i thought the story was good just a bit spread out if that makes any sense.

Vaan is essential to the storyline, not just for his perspective but because he is the common man of Dalmasca, a constant and unerring reminder of the burden that royalty has to bar.

Each of the characters in this game, the playable ones, have more depth than the majority of the other characters in this series. I wouldn't comapre some of them to Kain or Celes or Terra, but there are some - like Ashe and Basch - who I would.

gabranth, again, is the deepest and best-written character in the franchise. Venat is similarly masterful.

If the story had cut out vaan and penelo and made the focus on say ashe- then I think it would have been better. Vaan's whole skypirate thing was just too weak of a hook and nothing about the plot really involved him

Omg, and you also consider FFIV one of the best stories too!! Haven't seen anyone giving the story of the people of Lufenia the proper credit that it deserves :)
I love the whole story of FFXII, It was actually the reason I replayed the game three times, so I could totally grasp every concept of all the political manipulation, war-mongering feud between Arcadia and Rosaria, Venat's auto-Theocretical intentions and Gabranth's blood feud with Basch over the fall of Landis. All the side stories that they spawned and how they actually fit together to create a web of deceit throughout the game is one of the best plots i've ever seen ;). I consider it's story to be the best in all FF history, on par with FFVI's stor.

What, precisely, was confusing about the story?

I see I've struck quite a nerve.

Khuutra you seem to have the most to say and defend. I do enjoy the concept of empires clashing and rising and falling, but for me it felt really forced in this game. I never felt like I understood many of the motives of the main characters, especially the bad guys. In fact, it was the enemies that I had the biggest problem with...they just seemed so boring and weak compared to some of the others in the series. Give me a Sephiroth or Kefka or a Goblez (until his secret is revealed that is), but Vayne I could pass on.

As for the guy that called by numerals a noob mistake, I have been playing the series since before they used numerals of any kind, so I feel entitled to list them any way I choose. :)

I really liked FFXII's story, it's what kept me walking my party from fight to fight (cause that's basically what you do in the gameplay sections)

I got no beef with what you got to say, Mojo. If you jsut didn't "get" it, that's not really any fault of yours.

It just felt jumbled and I think there were too many characters that were underdevelopped. I would much prefer a smaller cast that I had the time to grow attached to. To name one specific point though, the feud between Gabranth and Bosch never made much sense, especially at the end. I get why Bosch hated Gabranth, he screwed him. But why did Gabranth have such a hate on for his brother and then when he defeats him all is forgiven? It felt really forced.

Basch never hated Gabranth. Gabranth hated Basch because he abandoned Gabranth and their mother to go fight in the war, and then he failed. Their mother died. basch essentially left Gabranth alone, and Gabranth lost everything - his brother, his mother, his homeland, his identity. He became a dog of the army that had destroyed his homeland, and his hatred is what drove him for so long, fed to becomee stronger and stronger by his own actions.

Gabranth did not cease to hate Basch in defeat - he ceased to hate Basch because, in those last moments where he protected Larsa, hee found that one could find a neew purpose in the aftermath of loss, like what Bsch had done in protecting Dalmasca. To fail in protecting is not dishonor, so long as you give yourself over to protection.

That was what the conflict between Gabranth and Basch was about.