So i played FFXII again..

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I need to replay FFXII. I only got around 20 hours into it before losing my save file, but I enjoyed it immensely up until that point.

I enjoyed it far more than X (the only main FF I've beaten), because the story seemed fairly deep, yet not unnecessarily convoluted, and it didn't have your typical FF "We can do this if we believe in ourselves!" coming of age cast. The characters seemed calm, intelligent, and rather sly in the case of Balthier and Fran, and were all round quite likable. Had Basch actually been positioned as the main character, as Matsuno had originally intended, the game would've been even better, but it was still very enjoyable despite the focus on little ol' Vaan.

I'm finding it hard to accurately describe how I feel about XII compared to other JRPGs (I'm certainly no English major), but I think the reason I liked XII is because most JRPGs (particularly 3D FF) tend to have a bunch of incredibly naive teenagers who somehow manage to save the world after several inevitable plot twists that make you go WTF (oh, by the way, you don't exist - thanks FFX -_-). On the whole, FFXII seemed far more down to earth, yet it still retained a rather fantastical atmosphere.

From what I hear, Vaan's character was brought to the forefront rather late in the development cycle (I believe after Matsuno's departure), once SE realized they were aiming a bit above their usual teen demographic. It was then that they de-emphasized Basch's character, in favor of a character they felt would resonate better with their target audience. It's a shame they didn't stick with Matsuno's original vision (and it's more of a shame Matsuno left Square).