Official Final Fantasy XII (JPN) Thread (read RULES in the first post)

Bebpo said:
And yeah, I'm not very happy that I just spent 3 hours grinding (and fighting the boss over and over while having to run away with the entire party dead except 1 character and the boss with < 15% life left) to beat an optional boss I guess I wasn't supposed to fight this early and all I got was a stupid hat.
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I had a boss like that, you really have to make sure you are well equipped for battle. Set up a good set of gambit, get crucial licenses like enhanced magic/physical attack, etc. and USE GREEN AND TIME MAGIC. The bosses, monster hunt unique monsters in this game are NOT easy. You really have to plan things out and use everything in your arsenal to beat them. They like to spaz out when they are about to die and become really strong. If you know how to utilize everything you have, they are not nearly as hard, but still quite a challenge.

I haven't had such a fast paced, challenging, and fun battles in a RPG as FF12, it's too much fun, and it's not monotonous in the slightest sense in contrast to the more traditional RPG's like DQ8.
 
Amir0x said:
Gambit seems a crucial part of the whole battle system. If it really sucked, I'd imagine that's a big negative against FFXII. This isn't the case?
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Crucial yes, rewarding...not really. Honestly, I've never once said anything positive about the gambit system pre-FFXII release and it's pretty much what I expected...maybe a little better.

In most rpgs the idea is to have a unique system that allows you to do things you could otherwise not do. But with gambit, it's like "hey, now its the same thing but you don't have to press O!". I mean the idea that throughout the game you gain new and more useful gambits is just not very exciting in my opinion. If you beat some ultimate hidden boss at the end and all you get was a card that turns on "cast raise when people are dead"...it's like "well this entire game I've already been having them do that but now I don't have to hit O!". I mean there's nothing you can do in the gambits that you couldn't do if there was no gambit system at all. Gambit is just a useful thing for speeding up the gameplay since you don't have to give commands.

And the big problem with FFXII's battle system is just that there's nothing else. The main selling point is the gambit system, which is all actuality is nothing. Besides that you have the chain system, which is good for money but that's it! You don't even get more exp or license points as you chain in the 100s. Because of that, FFXII does feel a bit like what an MMO is I guess (I don't play MMOs) which is a dumbed down shallow version of a turn-based rpg system. Then again maybe I just never realized that FF has always been a simple shallow battle system about casting protect/reflect -> slow/hate -> hit the weakness while curing and using raise/pheonix down if someone dies. But just compared to a lot of the more complex and interesting rpg battle systems these days, FFXII comes up a bit shallow.

That being said, the rest of the game is the best game ever and even if the battle system is shallow it still gets the job done and no random battles = good, so yeah it's till 10/10 so far.

Though the little stuff like the gambits just bug me more now since I haven't slept for 35+ hours.
 
Srider said:
I had a boss like that, you really have to make sure you are well equipped for battle. Set up a good set of gambit, get crucial licenses like enhanced magic/physical attack, etc. and USE GREEN AND TIME MAGIC. The bosses, monster hunt unique monsters in this game are NOT easy. You really have to plan things out and use everything in your arsenal to beat them. They like to spaz out when they are about to die and become really strong. If you know how to utilize everything you have, they are not nearly as hard, but still quite a challenge.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have every character with like all the stat bonuses and I go into battle with full protect and aim casting slow (which didn't work on the boss), though I didn't have haste yet. I had character healing, characters heating the weak spot with magic, meat shield attacks keeping the boss from the magicians while doing minor damage, etc... I had the best plan you could get. But at the end of the day I was just underleveled. I hadn't grinded at all up until that point and I feel like I was about 5-7 levels behind where I was supposed to be. So my HP was so low the boss could kill any character in 1 hit when it did its strongest attack, and I'd run out of magic way too fast because my max MP was so low. Basically I just had to grind -> go up one level -> try the boss -> whoops, not strong enough -> grind -> go up one level -> try the boss -> repeat for 2-3 hours. It was less about the stats and strategy and more about the max HP/MP.
 
35 plus hours? Playing right after you get home from work huh and not sleeping? Ouch We wouldnt hold it against ya if want slow down and just enjoy the game at your leisure more bebpo. :) Afterall who knows when the next FF will hit, no reason have fast foward experience.
 
Bebpo said:
Yeah, I have every character with like all the stat bonuses and I go into battle with full protect and aim casting slow (which didn't work on the boss), though I didn't have haste yet. I had character healing, characters heating the weak spot with magic, meat shield attacks keeping the boss from the magicians while doing minor damage, etc... I had the best plan you could get. But at the end of the day I was just underleveled. I hadn't grinded at all up until that point and I feel like I was about 5-7 levels behind where I was supposed to be. So my HP was so low the boss could kill any character in 1 hit when it did its strongest attack, and I'd run out of magic way too fast because my max MP was so low. Basically I just had to grind -> go up one level -> try the boss -> whoops, not strong enough -> grind -> go up one level -> try the boss -> repeat for 2-3 hours. It was less about the stats and strategy and more about the max HP/MP.
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There are still some interesting skills that I haven't tried, like
charge, and the attack that changes dmg depending on time played or distance traveled.
I bet those will be interesting to put into the gambit to see what happens.


But yeah, sometimes you are just severely under level'ed; but most of the boss fights I've been on tend to be the same way, where their strongest attacks pretty much wipes out the characters. Much of the survival depends on MP and HP, but I really don't think that's all there is too it. Stuff like slow and blind do work on bosses, just very very rare, and when they do hit, it's much easier. At the end of the day though, don't you think it's a good decision to make the game hard like this? I love those moments when all your plan fails and you simply have to go from plan A all the way down to Plan L for last resort.
 
Btw, what speed are you playing your battles on? I have mine on max speed and I'm wondering if maybe I should slow it down for the ultra hard boss battles so I have some time to react to what the boss is doing.
 
Bebpo said:
Btw, what speed are you playing your battles on? I have mine on max speed and I'm wondering if maybe I should slow it down for the ultra hard boss battles so I have some time to react to what the boss is doing.
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I'm playing at default speed, but I think i'm going to speed it up maybe one or two notches. I forgot there is that option, you just reminded me of it.
 
Srider said:
I'm playing at default speed, but I think i'm going to speed it up maybe one or two notches. I forgot there is that option, you just reminded me of it.
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Care to take some time away from FFXII and join me in a match of WE9? ;)

I've got this one moment in time, so I'd like to get our game in if we're both free.
 
Clocking in to say that Shoutas right about me not contributing much. But it won't be because I'm playing something where I'm pink :P I've decided to give all my attention to MGOnline. FF12 will always be here, but the online launch of a game won't. I'll prob still try to play it but not as much as I expected to previously. Kojima > Matsuno for me ;d
 
Shouta said:
Matsuno > Kojima!

And see, I told you guys so! :lol
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I just edited my post, but you're wrong biyatch. It ain't gonna be something pink keeping me occupied, it's gonna be hardcore Metal Gear Online action.
 
I have a request for maskrider but is it possible for a 1200 or 600 DPI scan of FFXII's cover resized to 300 DPI like you did with the Ico JPN cover? :)
 
Could Maskrider or whoever else is posting pictures of stuff leave them as links for people to click on? Not everyone has the game yet and they might give something away!
 
Finally started the game and, yeah, it is living up to the hype so far. What a killer intro. I can't believe how good that was.

Even better, I've been at it for an hour and have only had to look up one word (during the text following the CG). :D

Just taking a quick break for some dinner before jumping back in.

I noticed that the game is ultra heavy on very basic tutorials, though.
 
dark10x said:
I noticed that the game is ultra heavy on very basic tutorials, though.
Click to expand...

And for a good reason; the battle system is completely different.

Glad you're all having fun.

So, really... is the battle system as "bad" as you all may have said it was in the demo?

Speaking of which... I think I'll be playing the demo again... since it's the closest thing to the game I'll have until November. :cry
 
Bebpo said:
I'm only going to say two things for now:

1. The graphics in this game are better than anything I've ever seen in my life. The visuals completely destroy every X360 game I own and show that tech doesn't make the world go round. I wonder how many years will pass until a game finally appears next-gen that tops these visuals.

2. Best game ever...and I'm not even slightly joking. Me and duckroll have had faith the entire time that FFXII would indeed be the greatest game ever made, we never wavered, and in the end we were right.

BB in a few days.
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Oh COME ON. The obligatory PS2 aliasing/shimmerfest disqualifies anyone from making such statements about FFXII. This should look mindblowing in a PS3 however, running at 1080p (BUT NOT WIDESCREEN, YOU FUCKERS!) with generious anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering.
 
Yusaku said:
Oh COME ON. The obligatory PS2 aliasing/shimmerfest disqualifies anyone from making such statements about FFXII. This should look mindblowing in a PS3 however, running at 1080p (BUT NOT WIDESCREEN, YOU FUCKERS!) with generious anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering.
Click to expand...
Hopefully they will include this in the US version.
 
I have the series theme on infinite loop still. I love this arrangement. My iTunes is at like 300 play count.

I'm interested in some more impressions from people who weren't so thrilled with the demo. I know a lot of people think its MMO combat, but I disagree based on what I played last fall in the PS2 demo.
 
I don't understand why everybody wants 1080p on ps3 for FFXII... if the game was not created with that res in mind wouldn't just be the same stuff but UP-SCALED to 1080p...?


also... I've asked this in the other thread but nobody answered - how much more power does widescreen take? since there's more area in that ratio I'm guessing whatever console that's pushing it would have to render more stuff.
 
Any word on the other 6 tracks from the Mini-OST? Thanks again to Troidal for supplying the first 5.
 
Oh man. The mini-ost sounds amazing.
The songs done by hardware are like the FFT instruments with added clarity and depth x10.
 
Chrono said:
I don't understand why everybody wants 1080p on ps3 for FFXII... if the game was not created with that res in mind wouldn't just be the same stuff but UP-SCALED to 1080p...?


also... I've asked this in the other thread but nobody answered - how much more power does widescreen take? since there's more area in that ratio I'm guessing whatever console that's pushing it would have to render more stuff.
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I don't think it would take much. They can zoom the camera all around without a problem. It can pretty much be just a FOV change + squeeze. When playing most 16:9 games, setting your TV to normal mode results in a squished 4:3 window...so it's not as if they are rendering a higher resolution.
 
Empire's Theme....is bloody awesome.

I didn't think replacing Uematsu would be a good idea, but Sakimoto seems to be more (MORE) than capable.
 
Y2Kevbug11 said:
I have the series theme on infinite loop still. I love this arrangement. My iTunes is at like 300 play count.

I'm interested in some more impressions from people who weren't so thrilled with the demo. I know a lot of people think its MMO combat, but I disagree based on what I played last fall in the PS2 demo.
Click to expand...

I have yet to play the FF12 demo. I've been waiting for the day before I get the game to give it a whirl (which will be later tonight most likely). I have quite a few reservations about what they've done with the game from what I've heard. Maybe my impressions will be what you are looking for? But I won't be able to comment on the storyline, just gameplay stuff.
 
By the looks of many of the areas, the frequency of fighting in the game looks to be higher actually than in games with random battles, which is a plus for me. Generally games with visible enemies have far less fighting and lots of pointless screen entering and exiting to generate enemies (and they don't respawn either).

Also, apparently S-E has shipped 2.3 million units for release... Media Create numbers should be interesting next week. This is the first proper FF (or any FF period really) in a long time. I've also heard that the demo didn't really fly well in Japan.
 
duckroll said:
How did you hear that when there's been NO demo released in Japan? :P
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IGN article. No "demo" per se, but they had the demo, or something very like it, at one of the various shows available to play. According to IGN, at least, most of the Japanese gamers who tried it didn't seem especially interested. This is probably totally insignificant.

I suppose that wouldn't really have much of an effect on the initial sales, but whatever. Here is to hoping they sell out.
 
Okay, these are just "yes" or "no" questions that I don't want specifics on:

1. Storyline, is it good?

2. Boss battles, are they epic in nature?

3. Besides the original
6
party members that are already known (
Vaan, Penelo, Ashe, Basch, Balflear, Fran
) have there been any other people that have joined your group?

4. Any minigames or things to keep you occupied without advancing the story?

5. Are there any other cities that are as big or bigger then the starting one?

Thanks. :)
 
Red Scarlet said:
Could Maskrider or whoever else is posting pictures of stuff leave them as links for people to click on? Not everyone has the game yet and they might give something away!
Click to expand...

I am very careful with that, there's not much to give away from the inline pictures that I'd posted from what you can see, others are just linked.
 
cvkpaladin said:
Okay, these are just "yes" or "no" questions that I don't want specifics on:

1. Storyline, is it good?

2. Boss battles, are they epic in nature?

3. Besides the original 6 party members that are already known (Vaan, Penelo, Ashe, Basch, Balflear, Fran) have there been any other people that have joined your group?

4. Any minigames or things to keep you occupied without advancing the story?

5. Are there any other cities that are as big or bigger then the starting one?

Thanks. :)
Click to expand...
To add to that list.

6.) Is this as good as Vagrant Story, if not better?
 
I was pretty meh about the demo too, but I love the game. The demo just didn't make sense because it didn't have story context or anything.

I got the iTunes card with the game so I can get 5 more of the tracks... if someone else got it, we can get the full set, I reckon.
 
Amir0x said:
Don't listen to Scarlet's impressions! She's still pissed they removed random battles!
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Wait, I know enemies are visible, but they aren't random spawns (save for bosses of course)? that does kinda suck if that's the case.
 
Pellham said:
Wait, I know enemies are visible, but they aren't random spawns (save for bosses of course)? that does kinda suck if that's the case.
Click to expand...

All enemies are already on the map and it's the same ones every time in that specific map.
 
Jonnyram said:
I was pretty meh about the demo too, but I love the game. The demo just didn't make sense because it didn't have story context or anything.

I got the iTunes card with the game so I can get 5 more of the tracks... if someone else got it, we can get the full set, I reckon.
Click to expand...
1-5 were posted already. :)
 
maskrider said:
I am very careful with that, there's not much to give away from the inline pictures that I'd posted from what you can see, others are just linked.
Click to expand...

You gave away save points!

My impressions will be a little more valuable than your fanboyism posts, Amir0x. I'll either REALLY like the hell out of the game, or totally hate it, but either way it's from playing the game and not just mentally masturbating about Matsuno like you've been doing.
 
Red Scarlet said:
You gave away save points!
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Save points are secrets now ? They are in the manual and the forced tutorial. If you mean the location, that's only one of them and they are in obvious locations.
 
I don't have the manual yet. I'm a part of that "don't wanna know anything" type of group. And I didn't know that there were
6 party members
until someone above spouted that out. :(
 
Red Scarlet said:
I don't have the manual yet. I'm a part of that "don't wanna know anything" type of group. And I didn't know that there were
6 party members
until someone above spouted that out. :(
Click to expand...

There is a contradiction between "don't wanna know anything" and "read a game specific thread". There will at least be some minor things about the game.
 
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