Lamace said:
Ok I had to join VGChartz just for this thread, so first here is my RPG Expirience: |
Hi, welcome to VGChartz, now for the fun...
The thing that I've noticed about Final Fantasy XII is that it really isnt for the younger crowd, like everyone that I've seen that loved it were over 18 or 20, and those that didnt like it were like under 16 or so. I cant really tell you why but maybe that the younger gamers cant relate to the majority older cast of XII, or maybe the plot is too grown up for them or something.
I'm 26 and hate the game, everyone I know in real life (who are all around the same age or older) hate the game. Since we're making crazy assumptions I bet you're around 19-20 and think you're king of the world.
One thing that i noticed about the character development in this game was that alot of it was told visualy, instead of the usual "This is my life story, deal with it". Now you may or may not like this aproch to character development, but the development is there if you look for it. Another thing that people might not have liked about the game is that Vaan is not the main character, the story is told through his eyes, but Basch and Ashe are the main characters in the game. Its kind of like the story telling in Hellboy, were the story is told from Mayers perspective, Hellboy is still the main character.
That's not proving there's character development. I've never heard this theory so please elaborate.
Another thing that people probably didnt like was that this is by far the most serious story of the main franchise ( Final Fantasy Tactics being the overall most serious), while there is still humor in the game for the most part it gets down to buisness and doesnt fool arround too much (unlike X). And when people say that this is direct copy of the Star Wars story, they are unfortunatly looking only skin deep. The story in FFXII is way more complex and political driven than Star Wars ever was, it is true however that if you look at the basic story they will seem very similar, but when you delve deeper and get into the more subtle details they are totaly different expiriences.
I'm guessing you never played FFVI. I don't know if it's the darkest, but there was suicide, genocide, mass deaths, betrayal, kids losing their parents, oh, and the world ending because you failed to stop a madman.
As for gameplay there really isnt much to say that hasnt been said already, at first you will probably hate the gambit system, but when you get your full party and start getting the more complex comands, it easily becomes one of the best combat engines the series has seen yet. Its one of those systems were it gradualy gets you into it so you dont become overwelmed with the amount of things you can do with it. Graphics are as people have stated some of the best the PS2 has to offer, if not the best. The music while great is not one of Hitoshi Sakimoto's best works, its his longest score though which is probably why it isnt one of his best. There are a few really exceptional songs in the game though, like the boss theme is probably the best I've heard in a Final Fantasy game.
I agree the gambit system is really cool I just think it's shitty to start you off with so little. I understand they want to build your experience with it but I don't want to constantly throw out Cure I's when a character is at less than 90% HP. By the time you finally start getting the good gambits you just stop caring.
So if you havent noticed already I loved Final Fantasy XII, I personaly think its the 3rd best in the franchise (Final Fantasy VI and Tactics being my favorite), and if you look at the top of my post you will see that I have played them all and beaten most of them. So overal, both the story and the gameplay are quite complex in XII, While I will agree that not every one will like it in the end, I sugest that you at least try it to see for your self. I paid $60 for the colectors edition and I do not regret it at all, so it is beyond well worth the $20 you pay for it now.
Whoops, I guess I shouldn't have skimmed your post the first time through, you have played VI (I ignored the experience part since it's more or less worthless to me). My bad. :-p
And I still say that XII very well could have a fantastic story and characters after that mythical 20 hour mark (or wherever you draw that line, different people seem to draw it at different places-- whatever the case I couldn't make it there) but that still doesn't change the fact that there's 20 hours of shitty gameplay before it gets good.
