[PS2] Final Fantasy XII

Originally Posted by Lian_Kazairl

Did anyone download the PSF2 rar file that was posted a few pages back? Oddigy has temporarily taken it off his site so the link no longer works. A yousendit/megaupload/etc. link would be much appreciated. ^_^

No idea if it's still working, but I upped this a few days back to you send it.

http://www.gamingforce.com/forums/sh...5106#post45106

Gameplay question: Does the battle system take position into account? Say you put a body, a fighter, between the enemy and a magic caster. Will the hit just travel through? How does the game handle agro? Same as any MMO? Do mobs have different detections as in FFXI, sight, sound, hp loss, so on... Just how much is the battle system like a MMO? Does it add anything new to the conventional?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Hmm, I was afraid of that. Really hoping the game would try to put some sort of fresh spin on things but it doesn't sound like that's the case.

How ya doing, buddy?

I think I can articulate just what exactly is wrong with the battle system.

It's not that the game plays itself. The automatic aspect is a red herring on the road to why things feel slightly empty with FFXII. A lot of games have auto. Two of my favorite rpgs of all time saw me abusing auto much of the game (Nocturne, Phantasy Star 4).

No, the reason something's off about this game as a rpg is because it's not a rpg. It's a rts hybrid on a very small scale. They needed to slow things down. Because in a heated battle with many enemies, the action never stops. All you end up knowing is that Fran just got knocked down to critical hp. You don't know exactly which out of the five enemies hit her or for how much each unless you've got eagle eyes. Provided she was on screen for the hits in the first place.

The game doesn't seem to allow much room for tact. All they needed to do was pause and focus for character and enemy action. The game would of been lightyears better than what it is. I mean, comprehending everything that's going on around you is important. It was sacrificed for fluidity.

And while we're at it, they could of given the camera a better go.

Still enjoying the game, though, it is Ivalice, after all.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Question. I just got out of a certain king's tomb to find there's a whole mess of new equipment, magic and the like that need to find their way into my inventory. So, what's going to be the best place to kill for profit right now? The merchant seems to have left from the front of the entrance to the tomb, and I don't want to use up a bunch of stones to keep on bouncing back and forth from here to there. The enemies in Giza (rains) don't seem worth it. Beefed up hyenas drop measly wolf pelts, and there are a bunch of elementals wisping about just waiting for me to trigger them with a gambit cure. I'm almost thinking I should head to the mines in the sky city. Anyone have a suggestion for me?

As an aside, this game is hurting for a try before you buy feature for equipment in shops. What reason could there possibly be not to show me all of the stat changes a new piece of armor is going to afford to me?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Heh, just makes for a lot of reloading on my part.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Quote:

Note: Also, why on earth do the bows/crossbows miss so much against certain enemies? Often times, against skeletons/toads/wolves I'll get consecutive misses. So much so that I switch to the character's secondary weapons (Penelo's bow swapped for dagger, Ashe's Xbow swapped for partisan, or my spiffy heavy lance).

Well, I have no idea, but something else about bows. Since speed is a contributing factor in the damage rate, why do they make Fran out to be a bow user when she is the slowest character? Vaan plus longbow equals win. Gave Fran a pole. Also, I like how Penelo is wielding a goddamned katana that is nearly bigger than she is.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Metal Sphere

I've finally reached Bur-Omisace, and I have to go to the shrine nearby. Anyone know a good leveling spot at this point in the game? The Panthers have exhausted their usefulness as training material, and they have a somewhat slow respawn. That and the awkward/boring layout of the maps they appear in, and it kind of wears on you.

Maybe Henne for a bit? Back outside to Ozmone? Or should I try the shrine itself?

Also, I managed to get the bamboo arrows and firey arrows, but I'd still like some new shot. Anyone know how rare "Yensa Scale" is, as well as what drops Ice Stones? I think I only need 2 of the former, and one of the latter in order to get the long bolt and water shot.

If you can afford all the armor, magic, and weapon upgrades and your characters are around the high twenties, I'd say to go for the shrine. I gained about 3 levels per character plus 70,000 gil just going through the thing. You'll end up double backing a lot just by natural progression and there's a teleport crystal right out front.

If not, as burned out on it as you may be, I like the jungle for grinding because the area is a line you can just plow through. Much better than wide open fields in my opinion. The snowy area not only has a lot more travel to it but those dark skeletons bug the hell out of me. Maybe the mines as well, I dunno, but the jungle is a lot more dense with enemies.

FELIPE NO

Metal Sphere: Oh, level 40? Psh, yeah, that's plenty high enough for the shrine. You could even check out the Feywood, maybe? About ice stones in the shrine (minor gameplay spoiler).

Spoiler:

I do remember coming out with a handful of them to sell, somewhere around ten to twenty, or it may of been ice magicite to be more specific. Surprisingly enough, however, many of the enemies there aren't ice based at all. Now that I think about it, that stuff was probably aquired on the way to and from the shrine.

Most amazing jew boots

The LP is always the amount shown for everyone, even for reserve characters, unless they have the double LP accessory equipped. Only thing I'm not sure about is if dead reserve characters still gain LP. I don't think they do. Yeah, exp is split into thirds among your fighting group, halves if it's a two man team, full points for soloing.

Just out of curiosity, what do you guys consider character development? Just because it's more subtle than overbearing doesn't mean it's not there. So far, the only one I find lax in it is Penelo. Ashe's character has grown from annoyance to extremely interesting. Larsa too. Even the judges have mostly become identifiable from one another to a point.

I think the story up to this point is ridiculously well done, it flows more naturally than most anything else I've ever played, the amount of attention they give to the cast is just right.

Most amazing jew boots

How did anybody beat the bunny mark in the forest? Thought the answer would be to clear out the area so I'd be free to chase him, but after you to that, a whole mess of dark skeletons pop up. You can't immobilize or sleep him. Am I missing a really obvious tactic or what?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Float never has been all that useful in the history of the series, only certain situations that warrant it. Same with this game. Most spells have their place and while they may be used infrequently, when they do need to play their role, they are a godsend. Black magic really doesn't play any sort of role until you hit two, but mainly three.

I went back to the hunt in the forest intending to berserk the bunny per your suggestion, Soapy, but to my dismay I found that the spell only targets allies! I remembered that there was a dagger available gave berserk on hit, but I was already there. I just hunted that asshole down, train of enemies be damned. The mess I had to clean up after I finally ended that fucker.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The question I have is how to get to the spot in the waterway for the white mousse hunt. Seems like I need a key for the device to drain the water levels on the east central side and I have no clue how to go about finding that, if that's even what I need to do.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Ah, okay, I see. Yeah, thought I had taken all the paths, I ran around that area for awhile, guess that must of been the only way I overlooked. Kinda funny that I thought I needed that key when that's part of the reward for completing the hunt, heh.

I was speaking idiomatically.

0_o So that's how you reverse targets. That may come in handy. Hate to keep hammering the thread about hunts but I have yet to find a decent walkthrough online for them. I cut down all the trees in giza to get to the area the Gil Snapper should be. Game tells me it has to be the right weather for him to appear but I've been there multiple times with either type of weather and have yet to find him there. Like finding all the trees wasn't hassle enough.

Also, what level would be recommended for the Trickster? I tried him once a few levels back and came close, but then he made himself immune to physical and I couldn't find the right element. I'm currently at 36/37 with all my people.

How ya doing, buddy?

Tomahawk:

Spoiler:

Please use these tags [ spoil ] [ /spoil ] with the spaces removed if you're going to discuss not only plot/story elements but also gameplay specifics. Minor aspects are usually okay to just be floated freely out there, but things like optional bosses, how you fought them, where they're located, some people would like to discover those things for themselves and still be able to venture into this thread.

FELIPE NO

Ah, well, it's not the hugest deal in the world, particularly given the age and length of the thread. But it is what passes for kosher everywhere else around here as well, so it can only help you to learn now. Thanks for tagging your post.

On topic, I got burned out on this game about a month ago. When it got to the point where I wasn't bothering to explore new areas and just making a beeline to the capital, I knew it was time to take a break. I guess that later midgame lull is just as real as everyone complains about it to be. Probably will pick this back up after I'm done fiddling around with my replay of Phantasy Star 4.

Most amazing jew boots

I've been playing this during the downtime. All I have to say is fuck you, silver liquid. I'd been playing without one, but I recently borrowed my friend's guide to the game right around the point of The Great Crystal. I figured I'm close enough to the end of the game, if I want to do some of the optional bosses, mainly Espers, I want to save the frustration of running around aimlessly for hours.

So, I'm looking through it, I'm reading the bazaar recipes section. I realize my gun for Bal is pretty outdated and my ammo options in general are limited. So, I should gather up some ingredients! All that was needed was four ring wyrm scales, gathered those pretty easy, a handful of a certain crystal, and, let's see here, I need five silver liquid.

So I scour the enemy list. Only three enemies in the game possess it, none of which I've fought so far. I have just defeated the boss in the way to get to the deadlands, however, so I'll try for Foobar in that area. You can't steal or poach it from Foobar, he only drops it. He does not show up with any regularity in the area either. After awhile and no drops, I gave up on that idea for the next monster on the list. The Oiling.

Oilings are said to be found in the still shrine. I didn't run into any my first time through, and when I re-explored the area, still nothing. I didn't see them anywhere.

Okay, there's still one more option, Hecteyes. Hennes Mines. I know he's not around the main entry, but on my trip through the Feywood, I ran across an alternate entrance that I quickly fled from upon seeing a level 60+ bat wandering around. It's my last option, so I had to check it out. Tough fight against the two absteels only to find out that entrance is a complete dead end.

Apperently, the extra areas of the place are accessed from a gate opened once you have ten or more espers. I was sitting on two at the time. So before I get to Hecteyes, I have to kill eight more espers. Absurd.

Back to the still shrine. These sons of bitches have to be in here somewhere. I at last find a hidden area along the wall of the long hallway leading into the room with the statue in it. I enter the room excited, positive that this must be it, Oilings must be in this room. Oh, they were there alright. So was the cheapest trap I've seen the game lay out yet. Unless you enter the room with float you hit a trap that massively fucks over your party with a ton of status ailments. So, I switch out my party to the non berserked, confused characters, and start my silver liquid collection process, which requires you to poach the enemy. These things appear in droves in this area. I'm poachin and poachin and poachin away. As Penelo is my lightest hitter, I let her have three thwacks to get them low enough, my other two characters are sleeping groups and warding off the silence and confuse spells these things like to cast.

They're giving me yellow liquid like crazy, no silver liquid yet. I had built up a chain around 30 before I poached my first silver. I let the chain build to around 65 or so and only took in two silvers over the whole process but 85 yellows!

On my way out, right after I used the way stone, there were these floating reaper like enemies that surrounded me right off the bat. I do the normal attack routine on them, but after a second I realize that my characters are dying because these things are formidable and I forgot to turn gambits back on from the whole Oilings episode. I decide to try to flee, but the group of them warps right to me, whacks the hell out of one of my standing characters and death spells the other. At this point, I'm coming to the dread realization that the other three characters in my party are berserked and confused and that I am going to die and lose all that time it took me to get a lousy two silver liquids.

Somehow, I got out of it with only Balthier standing. Waited for his berserk to wear off, raised my five other members and fully healed and buffed even though I was only a short distance away from the exit and a crystal.

So, yeah, fuck you silver liquid. The gun and ammo became not worth it long ago, it's the principle of the goddamned matter now.

How ya doing, buddy?

Thanks for that tip. I tracked down that gun from your suggestion last night, it was really worth it. Although, the gun in the package wasn't the main draw of gathering those loot items for the bazaar goods, it was the ammo. Think I'm going to wait until I have some more Espers under my belt and the extra section to Hennes Mines opens. Hecteyes is suppost to be in that way and I can just steal the liquids from him instead of braking my back over it now.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I finally finished the game a little while ago. I haven't wanted to stop playing regardless. Only esper I've yet to tackle is Zodiark. I have a main group of three at level 85 now. Most of the hunts are complete, I'm going after the Shadow Seer now. Was pretty surprised to find out The Pharos had a basement (didn't they make the place huge enough as it is).

I've gathered up all the magics and techniques. Two most prized bazaar goods I've got are the Durandal one handed sword and the Sagutarrius bow. Some of the requirements for other stuff is freakin' loony. I haven't gone looking for rare drops off of rare monsters or ran completely around the great crystal for the absolute best armor pieces just yet, but I may just be running out of things to do in this game yet, so.

Has anyone seen a complete map of the crystal anywhere, by the way?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The spear is overrated. Not that it isn't insanely powerful, but, really, you can get by without it. Finding the Ultima Blade in The Pharos sub levels is a much less troublesome and acceptable alternative. Unless your going for complete perfection, don't obsess over it if you missed it.

Or you could go with the Masamune after the Gilgamesh hunt, buffs, and a cat ear hood and combo like mad. Point is, as far as heavy damage dealing end game two handed weapons go, the Zodiac Spear isn't entirely unique.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?