What is everyone thinking of this game so far? I bought it a week ago.

Please rate aspects & discuss if you want:

STORY: 8/10 -- Pretty good grade because its not bad at all but not over an 8 because it is slow at times.

GRAPHICS: 9.5/10 -- Great lookin'

MUSIC: 6/10 -- I am generally bored with the music except maybe a few in there like Rabenastre. I think that FF music has gone downhill starting with FF8. FF8 had a lot of good and a lot of boring ones, 9 was worse, 10 was even more worse, and now 12 is mostly boring stuff. (FF11 however is excellent. Gotta love Tanioka who did FF:CC music as well).
I wish FF12 coulda done what DQ8 did -- tokyo symph orchestra music.

GAMEPLAY: 8.5/10 -- Quickenings are okay, Espers are okay, the system itself it not too bad at all. The license grid is average. If everyone was a unique class with a unique grid of their own I would probably give the gameplay a 9.5, but that is not at all the case.

You?

I haven't touched the game in about a week (I had just made it to the Salikawood). The mechanics of the game are still fun but there's nothing really pushing me forward.

I prefer my games with more emotion and characters who actually bother to develop. FFXII has none of these things. People keep saying that it's all about "political intrigue" but even that part of the plot is painfully underdeveloped.

Still, every time I turn on the game, I find myself wanting to kill one more panther, buy one more skill and explore the gigantic areas (aided by the wonderful music, some of Sakimoto's finest). I suppose in that regard, the game is a success. I just wish that I gave a damn about the story.

Hehe, I must be playing a different game. I love the characters and how they interact, and there is some development for sure... can't say there isn't any unless you've played the whole thing ;)

Seconded. :edgarrock:

Considering much of the game is left, I'd say it's a case of too little, too late. Because the game is so open-ended, there are large chunks where I forget there even ARE characters (much less a plot). I'm glad that the mechanics work in a way that the game remains consistently fun to play... but at the same time, I'm hoping the next FF gives me a story that keeps me enthralled to the end.

Don't think this is a spoiler, but oh well.


Double Post:
Did you get the soggy letter during the rains? You have to go to the spot where the kids were standing first, pick up the letter, then go to her in the dry. Yes it is annoying...

I'm at the and I can't seem to get anywhere further then the first room you enter.

Did I forget to do something beforehand?

Party Level At this Point: 27, 26, 26, 26, 25, 26. Thats going from Top to Bottom so you figure out whos who.

Thanks if you can help.

I'm not sure if this is a spoiler but you need to do this to get further in the shrine.

HELL YES.

I got to Ancient Egypt Stillshrine of Mblahblah. that's not the HELL YES part. When I fought the three dragons all at the same time, I just did some quickenings, not expecting much, but then DAMN, my concurrence was the Black Hole. I think I got everyone to do all three levels of their attacks, ESPECIALLY the 3rd final attack, and that's what triggered it. DRAGONS BOW DOWN TO THE ADVENTURERS GREATER THAT YOU!

You know, I had actually thought about that, and I had switched to Ashe to see if that would work (Except without equipping it)...
but alas: FUCKING DUH moment there.

Thanks.

Wait, you mean that thing that made "your party's equipment weigh them down"? Vinuskar or whatever it's name was? I just Berserked Vaan, threw Haste and Bravery on him and he went to town. It was actually hilarious how quickly it died.

Damn, that Doc's on the money. The Shrine was cakewalk. It didn't seem like it at first, but when I faced off against two specific enemies it was pretty clear. Oh, and you're right about the Stones/Magicite thing. The wolves drop the stones, though it's easier just to steal them with the cuffs and the larger monsters drop magicite in spades. Monographs help here quite a bit.

I popped into the Feywood, and it seems like a nice enough place to level, except that the shades are somewhat irritating (at least until I'm strong enough to dispatch of them fast enough).

That's what the Morbid Urn does? Sounds like a case of satisfaction, though after buying the equips before going to Archades, I could drum up enough cash. BTW, do new marks appear after the event that points you in the direction of said city?

No, i did not do that, I didn't know you had to. Where can I pick up that paper?

It is in the same spot where the kids who gave you the hunt were in the rains, next to the save crystal (check the clan primer for it).

No, I also quicked on the two bosses in the shrine, the first was a joke but the second meant serious business.

Tonight was the night for a few first for FFXII.

First time I've chained past 12 for my mists.

First time I've seen Black Hole and Illuminescence or something.

First time I've actually enjoyed some dungeon crawling.

First time I HONESTLY thought I'd die and get whiped out (but still beat it on first try). Damn I wasted a Megaelixir too. The boss was Mateus.

Black hole is awesome, I think you have to do nine level 3 quickenings before it shows up. I've only done it once in my 60 hours. And what are these 3 dragons everyone mentions? Are they optional? I don't remember them, but I have all of the extra Espers except the final one and I am pretty sure I fought the optional bosses but I don't remember any dragons.

Not really dragons, you see them dancing around in a circle. The book just said to quicken them, and I did, and they died. RIP.

They're in the shrine, it's three dragons in a room. I had Vaan berserked the whole time I was in the shrine, and with the Yoichi bow and Balthier's new Aqua Shot, it was a breeze. Quickening them would've been a tad overkill.

I did, however, enjoy chaining against the Trickster. Owned his sorry, FFVII-runaway ass.

Well, I'm on my way to the Feywood now (after the Archades bit). I really haven't grinded, but I have a few qualms with the game:

I'm really, really pissed about the Zodiac Spear. I hate when they throw in stuff like this. The weapons should be difficult to get, not something that punishes you for actually going through an opening every chest. I was being meticulous, and I was punished for it. Not good at all.

Also, is it just me or is the game almost -too- open ended? I find myself often lost amid all of the choices of the liscense board, and my original idea of having defined-roles for every character has pretty much been obliterated. There are way too many weapon types and whatnot for me to really choose for 'set weapons' for all of the characters.

It's just horrible knowing that I am actually way behind where I'm supposed to be, because the game expects me to be taking ten hours off of the plot at a time to do extra stuff. I guess that is a pretty bad complaint, because I used to complain about not having enough side material in previous installments in this series, but now it just seems like a hassle, having to go defeat hunts. I mean, the amount of time it takes to get from one place to another, to talk to someone, to go somewhere else, have your ass handed to you, grind for hours, go back and barely accomplish the task, go all the way back to the petitioner and get weapons that are already outdated? Barely worth it, nearly.

I mean, what's the point.

Yeah, this is pretty much a Final Fantasy Online (Offline Version). For me, the Hunt sidequest always felt more interesting and much more rewarding than the main storyline. As you say, it's ridiculously underdeveloped.

This game may be a step up from the likes of FFX, but damn, Square should be able to be better than this.

And a lot of people with you, it would seem. Unnecessary, I'd say, as the Zodiac Spear isn't necessarilly the best weapon in the game just because it happens to have the highest attack stat. There are too many factors to consider for it to be that simple - and personally I don't think it belongs even among the top 3 weapons in the game (partly because you can get two "copies" of perhaps the best one in the game though).

I can agree that the circumstances which decide whether or not you'll be able to aquire the Zodiac Spear are pretty silly, though. You'd have to be real lucky in order to get it without knowing how to beforehand.

And this isn't the only peice of equipment that can be 'lost forever'. More important things than this too.

I actually feel the opposite way as far as the Licence Board is concerned. I think it could have been bigger and more diverse than it is. A bigger selection of different types of Augment slots would have been nice.

And I think you'll soon notice that many weapon types aren't all that good and that a select few really stand out from the rest. Measures, anyone?

I'd rather each character had a unique license board. That would've made it a lot cooler and more unique IMO. Or at least, vary up each characters board so they have access to different things when they start off.

I find the license board a bit more friendlier than the sphere grid, and I seem to see results much sooner. However, most of my guys have already cleaned out the augmentations and most of the basic spells. I find that I'm cleaning up the license board than the sphere grid ala FFX.

Hachifusa, don't worry, you're not the only one. Sometimes when I'm not in story mode, I find myself just about as compelled to do stuff (Read, not very compelled) much like in San Andreas. In San Andreas, I really only bothered with story elements and not going on my own rampages. Similarily, in FFXII, I find myself having to drag myself doing level grinding to mainly aim for 3 items: EXP, LP, and loot for gil. After a while this grind gets pretty ... annoying, as with most level grinding I've experienced in most RPGS.

The treasure chests are pretty annoying yes, however Final Fantasies are notorious for Lost Forevers. Think of FFVII where you needed Barrett in your party to climb the stairs before you fought Hojo. Or where in FFVIII you needed to talk to Cid to get the magic lamp to acquire Diablos, one of the best GFs in that game, which was a lost forever if you left the screen without talking to him. Or worse, fighting boss NORG and forgetting to draw the GF from him?

I think if FF actually didn't piss me off in terms of lost forevers, it was FFX for the celestial weapons. Yes they were hard to obtain via chocobo racing and getting the celestial mirror, but all in all it was doable, even dodging 200 lightning bolts (which after reading a few FAQs, I made my own little technique). There were Al Bhed primers which were lost forevers in the wedding area, but who really cares for some damn dictionary vs CELESTIAL WEAPONS?

Damn. You're kidding, right? The Zodiac Spear is one thing, but having a good number of other things that you can miss without knowing is pretty fucking annoying.

The rest of your points were spot on.

I've been getting less motivated to play this.
So Far I stopped in the front gates of archadia to finish off some hunts and clear my list from those things. I feel if I finish the hunts I'll be far more prepared for the story portion. The hunts are actually alot harder than the actually bosses from the story given a few exeptions (the summons).

You weren't being punished. The Zodiac Spear is still available to you, you just have to wait towards the end of the game like you would for any high powered weapon. It can be found in one of the sidequests.

The whole "don't open 4 chests" idea is to tempt gamers. In the beginning you find out that if you don't open certain chests, a super powered weapon can be earned about mid-way through the game. You don't know which chests they are, so it is a temptation with every chest "Should I open this and possibly ruin my chance at this super weapon"? It makes the game tough because I was tempted to open a lot of chests but didn't because I wanted the weapon. I pretty much skipped every chest until that point.


This is where I disagree. For the first time in a long time, I'm playing a Final Fantasy where I don't have to grind to gain levels. Many of the sidequests are fun and feel like an extension of the game. Most have their own storylines which are interwoven into the game as well, and if you want to can research those storylines even further. The amount of backstory and depth in the game is tremendous. I guess some of the sidequests need to be done in a certain order, as I have never been at a point in the game where no matter where I go story/sidequest-wise I feel underpowered. If I was doing a sidequest that was kicking my butt, I would move on to the next one and come back to the original later.

Overall I am just glad for all the sidequests available early on in the game. In previous game, I would have to grind in certain points in the game because I wasn't strong enough. MOst sidequests didn't open up until the end of the game. But in FFXII, I can go on sidequests as early as I like, get better weapons/armor earlier because of them, and be reasonably powered up when I decide to move on. I've been trying to do each sidequest as they become available, and last night I finally moved on with the story. It turns out the sidequests overpower, because I was able to kill on the enemies in 1 or 2 hits, and the bosses died in less than five seconds to a haste/berserk Vaan.

Anyways, every person will probably have a different experience with this game. For once, I am having a wonderful time the entire time and not having to worry about doing reptitive and mundane tasks for no purpose other than to eventually level up (fiend capture, anyone?).

You know, I may have found some kind of interesting coincidence with the "forbidden" chests. The first three locations are those in which you can see the chests distinctively in cutscenes in the areas they're featured in.

- Chest across from Dalan's house, seen in cutscene with Vaan & Penelo
- Chests in corner of cellar, seen in the distance of a small scene w/guards.
- Chests in Nalbina, seen when recovering your gear.

Doesn't apply to those in Phon Coast (though their formation resembles that of the chests where the spear itself is), but I thought it was an amusing coincidence...