Buk

Surprised there wasn't a thread.

Comes out Tuesday October 31, Happy Halloween!!!

Anyone else buying this on release day?

My biggest dilemna is going to be making time to play it without being a complete wreck at work without getting enough sleep...

Siege

I've gotten so bored of the FF franchise. But I hear this one is not the standard "mash the x button" type of game. I heard in this one, the battle is more real time?

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Tempboy

yes, the battles take place in real time, and are no longer random like the old FF games used to be. To compensate, there's an AI + customizable system to handle characters' actions.

It's pretty fun, actually. But I guess its closest comparison would be FFX, and so far, I like FFX more.

CyCo PL

There are two settings you can use for battles: The first one is all real time, you can see the monsters on the map before you engage them, and then once you engage the monster, you tell commands to all of your party members while the monster is attacking.

The second one is basically the same system as games like Icewind Dale or KotOR, where you can "pause" the game and put in a queue of commands for each player, and then unpause and they perform each command that is queued up. Actually I'm not sure if you can queue commands, but it would be pretty dumb if you couldn't.

Lasereth

Definitely getting this game. I've been waiting for it since...oh, you know, FFX, which came out years ago.

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LoganSnake

Buying tomorrow. Circuit City is having a $37 sale on the game on launch day. Hard to pass up.

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hobo

FFVII will always be the crown jewel of 3D FF games for me.

bookerV

Anyone have any reviews on this game so far??

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Kadath

I saw it at a friend's house last night. It is very, very pretty. He played for about an hour, which is not enough to get into any FF game, but I will say the skill system is about the same as the one in FFX.

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Siege

My friend has it, but she's refusing to "deflower" her tin.

I wonder when she'll actually play it.

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Buk

I've played it for 7 hours now, so far I like the new combat system. The license skill system where you have to buy skills bases on a board and you can't see more than one tile ahead pretty much forced me to buy a strat guide since I can't stand to not plan ahead.

The storyline hasn't so far solidified with what role your character, Vaan, plays in the whole story. This is slightly annoying because things jump around alot and you can't just get into leveling up and doing quests yet. But the depth of the characters you are surrounded with is pretty good.

rockzilla

I'm kinda torn about the new action-style combat system. It's nice to be able see enemies on the map and avoid them if you choose, but combat is still pretty tedious, and you spend most of your time standing in front of an enemy waiting for your attacks to charge up and hoping that your supporting character's gambits work effectively.
The gambit system is hit-or-miss too. You have to program your characters to act in a certain way under certain circumstances, like if an ally has less than 50% HP, then cast cure, or use an antidote if an ally is poisoned. You can override these commands by manually inputting your own commands, which is usually more effective.
Once you learn a few Quickenings (FF12's version of the Limit Break, or Overdrive or whatever) you can effectively take out bosses with one, massive chained attack, which has really taken a lot of fun out of the game for me. The last 5 bosses and hunted monsters I've fought have all fallen to one of these attacks... fun.
All of the characters have the same licence board, and can therefore learn to use all of the same equipment, skills and spells. There doesn't seem to be much reason to make a well-balanced party, just buy everyone the best licences and equipment and mash the attack button.
I'm enjoying the game so far, but with a little more work it could have been so much better.

YaWhateva

The review I read at IGN says that there really isnt one central character, which I dont know if I like, but eh. The reviews I have read have all been extremely good. I loved Ivalice in FF Tactics and hope its at least sort of like that. My PS2 is a few thousand miles away so I am hurtin' for this game!

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Siege

This game suddenly sounds like a "tape the x button" kind of game

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CyCo PL

yeah, you say "Just buy everyone the best licenses and equipment" like it's an easy task that can be done in one sitting...

The best equipment isn't even available to you until you level, at low levels you only have access to low level equipment. And you can't just buy licenses, you have to kill thousands of monsters to be able to unlock licenses for the best gear.

As for quickenings, I used to complain about the GF's making FF8 too easy and taking the fun out of the game. I decided to get a little wacky and stopped using GF's. Problem solved!

Siege

Well, since FF12 is relatively new, all the major bugs/glitches probably haven't been found.

Kind of like how someone found a way to finish FF3 by level 6.

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Buk

Its been out in Japan for almost a year. So, no hitting up up down down left right left right AB AB does not work.

Enemies are a static level and have a set number of hitpoints. If you are too low of level you hit for 0 points.

As for gambits making this game a button masher, I think the whole point is to make the battles between boss fights easier and less time consuming. You don't mash any buttons BTW you still hit x, select attack and then keep attacking unless you decide to do something different with your lead character. If you use gambits on your main character then yes I agree you should play wrestling games instead.

You will NEED quickenings later in the game to beat any boss, its a necessary part of the gameplay/battle system and if you choose to invest your license points in them early in the game it will make it easier for you. Good for you, if you did that.

I really enjoyed the entire storyline and the battle system, definitely worth every minute. Unlike alot of games out there, I did not have an empty feeling or any moments where the game completely frustrated me. The best RPG by far on PS2 in a LONG time and second only to Oblivion this year. And to compare it to Oblivion is really not fair since they are completely different.

bookerV

How does FFXII stack up to FFX??

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Buk

I didn't really like X all that much, the story in XII is alot deeper and deals alot less with mythical pasts coming together with the present to create monsters and the like. As for the combat system, hunts, mini games, etc etc its just different than any FF game that has been released.

Siege

I actually got myself a copy today, so maybe I will get around to playing it some time.

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Infinite_Loser

I just bought the game today. I was sorely disappointed with X-2 but this is far, far, far better than it's predecessor (Excluding XI).

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Wunderbar

I thought the same thing... until I played FFXII. Now I'm hooked and I can't put it down. It's sad to say, but in all honesty FFXII has outdone FFVII to me. It's just crazy.

The storyline in XII is so solid. The graphics are superb, the voice acting is an amazing improvement over what they once had. I just can't describe it. It's truly a game to be experienced first hand to understand just how amazing it is.

Lasereth

I have almost 30 hours on my file now. A few comments:

1. The license board is a really great idea, but I still don't get why they didn't allow you to see the skills ahead of the skill you're buying. What's the point? So you can buy skills and screw up your characters if you go the wrong way? At about 20 hours into it I finally decided to make 2 mage type characters which has made healing a lot easier. I want 2 fighters, 2 archers, and 2 healer/magickers, and it's taken me 20 hours to figure out how to make them that way because of the hidden values on the license board. I actually recommend using a strategy guide for the license board -- but nothing else. I've also yet to use any type of quickening versus a boss because I simply didn't have them. There's a couple of boss fights that took 20 minutes to beat. Now THAT'S a sense of accomplishment.

2. The graphics in FFXII are good, but the long-range graphics are quite muddy and are in need of some serious anti-aliasing. Some parts are simply amazing, while some areas look like a first-year PS2 game. It seems that when the graphics are up close, they look amazing, but if you look beyond 20 feet they're super muddy. Playing on a high-quality TV does help but not by much.

3. The characters are freaking awesome. The judges are so badass.

4. I love the combat system. It's way more entertaining than any previous FF (even the classics). The license board having hidden licenses is annoying, but definitely not game breaking. The gambit system that allows you to program your allies' moves are great. FFXII is basically like playing an MMORPG with a full party -- by yourself (no joke). You have a main tank, a healer, a DPSer, etc. The best part is that with the license board, you can make your characters any way you want them. My Fran and Ashe are healers, while Basch and Penelo are DPSers with maces, with Balthier being an archer, and finally Vaan being a mix of DPS and tanking. I could switch any of that around if I wanted to by buying licenses for different areas.

5. The music is great. I'd say it's just as good as FF10's. Some of the music is FF7 quality.

If you're any type of Final Fantasy or RPG fan, buy this game. It's totally worth it. One last thing: leveling up is FUN! Once you find a place to gain levels and get loots for gil, using the gambit system actually makes the usual boring, repetitious leveling in FF games entertaining.

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meanSpleen

Here are my problems concerning the license board - You eventually just end up with 3 or more all around butt kickers who are pretty much similar.

Except for any skills they may already know, all my characters know only how to libra, steal, charge (for mana) and poach things. They do not have any other skills as I just haven't found any use for them. Telekinesis maybe, but it is probably slower than just switching to guns/bows/hand bombs

Regardless of intended class my entire party has completed the traits(?) section of the license board. This is the lower left section of the upper board. It is where you get all the gambit slots, hp bonuses, speed bonuses, channeling bonuses, etc. Almost every trait is useful regardless of supposed class restrictions. Make it a priority!

If you are like me, and only use three characters, it is relatively pointless to have a specific mage, fighter, ranged, etc. Setting up quality gambits allows for anyone to step in and give those last minute heals, esuna in the event that your specific vox/blinda/etc person is incapacitated, raise anyone, haste blah blah blah. It is possible to turn off gambits with one character and let the other two do support and attacks whenever possible, then switch gambits on/off when SP levels run low.

Weapons and armor - Sure you can single out one or two weapons at the beginning of the game, but eventually you just get EVERYTHING. There is a point, for me at level 37 with the 2x LP accessory, where you just have more LP than you know what to do with. I just get licenses that they may not really need or want, but in the rare occurrence where it comes in handy its there for you.

Armor - you say you just want light armor for the hp bonuses, but heavy armor has its moments, and it helps to be able to put on the magick gear as needed. Yes, you eventually just get all the armor licenses whether you want to or not!

--

Filling the license board is much much easier than the grid thing in FFX

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Lasereth

Yeah I'm pretty sure that in the long run all of my characters will end up the same anyway because the license board isn't that big. It wouldn't happen as bad if they let you see them ahead of time.

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Lasereth

Help me out here guys. Is there any reason to use anything but the top-notch 1-handed sword + shield? I mean the fucking 2-handers have like 5% more damage but you lose all that defense. The katanas and ninja swords aren't as good as the 2-handers. The rods and staves make the character suck ass at meleeing for a SMALL increase in magic power. The hammers are entertaining, but they are very inconsistent. The list goes on and on. 1-handed swords are strong as hell and never fail. Why use anything else? For example:

2H Katana has 70 AP and is 10,000 gil
1H sword has 70 AP and is 10,000 gil

So why would you use the katana over the 1H sword + shield? It doesn't make any sense.

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snicka

I am at level 31 right now and I am almost completely filled the license board. The mines in Bjerba were a skeleton killing paradise, plus I try to take the long way everywhere so i can kill wolves out in the deserts, one hit, one LP

Lasereth:
I can't think of a good reason. Currently I use 3 characters only and have equipped them each with a deathbringer as well as the best gun/ammo that I can buy them for those pesky winged beasts.

jt6879

Havent played it but FF 8 is the best. Of the newer ones, the old ones like Americas FF 2 and 3 were awesome too

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kd490

You could always play it as an mmo type game. There's a guide on gamefaqs that basically gives basic outlines for creating more set chars, ie thieves, warriors etc. but it's based on honor system so even though you have the abilities, you simply don't use them with said characters.

Konichiwaneko

I got the collecters edition the day it came out. I have 1:06 minutes in the game.

Hasn't been touched yet.

This is after logging days on FFXI.

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Meta

Loved it. The characters were a lot of fun, and the setting was gorgeous. I love the backstory too, but the game came from the same pedigree and designers as Final Fantasy Tactics, so for me it's an instant lock.

I was very concerned about the battle system after having played it at E3 a couple years ago, but after spending significant time with it (I've beaten the game now) I think it's really a fun way to go.

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desal75

I'm a big fan of RPG's. Is this game a "must have" or not? I have very limited time to play my PS2 so a game has to be great for me to want to play it.

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guthmund

I picked this up last Friday and am now about 20 hours in...

I like the gambit system. One of the things that just irritated the hell out of me in the FF series (and all the derivative RPGs) was the constant "you attack this; you heal this guy; you attack this guy; /wait two seconds "you attack this; you heal this guy; et cetera, et cetera... It's nice to just walk up to an enemy and have everybody react the way you want them to.

I have a couple "quickenings" and I like that a lot as well. 20 minute boss fights can be fun, but sometimes you just want to get on down the road and "quickenings" work very well when used right.

No more random battles, which is very....very nice.

My only complaint is the save system. I know, I know...traditional save points and all that, but jeez you have to devote serious chunks of time to get from save point to save point. On the Leviathan...save Ashe, run real fast to commandeer a ship, fight bad ass judge and some lackeys....lose...20 minutes lost...start the fuck over. It would be nice, if I could just save anywhere.

"must have?" I think so. Well worth the $50 I ponied up for it. Although you might run into some issues if your free time is incredibly limited.

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