FF12

[thistlechaser]

Since I'm waiting for a Besieged, I'll write this up now.



gbeans suggested I rent the game, but I'd rather own games and movies and such, so I went out and bought it. Since the special edition was only $10 more, I bought that. I like having the guidebooks for the few games I have, so I grabbed that... and upgrading it to some special edition (with the artbook, or something) was $10 more, so I went for that. My old memory card was full of FFX (and some other game's?) data and I didn't know what I would want to delete to make room, so I got a new memory card.

...next thing I knew, my bill was $110. >< I walked out really hoping that I would like the game.

Got home from work tonight and popped it in. As the CS played on and on, I remembered a line from some post on 12, something like: S-E really wants to make movies, and it shows. They should just make a movie and leave out the few minutes of gameplay between the scenes.

Now, generally I like CSs. I love them in FFXI and they were the reason I played (and replayed) FFX. But man, did 12's CSs drag on and on and on and fricking on. Then when I finally got to do something, it lasted for a moment before I was in another 15 minute long CS. Then a little XPing, then another way too long CS. Sheesh. >< This is the first time I've ever felt there were too many CSs, and it was too many by far.

For about four hours of playing, all I did was kill some wolves and other little mobs out there in the desert, and that Rogue Tomato fellow.

I suppose I wouldn't mind the CSs so much if I liked the main character more. (It's funny, but I liked Tidus right off the bat, when most folks hated him. I read nothing about people disliking this main character, but I don't like him much at all.) The story hasn't hooked me in the least, either.

The voice acting is amazing though! And so far the battle system seems okay (I haven't used gambits yet). The animation/character models seem okay -- sometimes they seem amazingly realistic, but others they're so stiff that they don't look real at all. I'm very very surprised that those lines you see in the battles aren't any problem: Right from the first fight, I could see how helpful they were; I expected them to be horribly annoying.

The camera is driving me crazy. There should be a way to fix it in one place behind you (like when you're in third person in FFXI and hit the home key).

So all in all, the game is okay. I don't love it by any stretch of the imagination, I'm not hooked on it in the least, but at least I don't hate it. (And really, it's too early to fairly decide how I feel about it anyway. Hopefully there will be fewer CSs and more doing as I get further in.)

A small amusing thing: They had billed one of the features as fights taking place in the real environment, no whisking you off to a BC (like in FFX). I kept waiting for something different to happen when I battled, then realized the "new" feature was the same as how it is in FFXI, so it doesn't seem new to me. :P

Comments

[kerai.livejournal.com]

But they did make a movie!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_fantasy_the_spirits_within/
(yes I'm too lazy and tired to actually make that a text link)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, hee! They did!

[abiona.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you have discovered this already, but this bit of info is elevant for any FFXI addict, current or former, who is now playing or will play FFXII, and has not yet figured this out: when you zone enemies, they don't go home. They wait for you.

[abiona.livejournal.com]

Elevant? Been playing too long. x_X Make that "relevant."

[abiona.livejournal.com]

Oh forget it, the grammar in my original is just so messed up. XD I'm going to bed!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Heehee, no worries! I understood!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yep, someone else told me that, too! Thanks!

[jehryn.livejournal.com]

Vaan isn't the main character :P

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Good, because he's boring. And his nipples are faded out, which is disturbing.

[jehryn.livejournal.com]

vaan's chest is disturbing in general. something is really wrong with his abs graphic, looks like they are inside out.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yes! I keep hoping it's a shirt or strange armor or something... Really looks like it's inside out though.

[whren.livejournal.com]

It starts to get more gameplay oriented soon :P The starting seems to be more event and cutscene driven, and then once you get further and further along you gradually slip into plenty of 'doing', and you reach this middle point where it's just long field/dungeon trips + whatever sidequests, etc etc, and then about the last 1/3 of the game the story picks up the pace again, but this time you get lots of doing and lots of cutscenes as well. I'm about... 1/4 to the end XD

Just a warning about the story though -- it's told in a different manner from the previous FFs and the tone, pacing, and feel are certainly very different. Don't go into this game expecting 360 degree plot twists. For that matter, a lot of the story is also expressed through the facial expressions and emotions in the cutscenes, and also through the feel of the environment itself. When you're in town talk to as many people as you can! You get a much more accurate feeling of what's going on and what the underlying currents of emotion through the townspeople are. FFXII's brilliance isn't so much the main story itself, but the main story + world/environment + cutscene direction + graphics +..... :P If you were to judge the game solely on the main plot itself many would probably think it's 'weak', but if you look at the game as a whole package, it starts to feel a lot more impressive, and then when you realize the multitude of sidequests and things to do, all the other FFs start feeling way too small ;p

I never fixed my camera in FFXI so the one in FFXII is exactly the same as in XI, for me :o It felt very very natural.

[animarelic.livejournal.com]

I don't find the plot weak at all, in fact for me, it was so enjoyable and so unlike any other story I had played (and I play a LOT of games) that I continued to wade through a combat system that I did not enjoy in the least, in fact, I felt it hindered me, to get more of the plot.

Now I'm a lot more comfortable with the battle system (At 85+ hours I damn well better be!) and though I beat the game, I'm still revisiting a lot of side-quests and things, and really looking forward to playing it again to revisit a lot of the plot.

It focused a little less on character development, and a little more on world development, and that was a nice package overall. Also I found the characters to all be strong (save Vaan) in their own reguards, and even he gets better over the course of the game, so you have strong dynamic characters and strong static characters, plus subtle character development that leaves room for your own interpretation. I just... like it overall.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Good to hear!

[genomeffxi.livejournal.com]

I agree completely with what Whren said.
After going to the village of the Viera and understanding their custom and ideals, every time I see a viera in town, like the one in the port overlooking an awesome view of the ocean, I always talk to them and understand how they might feel, abandoning the wood but also occasionally finding something different and breathtaking outside of it...
If you skip on those things you are missing out on a great component of what makes this game so good.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! It was a lot better tonight. :)

[animarelic.livejournal.com]

I also really dislike Vaan. Surprisingly enough, he's really the only character I have truly negative feelings for, I'm used to disliking most characters in FF games and latching on to the one or two I really adore.

Ashe, Fran, Balthier and Basch will join your party soon enough, and I find them all enjoyable characters in their own right.

Though I like Basch best. >_>

[abiona.livejournal.com]

I just find the dude boring, like a shirtless shadow of Zidane from 9. XD

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Boring about covers it for me, too. That and his faded nipples freak me out.

[abiona.livejournal.com]

Some people find nipples offensive, so I can see how Squeenix would try to strike a compromise between realism and not having them there at all. His indented six-pack worries me a lot more ... I can't find a good explaination for it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I'm getting two more after this part (doing something about sneaking through the palace), but my controller broke tonight, so I'm stuck dead in the water. >

[burgerdog.livejournal.com]

I'd have to disagree that FF12 has too many cutscenes. The game is setting up its story in the beginning, trying to hook and make it interesting for you. Once you're a few hours into the game there's a lot of gameplay to be had. There's much more gameplay in this game than in any recent Final Fantasy. I simple can't wait until I reach a new cutscene, it's what drives me to go through that next area and see what happens next. Don't get me wrong, I love the battle system so it's a win-win situation for me :p hope you enjoy!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, today's a lot better. Much more gameplay, and a more comfortable amount of CS.