It's a good game, but it had problems.

1. gambit system is almost useless until the very end.
2. quickinings are overpowered early in the game, than useless at the end.
3. story is decent but not really up to FF standards.

I meant make an action RPG with a story as epic as an FF game but with a free to explore world like Legend of Zelda

I played the game for about 125hours and it was not very good, there were no mini games. The basic battle system was ok, the rest of it sucked, i remember there was so really weird stuff you had to do for special powers or something, from what i remember it sucked a lot. The story was really bad, vaan was some dirty tranny from what i remember too. There was also some other thing that would join your party, the voice of the person drove me insane.

I remember it being really hard to grind at the levels my characters were at, some dungeon i was in from what i remember had some retarded creatures in it that would cast a bunch of spells and they drove me away from the game near the end.

You didn't like a game yet you put 125 hours into it?

I actually think it's a masterpiece. I had to hardcore own a guy the other day for trying to flame other peoples opinions that the game didn't suck. He was being disrespectful. Disagreeing is fine, disrespecting and flaming is a no-no.

Yes, it gets lots of hate. Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to play and die.

FFVIII gets lots of hate too, and I believe that game is a masterpiece as well. I was never one to base my opinions on wheather others respected me or not, but I can't allow valid and reasoned opinions to be disrespected and laughed at.

Food, music, games. These things are largely based on taste, not fact.

That said, two lines of thinking enter here, and I think they have basis in reality. The questions you must ask:

A. Did most people who hated the game, finish it?

B. Should you be required to finish a game before you can give a valid opinion?

I think that FFXII is a very complex game with some questionable design choices that threw a lot of people off. The direction of the storyline, combat, and missable items, Zodiac sphere, ect. Fact of the matter is, to enjoy this game, you really need to start with a practice run, of about 30 hours, then start over, with a plethora of easy access FAQs at your disposal.

The game is more Diablo + Calculus, than FFVII + Real Time. FF games are never gonna be what you expect, however these games almost always have a hidden and rewarding level of depth that is very rewarding to plumb. The game is much more akin to FFTactics, than FFVII, and that's not just in the storyline, which to much shagrin is the weakest part of this entry in the series.

However, like Vagrant Story before it, the game(imo) is a hidden masterpiece. I feel, also, that it is one of the few games that reviewers averaged more time in, than the average gamer did, joining games like Okami, that many people opine over, but few people actually beat, or even play a significant portion of.

Should a game have to draw you in, and have to be user friendly and obviously good to succeed in user opinion in the modern market, or instead, can a game still have non-apparent qualities that are only available to dedicated players?

Personally, I feel pulling FF away from the casual audience and bringing in the new harder-core, non-apparent, harder to plumb stuff was an excellent experience. Considering that VIII is my favorite game in the series, I don't think too many people would find that very surprising. Especially in light of the fact that I claim Radiant Dawn is my favorite current gen game.

I am still trying juggle my opinions around and because of that, I can't get a clear answer of what I think of FFXII

I like certain parts of it, i like to level up my characters, i like the enemies and want to see what they all look like, i like the music and i love to watch the FMV's they are the best part of any FF game.

I'm surprised this thread got so many replies.

I appreciate praises and criticisms alike as long as they are relevant criticisms and not just "I hate x and y and z just because"

Its a good game. Even those who hit on it will mostly agree (besides a few like twestern but i see his points and agree with most) will agree its still a GOOD game, and was well developed and alot of time was put into it. Its also a VERY worthy purchase. I would put it top 5 on the ps2 easy because of length.

HOWEVER!
When compared with the best of the best of the FF series. The game is not very good at all. FF is known for being the cream of the crop, and having moments u wont ever forget in gaming. its also known for being king in battle system, story and sound....and it does none of that.

Graphcis: Best part of the game. Looks awsome for a PS2 game.
Sound: Second best part...decent voice acting and some good tunes, though nothing like when uematsu was with Square.

gameplay: Heres my first major gripe. Its good that they tried something different. And im fine with the gameplay. But it got way to boring way to fast. They tried to make it more action oriented and just made it more boring. Gambits are a great idea since they are optional. But the board for upgrading your characters is just STUPID. You have NO reason to make ur characters different then each other. You might as well make them all clones, which the game tries to make u do. No more indiviualism anymore.

story: Worst of the series. Uninspiring compared to its predecessors. Good rpg story, but weak compared to most. I lost interest half way through the game.

Character development: Worst in the series. Vann and penelo had no reason to be there and were the two worst characters ive seen in the series. Vann looks rediculas and i cant believe they gave him that outfit and made him the main character. The rest of the characters were alright but still uninspiring.

If you can keep your topic on the front page it will get many replies.  Once it starts to fall from the top, not too many people will go looking for a specific thread.