:
  • Story - I'm not a fan of political stories, but I guess it was okay. Sort of got worse towards the end.


Cons:
  • Art direction - Too browny and similar.
  • Cheap repeated assets - Rabanastre's port is exactly the same as Bhujerba's (the sky city).
  • Too Dungeon Crawly & Obscure elements - Late game I felt I was spending too long in the dungeons and doing stupid things like luring enemies halfway across the map or re-running zones to see if a treasure chest appears or not. It's a single player game, just lose these chance based or obscure stuff.
  • Non-party members not getting EXP

Overall though, I had a wonderful time. Balthier is the best character.

x6Ff0af.gif
 
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ranmafan

Member
One of the big reasons I love FFXII is the world of Ivalice. The last great single player world in the FF universe filled will great locations to explore and characters to interact with. The gameplay is too notch. The gambit system is fun to play with and the additions in Zodiac age to both the system and the options to speed things up, taken from the international zodiac version, really make it an even more of a joy to play. And while Matsuno left the project halfway through and all his work on it and all really helped make it a great game. And also a great cast, including Vaan who gets way too much hate. At 50% off the game is a steal and it’s worth getting at that price. Heck it’s worth it at full price.
 
Besides GILGAMESH. FFXII has a political scenario and a lot of dialogue I can appreciate. If you like Vagrant Story, FF Tactics you will love the scenario behind XII because it has a general story but also an underlying political story as well.

Most FF's are gonna follow a group of adventurers, XII I feel had a more worldly and political feel.

And outside of Vaan the cast as previously stated feel like mature adults. Not saying Vaan is a bad character he just takes a lot of time to develop.
Oh yeah the Gilgamesh fight in XII was cool. He had the famous swords from other FF games like Cloud's Buster Sword and Squall's gunblade. You fight him on the train tracks and can steal cool genji gear from him. That was a great boss battle.
 
@ Cutty Flam Cutty Flam

FFXII is the best PS2 main Final Fantasy game for me, one that greatly advanced the JRPG genre and the last great Final Fantasy effort that felt like an articulated dichotomy. That said, I can only imagine how it aged on some fronts, I have it on PS4, but I haven't played it extensively yet.

This is not a simple Final Fantasy to judge by any means. For one, it didn't start of as such, when it comes to planning this felt like it was vagrant story 2, through and through. Basch (36 year old guy in the final draft of the game) was the main character, Vaan and Penelo didn't exist. Square execs first made it a numbered game, then got involved, pressured for a lot of demographic checkboxes (teenager main character, androgynous, love interest/love comedy sections, stupid FFVIII/X prom influenced staple ideas) because this was a numbered title now and those were popular things with "modern final fantasy"... Things started to go sour and at the peak of it the director Yasumi Matsuno (Vagrant Story Director) burnt out and quit the project, Hiroyuki Ito (FF9 Director) and Akitoshi Kawazu (SaGa series) had to be drafted in to keep it together.

They did their job really well, the game is really polished content-wise and balance-wise as they didn't pull a Joss Whedon on it... But there's something keeping it from being the best game it could be in some areas they respectfully chose not to touch. Gameplay-wise they probably played a huge role, considering their credentials and end result , it really has their footprints all over it, for the better. (even furter on FFXII:Zodiac Age, which is the version these news versions are based on)

The things that let it down are, well, one is that it was too ambitious for the PS2, it wanted to pull this huge world, but had to chop it into smaller areas and did so by keeping it seemingly open, but adding some lines signaling that past that you'll have to load the next area (on the PS2 this was a 20/30 second wait, and it really slowed down the experience) this also had a clear impact on the level design of some areas for the worst, because graphically you could see the level continued past the loading line, but the thing you wanted to reach wasn't immediately adjacent to it, otherwise you wouldn't need a loading screen at all - you needed this loading screen because there wasn't enough memory nor polygons to pull it.

It made it so that these "smaller maps" together were bigger than if the bigger map was possible. This makes makes the experience more systematic than it could be otherwise. A more powerful platform, or HDD (which I wonder if they thought early on they could recommend using seeing the japanese FFX and Kingdom Hearts had the option) could have mitigated this a little.

Well, and the other thing is story. They didn't change the core story much, Vaan is an afterthought, Penelo is there so they don't have to spend time with character development for a developing love interest for him and they just keep away from "grown man business" making them protagonists by proxy. Story develops through their eyes, but they're not very important. This is an acceptable compromise I guess but it's not great, and they easily become a slight annoyance as FFXII would be a better game without them. Not to say the story would be shakespeare, as it wouldn't but it would flow better. It's trying to tell one story, through another.

Other things FFXII pioneered in, became staples (wanted poster hunt sidequests, for instance) and started being done mostly better once the next generation came around (PS3/X360), it really feels like a next generation concept on the PS2 though. The cities also feel modern, level-design and interaction-wise, properly done and streamlined. They don't feel like a remnant of other time.
 
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Cutty Flam

Banned
These responses are much appreciated. The excellence of the FF fanbase never ceases to amaze me. If I manage the feat of conquering multiple continents in this life, through peaceful words ONLY, then every one of you will eat for free in any restaurant establishment of choice for the rest of your lives. And every Final Fantasy fan across the globe will receive an 85% discount at any restaurant if they can correctly answer a FF question asked by their waiter/waitresses

There is plenty of time to think this over as the sale lasts another day pretty sure. I'm going to train for a couple hours, and hopefully Gilgamesh will telepathically disperse wisdom to me in between reps so that I can make the correct decision
 
As an MMO FFXIV will never soar to the top on this poll, but it's just exquisitely good. I've played Final Fantasy games since the very early 90s, with Mystic Quest being my first. VI, XIV, and IV are my favorites.
 
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Definitely in my top 5 franchises ever. Grew up with FF1 on the NES when I didn't even speak english at that point but XIII trilogy soured things for me and XV didn't help much. VII Remake is definitely in my top 10 games ever but I think a lot is riding on XVI.
 

Kumomeme

Member
FFXII army, GET THE FUCK ITT!!!!!

Summoning a strong portion of the FFXII crew and other FF experts in search for answers about FFXII

What makes FFXII stand out? And can it be mentioned along with the greatness of FFVI through FFX, in the same breath? Can it be called a masterpiece, or is it just short of?

The game is on sale for $24.99 or 50% off right now. Last time it was on sale I passed it up, but apparently it’s really good?

Bash the game or praise the game, either is fine. What are your true thoughts on FFXII and how great this game is, if you don’t mind sharing?

C Count of Monte Sawed-Off fatty fatty Ixion Ixion Andodalf Andodalf Spukc Spukc Faust Faust
Great Hair Great Hair SantaC SantaC Godzilla Emu Godzilla Emu Touch fuzZy. get BizZay Touch fuzZy. get BizZay vaibhavpisal vaibhavpisal Lethal01 Lethal01 Myths Myths ranmafan ranmafan Kev Kev Kev Kev Fret Runner Fret Runner Kumomeme Kumomeme

Shifty1897 Shifty1897 Xeaker Xeaker ShadowLag ShadowLag L lostinblue Red Rackham's Revenge Red Rackham's Revenge Imru’ al-Qays Imru’ al-Qays German Hops German Hops poodaddy poodaddy U unintelligent orange Upper_Management Upper_Management struggler_guts struggler_guts Fushitsusha Fushitsusha N NecrosaroIII Astorian Astorian DGrayson DGrayson Kerotan Frog Kerotan Frog hemo memo hemo memo Manji Uzuki Manji Uzuki TitanNut88 TitanNut88 Hydroxy Hydroxy Zambatoh Zambatoh TheInfamousKira TheInfamousKira AJUMP23 AJUMP23

ethomaz ethomaz V4skunk V4skunk Jooxed Jooxed D DonkeyPunchJr Captain Toad Captain Toad T Termite C crozier Paltheos Paltheos itshutton itshutton Desudzer10 Desudzer10 C Champomade C cartman414 royox royox small_law small_law Werewolf Jones Werewolf Jones Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius TLZ TLZ SlimeGooGoo SlimeGooGoo Nezzeroth Nezzeroth MeteorVII MeteorVII MagiusNecros MagiusNecros Exentryk Exentryk
not really ffxii fans. not even completed it yet. gonna try zodiac age later.

but so far, the writing, the world building in this game is amazing. also one of the best english dub. mostly only few handsfull japanese game i can play in english voice and this game is one of it. some people said xii resemble mmo. probably due to the combat pace, how the monster sprawl on field and the loot system. well it is not necessary wrong to go in that direction. even people said similliar stuff to xenoblade chronicles. overall in these aspect, the only close is xiv which is not suprise that it made by those people who been involved with ivalices game/yasumi matsuno.

the game has big city, great world building, tons of drama, quest, dungeon, hunt, great meaningfull dialogue etc. no wonder lot of people dissapointed for xiii as it feels like massive downgrade in term of content.
 
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German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
FFXII army, GET THE FUCK ITT!!!!!

Summoning a strong portion of the FFXII crew and other FF experts in search for answers about FFXII

What makes FFXII stand out? And can it be mentioned along with the greatness of FFVI through FFX, in the same breath? Can it be called a masterpiece, or is it just short of?

The game is on sale for $24.99 or 50% off right now. Last time it was on sale I passed it up, but apparently it’s really good?

Bash the game or praise the game, either is fine. What are your true thoughts on FFXII and how great this game is, if you don’t mind sharing?

C Count of Monte Sawed-Off fatty fatty Ixion Ixion Andodalf Andodalf Spukc Spukc Faust Faust
Great Hair Great Hair SantaC SantaC Godzilla Emu Godzilla Emu Touch fuzZy. get BizZay Touch fuzZy. get BizZay vaibhavpisal vaibhavpisal Lethal01 Lethal01 Myths Myths ranmafan ranmafan Kev Kev Kev Kev Fret Runner Fret Runner Kumomeme Kumomeme

Shifty1897 Shifty1897 Xeaker Xeaker ShadowLag ShadowLag L lostinblue Red Rackham's Revenge Red Rackham's Revenge Imru’ al-Qays Imru’ al-Qays German Hops German Hops poodaddy poodaddy U unintelligent orange Upper_Management Upper_Management struggler_guts struggler_guts Fushitsusha Fushitsusha N NecrosaroIII Astorian Astorian DGrayson DGrayson Kerotan Frog Kerotan Frog hemo memo hemo memo Manji Uzuki Manji Uzuki TitanNut88 TitanNut88 Hydroxy Hydroxy Zambatoh Zambatoh TheInfamousKira TheInfamousKira AJUMP23 AJUMP23

ethomaz ethomaz V4skunk V4skunk Jooxed Jooxed D DonkeyPunchJr Captain Toad Captain Toad T Termite C crozier Paltheos Paltheos itshutton itshutton Desudzer10 Desudzer10 C Champomade C cartman414 royox royox small_law small_law Werewolf Jones Werewolf Jones Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius TLZ TLZ SlimeGooGoo SlimeGooGoo Nezzeroth Nezzeroth MeteorVII MeteorVII MagiusNecros MagiusNecros Exentryk Exentryk
My opinion:





  • The story is awful. Actually no, awful means it actually provokes some feelings. That story is awfully shallow!
  • The characters are under developed in the story
  • The job system is a limitation, not an enhancement.
  • I am sick of getting the best weapons only for the Knight, especially after I bought Tournedos, while I have a dumb mace that does little to no damage.
  • Too much based on luck. Give as side quests for the best weapons, not a spear hidden in a 1% chest that took me THREE hours to appear!! I'd rather jump 500 thunders than doing that again!
  • Do not make incredibly OP weapons. Especially when they can be easily gotten with a stupid RNG manipulation.
  • The Diamond armlet had to give the normal loot plus something special. In this case I would have accepted that the best loot had some 10-25% chance.
  • The Thieves' Gloves had to have the Diamond Armlet ability.
  • One must shag a character/item/door/chest to enable the action on them.
  • Still the X button often just opens the menu because of some activity in the field.
  • The Gambits sometimes behave by themselves. Too see the White Mage keeping attacking instead of raising has been something
  • Sometime I must flee to regroup the characters
  • Last but not least: what's that thing about total immunity?! I tried everything with Zodiark in the final stage(s) and I couldn't take out a single HP. I tried again, with two 50% Dark Defense accessory plus demon shield on the other character (which was always there) and instead of wiping my whole party (as usual) they all survived. Then Zodiark went down in a minute because I was so fast that it couldn't reach that total immunity phase. Just luck again??




There would be other, but I think I have given the idea. Still, all together (well, after finishing that sorry excuse for a story) it's a pleasant FF game. I like the Gambit system, simply because it makes sense. Far too many times in FF games I felt like "why the healing isn't automatic? I am always repeating the same steps!". And also because I am a lazy b.. :dance:
 

SkylineRKR

Member
FFXII is hands down the best, most mature FF that doesn't feel awkward to play or better yet to show nowadays. Its awkward to show FFX with its laughing scene, or FFXIII with its L Cie drivel. I dunno, I think I grown out of that shit. FFXII feels like just the right balance between west and east. I think it potentially catered to the biggest crowd, but Square squandered its potential with XIII which was very backwards in about everything.

I love the auto battles. In 75% of the time in any FF you're just mashing attack command to clean up trash mob anyway. You ain't gonna waste MP, you're not going to use tactics, you one of 2 shot them. FFXII does this for you. And once you enter a new area, enemies are typically tougher and require adjusted gambits or manual interference. I think its fine. I couldn't stop playing this game until I platted it. The OG was faulty and the fast forward really helps the remaster with all of this. But Zodiac Age is easily my favourite FF of all time. I like classic FVII, classic FVIII even (enjoyed breaking the remastered game) but I can't help they pack some serious cringe nowadays.

Vaan could be considered cringe in FFXII. Its not that I like him and I think his design sucks. But in fact he drops the charade rather quickly, becomes reasonable and pretty much takes a backseat. I liked how he didn't persist being an annoying kid like Tidus or Squall.
 

Shifty1897

Member
Cutty Flam Cutty Flam

The thing I love most about FFXII is how there are no goofy or baby characters. Everyone is fully realized, and this helps build immersion and solidifies world building. Much of the world design, such as the Pharos at Ridorana, Phon Coast, and the Salikawood are a joy to explore.

The Gambit system is addictive, pushing you to fully understand all aspects of the battle system and license board in order to fully automate your battles. Annoyances in other JRPGs like MP depletion and status effects instead challenge you to engineer a viable solution. I spent days tinkering with macros, trying to find a way to automate the hardest secret boss in the game.

I highly recommend The Zodiac Age, it is an excellent remaster with tons of quality of life improvements and no bad additions. Being able to speed up time by 2x or 4x takes out any monotony of running through the vast landscapes. The Zodiac license board opens up new opportunities for gameplay, and the graphics and music still hold up nicely in HD.
 
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SoraNoKuni

Member
XV Sucked, huge productions values though and it had some good moments.
VII was good, X was good, I kinda liked XIII battle system as well.
 
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