I see now that FF12 probably isn't as bad as it seemed to me. As I said, I expected it to be a standard RPG experience, because nothing about how it presented itself made me think otherwise. And since playing it like a standard RPG worked at least somewhat for a while, I was inclined to believe that it was just a poorly designed RPG. I probably could enjoy it if I did figure out the nuances of how to make it enjoyable, in fact. But the thing is, after suffering it as a standard RPG, I now have no desire to do that.
This is the death knell of so many games... They may well be very good experiences and have the potential to really drag you in, but it's all for naught if you don't figure out the way of playing that makes them fun. I know just how harsh it can be, as I have literally played both sides of the coin for a game before: Vagrant Story. Originally, I hated Vagrant Story. Nothing seemed to work for me in that game. I just could not figure out what I was supposed to do, and so chalked it up to bad game design and quit playing. About a year or two later, I went back and gave the game a begrudging second chance. After I discovered the depths of weapon/armor combining, and got the knack of timing reaction and chain commands, the game became very fun indeed. I practically played Vagrant Story to death after that, loving every minute of it.
Expectations are deadly things for a game. They can taint your experience and make what may well be a fantastic game seem absolutely horrible, just because you're not playing it "right". And it's not the game's fault, either; the game isn't bad or anything, it's just that the designers didn't make it clear without a shadow of a doubt which course of action was best and which was not going to work.
Sky Render - Sanity is for the weak.
