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

I think one thing that's yet to be mentioned is the size of some of the areas. Some of the locations like where I am now are enormous and just mapping them out 100% takes 4-5 hours of exploring. The places seem so giant that honestly, the game dwarfs even the scope of DQVIII. It has that same kind of "anything you see in the distance you can get to", it's just that there are short loading screens between some areas :)

The draw distance rocks as well:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v297/bebpo/FFXII/FFXIIsand.jpg
 
That's another thing I want ask about (in terms of comparing it to DQVIII). When you're battling, is it necessary to level crunch before going to certain towns and dungeons like in Dragon Quest VIII, or is it the case where you'll battle just enough by the time you get to a certain objective area that you'll be ready for what awaits you there?
 
There is grinding here. Definitely more than any normal FF, but that's because it's also much more difficult and challenging than any normal FF. For normal enemies you can manage while being underpowered but then you might get to a boss that's just waaay out of your league. At that point you'll need to grind.

Also you gain levels very slowly like an MMORPG. This + large areas that take hours to explore encourages players to make the effort to check everywhere out.

It's not as much grinding as a DQ though. Usually you'll just need to gain some levels to boost HP/MP/stats and get more License points to unlock skills needed for beating the boss.

Or you can just use your limit break attack thingy and charge through the whole game without grinding :P But I've sworn off those attacks atm because they're just way too powerful and I like challenging boss battles.
 
Curious about the armor visuals as well. I've seen that your weapon appears on your character but I haven't seen any indication of armor visually affecting your character. Is there a minor graphic change, like Bracers in FF X? Also, how's the visual variety for weapons so far? Lots of different graphic models or just a few?

P.S. How is the range on guns or bows? Nice animation for shooting with them?
 
So like.....lots of political intrigue, hmm?

Watching the cinemas really reminds me of War and Peace and ALL THE NAPOLEONIC DRAMA (*finger snap*). I am very interested in reading up on the references Matsuno drew from.
 
jj984jj said:
So uh, nobody has downloaded tracks 6-10 on the Best of OST yet?

I've uploaded 1-5 again for those who missed downloading them before. :)


Yeah that would be cool plz, anyone? :D

I have managed to get some .psf2 files and I hope the final tunes on the OST will sound like these mp3s from iTunes and not like they sound in the game. It seems they have a bit muffled the sound or I don't know... :/
 
jj984jj said:
So uh, nobody has downloaded tracks 6-10 on the Best of OST yet?

I've uploaded 1-5 again for those who missed downloading them before. :)

Wait how does one do this? I have the little card but I haven't bothered to look what it does. Do I need itunes? Maybe I should just PM the number to someone with itunes who can upload it them all somewhere.

RaijinFY said:
Yeah that would be could plz, anyone? :D

I have managed to get some .psf2 files and I hope the final tunes on the OST will sound like these mp3s from iTunes and not like they sound in the game. It seems they have a bit muffled the sound or I don't know... :/

The ost will sound good. Soundtracks aren't compressed like music in games :P
 
It better be... :D

EDIT:

Bebpo said:
Wait how does one do this? I have the little card but I haven't bothered to look what it does. Do I need itunes? Maybe I should just PM the number to someone with itunes who can upload it them all somewhere.

Oh and please please please? :D
 
Ok, I spent the effort and downloaded itunes, then signed up for a Japanese account using a fake Japanese address because it told me I couldn't redeem the free songs with a US account and then finally I get the songs and....you don't get to choose 5 out of the 11 listed. It just gives you the first 5. If you want 6-11 you have to pay $16 and I'm not doing that since I have the album on pre-order already :P
 
Bebpo said:
Ok, I spent the effort and downloaded itunes, then signed up for a Japanese account using a fake Japanese address because it told me I couldn't redeem the free songs with a US account and then finally I get the songs and....you don't get to choose 5 out of the 11 listed. It just gives you the first 5. If you want 6-11 you have to pay $16 and I'm not doing that since I have the album on pre-order already :P
Aww, what a rip. :(

But yeah, thanks for trying. :)
 
Looks like I am spending more time exploring...I've put in 10 hours but it seems others here are further than me with less hours into the game ^^;

The game is epic! I haven't died once yet, I haven't been level grinding much either. The bosses and mob monsters can be tough, you'll need to gear up and make sure you have a lot of potions AND someone needs to be able to cast spells. I keep my battle settings on default, which is wait mode and speed is medium. I'm playing it the Vagrant Story way so to speak...playing this in Active mode would probably be too crazy for me. Anyhow, I tend to play games in their default difficulty setting so I'll just keep it that way.

I've made it a point to have most of my character be able to cast some spells especially healing. Ultimately, I'd still raise each of them in their field of expertise in the License board(warrior-type, mage-type, etc).

I have to say the music is great. First time in a very long time that I really felt emotional for a music in RPG. I think I will buy the full soundtrack CD.
 
This is more of a random question...has anyone found the
gold
armor by any chance? I got it by
stealing from I think one of the armored skeletons
though i can't remember for sure. Cuz it kicks ass! I picked up the
Armor Class 4
license to
wear the gold armor
and now I am not taking any damage with most enemies so far (except mob monsters). It's hella nice :D
 
Bebpo said:
Ok, I spent the effort and downloaded itunes, then signed up for a Japanese account using a fake Japanese address because it told me I couldn't redeem the free songs with a US account and then finally I get the songs and....you don't get to choose 5 out of the 11 listed. It just gives you the first 5. If you want 6-11 you have to pay $16 and I'm not doing that since I have the album on pre-order already :P

Bah! Thanks for the effort though. I guess the 116 track PSF2 rip should be sufficient for now. =P
 
Bebpo said:

You know, I've gotta be honest... the screenshots for this game are probably the most unflattering things ever. The jaggies are so sharp they almost cut me in my seat across the internet. It also seems like the texture work is very muddy whenever I see a picture. Now, having played even the old E3 2004 demo... and seeing that Rabanstre walkthrough video you guys posted... I know that it's a gorgeous game. But christ, screenshots do not do it any sort of justice.
 
Amir0x said:
You know, I've gotta be honest... the screenshots for this game are probably the most unflattering things ever. The jaggies are so sharp they almost cut me in my seat across the internet. It also seems like the texture work is very muddy whenever I see a picture. Now, having played even the old E3 2004 demo... and seeing that Rabanstre walkthrough video you guys posted... I know that it's a gorgeous game. But christ, screenshots do not do it any sort of justice.
I was going to comment on the jaggies too, but I was and still am afraid of being attacked by FF fanboys. Although the game looks wonderful overall, in the village video bebpo posted the amount of jaggies made the game look really awful. :|

IMO, Nocturne looked better.
 
The jaggies are definitely bad, but you don't notice it so much when you are playing. Also there's always the filter that softens the image and gets rid of them, but I don't use it since my TV tends to do that for me.

And Amir0x the textures in the game are INCREDIBLE. Seriously, there should be no debate about this.

Here's a shot of a big cool monster design:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v297/bebpo/FFXII/?action=view&current=FFXII53.jpg

The detail for just that single enemy (of which there are like HUNDREDS of enemies) is astounding, and all the NPC story characters and main cast are just as detailed as well. Locations also have crazy detailed textures. The textures in FFXII in terms of art and variety are greater than any other game ever made IMO.
 
I just wasted about 2 hours hunting shit and just exploring the Dalmasca Eastersand. Oh man going back to hunting newb enemies when I'm 7 hours in feels unfair! The exp I get is SHIT mind you, but due to the AWESOME multiplers for chain-killing the same enemy type, after 110 chains, I sold 99 wolf skins and 35 fire stones and got a whooping 7000 gil! Money in this game is always good because it's hard to come by and everything is EXPENSIVE! Hunting really paid off! :lol

This game is fucking addictive. :D
 
Bebpo said:
The jaggies are definitely bad, but you don't notice it so much when you are playing. Also there's always the filter that softens the image and gets rid of them, but I don't use it since my TV tends to do that for me.

And Amir0x the textures in the game are INCREDIBLE. Seriously, there should be no debate about this.

Here's a shot of a big cool monster design:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v297/bebpo/FFXII/?action=view&current=FFXII53.jpg

The detail for just that single enemy (of which there are like HUNDREDS of enemies) is astounding, and all the NPC story characters and main cast are just as detailed as well. Locations also have crazy detailed textures. The textures in FFXII in terms of art and variety are greater than any other game ever made IMO.

Yeah, actually... that screenshot you posted is one of the better ones I've seen from FFXII. That looks very impressive. I'm not doubting the game looks good, I know it does. I was just commenting on how screenshots consistently make it look bad. Although, you've provided a fine exception ;)
 
Troidal said:
I'm playing it the Vagrant Story way so to speak...playing this in Active mode would probably be too crazy for me. Anyhow, I tend to play games in their default difficulty setting so I'll just keep it that way.

Heh, I was talking to duckroll about this and I think I play waaaay different than most people. I play on active mode at max speed and I never touch the buttons during battle. Instead I spend TONS OF TIME tinkering with the gambits to create the best strategy for each dungeon/boss and then I go through the entire dungeon/boss fight just using the analogue to move the characters forward and run near enemies. The only time I'll ever touch a button is if a tough enemy or boss comes up and I need to change strategies, use a pheonix down, or use a super attack (which I've sworn off because they are too powerful for their own good). For instance if a tough enemy that's weak against water shows up, rather than hitting circle and telling people to cast water, I hit triangle -> gambit -> magician -> change "fire" -> "water", and then go to healer gambits and change "HP < 40%" -> "HP < 70%" and maybe turn on a protect/shell gambit I always have ready with an off/on switch.

duckroll and I'm sure some others feel kinda appalled by that sort of playing because according to him "I like to actually play my games". But I think I'm having a very fun, great time playing it, except my "playing" is the time I spend tinkering in the gambit menu whereas for duckroll it's the time that he's choosing commands.

I like the fact that I can walk into a room full of enemies, drop the controller, go get a glass of water, come back and the room is empty and I've gained a level and some license points. I like that FFXII lets players find their own definition of "fun" and way of playing, and that me, you, duckroll, everyone can all play the game very differently and still have a good time.

I've always been a power player, so my team is sword/sword/sword/magician when I have a guest (which is a lot of the game). Everyone has the basic healing and green/black magics, and everyone has gambits so they can be magic safety nets if the one magician isn't enough. In my game I play as Basch. I've playing as him since I got him and will probably play as him until the game ends as he's my lead fighter/meat shield. Vaan is my girly magician who hangs in the back and does high damaging magic attacks. Its a very different playstyle than others I'm sure, but it's fun and I like it :)

Cool to hear about the stealing though, I've honestly never been big on stealing in rpgs as like I said above I'm a numbers guy and I'll flip through every options/equipment/skill possible until I see the highest damage number popping up over the enemy's head each hit for all 3 characters. I've always been about ending the battles as fast as possible by pushing the most damage. But since yeah, the license board lets you equip all this awesome stuff that the stores just aren't selling, I'm guessing stealing is a good way to get new equipment. I was hoping you'd get equipment from rare drops after high chains against enemies but I've never gotten anything good from an enemy even after 90+ chains.

And yeah you don't really have to grind I guess, but it's more like if you explore everything and you fight everything, you gain a lot of levels. I'm in the same dungeon as duckroll and I'm lvl.22 at 18 hours while he's like lvl.11 at 7 hours. :P I've also cleared almost the entire upper license board at this point :)

I wouldn't be surprised if I end up putting 70-100 hours into this thing ^^; But luckily it's ALWAYS FUN :D
 
Bebpo said:
duckroll and I'm sure some others feel kinda appalled by that sort of playing because according to him "I like to actually play my games". But I think I'm having a very fun, great time playing it, except my "playing" is the time I spend tinkering in the gambit menu whereas for duckroll it's the time that he's choosing commands.

I have nothing against that kind of game play. From the sounds of it, you really can play your way through with gambit if you know what you're doing I guess. I keep my gambit settings fairly simple...I guess I play more traditionally.

Bebpo said:
I was hoping you'd get equipment from rare drops after high chains against enemies but I've never gotten anything good from an enemy even after 90+ chains.

Damn, 90+ chains...I only manage 20+... But if it isnt getting you rare items, you should start stealing things ;-P

Bebpo said:
]I'm in the same dungeon as duckroll and I'm lvl.22 at 18 hours while he's like lvl.11 at 7 hours. :P I've also cleared almost the entire upper license board at this point :)

I am probably not as far as you...I am LVL13 and about to meet
Count(?) Ondor
in the second city after clearing the
crystal mines
. I've killed 5 mob monsters, the 6th one almost got my party killed.
 
Troidal said:
I am probably not as far as you...I am LVL13 and about to meet
Count(?) Ondor
in the second city after clearing the
crystal mines
. I've killed 5 mob monsters, the 6th one almost got my party killed.

Yeah, I was at lvl.9 when I tried that mob monster and I hard to retreat with everyone except one guy dead. Kept trying while grinding in that dungeon and I ended up finally being able to beat it at around lvl.13/14. That was the first time I grinded because I had to beat that monster and I probably spent 2-3 hours grinding just to beat it.
 
question for you bebpo

as you know FFX and all the others had a strategic thing over the battle system, when figthing a boss or something you had to be one step ahead, like throwing healing and other stuff on your characters as you knew the boss will throw ultima or what ever on you on his next turn, so you started healing up your characters, using shell or something like that so you will be alittle more protected against his attacks, That is what I liked with FF battle system, to be able to plan your fight

Is final Fantasy XII built up in a the same way, or is the fighting totaly diffrent and does not need planing to beat a boss?

I can see from the vids that you run around while fighting a monster and it looks like YOU are avoiding the hits and its not up to the system if the monster misses or not.
Am I wrong here or?

thanks for the help mate
 
All right, as promised, here's links to the opening song(s) that play when you turn the game on and don't press anything. There's more to the song than what Fiery got from that youtube video, but I made the full version and the 2 parts of it as separate songs (like Fiery's version was).

FF12-Opening (3.37mb)
http://s26.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2N8P2SONE3W651B0A340BKUUI5

This is the entire opening song when you turn the game on and don't press anything. It starts with the
'Prelude' song, aka the "Crystal Theme", then has some more music, then goes into the "FF4 version of the FF theme".

FF12-
Prelude
(1.49mb)
http://s26.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0W9V7SRJX6SBH2XZKZZRZ20BGL
This is the first half of the opening, with the
'Prelude' song that used to play in the older FF games when you would load up a game. It also has the music in between the Prelude and the FF Theme.

FF12-Theme of Final Fantasy (1.90mb)
http://s26.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2D867XC03AV2C29F8IY861CTTO
This is the same song that Fiery got from a youtube video a couple days ago, but is from the game directly to my computer.

They are all at 128kpbs; I couldn't get them to go higher. I tried recording them at the highest bitrate I was allowed (192000), but the songs were four times longer and seemed to be playing back at 1/4 speed.

The songs may be loud; I'm not sure. I reduced them by 6 decibels, though.

As before, these are on yousendit, so after some number of downloads they'll have to be re-uploaded by somebody for more people to get them. Please do not ask for requests, as this is literally as far as I have gotten in the game; I have yet to press a single button on my controller yet. I won't know what you are talking about if you request a song.

I hope these are satisfactory. Now lets try this game out.

Oh yeah, I didn't get an itunes card thingy.
 
Nope. He only handled like 3-4 tracks. He really didn't play a big role in the creation of FFXI's soundtrack.

Uematsu wrote 11 tracks for FFXI. Since most of them were low-key BGM and people tend to go for the big bombastic/emotional tracks, they don't get much recognition, but personally I thought they were all very nicely done (better than his stuff on FFX)
 
At the start of the game.

Quick question about the
License Board.

For some places to open, I need a particular item? Which then unlocks a couple of panels?
I see some spells and such, so I guess it's similar to Job Points in FFT? Once I get 15 LP, I can unlock the Kearu and Burana spells if I choose?

Some of the panels look like 'able to equip' abilities, is that correct?
At the bottom left of Vaan's board, it looks like I can already equip a Leather Hat and Leather Cloth. To the right of it is some Leather and Bronze pieces of armor with a '1' in the corner. Above the already 'unlocked' panel is an ability with a 15 LP cost that lets me I guess equip 'Headgear', 'Clom(?) Leather', 'Head Guard', and 'Leather Plate'. On that panel is a '2' in the corner. I'm taking a guess that the '2' refers to two 'levels' to unlock? Like the first time I "buy" the panel, it'll let me equip the helmet and armor on the left, while the second time I "buy" the panel, it'll allow me to equip the Leather Plate?

For some equip panels, they are numbered in their name, like "Equip Dagger 1". Do I have to unlock that first to be able to unlock the later to arrive "Equip Dagger 2"?

Since there are magic shops, I'm guessing I have to purchase/find the spell and buy the ability to use it?

Is that how it goes? I just got it introduced, so that's what I'm guessing at this point.
 
Still in the first area.

It looks like there are at least 2 things to steal from badguys? Common/Rare like in FF10? I stole a Broad Sword from a Tiny Cactus, then the next one gave me some Earth Stone. Looks like ony 1 item from badguys. Later on, can you steal more than 1 item from badguys and has anybody stolen 2 things from the same badguy in a row?

I'm pretty sure when the game's Information window says there is nothing left to steal
(Monster Name&#12399;&#20309;&#12418;&#25345;&#12387;&#12390;&#12356;&#12394;&#12356;&#12383;&#12417;&#12288;&#30423;&#12417;&#12394;&#12363;&#12387;&#12383;&#65281;&#65289;
and when I unsuccessfully steal &#65288;Monster Name&#12363;&#12425;&#30423;&#12416;&#12371;&#12392;&#12395;&#30690;(kanji)&#12375;&#12383;&#65281;)

I guess trying to steal from that green dinosaur guy was a bad idea. Now it's my goal to steal something from it then run the hell away somehow. :lol

Also,
I'm not sure if it's been noted, but at least some of those treasure pots have random(?) stuff in them. The very first pot on the right side of the first area had 1 gil in it, then I ran around and eventually got killed by that dinosaur. On my loaded game, the same pot had an Eyedrop instead.
 
Red Scarlet said:
Still in the first area.

It looks like there are at least 2 things to steal from badguys? Common/Rare like in FF10? I stole a Broad Sword from a Tiny Cactus, then the next one gave me some Earth Stone. Looks like ony 1 item from badguys. Later on, can you steal more than 1 item from badguys and has anybody stolen 2 things from the same badguy in a row?

Yeah it seems there is a common/rare. You can only steal from the same enemy once.

Red Scarlet said:
I guess trying to steal from that green dinosaur guy was a bad idea. Now it's my goal to steal something from it then run the hell away somehow. :lol

Eh he doeesnt give you something cool (potion or high potion I think it was), unless you get the rare one.

Red Scarlet said:
Also,
I'm not sure if it's been noted, but at least some of those treasure pots have random(?) stuff in them. The very first pot on the right side of the first area had 1 gil in it, then I ran around and eventually got killed by that dinosaur. On my loaded game, the same pot had an Eyedrop instead.
Yeah those seem to be random.
 
Troidal said:
Eh he doeesnt give you something cool (potion or high potion I think it was), unless you get the rare one.

I stole some Nameshisou (Sluggish Grass?) or something before he killed me this time. :lol

I have to rob every badguy.
 
No. Fucking. Copy. Yet. :( Damnit.
How is the font in FFXII? I'm playing Ryu ga Gotoku right now and the font is driving me batty.
 
There's two in between the west and east parts. Follow the bottom areas to get to one with a teleport crystal or follow the middle areas for a regular one. That whole area took me hours to get all the map, and there's still a little missing :(
 
Jonnyram said:
There's two in between the west and east parts. Follow the bottom areas to get to one with a teleport crystal or follow the middle areas for a regular one. That whole area took me hours to get all the map, and there's still a little missing :(

Cool, thanks. I'm gonna find it now. While you are there, did you go
inside the caves with the green slimes? It's a bit tough but with the weapon you pick up in this area, you can kinda beat them^^;
 
Jonnyram said:
Yeah, but it's not just
slimes
in there :(
I think you need to go through that part to get to the last bit of the map.

Hrm I see....in the main map, did you happen to encounter
a rare monster called The Element of Salamander? His HP was like 20000+ and started casting Fire3 on me! I ran my ass of before getting my ass kicked :/
 
Troidal said:
Hrm I see....in the main map, did you happen to encounter
a rare monster called The Element of Salamander? His HP was like 20000+ and started casting Fire3 on me! I ran my ass of before getting my ass kicked :/
Yeah, elements only attack if you cast magic anywhere near them. Same as FFXI. You can just walk past without casting anything.
:)
 
Red Scarlet said:
For some places to open, I need a particular item? Which then unlocks a couple of panels?
I see some spells and such, so I guess it's similar to Job Points in FFT? Once I get 15 LP, I can unlock the Kearu and Burana spells if I choose?

You don't need items to unlock particular squares - it's basically the reverse, when you gain an equipment license you're able to equip the weapons/armour/accessories which that license allows you to, and for spells/techniques it allows you to use them once you've bought them.

At the bottom left of Vaan's board, it looks like I can already equip a Leather Hat and Leather Cloth. To the right of it is some Leather and Bronze pieces of armor with a '1' in the corner. Above the already 'unlocked' panel is an ability with a 15 LP cost that lets me I guess equip 'Headgear', 'Clom(?) Leather', 'Head Guard', and 'Leather Plate'. On that panel is a '2' in the corner. I'm taking a guess that the '2' refers to two 'levels' to unlock? Like the first time I "buy" the panel, it'll let me equip the helmet and armor on the left, while the second time I "buy" the panel, it'll allow me to equip the Leather Plate?

For some equip panels, they are numbered in their name, like "Equip Dagger 1". Do I have to unlock that first to be able to unlock the later to arrive "Equip Dagger 2"?

You've answered your own question, basically - the number in the corner refers to the level of the square - "Equip Dagger 2" allows you to equip the second tier of dagger-type weapons. You can unlock them in any order, although because of how the License Board works (gaining a license unlocks the license squares immediately adjacent to that square) you generally won't have access to a higher level without the level preceding it, although if you buy licenses randomly (like I feel I have been doing somewhat with the equipment!) you can access them earlier.

Since there are magic shops, I'm guessing I have to purchase/find the spell and buy the ability to use it?

Yup. Spells aren't actually too expensive, but abilities (or however you choose to translate "waza") are - I've not bought any beyond the ones you start the game with (10 hours in or so).
 
Holy shit! I just finished all the stuff that happens after you clear
the tomb dungeon
that is after the area that Bebpo took a pic of.

It's interesting that the after the characters travelled all the way to the west, and then blew up the entire Archadian 8th Fleet and Leviathan, that now the Giza Plains has changed. It's like someone installed an expansion pack in my game. It looks different and the mobs are much higher level now. I haven't explored more but I hope this doesn't mean I can't complete that Mob Hunt quest that is still outstanding in this area! ^^;
 
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