[PS2] Final Fantasy 12 - Unappreciated or underwear

The angle I got from the game was that "The events unfolding are bigger then any one character or antagonist, but these people indirectly affect a larger portion of the world then that they even realize themselves. It was... I suppose the effect was that they were trying to show you that, instead of focusing on just the player's party and its immediate goals (Tag Along For the Ride, Save the World, Become a Sky Pirate, Get the Gold, Clear My Name, Save my Kingdom, etc.,) it was showing you the larger conflicts that while, not directly connected to what the player's party was doing, was affected in other ways regardless.

In that aspect the game's story was a fresh change.

However Sprout's complaints stem from a common problem that unfortunately the development team scummed to: They lost focus. They tried too hard to show you the other effects felt by NPCs and Nations at a whole, that the party's goals and motivations took a backseat, and so you're left not being quite sure WHY you're going to a desert oil rig or fighting a renegade god's minions or whatever else you might run into.

The likely cause of this was that Yasumi Matsuno fell Ill and internal politcal problems among the staff. So in order to save face and get the game out sometime before the next decade, they scrapped / swept under the rug a lot of exploratory cutscenes and character development which would have probably pushed the game's content to filling TWO DVDs.

That's why I think they released the International Zodiac System later on, as it was the original intended method, but there wasn't enough time to put it in before the deadline, so they went with the simpler system seen in the game (One obvious example of what they probably were originally planning is that each character uses their OWN License Board, instead of it shared amongst everyone, and that the Guest Characters are controllable).

So, it was a combination of rushing to finish the game, and a change of staff or something to that effect.

Of course my personal explanation/theory probably won't satisfy many, and even I am still left wondering: What exactly happened in the middle of development to cause the year-long delay?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Traumatized Rat

Until I play FF XII, I can't say for sure whether or not I will like it, but I am definitely prepared to be underwhelmed or 'underweared', whatever that means.

Well I was at Walmart yesterday and I saw in the $20 and under section (Red Labeled PS2 Games, Game Boy Advance Games, etc.,) they had Final Fantasy XII, so if you do decide to pick it up, it shouldn't be that much, when WALMART is selling it at $20, its bound to be even cheaper elsewhere.

Also: FINAL FANTASY 6: SERIOUS BUSINESS

There's nowhere I can't reach.