hahah lol this comment is so much fun, can;t stop laughing for some reason

the problem with ff 12 for me, its that i didn't like anyone.

for X i liked rikku, yuna, even x-2 paine was awesome, 13 lighting was kick ass.

Final Fantasy Tactics, the Ogre Battle Saga, and Vagrant Story I understood perfectly well and found to be extremely engaging. Vagrant Story in particular has a script that's localized using anachronistic accents similar to FF12 and has incredibly complex characters that are different from usual RPG stereotypes. So, no, FF12's so-called "high brow" script did NOT deter my understanding of it but I still found the narrative to be boring, uninteresting, and paper thin.

FF12's dialog is much more sophisticated than any other video game, but apart from a few words, I didn't have trouble understanding it.

As of now, FF12's story is not gripping. For the past like 6 hours it's been mostly trying to restore Ashe to the throne. It got more interesting with Vayne and Drace, but nothing to put it over the top.

I shouldn't pass judgment yet though as I'm only halfway through. After all, FF9's story didn't get good until past the halfway mark.

I loved the characters in ff12 way more than 13. Snow wouldn't shut up and Hope is whiney, the story of 12 was great compared to the typical "save the world" in 13 and the open world enviroment in 12 is wonderful.

I agree with Xbbjf9s on the character of 12, well all but Vaan and Penelo, their characterisation seemed off and wasn't as dominant as the others in the story telling.

That aside and 12 was a good game, a great game even, just wasn't as Final Fantasy as many people wanted. It maybe should have been called Final Fantasy Tactics *Something* but it was a great game.

13 on the other hand wasn't and it moved further away from established game mechanics that make a game an Final Fantasy game, that includes random battles.

For the future of the series I think they need to go back to a style of battling more like 5 to X-2, random battles, control of all characters in battle, good leveling system that leveled all stats like game of old, just make it slightly different in ho you use magic. Just make the Graphics and Story awesome, like we came to expect from FF games.

Yeah i sort of agree with you, its important to have diversity in the series. and having 2 development teams is a great idea. its Kitases team which caters to the Japanese preferences, however the general conseneus  from Japanese gamers was discontent with FF13. and FF13 was designed to capture the western audience and new comers. but the problem is; did they really think the poor script, Leonia Lewis and 6 hours of cutscenes would pull in the western gamers. this type of direction tells me that Kitase's team dosent understand how to build good gameplay elements. the way they continue to rely on the FF7 compilation also supports this, and how KItase states Call of Duty was the inspiration for FF13. Is that really the right direction for the series???

I agree with what you've said there should be room for both styles and the problem was that FF12 was not the vision of the director. Matsuno didnt finish the game, and the team was forced to make comprimises to the writing to go further towards the Kitase, Nomura, & Nojima direction. my point is, now for the last 8 years both mainline installments of the FF series have been generally poorley recieved by the fans, and by some gaming publications because of direction Kitase, Nomura & Nojima have taken the series. and i think that FF12 represents the direction the series should be going in, instead of where FF13 has taken the series. (but even then its unfair to make the comparsion because the director couldnt complete his vision of the game).

Even i think thats a bit funny, next time i'll do it differently, lol!!

I think its primarily Kitase who is to blame for FF13, he took over from Sakaguchi after he left. i think FF6 and FF7 are incredible games. but FF6 was also co-directed by HIroyuki Ito, who also directed FF9. and Sakaguchi also had a lot to do with FF7. Kitase's credits also includes games like Dirge of Cerberus. I'm not sure if this is true, but i've also heard that Kitase is a film graduate; imo this explains a lot about why he uses so many long and melodramatic cutscenes in his games, because hes not designing them from a gameplay perspective.

if you look at FF8 when Kitase and Nomura had more control, and Nojima scripted the game. the script of FF8 is based more around melodrama. FF8 is hated because of the junction system, which i think is fantastic, (the saving grace of the game imo). but i really dont like Squall or Rinoa, they're just too over the top with their teen romanace. i prefer more mature, subtle romance (or lust), like Kain's desire for Rosa, or Fran and Balthier. FF8 script is in your face with the over-theatrical drama, as is FF13, which is why i dont like the direction the developers have taken FF13.

Edit: also it was Kitase who chose to use Leonia Lewis for the theme song to improve the internation appeal. and Kitase said that FF13 was inspired by Call of Duty. imo these are awful directoral choices and the series has gone in the wrong direction as a consequence.

To me FF 12 felt like a chore and I never touched it again after finishing it at 120 hours. On the other hand I'm at 80 hours on FF13 and I plan to play many more. I've finished the plot, which I really liked, and now I'm doing all the sidequests and going for the platinum trophy.

12's plot felt like an afterthought due to its drawning out spacing between gameplay stages and the disconnect there was between the main characters and the main plot line. It didn't help matters that I was displeased with the battle and gambit systems.

13's plot on the other hand was always present, it was a focus (pardon the pun). Of course the linearity of the game helped immensely to make it feel more cohesive. But still, there was a direction and an intent and the game kept you updated on everything at all times with the datalog. Also, the battle system was fast and frantic, which I loved, and the paradigm system shone brightest when the battles were harder as you had to furiously switch between them.

All in all: 13 > 12.