I pre-ordered the game, like most fans did, and picked it up on the first day of release. I am about 20 hours into it, now, and my characters are all level 18. Platform: Play Station 2
FINAL FANTASY XII INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: This is NOT my full review of FFXII.
Final Fantasy XII is, un-deniably, "Epic" in scale and is exalted with an amazing story to behold. To be sure, the presentation is incredibly beautiful and profound in nature. An epiphany of this truth is manifested from the very opening movie as you are "awestruck" with warm feelings of perfect contentment. Now that's what I am talking about!
I started out, hating the idea of the main character being a young, girlish-looking, boy. I would much rather control someone kool, like Auron. Again, I thought Vaan was a bit too feminine and my disappointment was thorough, until I played a few hours. It turns out, that Vaan is not so bad, after all! He's actually, pretty kool!
I love every character in this game, even Vaan. All of the character behaviors and mannerisms are impressive and the voice acting is, simply, amazing! This game is brilliant on so many levels. There are so many critics out there, that jump to conclusions, refusing to give this game a real chance. They rush through it and don't pay attention to what is going on, missing all of the subtle details. They Pass judgment , before they bare down and play with great scrutiny. It is obscene that they don't give any benefit of doubt! This is not, just another game! It's a master piece! True, there are flaws, but there is so much good about this game, that the defects are more of an afterthought. To my thankful surprise, the game-play is much, much, better than I thought it would be. By configuring the settings for fast "Battle Speed" and "Wait" mode, I found that FFXII plays the same as all of the previous, turn-based, episodes. Let's face it, all of the "Haters" out there, just want something to complain about.
SUBTLE DETAILS: How wonderfully amusing!
1) Those are some "Crazy Fish!": When I was out killing some fish, I noticed that they attacked normally, until I walked out into the water, then they started shooting some sort of fiery spit at me! That was way kool!
2) "BushFire Difficulties!": That Flaming Horse, was very difficult, until I re-worked my gambits and stood in the water to fight it. I don't know if standing in the water helped, but it seemed to and would make perfect sense against this type of enemy.
3) "Big Dogs Roaming!": I loved the fact, that when you are out leveling your characters, you need to keep appraisal of your surroundings, because you never know when a scary high-level mob might wonder over to see what you are up to; thereby, ruining your day!
POOR CRITICISMS / REBUTTAL: What kind of logic is that?
1) They are all clones!: Puh-leeez! Sure they can all have exactly the same powers, armor, weapons, skills, etc., but they don't have to! Make a well balanced party the way you want it to be. You are not forced to have one character be a certain class. You have complete freedom to customize every character to your choosing. Set up jobs, so that each arch-type class is filled. They do not all have to be the same. Every good party will have a tank, healer, and an offensive magic user. You can make any character play the part of any one of those jobs. Maybe the first time through, you have Bash play the part of the tank, but next time, he is a magic user. That sounds like amazing re-playability potential, to me.
2) It's too easy, the game plays itself!: The gambit system is better than having a pre-built "A.I." control everything your party does. You can dictate the A.I's actions. You can tell it what you want the characters to do under certain circumstances and adjust it for each new challenge. That's much more flexible than letting a pre-built, one size fits all "A.I." do everything, like most games have. With proper gambit settings the game does play a great deal more efficient, but all that does is eliminate the tediousness of repetitive game-play! The people that are complaining that the game is too easy, are probably the ones that power level until there is no challenge. Skip all of the power leveling, don't use Mist Knacks, and just play the story arch straight through. You will find that you are completely outmatched, once you have passed the Leviathan level. At this point, continuing on with the story arch, takes you through the Giza Plains. Those mobs are much more difficult, especially if you don't spend hours power leveling, before hand.
3) The graphics suck and the load times are long!: On the contrary! I believe, they have pushed the limits of the PS2 to an extreme. You can't expect more than what Square-Enix has done. Any good game will have long loading times on a PS2, how can you call that bad? It's the hardware, not the software. There is just so much gameplay packed into this episode, that some sacrifices had to be made in order to balance performance. Of course, they could have made better looking graphics (This is Square-Enix, after all) , sacrificing length and depth of gameplay, but is this really something to complain about? This game is 60-100 hours long, and still looks amazing! 10 hour games that look pretty but have no substance are the ones we need to complain about!
4) No character development!: Sometimes, you don't need a lot of character development. For instance, in an action movie, the appeal isn't drama and relationships, but rather, the "ACTION!" Critics always complain about character development and I think this stubborn attitude, is short-cited. On the other hand, I agree that they could have worked on the character relationships a bit more. Point in case, I loved the relationship between Vaan and Pennelo, but the other characters seem very superficial to one another, especially Fran and Balthier. Why did this unlikely duo, team up? Why are they even friends? Nonetheless, I think it's too early for me to jump to conclusions regarding this issue.
5) It's just like an MMORPG!: The game is similar to an MMORPG, in some ways, but it does not have the drawbacks, like camping, and looking for a group for hours. Not to mention, the fact that an MMORPG storyline can never compare to the one witnessed here.
6) No good Mini-Games!: I actually agree with this one! What happened to Blitzball? Now that was a great mini-game!
SOME DIFFICULTIES: Strategy adjustments were needed. (Spoilers)
1) The mighty Leviathan!: It was very difficult to beat the boss on that level, at first. In order to pull it off, I had to really concentrate on good gambit setups and obtain a Mist Knack ability for, at least, one of my characters. Incidentally, this is one of the best places to level your characters to prepare for tougher battles ahead. Just go to the prisoner cells on the ship, there is a save crystal and a shop keeper, available. Then step outside, and battle unlimited spawn until you have had your fill. Just zone back into the cell block, use the save crystal to replenish, then go back out with full HP/MP. Be sure to save, of course! I think the main reason I had troubles with this boss, is because I neglected to obtain Mist Knacks for any of my characters. The three guards need to be taken out immediately, and using a MK is essential in doing this at the beginning of the fight. "Oh, one last thing...you have a guest character with you, so you might as well take advantage of the extra help. Big Help! Your guest is extremely powerful and this level would be grueling, near impossible, without the alliance.
2) Walls possessed by demons?!: Those Demon walls were quite a pain, in fact, I couldn't kill the first one, I had to bypass it. I soon realized that I had not sufficiently leveled my characters before entering the Tomb and I was clearly outmatched.
2) Continuing the adventure.: Once I got past the Demon walls, I found that my characters were even more underpowered against these increasingly difficult mobs. I tried to continue with the story arch, but could not survive the new battles. So, in a feeble effort to continue the story, I attempted to run through each zone to get to the next destination, but each new zone was increasingly beyond my means, as you can imagine. I realized that I had neglected leveling up my characters. Also, I had not upgraded anyone's armor, only the weapons. I now, see the error of my ways, so I am going back to the beginning of the game to level, upgrade, and license the team properly, before I even continue with the story. This time I will be more careful with the License Grid and try to work out which character will have which abilities. My recent attempt had all of my characters possessing nearly the same abilities, except for weapon choice and even though they were well balanced, they lacked any brilliance or strengths. This time, I plan to specialize the characters more. A good party would be specialized in each of the core job systems. Any good party has a tank, healer, and offensive magic user. In this game you also need a good thief, because stealing is the best way to pad your bankroll. I figure I will have two tanks/thieves, two healers, and two black mages. As far as weapons go, I figure I will use one melee and two ranged for each group. The ranged weapon characters will be the healer and offensive magic users. I'll keep them out of the heat of battle as best I can. Also, each member will have a basic healing ability, to use in emergency.
SOME ADVICE: Good gaming habits to have.
1) Save often and use separate files!: Keep a handful of saves from each area of the game. Alternate between them, so that if you do wipe before you can save your progress, you won't lose that much time, because the last save is only a few minutes before hand. Also, if you screw up and miss something important, you can easily load a save that is minutes before the mistake, rather than hours.
2) Tactics and Strategies: Good tactics can be taken from MMORPG games, where you pull a monster to a safe position before engaging it. Also, taking out the roaming mobs first, will save you headaches. That way you do not become overwhelmed by monsters walking by. You will also need to pay attention to your surroundings, while fighting. Sometimes what seemed like a safe place to engage the enemy will soon become less hospitable!
2) Take advantage of guest characters!: When ever there is a guest character in your party, especially Vossler, that is the time to work on some heavy leveling. The extra character in the party helps a great deal and Vossler is just so powerful, compared to everyone else!
CLOSING REMARKS: My final-initial, thoughts about this game.
"Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do — but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it." -- Albert Einstein
If you just speak the name "Final Fantasy", crowds of people will listen with anticipation, including myself. Still others will feign displeasure, for various reasons. Regardless, the creators of the franchise have certainly built a name for themselves; however, you should not let this fame dictate how you feel about this installment. Some people love the game, just because of the name, "Final Fantasy", while others hate the game for the same reason. My only advice, for either party, is to play the game with eyes wide open, because there is plenty to love about this one! You'll learn to love this game, because of it's merit, not because of it's name.
Cheers!
Hamarabi
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