I will fight you! I will fight you.

Also we have a lot of Final Fantasy threads. It is time to remedy this!

I would appreciate it if somebody could explain to me how it is one plays FF12 and does not have a horrible time of it. And I'm not being sarcastic either, I'm authentically curious as to how it's done. I'm sure it's possible, unless all the shining reviews and testimonials like this one are just the result of rose-tinted nostalgia glasses (which I highly doubt they are). If you could possibly help me understand how FF9 can be played without extreme torment, that'd be good too; that's another game that's always made me wonder how people could possibly enjoy it, though obviously some actually do.

We had this conversation! This is a conversation we already had.

No...none of that stuff has anything to do with the story.  You're talking about the presentation of the story, the story itself is another matter entirely.

The story was boring, predictable, and I did not care one bit about what happened in the game.  I didn't care about the characters at all.  The game never left me wondering what would happen next.  Nothing ever surprised me, except that ship that randomly exploded, but I didn't care about that, either, I was just somewhat confused.

Usually I get into stories, I enjoy them, they are the most important part of a game to me.  But in FF12, the story was horrible.

I didn't enjoy the gameplay, either.  That is just my preference.  The combat system just didn't work well for me, I couldn't enjoy it.  If there was a good story, I could do it, but the story bored me to tears, so I had no incentive to keep playing.

We did, but we never really made it clear what one actually had to do to enjoy FF12.  All we really established is that it's possible.  I don't doubt that now, but I don't understand the specifics of how it's done.  I know well enough not to do from that time around, of course, but I have no idea what to do instead.

Oh, okay.

In the first area with enemies (the Estersand, rather), chain wolf kills. Chaining these kills gets you better loot. Sell said loot when you are satisfied with the amount you have (the game lets you know when your chain level rises, by the by). Sell said loot! Buy stuff.

As you progress through the game you will learn in each area what enemy drops the best loot. This is a good thing. Chain your kills in order to maximize your profit over time invested. Some enemies (like Mirrorknights) can get you over 250k gil in less than thirty minutes.

Buying good equipment means that leveling up is less necessary, but there is a way to make that better, too.

In Lower Archades there is a merchant who sells two items: the Embroided Tippet and the Gold Earrings (I am unsure as to the name of the latter). The former doubles your License Points gained from combat and the other doubles your experience, but you don't have to choose: since characters gain LP even if they're not in a party, you can buy three of each, putting the Experience booster on your active party and your LP booster on your inactive party.

Bam! You never have to grind again unless you want to kill some ridiculous optional bosses.

Now enjoy the game!

I don't see how simplifying the game can make it more enjoyable...

Unfortunately I have no ready solutions for people who did not enjoy the story.

And no, taking away the possibility of grinding does not simplify it.

You need to convey that feeling to the OP.

Also, and this is important:

GRINDING IS NEVER NECESSARY IF YOU LEARN THE SYSTEM

Which leads into this:

STATUS EFFECTS ARE, LITERALLY, YOUR BEST FRIENDS

What's that, you say? Status effects, in my Final Fantasy? Well, those of you who started with the Playstation entrants (or even the SNES ones in the US) may not remember this, but status effects are both important and bad-ass! Every single status effect is completely bad-ass, and nearly all enemies are vulnerable to at least one of them.

Fighting a giant turtle monster that you're five levels too low to comfortably beat? No problem! Just cast Blind on him, and all of a sudden he only hits you once every three or four times! Follow up with Slow, and he is well and truly screwed!

There are ways to get through the game at very low levels. Grinding is never, ever, ever necessary.