[PS2] Final Fantasy XII

Originally Posted by Megalith

So FFXII is going to coincide with the release of PS3, or what.

It would be a good way for the PS3 to be all like "Hey, check it: BOOSTED GRAPHICS & SOUND! Booyah!

Probably a combination of PR and getting Translation done with.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well I had pre-ordered the game (With collector's case), but I can't actually GET it (Pick it up) until my paycheck. Any advice upon starting up the game, for those who have gotten somewhat into it (or hell, beaten it already for you importers)?

Also since I haven't been following the thread, how is the voice acting? It sounded good in the trailers, but that only had CG parts for the majority, which are going to be of high quality.

@ Soldier: I actually always pronounced Rydia in my head as "R+high-Dee-Uh", with R+High rhyming with Die, but Ri-Dya sounds better since you mention it (Haven't seen it written out pronounced like that before).

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Haven't read the thread for a couple pages so if someone mentioned this already feel free to point it out, but was I the only one ssuprised when I learned that "Lamont" aka Larsa was a Guy? The face and hair and height, and the voice as well all made me think the character was a woman. While Vaan I could tell was just a teen kid with a bad haircut, Larsa suprised me in being a guy.

Also,

Spoiler:

I have just gotten the first Epser but I keep dying against Vossler in that boss battle right after that, am I too weak (Party level is average. 16, I have 4 characters with Quickenings), or is he a hard boss? Chaining the Quickenings took off a good chunk of his health

but then he basically killed who he targeted with 4-5 hit combos one by one

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Originally Posted by Spatula

You might want to spoil that individual mentioned in your 2nd paragraph, especially since said individual is in your party prior to. Keep Fran in the fray, since she has berserk, and summon your new found friend while you're at it. Also, I'm Larsa and I'd hit Penelo. LOL.

Done and Done.

Well I'll give it a try tomorrow evening when I get home and we'll see what happens, as I must get to bed soon for work tomorrow.

While I decided to put the first summon on Ashe, what about future uh... 'friends'?

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

Originally Posted by Spatula

I did the same, since Ashe had pretty kickin' stats, with quite a few augmentations. I can't start boasting that this boss and that dude was easy, considering I've only just recently got the Dawn Shard, and I'm over 35 hours into the game. Which means that much of the rest of the time was either spent level grinding (quite a bit) or hunts or recent side quests. So I can understand that you're having trouble with him (he almost KO'ed my Basch, which had over 1600 HP down to less than 100 with his "alligator-sword chomps"). Try casting slow on him and see if that works.

You work on Saturdays? Damn son.

1600HP huh? Yeah I think I should have grinded levels a bit more in the area with the sandpeople... but we'll see what happens. Would "Immobilize" or some of the other status effects "Blind, Poison" or "Dark" have any effect?

I figure I'll do the first play through for the story, and then later on go back for all of the bonuses and secret stuff.

Also yeah I work the weekends. It sucks but my days off are for class-days, so right now I have a full schedule during the days. I don't work nights though Its somewhat-but-not-entirelly almost all about the money right now.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Hey Spatula, the second time around I cleaned clocks around you-know-who.

Fight Start -> Vaan's Quickening twice, then Balthier, Fran, and Balthier again and then finally switch in Ashe for the killing blow with the Esper. I felt so much better when it was over.

I decided to try and get a few marks but the first one requires me to find this girl who is normally in the nomad villiage in the Giza Plains, but since its rainy season now, I have no clue as to where she is. Oh her name is Dania btw.

If I can't find her soon I guess I'll look for other marks or just continue with the story.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Well I WAS going to go after the cluckatrice, but since I couldn't find the petitioner girl,
I decided to give a crack at the Nidhogg in the Bhujerba Mines. Done with that then

FELIPE NO

I know that the girl is in the nomad village when it is dry, but currently rain falls and such I am in my current predicament.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I discovered that I had underpowered characters, so now I'm going back to the Ogir-Yensid or whatever oil plants to level up, I want to get everyone to level 20 or 19 (Currently only Vaan is 19, everyone else is 18).

I never did find the girl for the cluckatrice mark. I guess I'll wait until the rains disappear to do that one. Another reason I'm levelling up is that I had found this cavern in the middle of all of those oil rigs, which had Lv.37 giant scorpion looking monsters, with like 8 to 9k HP levels. No way would I make it out of that one against more then one (and there were multiple).

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The gambits at first seemed somewhat annoying or pointless, but now that I'm a bit farther in (and got everyone to Level 19, Vaan @ 20), the Gambits are coming in more handy.

One particularly useful Gambit I have is that when nothing else is going on, (I have this setup on two-three of my people): One of my characters cast Protect on all allies, and then if the MP is low enough (I have the conditional set to less than 10%), cast Charge to gain some MP back.

There are lots of more useful combos I'm sure but that's been helping me out in tackling some Red Titled beasts (Where the text for the monster's name is in red, indicating a tough opponent).

Also, to sandmonkeys: I would suggest (but by no means impose) that you improve the way you communicate. I understand you might have some good ideas and have worthy items to contribute to this and other threads. However the lack of proper punctuation & editing in your posts leave me to shy away from reading them, and I know I'm not alone in this viewpoint (Generic Badass pointed this out earlier in a much shorter form). In other words, your lack of punctuation & common/proper writing style is detrimental to people reading what you have to say, and reflects a certain element of... amateurism.

Continuing on, I'm about to go to the Ozmone Plains to see about story advancement.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by ashaman

Also, buy the the forgotten grimoires ASAP (or at least the cheapest 3). They are very easy to earn in the bazaar (talk to merchants 100 times, etc) and you can usually earn enough to buy them after 2-3 hunts.

Can you elaborate a bit on the "Talking to Merchants 100 times, etc.," to get the Grimeores, because one I see would go for 18k Gil, and I can't afford to gain all of that for one item. ... or would this be something covered in the FFXII Gamefaqs section?

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Originally Posted by Musharraf

What's the chance to get there when it's dry. I left and re-entered this area like twenty times and it was always raining

My guess is that it will clear up once you progress somewhat story-wise. I've taken that mark to the backburner (And by the time I get around to it, I'll be stronger so it'll be easy).

Originally Posted by Musharraf

Oh, and something else..... does anyone know how to cure "slow"? Esuna doesn't help and as for items, well, I guess there are remedies, but isn't there something like Echo Herbs for Silence or Handkerchiefs for Oil?

Damm, and I had JUST gotten Esuna too for that very reason, because I thought it would cure Slow (I've only got a few remedies on me)... but apparently not =\

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

Originally Posted by kupomog

It changes from Dry to Rains and back every hour on your game clock. I spent an hour and a half in Giza once and it was raining the whole time, then I went back to Rabanastre and a Seeq told me "well it's the middle of the Dry now..." so I checked my game clock and the minutes were about 21 so it was about right.

If you haven't yet, you might have to progress to Jahara or something before it'll start changing on its own, I'm not too sure.

*Smacks head* Of course... it would be on a time intervul.

Oh well... I'm currently just started in the Jungle as well... I might go back to it now, or at least trudge back and get the Grimore that ashaman mentions:

Originally Posted by ashaman

Page 291, where it talks about Bazaar packages. It even says to buy these instead of upgrading, and it is right. This "one item" will make your drops so much better you will gain money quicker and thereby upgrade quicker as well. I bought the three cheapest so far and in the last two hours have amassed 60,000 gil just by doing hunts in areas with easy enemies.

Yeah... I think I'll try that as soon as I amass 18K Gil, which I should be able to do if I walk back to Rabanastre from the forest

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I just beat two bosses pretty close to eachother...

Spoiler:

The Tiamat and the Elder Wyrm.

While I beat both on my first try, the Elder Wyrm battle was long and arduoius and I ran out of Remedies by the time the battle was close to finishing, and half my team died

Still, at least I know I'm on the lower end of where I'm supposed to be at, for this point in the game.

Also, is there a reason why the Guns are so low in stats compared to the other weapons on sale... do they improve later on for the advanced Gun weapons? I like having a long-range powerful attacker and Baltheir with a Bowgun isn't quite that yet, hehe.

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See that's the thing, Vaan is not actually the lead character, as there are NO lead characters... like FFVI, the cast is an ensemble, which means while Terra and Sabin might take center stage at times, it doesn't mean its all about them.

Same thing for this game: The political and social problems of the world far overlap the misguided dreams of a 17 year old kid, as another person said in an earlier post (forgive me I forget who that was), Vaan (and to an extent, Penello) are just along for the ride. That may be why he doesn't have 10 million monologues. Its not "Vaan's Story", rather it is closer to being "Dalmasca's Story", as everyone is connected to that country in some way or another.

OH, and I just reached Mt. Burmense or whatever its called. Now to get the Liscense for Haste (Oh god I hated "X Enemy is casting Slow") and then do a bit of grinding.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by kupomog

But I bought haste, ran through the Ozmone Plains for a bit stealing Iron Carapaces and other things, came back, sold all the loot, bought 3 Golden Amulets. Yay.

So since I have the first Grimore, would you suggest Ozmone Plains for getting loot, or another area along the way so far?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Freelance Wolf

As I mentioned in an earlier post (page 90), I suggest

Ok, I'll give those a go then -- stuff here at the Mt. Bur is too expensive ;_;

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm at the

Spoiler:

Midshrine of the Miriam or whatever its called

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.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Punishment

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

Spoiler:

The first pedestal you see wont activate unless the person touching it is equipped with the Dawn Shard. I think other parts in the Shrine require you too do this again. But once that is done you can unequip it.

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.

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

Originally Posted by ashaman

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.

That's one of the things I also like about this game: there is so much history and detail to Ivalice (Even more if you consider that Tactics and Vagrant Story also take place in the same world in different time periods (Canocity under debate however)), that I'm geeking out at the possibility that, due to its success, more developers of RPGs or other genre games will include more little tidbits and nuggets of info about their 'game world', and make it feel more alive and breathing, making an immersible world a trend, and one that I welcome like overlords or something.

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I've had some time to resume playing and so I return to the thread! huzzah!

Originally Posted by Scratch and Sniff

I think I'm going to ignore Zordiak. Ah hell with it, I'm just going to rush to the final bosses, I'm more than capable at level 85 now. At 170 hours plus, I'm starting to get um, bored of this. Time for Resident Evil 4!

Funny, and here I was thinking 90 hours in going to the Feywood (to find teh giruvegan) was too much, but I guess I'm on track then. Everyone is Lv.42-43, got most of the Grimores, and just got the -Ja spells... but still only two espers :\

In other words, a long ways to go for all the secrets.

I'm thinkin...Maybe I'll rush ahead to beat the game & see the ending and then go back to a save to get all the extra stuff.
Right now I'm trying to find this mark in the Cerobi Steppe, its a dragon or something that a Viera petitioned for, but I can't find it anywhere. What sub-area name should I look in? Nevermind, a FAQ at gamefaqs had the answer.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Hey guys, I'm hovering around Lv. 45-46, should I go ahead towards the Pharos place/Mysterious island & all that, or should I make an attempt towards Lv. VI and up marks?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Wow. I just finished the game, and Wow is the word that comes to mind.

Several impressions & notes:

Spoiler:

Vayne is very archtypical of a villain and I was not at all surprised when he 'transformed', although seeing him transform into his final form via CG Movie was a bit unexpected. Easiest Final Boss ever though. I wasn't even Level. 50 yet. Sure, he WAS a tough opponent, but I've had more trouble with some of the marks, rather then him. I like how he was all DBZ in his attacks.

It ALMOST seems to me that Vayne was a villain only because the story required a villain, I didn't see any real motivation behind his whole 'taking over the empire' (In fact it would have been better if his motive had been pure 'taking-over-the-world' mentality, instead of hounding in on Dr. Cid's "Release history from the gods" spiel. I like how I also have his haircut, only not nearly a dark a shade as his was. XD

The end movie was simply a thing is beauty and was refreshing that we got actual closure while still leaving opening for sequels (Revenant Wings, the whole Tactics universe), which is very hard to do.

Due to accidently reading spoilers I knew that Gabranth was Basch's brother, but it was still nice to see him take up his brother's mantle.

Question: If a year has passed between Baltheir doing the whole 'leading man saves the day' thing, and to where Penelo has this Gypsie outfit, howcome only NOW is the 'Corination' about to take place (In a month)? Seems a little too convenient or somesuch.

Something else that came to mind afterwards now, why didn't the Occuria come down and smack some ass on the humans if they were so hellbent on 'shaping human history'? I guess its just a suspense of disbelief thing. Once Venat disappeared or transfered himself to Vayne, the Occuria became a non-issue? Ahh well, just some thoughts.

One final note on the ending, unless I think of other details: Funny how one minute there was a "ZOMG TORNADO" and the next it was just "ZOMG TOWER OF AIRSHIP". They also confused me for a minute because they talked about the BahaMUTT like it was some sort of fearsome Esper, but it turned out to be a fearsome Air Fortress, still fearsome, but odd they way they talked about it at the top after defeating Dr. Cid.

I had a great time playing the game, and maybe next week when I have free time I'll head back to go after the marks and stuff (I particularly want to fight Gilgamesh and get the other Espers).

A couple notes about the game in general:

- I REALLY like the design of Archades, and I got a vibe of "Courscant from Star Wars meets Art Deco",
very unusual for a Final Fantasy game, much less the high-fantasy world of Ivalice, to feature such
a Modern looking metropolis. Every other place in the game looked like it would be there naturally,
but while Archades did fit it, it just struck me as a bit unordinary. Perhaps the designers really liked
the idea of the city and so thats why the place is so vibrant.

- The whole destruction of Nabudis and Nabradia was confusing and I don't think
they explained it well enough in the beginning. Only when Reddas confessed to being
behind the city's destruction did it make sense.

- Squeenix seems to like the idea of either "1000 Years" or "2 Years" later on, as Advent Children
is two years after FFVII, and DoC 3 years (1 year after AC), and FFX-2 is 2 years after FFX, and
the opening of FFXII takes place 2 years before the game-proper (Meaning not the tutorial section).
1000 Years is the time after the War of the Magi which is when FFVI takes place, and 1000 years after
Zanarkand gets destroyed, FFX takes place. Just something I noticed.

Also, are there any HIGH QUALITY screencaps or videos of the ending, including the drawings played during the Credits proper (I particularly got a giggle out of Al-Cid and his quad maids, as well as the Baltheir and Fran paired drawing) ?

FELIPE NO

Personally, I think...

Spoiler:

That I just may have uncovered a plot hole... and to be fair even the best of tales have these.

Also, in regards to Ivalice itself:

Spoiler:

That's the one thing about the games that was never mentioned, of what the planet's name was. Ivalice seems to be a very large region. What of the areas north of Arcades, or south of Giruvegan, or east of Rhodes or whatever? We know that Rozzaria extends to the territory of Tactics, but still, it seems that Ivalice is like "The Far East" or "The New World" in terms of georgraphy that the term covers: its a blanket name for that entire part of the world.

An interesting point is made with this: There is a reference to FFIV in one of the beastary entries, and mentions a 'far away kingdom' or some such thing like that. Well what if FFIV took place centuries ago on the opposite side of the world, and Ivalice is a REALLY large planet? It would give reason for the plentiful mist and magical artifacts, legions of creatures, etc.,. Just a crackpot theory, but hey, having Ivalice as a part of the world, and not the world itself leaves these kinds of things open.

One other thing: I really hope we see more of Rozzaria or other lands in Revenant Wings or other possible Ivalice-related titles (FFTA2 doesn't count unless they actually use Ivalice for real instead of a book), we hear a lot about Arcades' sworn enemy, but only see 2 principal characters (Al-Cid & his maid/assistant), and some sort of location within Rozzaria. Ahh well.

Spoiler:

A question about Giruvegan: Where exactly IS that floating place that Ashe meets the Occuria gang at? I mean yeah its somewhere near Giru, but like, directly above, heaven, etc.,? Also, why is that no one mentioned aside from 1-2 cutscenes about being around, and then inside a GIANT FUCKING CRYSTAL?! I mean I guess Espers are common enough to not warrant a mention by the party, but come on, that crystal was big, creepy, and had the WEIRDEST names for locations within 'it'.

Outside: "Oh HAY BIG CRYSTAL" "K"
Inside: "OMFG NETHECITE" "WOW" "K"

... and then that's it. -_-.

Maybe its just me, but a giant crystal that is probably the size of the Bahamut ought to be given a bit more significance then just "ooh wow, a crystal, pretty...".

One thing I thought was kinda funny was how the dragon boss midway into the crystal was all falling down onto the green circle area, as if he was literally running onto the stage because he was late getting to where he was supposed to be, like this might play out in an Omake:

*Vaan & Crew are walking towards the large circle*
"Oh crap, I knew I shouldn't have stopped at the coffie shop, gotta run to my cue!"
*Vaan looks around for the boss but doesn't see it. Raises eyebrow*
"Boy, I SURE would HATE to fight someone right about NOW"
*Dragon runs past stage crew and jumps into the cutscene at the very last second, his increased speed makes him fly erratically*
"Woah, yeow watch out, mandatory no-plot-significance boss coming through!"
*Vaan sighs a sigh of relief then brandishes his sword*
"I was hoping he wouldn't be late, but oh well"

"*AHEM* OH WOW, A GIANT DRAGON, LETS FIGHT HIM GUYS!"
"K"

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Lazlow

FFV? no, I haven't played it. The only FF games I played was FFVll, FFVlll, and FFXll

Well he does show up in FFVIII as well.

Spoiler:

Near the last 3rd of the game, you can recruit the Guardian Force Odin, who randomly appears during battle. Well if you get him before a certain battle with Seifer, Odin will appear (Who, IIRC, does not normally appear during boss battles, I could be wrong though), and Seifer will cut him down. Replacing him is Gilgamesh, who mentions he is from another dimension (The world of FFV).

Similarly, I am told he mentions something to that effect in FFXII. A notable evidence of his travels are that he has, among other things, replicas of Squall's gunblade, Cloud's Buster sword (The Kanji on the sword means "Fake"), and other weapons:

.

Jam it back in, in the dark.