Why I hated FFXII.

[ckmlb]

I think you were more than a bit too hard on it specifically because you are expecting a lot more out of Final Fantasy.

I skipped a lot of the parts that seemed heading towards spoilers as I am still finishing this game.

Here is where I agree with you:

Characters:

Much lamer cast than FFX definitely, especially Vaan and Penelo...
I liked Bash, Balthier and Fran though.

Story:

Some people liked the story because it was political and had characters who all had their own plans and such, it wasn't your usual go save the world, but what's so bad about a simpler story?

FFX's story was very straightforward, but it was done perfectly attaching you to the characters and making the whole ending part of the game the most memorable ending I can think of.

This one's story was ok at best.

Sound:

I agree that the Music wasn't as impressive as is usually the case with FF games but it was decent, the voice acting was actually really good and better than X.

Some of your other complaints are way overdone.

You complain about the elementals, sure they can get annoying if you happen to activate them against you, but what about random encounters in old FF games? Those were much more unpredictable and could end you getting killed a lot easier.

Random treasure chests were kinda annoying, but it's not a big issue.

The traps, you obviously didn't figure out that using Libra reveals all the traps to you so you can sidestep them :)

Haven't done the 100 floor dungeon yet, so can't comment.

Here is the core of your complaints that we can both agree on: the combat system, the skill board and the Mist attacks.

First of all:

The combat system sucks, I mean I understand that some people actually welcomed the fact that they didn't have to put effort into grinding, but if you are so annoyed by that why are you playing this game? The game is called Final Fantasy maybe you've heard of it? You go around grinding and shit, it's the core of the game...

I ended up turning off all gambits and just switching characters constantly to do stuff when I had to, it was kinda awkward but much better than the automatic single player MMO crap that they were trying to do with the gambit system. So I do understand your complaint about this system and agree with you totally, but it is avoidable if you turn the gambits off.

Second:

The skill board, this was also a misstep and Square Enix's has admitted it as they are now releasing a version of the game that is called FF XII: Internation al Zodiac Jobs that replaces this board with actual jobs you choose for specific characters which would have made the game a lot better. Too late but they realized the error.

Third:

The Mist attack system was overkill and it made things way too easy, but also it wasn't fun to do either, I mean sure you had the great looking spells and whatnot, but in FFX there was variety in the overdrives and each one was delt with differently, making it interesting.

Overall, I think the game is much weaker than FFX in every way except voice acting and graphics. But it is a good game if you compare it to games generally speaking and to JRPGs specifically it is still one of the best ones.

The combat system really is the root of the problem of this game and I am pretty sure they aren't sticking with it for FF XIII or god help us all lol... no seriously I would be pissed :(

Game looked great too, might be the best looking PS2 game ever.

Edit: Oh, also the story kinda get good in the middle in my opinion but now it's starting to drag again.