I watched the 4 minute "Hope" trailer with the CG cutscenes as well as the 10 minute in-game demonstration. I'm quite excited now for this game. One thing I noticed that it seemed that when the party was fighting the fire bombs, the pace seemed somewhat static and frantic at the same time. The explosions all around Vaan seemed somewhat confusing as it looks like his ass is getting kicked, but the HP meter didn't seem effected too much.

At any rate, if the August 1st release date holds true, then this will be quite conveniently released a few days before my birthday.

Where can I find this Hope trailer? I'd like to give it a look.

Right here:
http://www.ffxii.us/news/030306.php

Thanks.

That was a nice trailer, alright. And I really, truly hope that a good amount of the soundtrack is orchestral, because it's all too rare for midi-inspired music to match up to what was playing in the trailer. I hope they at least make like FFIX and have orchestral music in every single FMV.

It's amazing, however, how very little of the FFXII world we've seen throughout all the previews. I could count all the locations with one hand; a large city, a desert, a beach, and another city. I'm not even sure how many cities we've seen so far, or if they're all from the same city, since the buildings look so similar. I admit this has me a little worried though. One of the many things I expect to see in FF's is a gigantic, diverse world. I'm hoping SE has been witholding more than half of the total locations from the public.

My other gripe is that it looks like the cast list is final. It's the smallest group ever for an FF, and it doesn't live up to the promise of a diverse cast of different races. The only non-human is Fran.

And again, this would've been an excellent game to have in widescreen. Please, Square USA, toss us hi-def users a bone.

Anyway, I truly hope this lives up to the gigantic expectations we all have. Just being another great FF won't be enough for me, this needs to be a giant step forward in the series, as big a step as FFVII was.

Frankly from the way the battle systems works, I doubt this is the next FFVII.... I'm sure the story is great, along with graphics, and music. Whethere not its engaging enough to get people to keep playing and actually have fun remains to be seen. The demo has me thinking that this game will be less engaging since with gambit your characters can simply do things themselves and you can just sit and watch, hell attacking no longer requires you pressing the buttons.

Then again there are those that regard story and graphics higher than gameplay, so maybe this game will suit them.

Theres barely any hype of promotion going in Japan though, its a rather quiet release compared to KH2. As much as I'm curious about whether or not it has live up to expectations (mind you this was a frigging long wait), this is probably the first FF I will not import, especially since the price has gone up. Defintly more expensive than FFX was for me.

However, if anyone here is gonna import, do tell us what its like, as I may get the NA release if its good enough.

And on another note, considering that SE are now making games to be more cinematic, its shocking that they still have not have their games with widescreen, progressive scan options. Get with the program Square!

I guess these are collectible cards you receive with each bottle of "Potion" in Japan...
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7...1141499409.jpg

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/5...0114154987.jpg

http://img420.imageshack.us/img420/9968/ada9fb822rp.jpg

There's also a Yahoo auction up for 2 promotional posters:
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/9...1141493171.jpg
http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h34136098

Gambits are AI scripts that you put on your characters so that when they fulfill the condition of said gambit, they automatically perform the function on it. For example Cura if HP < 30% coupled with another one could keep the others alive and let you focus on the enemy.

Wait mode is essentially your regular old FF battle system, except that you can move around and set attacks for your current and next turn. Active mode on the other hand is for folks that don't want to enemies to simply "stop" like the old ones. Maybe you've grown out of the old system?

FF is already pretty big in Japan, and all they'd need would be a few commercials (as they've done) some clever advertising (FFXII Potion anyone?) and Famitsu praising the game. Why waste money when the anticipation is likely fever pitch.

The lack of 16:9 and progressive scan support sucks though, but you're giving the game flogging it doesn't deserve (not as of yet). If we'd done the same to DQVIII, we would have ignored a perfectly good game based on a bad demo.

FFXII's title screen:

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/6...636ff127vx.jpg

Simple yet stylish looking. :)

It almost looks like the background within the logo could be an animated movie or something to that effect.

Yes, that's what I noticed too. The background behind the logo seems like it was probably moving behind it. Looks like duckroll just abandoned the FFXII thread after the title thread was shown.

Oh, BTW, I fixed the original shot since it was too dark. What you see above is the edited one. Now comes the task of avoiding story spoilers until the NA launch.

I think I'll be joining him. Don't want ANYTHING spoiled in FFXII for me.

No, no, he abandoned the thread BECAUSE he's off to play the game. Someone posting the title screen simply let him know that there were folks out there with the game. I think him and Bebpo live in Japan, so I can see why he'd be so anxious to start playing.

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/6...636ff127vx.jpg

Where's the option menu? What if I want to watch the opening FMV with 5.1 enabled? Dammit Square.

Same. I know very very very little about FFXII's storyline, and I'd like it to stay that way. I know we aggreed on not making a seperate spoiler thread for AC and KH2, but I still think FFXII might need one.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7...1141499409.jpg

Sometimes I think SE wants to make an FF Beach Volleyball. It's a good pic though, but why is Basch included? Considering what he did, you'd think he'd be the last guy Ashe would want to frolick around with...

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if the options are asked of you either right after you select new game or they're present in-game. What exactly did Basch do, exactly? I remember hearing that he killed the king because he had sold out his country in exchange for his safety.

That's exactly what he did. And it's significant because

Vaan has a bone to pick with Basch as well. This, consequently, makes him the most interesting new character. I'm hoping for shades of Delita here (willing to make any sacrifice for the greater good. Needs of the many and all that.)

I know,

Yeah he did. You should mark those as spoilers. Yes it was publicly released info, but it also isn't that well known (I certainly didn't know the bit about Basch and Ashe's fiance). Just saying we should start marking things now. :juggler:

Thanks for letting me now SOLDIER, I just assumed everyone knew Basch's backstory. It's definitely missing a lot of details that the game will fill us in on, but that's the gist of it I think. IMO, he's redeemed himself in her eyes especially if he's able to explain why he did what he did (Delita greater good deal) as well as fighting alongside her SO.

Yeah I'm aware of Basch's backstory too and you pretty much deal with those events at the beginning of the game in the prologue, hence why we know about them to begin with.

Still I kept some of the character's biography and motivations in the first post as vague as possible as not to spoil it. If it's plot information and screenshots not released by Famitsu/Jump etc during FFXII's pre-release then I'm steering clear of them and I won't be posting them in this thread. Impressions are fine be it your own or via others but just spoiler mark them for god's sake as there's no real need for 2 threads.

don't know if this has been posted, but an awesome ffxii potion drink commercial!!!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hg9bQPoUf_4

It only marks the third time it's been posted. :p Someone at GAF tried the stuff. Apparently it tastes like Red Bull only it's blue rather than yellow.

do you know if there's a downloadable version anywhere?

Yep, GameTrailers just put it up:
http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=1684

:)

Thanks :) i can't wait for this game!

There's one thing about this game that I simply have to admit:
The demo was fun. <3 Looking forward to the final release.

I'm hoping this game is good. I've been waiting for a good FF game since Tactics (and before that FFVI), however, I'm not anticipating it in any way. I've been let down too many times by Square to let something hype me up anymore.