This is my first FF and made me a JRPG and FF fan. Story and character was bad but battle system, graphic, gambit system, Ivalice world, monster, and everything else was great. FFXII was my 2nd most fav FF game after FFVII.

i AGREE!.

Wow, that's really, really arrogant. People don't dislike it because they "miss the point", they dislike it because the writing is cringey (same as always for FF), the pacing is miserable and nowhere near enough time is put into developing the characters. The themes of the story are very cool though and it promised a lot at the start, it just didn't bother delivering.

It must be very difficult for you having to constantly enlighten morons.

good story

FF12 was one of my favorite FFs. The story was crap, but it was obvious that they didn't want the story to be the strongest point of the game. Most people that hate the game are the hardcore FF fans that don't like change in the series they play. FF12 was more about a huge immersive world and fun gameplay. I didn't even care about the story. I spent around 170 hours just doing random side stuff and leveling my characters.

I'm guessing they were aiming for more of a WRPG story. Look at Oblivion. It's characters and story are 10 times more boring than the story of FF12. But no, you don't see people hate on Oblivion because the story was crap. It's only FF12 just because it's an FF.

Have to agree. FFXII strongest selling point is the huge immersive world, gameplay, music and exploration. Story wasn't bad but neither engaging. Character wasn't as memorable as the other games, but they work. And anyone claiming that the battle system is playing the game for you is simply lying. The player still does the thinking, game just executes what you want to do. And you can simply make the command manually if you don't have the gambit yet. You're the brain and the gambits are your muscles.

I've been a huge final fantasy fan since the mid 90's when FF4 was my poison. And I have to say I absolutely loved FF12. I don't get why people hate on it. I also don't understand the arrogance with some fans "Well , I don't like it, so obviously nobody likes it! RAA FF6 is GOD. The game was a masterpiece. IMO All Final Fantasy's are...even.......8....

The thing is, that the fans who cling onto their 8 bit gods like those were the only true Final Fantasy games, are never going to be happy with what comes out from now on. If you remake FF4 and 6, then its a sin against those original games. If you make something new, then you are breaking from the mold of that which they love.

It's a no win situation for Square.

dorbin2009 sums up the entire sentiment going on with FF fans nowadays. I've been a fan of the series since the Nes days, I even got to play Jap imports because of how much I loved the series. Even since then, i've found that every FF is a masterpiece unto itself, while some can be better than the others, they each are unique and superb.
The problem is, as he said, that there is a vocal group of people who think that they, and they alone, have the right to decide what makes a FF and what doesn't, who is a FF fan and who isn't, just because they put on a pedestal the SNES games, mainly.
Hopefully Square continues to push the innovations and try for higher reaches with each new FF release, because that's what FF should always strive for, to be the best in the best in the RPG genre.

I liked it. The story, Ashe, Balthier

In the first place, "missing the point" is not a comment on the intelligence of the person participating, it has more to do with the expectations that a person has and whether or not those expectations affect one's ability to enjoy the game. I would argue that a person who goes into FFXII expecting storytelling tropes like those in FFVIII or FFX are missing the point, but it is not a failure of their intelligence, it's just a consequence of expectations not meeting the product they were given or vice versa. Sometimes people can't adjust their expectations to fit the product, and that isn't their fault, but it's very much missing the point.

You can rattle off a laundry list of thigns that you see as being wrong with the game, but that won't change the way the script is viewed by many, and I would go so far as to say that even a body of the game's detractors , such as Jerry Holkins, acknowledge the script as masterful and the localization effort the best that's ever gone into the franchise.

The pacing is something that will come out according to how you play the game, but that thing about developing the characters does in fact suggest that your expectations for the game were not in keeping with the kind of storytelling that you were given: that's not your fault, but yes, it's missing the point. The characters were all developed, but it was through a method in keeping with theater rather than movies, and there were almost no flashbacks like those used in the entire rest of the series. I found the storytelling much stronger for it, and the characterizations both richer and more genuine, but I do not begrudge the point.

I would never go so far as t o call a person a moron, neither because of their tastes in video games nor because of the arguments they use to put forth those tastes. I will, however, argue that they imss the point of the game, which many do.