It's also open world which has a huge following, especially given the freedom it offers.

But yes, PC is the best place to play it due to the mods.

FFXII just benefits from the same effect that makes every Zelda *except* the most recent Zelda into the "best ever." People will yearn for FFXIII after FFXV.

Vaan was relevant to the plot. It was just done more realistically and subtely than past FF games, or even other JRPGs for that matter. The fact you couldn't see how deep rooted he was to the overrall plot is just a testament to how well written FFXII was. It's an excellent script that's does well to not adhere to JRPG tropes.

It's hard to believe as WRPGs were never big sellers during the PS1 and PS2 era. In fact, mainline FF sold much more than The Elder Scrolls during the FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, and FFX period of releases. It just shows that WRPGs have become more mainstream and popular than JRPGs since this gen. As a result, had FFXII been released this gen, it would have sold a lot more. How? Becaue it's a JRPG that plays far more closely to the open world approach and mature writing of WRPGs than the anime-filled cliches and linear pathways of FFX and FFXIII.

Bolded: What??!!  How does that even make sense?


And how was it done any more realistically that in other JRPGs... You're just blindly praising every single aspects of the game. You can't even elaborate on most of the things you're trying to defend.

"It's good because it's good."  Is basically what you say to defend its flaws. ¬_¬

The part in bold makes a lot of sense. You'll have to look froward to an explanation I will release in November. It's too much to explain right now. FFXII has  a script that's more grounded than other JRPGs. That's what the story come across as boring to some people. I don't blindly praise the game. There are many aspects of the story I used to hate. I used to find the story overall a disappointment and lacking. However, I have since discovered a unique theme of the story that effectively makes FFXII has one of the best scripts to ever appear ina video game. I will make my findings available in November.

His relevance is as a casual observer which I suppose was with the intention of him being a player avatar. Realistic for someone of his age (and far more preferable to FFXIII's unrealistically, wise-beyond his years, Hope) but not a good reason for him to be cast as a lead protagonist. WRPGs tend to get away with player avatar's because they give the player a greater involvement in the storyline or the character development; this acts to draw the player in regardless of the quality of the storyline. JRPGs thrive on storytelling so distancing the player away from the plotline using a casual observer/avatar simply distances the player from the plot (even if the plot is very good as in FFXII).

You're probably going to point out JRPGs where casual observers have worked. Vaan was a character designed very much by targeting certain demographics but unlike other avatar-style characters, he has his own personality that develops as per a normal JRPG (but with only a small link to the plot). The advatages of using him as a casual observer are diminshed by this. Eastern games where the casual observer work include Legend of Zelda (Link has little to no personality) and Chrono Trigger (Crono is completely silent the whole game), but these allow the player to metaphorically place their personality into the main character. This isn't possible in XII.

So in summary, Vaan as a main POV protagonist distances the player from the main plot whilst not offering the player engrossing advantages of of an avatar/casual observer.

Not sure it would have sold better this gen either. Sales of Xenoblade which is similar in its design to FFXII haven't exactly been spectacular, even though it's one of the best games of the gen. Actually, if it was the first FF of the gen it would probably outsell last gen XII on hype alone, but I'm not sure that's really comparable.

Looking back on this game I loved it. Spent a summer with a Brocken leg playIng it a lot. But, now I have changed as a gamer and I think going back to it is a mistake. The whole JRPG genre is really slow paced which I have learned bores me now a lot more quickly. I would probably be bored playing it now like I was for a lot of replaying of ff7. I think I will leave nostalgia in the past for this one and embrace what I want more of which is fast paced action. The game was great for it's time.

I think it works well with Vaan. If they made him a silent protagonist like Link, Crono, and Hero (from Dragon Quest), he would have been too different from past FF protagonists. In fact, the only previous FF protgaonist he's be similar to would be the protagonists of FFI. They gave him dialogue so as to not stand out too much. with how realistic the script and cut-scenes are in FFXII, having Vaan being there and not saying a word would make him come across as autistic of retarded. It wouldn't have worked and would have been a reall immersion breaker during story scenes. Therefore, they gave him a voice and dialogue, but not too much so as to not function as a player avatar.

As for sales, I think that if FFXII was a PS3 launch title, instead of releasing so late on PS2, and was later ported to the 360 and PC, it would have definitely sold 10 million worldwide.

I think for most people it didn't work. Even most people I've debated FFXII with (both online and off) that actually like FFXII didn't like Vaan as a main character. I think you're the first I've encountered that has actually argued that he was a good protagonist.

I still think Basch should have been the main protagonist and Vaan moved to the side. Basch was a far more interesting character with an emotional tie to the story that would have involved the player in what's one of the more mature storylines to grace a JRPG.

@bolded

He doesn't have to be silent to be a player-avatar, although that is one of the more common methods. The other common option is to make it so the player can make choices, even if the effect is only superficial (the illusion of player input). As it is, they attempt to take a middle ground and it never really takes advantage of either method. He has too much of a personality to become a player avatar but doesn't develop enough or have enough relevance to the story to emotionally involve the player.

Agree with all the above, but the games 2 main flaws:

1. Mundane story, too concerned with forgetable+hard to follow politics as opposed to characters.

2. Battle system was unbalanced and did not require much strategy/player input during battle. The game needed something like the paragim system for overall group tactics  swapping and keeping you active during battles. Also LP should have been more of a scarcity.

But yes, it should have been a fall 2007 ps3 title. And for those who say that the ps3's userbase was too small, metal gear solid 4 (ps3-13m userbase) sold more then MSG3 (ps2-120m userbase). Highly active userbase+unsaturated market would have made FFXII one of the best selling ps3 games of all time.