[PS2] Final Fantasy XII

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 thought of two points I wanted to address. The first being lost forevers. As hard as it might be to have the notion of almost in a way "forfeiting" a special weapon without knowing about it can be pretty nerveracking, I think so far FFVII's Vincent as being a lost forever is much more "heart breaking". I wouldn't honestly have found out about Vincent if I weren't reading the guide. I don't remember ever seeing any notes around the ghost mansion when you entered in, but it's been a while since I've last played FFVII so bear with me. But losing out on a character is FAR worse than a weapon, in my opinion, and from what members have been saying here, isn't all that great and flashy and there are other more viable weapons available later in the game.

The second point is when Ashe and company visited the old elf guy at Mt Bur Omiscene, I have to say the character animation really did show how much it progressed since FFX. Sure some parts were a bit jerky and the like, but the textures, shading, and hair were dramatically improved from the previous FF game, so that's a big kudos to this game really bringing out what the PS2 can do for character models.

Compare that to the laughing scene featured in FFX, which did try to invoke some human emotion in the faces, but is quite jerky compared to FFXII. I'll try to find a FFXII cut scene to help with the comparisons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU8-e-C4Uy0

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

Originally Posted by Spatula

I thought of two points I wanted to address. The first being lost forevers. As hard as it might be to have the notion of almost in a way "forfeiting" a special weapon without knowing about it can be pretty nerveracking, I think so far FFVII's Vincent as being a lost forever is much more "heart breaking". I wouldn't honestly have found out about Vincent if I weren't reading the guide. I don't remember ever seeing any notes around the ghost mansion when you entered in, but it's been a while since I've last played FFVII so bear with me. But losing out on a character is FAR worse than a weapon, in my opinion, and from what members have been saying here, isn't all that great and flashy and there are other more viable weapons available later in the game.

The second point is when Ashe and company visited the old elf guy at Mt Bur Omiscene, I have to say the character animation really did show how much it progressed since FFX. Sure some parts were a bit jerky and the like, but the textures, shading, and hair were dramatically improved from the previous FF game, so that's a big kudos to this game really bringing out what the PS2 can do for character models.

Compare that to the laughing scene featured in FFX, which did try to invoke some human emotion in the faces, but is quite jerky compared to FFXII. I'll try to find a FFXII cut scene to help with the comparisons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU8-e-C4Uy0

Oh, the models in this game are downright amazing. I still can't believe they have far fewer polygons per model than FFX, yet they animate and look far better. Heck even the faces do a damn good job emoting, something that couldn't be said about FFX. One area that does need work is the lip sync, as it was off sometimes. A lot of this can simply be explained with an improved understanding/execution of textures and animation.

The areas are also impressive, like the Rift and the frozen river. I mean, that got a little grin out of me when I first saw that, same thing happened when I move the camera down to get a better look of the surroundings. Ogir and Nam were also well done, with the rigs dotting the coast.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I liked the polished floors on the airships and just outside the Stilshrine.

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Oh, the models in this game are downright amazing

YES! I think the biggest improvement is in the eyes and that they look more fleshy and watery, as well as the hair. For example, the old elf guy's hair was quite well done, similiarly with Larsa's and Al-something Cid, the "hip fashion" guy.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Does anyone have a list of the "lost forevers" for this game? I remember a few from the previous FF games, but I have yet to find a single important item/weapon/esper that you can't get at a later point in the game if you miss it earlier. There are some sidequests you can't do after certain points in the game, but they don't give you anything important. But even weapons like the Zodiac Spear can be found at the end of the game along with the other rare items. FF7 did something similar where all of the rare items you missed could be found through the "digging" sidequest at the end of the game.

As for the models, they are absolutely amazing. The rigging is most impressive with so many controls they included in the face. There were some scenes that I can't even tell if they are CG or in game, especially the "old guy" scene people have mentioned so far. You can have some amazing models but have horrible rigging and it ruins everything, but FFXII has superb models and rigs and it shows.

How ya doing, buddy?

I think the Chocobos you can ride in the game are downright awesome, and I thought the FFX Chocobos were the pinnacle of awesomeness. The wild Chococos are far flatter and not as detailed though, which sucks.

FFXII has a lower poly count than FFX? I never knew that. It's amazing since the character models in addition to said Chocobos are indeed a large improvement over the FFX models. I'd love to see how FFXIII fares in that department now.

As for other matters, I started on some side quests today and did some looting to get better armour. I've been getting everything else but have been skimpy with the defense portion. That's probably why the enemies in the Phon Coast are kicking my ass.

I solved the problem of not finding Haste in Eruypt(sp?) Village. I finally saw it in the list when talking to the merchant, but it was greyed out. I thought I hadn't purchased it before, so I never bothered to check too closely at the greyed out list, and none of my characters had got the license for it yet XD

The past few posts seem pretty depressing to me. It seems like pretty much everyone, save for one or two, are becoming less inclined/motivated to play the game. The battle system is so fun that I honestly don't mind grinding for cool loot and to get LP/levels. For the record, the game itself is incredibly fun, whether it's doing sidequests or following the main story. I'm still enticed to keep on playing.

The License board is fun and all, but I prefer the Sphere Grid. It's shaped like a cute game board, and it's just too fun moving around the board as if I was playing a mini game or something :D You could also see in advance what techs/magic/whatever was coming up, so you can plan in ahead where you wanted the people to go. The License Board leaves you blind, basically.

Sucks there's no mini-games though. I haven't had any fun playing a mini-game in FF since Triple Triad. That game rocked.

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

Originally Posted by ashaman

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.

Where did you find that out? I never heard that You are talking about in game right?


BTW Lets say you only have 2 characters in your party do they get more XP as opposed to if you have 3?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by ashaman

Does anyone have a list of the "lost forevers" for this game?

I was under the impression the Genji equipment fell under this category, but it's hard for me to say for sure.

So where "later in the game" it is you can find the Zodiac Spear exactly?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Freelance Wolf

Sucks there's no mini-games though. I haven't had any fun playing a mini-game in FF since Triple Triad. That game rocked.

Actually... there's a fishing minigame

Originally Posted by lordo

BTW Lets say you only have 2 characters in your party do they get more XP as opposed to if you have 3?

I do believe that XP is split up between your party members. So yes if you had two, each person would get more.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Cobalt Katze

Actually... there's a fishing minigame

Not to mention the "running" minigame. That one is just frustrating more than anything else though =/

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

Originally Posted by Cobalt Katze

Actually... there's a fishing minigame

Do you have to sit by a river for hours before you even get a bite like in real life? If so, then that's not a fun mini-game. I guess I'm not far enough in the game yet to play it yet.

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I do believe that XP is split up between your party members. So yes if you had two, each person would get more.

I DID NOT KNOW THAT. Do you get more LP too?

P.S. WTF is the running mini-game? It won't make you throw the PS2 out the window ala Dodger Chocobo?

How ya doing, buddy?

LP isn't split amongst your characters cos all of them, regardless of whether or not they're in your active party, receive LP, assuming they are not KO.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Asa

LP isn't split amongst your characters cos all of them, regardless of whether or not they're in your active party, receive LP, assuming they are not KO.

I DID NOT KNOW THAT EITHER. Wow, I must not be paying attention. Thanks for clearing it up for me. Oh, and I dig your pretty FFXII-related avatar.

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

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.

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Originally Posted by seanne

Not to mention the "running" minigame. That one is just frustrating more than anything else though =/

Is that the whole game? :P

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One thing I want to make sure though, is are any of the Esper summonthingamajigs lost forevers? I've completed basically the Stilshrine of Miriam, but I've just got my second esper which is story related. I honestly wouldn't have mind if they brought back triple triad into FFXII. Why not? it's Squaresoft's (note the date) invention anyway, and one of their most addictive minigames, so seeing it in FFXII wouldn't be a rip off I'd think. Unless they're aiming for originality and don't want any "cross referencing" besides FFTA ;___;

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

As long as it's Triple Triad and not Tetra Master, I'd be cool with it. They made an online Triple Triad game, but it was only available in Japan. Did that ever suck!!!

I don't think there's any Espers that are lost forevers.

I also agree with Dr. Uzuki. Not since FFVIII have I found characters that are pretty much all likable in one form or another. I haven't found any that dislike so far, quite unlike past games, especially in FFX-2. Penelo is the only one who doesn't have much going for her, and she doesn't get much development to boot. Everyone else is coming along nicely. They even gave the judges character. They could have just made them all evil, one-dimensional people, but they didn't. The great voice acting really makes them come more alive too.

My only complaint is that I wish there was a playable Bangaa character. That would have rocked.

FELIPE NO

Yes. I also want a playable moogle. That would rock supreme.

The running minigame is this race event where you do a sort of Track and Field style button alternating to run as fast as you can.

The fishing minigame involves pressing button combinations as they pop up on the screen, getting more complicated the higher tier you get in it.

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

Where is the fishing minigame? I got up to Balfonheim, pretty freakin' sweet scenes man. And i'm digging the story so far.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Man...I just came back after a grueling battle with the nasty Wyrm in the Westersand (the one that only comes during a sandstorm). After more than five tries, I managed to kick its keister. Like geez, all these Hunts rank III and up are uber tough for me, but you get a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside when you beat them. Now I have to stock up on more ethers. I had to use a lot just to scrape a win, and my entire party was down to a few HP.

Still haven't killed the Earth Tyrant yet though. I've tried with Decoy and Haste and Protect and all the good stuff, and I still lose. I found that Decoy works wonders...but doesn't work so well the further the fight goes. The stupid dinosaur doesn't even go after the decoy. : /

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I finished the game (will eventually go back to finish up the hunts I didn't get to do... which is quite a few of them) but noticed that throughout, Penelo really got the short end of the stick. I really liked her personality, but she was ultimately the biggest Vaan fangirl evar. Well, maybe not fangirl, but honestly, her defining tag is "Vaan's best friend," so I guess I shouldn't have expected a wealth of mindblowing characterization to come her way. Well, there is always Revenant Wings.

Everyone else got moderate (Vaan) to plenty (Balthier, Ashe) so not too many complaints from me there. I do wish they would have interacted a bit more with each other though (that and I just love hearing them all talk).

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Cobalt Katze

I do believe that XP is split up between your party members. So yes if you had two, each person would get more.

Soooo, maybe that's how the Firefly Accessory works. It's supposed to reduce your character exp to 0. Maybe you can lvl up the two characters left faster if the third one is equipped with it.

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

Originally Posted by Dizzy

Soooo, maybe that's how the Firefly Accessory works. It's supposed to reduce your character exp to 0. Maybe you can lvl up the two characters left faster if the third one is equipped with it.

That's what got me thinking about it...

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Freelance Wolf

Man...I just came back after a grueling battle with the nasty Wyrm in the Westersand (the one that only comes during a sandstorm). After more than five tries, I managed to kick its keister. Like geez, all these Hunts rank III and up are uber tough for me, but you get a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside when you beat them. Now I have to stock up on more ethers. I had to use a lot just to scrape a win, and my entire party was down to a few HP.

What levels are you? I found myself pretty much near cake walking this guy. Sure I had to use a hell load of hi potions, but I had Larsa in my party as well, so that probably helped. I did do the "quickening-switcheroo" which basically you pull out your reserves with full MP right away and let them do a quickening, then I got Ashe out to summon Belias. Belias did about 3000 damage per hit so that drained down the Wyrm somewhat. Then when he was down to about 25% health, I did a quickening with my guys in the active party to clean it up.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Dr. Uzuki

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.

They do. That's why equipping the "reserve characters" with anything but the Golden Amulet is totally stupid. They do get double LP even if they're not in the party.

FELIPE NO