The Moment of Truth

[Red XIII]

Okay, so I thought I was going to figure this out sooner. I've been out of school for almost a month, and I graduate on Friday. But after weeks of deliberation and research, I think I have come up with a feasible self-proposition for a belated kick-off-the-summer goal:

I'm finally going to do it...

no not that...

I'm going to finally play Final Fantasy XII.

---

Okay, so insert :rolleyes for most of you, right? Well this a point that's taken me a long time to get to.

Since the day I bought the game--which was the day it came out (10/31/06)--I vowed that I would do my very best to devote a block of time to the game. I was tired of picking up and putting down RPGs because I was trying to play so many games at a time. I wanted to beat everything I was in the middle of and wait until I really had no other games to play before I picked up XII. Well guess what--that finally happened.

I just have to finish up FFX, and I'll have a completely clean gaming slate. I tried to start PSIV, San, but I just wasn't feeling it after about two weeks. I wish I felt differently.

I'm currently addicted to Brawl, but I'm going to have to make an exception to my FFXII goal for it, because I'm not going to stop playing it anytime soon.

I'm so anxious to play the game after hearing so many mixed reviews about it. I really want to know if I'm going to love it or hate it, because it doesn't seem like too many people fall in between.

So I guess this thread is just a cheers to myself, and something to laugh at for all of you who knew about this goal and were probably wondering if I'd ever play the damn game.

Also, as an interesting note:
It's an interesting feeling to pull out a sixty-dollar, collectors-edition strategy guide that I've never even opened... and blow dust off of it.

[Gros Dino]

There is no reason for you to not enjoying the game.
Especially if you liked games which are different of the old ones, like FFX.

[CEK]

Good luck with that Red, I found the world of Ivalice in FF XII beautiful, easily the best world map of any FF game, some great characters, the plot of the story had the potential to be fantastic, IMo they failed in pulling it off for me. Lack of character development and the striking resemblence between everyone more or less put me off the game. I'd be interested to hear what you have to say about it at some point.

[Sanity]

^ That's basically how I felt about 12. The world is beautiful, and I guess I was one of the few who really liked the new battle system. But the game had its share of problems. The cast was really really shallow. They weren't fleshed out at all. The story had a ton of potential too. It had a lot of political intrigue, with twists and turns along the way. But in the end it just kind of felt unimportant and flat. Not to mention the pacing of the game is just awful. The villain is kind of nonexistent as well. Very lackluster.

the game has its problems, but it's not bad per-se. It just falls flat in a lot of areas. But on the flip side, it does a lot of things that I liked. I still love Fran and Balthier, as shallow as they are.

[dark_mullet]

Pretty much every other FF up until now had ONE big city/kindgom, then a whole lot of NOTHING throughout the entire rest of the planet. 12 features two EMPIRES at war, several kingdoms in between, as well as smaller villages with no affiliation either way. Not to mention, this is all taking place on just ONE Continent. Needless to say, it felt like stuff was actually going down.

Unlike most recent FFs, there also wasn't a "OH THE BAD GUY IS ACTUALLY SEPHIROTH" halfway through the game. The Empire IS the nemesis through the whole game, although its motivations become more clear.

Also, there is SO much going on during the game, it really feels like a world that's alive. Between Hunts, random side quests, and just small stuff like running into someone again from earlier in the game, greatness.

Also, it's the first RPG in a while that gave me over 70 hours of gameplay. It was WORTH the money. And hell, I haven't even tackled Hell Wyrm, Zodiark, Omega 13, or Yaizamat yet (that last one has 50 million HP). There's a lot to do in this game, it would probably take over a 100 hours to do it all.

In which I also love how non-linear it is. FFX was literally a straight walk to the north end of the map. 12 is not that. Expansive, side quests, hunt monsters.

The characters are fantastic. I loved ALL the characters except Vaan, who I thought was boring and generic. I actually got a feeling with Penello. Whereas Ashe was a Queen of this kingdom and was hurt when it was taken away, Penello is pretty much in the same situation...but was only a citizen. I found it interesting when each one talked about the Empire, as their views were very different, even though they had the same motivations.

That might have been un-intentional though. IN the guide all the characters have a cool sub-title that describes them, like Basch's is "Loyal knight branded as a traitor." Penello's is JUST "Vaan's friend."

Which reminds me, thank you for the lack of a love story FF12. Vaan and Penello were already a couple. Baltheir and Fran were already a couple. None of this teeny love story bullshit. Just established relationships that we get to see parts of throughout the game, especially Fran and Balthier. Any moment of those two together was so damn real.

The only downside of the game was the whole Loot thing. And the License Board. And I wish Espers would be useful. Otherwise, yeah, totally immersed me.

[Yukimura]

Don't bother, you'll just be disappointed.

[Lotus]

Yukimura Wrote:Don't bother, you'll just be disappointed.

Aie.

[Earnest]

I loved it. My 3rd favourite in the series. Hope you finish it.

[Red XIII]

Earnest Wrote:I loved it. My 3rd favourite in the series. Hope you finish it.

It has taken me almost two years to start it... I'll be damned if I don't finish it, haha.

[Jenza1202]

I started FFXII, about a year ago, but stopped playing about 9 months ago, (I got hooked on FFIII)

Methinks its time to dig out my PS2. plug it in, and continue the game