Thanks. It's both hilarious and sad that the art in the OP literally has Fran forced into a pose that shows off her butt.
15 years ago today (16th in Japan) Final Fantasy XII was released for Playstation 2
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I haven't played this one, but I really want to someday when I have time. I think it's incredibly cool that they weren't just recreating the same FF experience and decided to really do something new. From what I understand, this game sort of forms the basis for modern single-player FF with its real time combat. Is that true?
Tactics is my favorite FF, but I actually like IX better than XII. IX's setting just felt more inspired than XII's to me (despite that setting being Ivalice), and I prefer being able to control my party directly too.
Pretty much. Almost every major RPG after this eventually went the real time route with AI controlled party members, not just FF.
Even Persona eventually went this route with Strikers.
DQ is the only major series i can think of that's strictly turn based, but even that has a party AI system- though it is absolutely abysmal.
Well yeah, you're right. It wouldn't be close. I'm not sure FF7R will ever hit even half of FF14's player count, even with its re-release and PS+ numbers. The base game is 20 bucks and it has a free trial. Honestly I'm not sure there's any metric, sales, player count, engagement, anything, in which FF7R would have an edge over FF14. Number of boxed physical sales, probably?
Brazil definitely has a point that the largest community of FF fans is probably centered around FF14, possibly bigger than all other FF games combined right now.
Yeah I let out a groan when I saw that. Especially jarring in juxtaposition to everyone else in the art being in completely natural and relaxed poses.
I am playing this on Switch for the first time. This game is awesome.
I wish more RPGs had a similar gambit system setup (being able to set up combat workflow yourself). It just makes sense. It's like turn-based combat (which I love), but automated. I do wish there were way more gambit slots so that I could set up more complex flows. 12-ish gambits seems too low for mages/support.
I also love the 4X speed-up, could not imagine playing this without it.
I also quite like the knockoff star wars feel. :)
I am a bit annoyed that important spells are apparently not all available in shops.
Visuals look nice. The hair physics are good for PS2-era.
I wish more RPGs had a similar gambit system setup (being able to set up combat workflow yourself). It just makes sense. It's like turn-based combat (which I love), but automated. I do wish there were way more gambit slots so that I could set up more complex flows. 12-ish gambits seems too low for mages/support.
I also love the 4X speed-up, could not imagine playing this without it.
I also quite like the knockoff star wars feel. :)
I am a bit annoyed that important spells are apparently not all available in shops.
Visuals look nice. The hair physics are good for PS2-era.
Very amazing RPG and underrated FF game. I don't care much for the characters, but the high-stakes political drama plot kept me interested enough to keep going. Also the game looked gorgeous for it's time!
Also loved the licensing board, it has it's flaws, but the first playthrough for me I always had fun evolving my characters in different ways with it.
Also loved the licensing board, it has it's flaws, but the first playthrough for me I always had fun evolving my characters in different ways with it.
Interesting stuff. I think Pokemon is the only other turn based system that hasn't gone this route besides DQ.
Personally, it feels to me like Secret of Mana was the first true "take" on this type of battle system, primitive as it may be by today's standards. Although the first game in the franchise (Final Fantasy Adventure / Seiken Densetsu 1) had real time combat too, as far as I'm aware, it didn't do so where other party members could come along and be controlled by AI. Plus it gave you some ability to control how the AI behaves.
I may be wrong, but it feels like games like modern FF and Xenoblade all stem from Secret of Mana, even if it isn't a direct influence.
I also must echo everyone else who has complimented the voice acting/script. Much better than most JRPGs I've played.
One other thing.....The music is....okay. Not bad, not amazing, but pretty good. I'm a bit disappointed to be honest, I expect top tier music from final fantasy.
One other thing.....The music is....okay. Not bad, not amazing, but pretty good. I'm a bit disappointed to be honest, I expect top tier music from final fantasy.
It's a great game but going back to it with the remaster last year, I have less patience for its drawn out length (even with the speed up function). I love the world and more serious writing compared to other FFs but it lost its steam for me halfway through.
I agree that Vaan shouldn't be the main character.
Obviously, there are a ton of similarities between FF XII and Star Wars: A New Hope, so, Vaan was FF XII's Luke. Except, there's literally nothing special about Vaan other than his brother is killed in the prologue. Ashe is the character with the "chosen one" destiny. Balthier is the guy with one of the big villains as his dad. Basch is the redemption / revenge story. Any of them would have made a better "main character". I guess it doesn't matter so much because after the first few chapters you've got the whole party under your control.
My favourite Final Fantasy. My girlfriend is currently playing it and is in love with it. Penelo is her favourite character followed by Ashe.
I'm also a Vaan apologist. While the story isn't ultimately about him, he is the driving force behind the rest of the party and gets them to stop running from their past. His character arc also mirrors Ashe, though he's a commoner. He absolutely has a place in the story and makes a good point-of-view.
I'm also a Vaan apologist. While the story isn't ultimately about him, he is the driving force behind the rest of the party and gets them to stop running from their past. His character arc also mirrors Ashe, though he's a commoner. He absolutely has a place in the story and makes a good point-of-view.
I'm going to addend by saying Venat's motives and intentions should be questioned and not left at face value. Unfortunately the game doesn't give us much to work with for her so we are left to guess.
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Two of my faves
I thought the music was quite the stand out however I did wish at the port towns had folk/livelier themed music
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As someone who didnt really keep up with game news at the time and literally just walked into a store and thought "holy shit they made a new final fantasy game" ill never forget my confusion/dissapointment once i actually started playing it and how different it was to what i was used to.
Even replaying the zodiac edition years later, its just one of those game that dosent click for me.
Even replaying the zodiac edition years later, its just one of those game that dosent click for me.
I don't remember really needing to switch much at all in TZA. Gambits had pretty much everything covered.
I might've manually switched a couple times in the Judges fight to throw ethers but that's pretty much it.
Switching to manage aggro wasn't a thing like in VIIR.
Only fights I'd call difficult in XII are Yiazmat, Omega, and the Judges trial.
The first two are trivialized with Whither, and the last is only moderately difficult.
I'd say Penance and Dark Bahamut from X were harder.
And the Arena DLC bosses in XIII-2 were much harder.
I wish more of these "save the world" games would have you playing a party character rather than the "chosen one".
My boy Vaan is just a kid from the slums who just wants to be a sky pirate and got wrapped up into a huge story.
Also, gambits became my favorite once I started treating them like programming to solve a problem or solving a puzzle. So satisfying to watch the machine work.
My boy Vaan is just a kid from the slums who just wants to be a sky pirate and got wrapped up into a huge story.
Also, gambits became my favorite once I started treating them like programming to solve a problem or solving a puzzle. So satisfying to watch the machine work.
I enjoyed the game when it first launched, but it's not until years later that I really appreciated what it did. The overworld and dungeon design is just amazing.
In general the game felt it was made for a different audience than teenagers being the prime demographic of FF. I feel like if it was released today with an older fanbase we'd have seen way less haters.
If you really want you can turn it off and play the game like every FF before by selecting every character's every move.
It was an option in the original release, so I assume it's in the HD version too. But the game just plays much better with Gambits.
Happy 15th!
I couldn't get into this one back in the day. I think the more politics driven story and the combat system put my 16 year old self off the game no matter how much I tried, despite how much I liked exploring the world.
But I went back to it a few years later after I had "matured" and really enjoyed it, and now the game is even better thanks to The Zodiac Age version to the point where it's in my top 5 of best FF games.
I couldn't get into this one back in the day. I think the more politics driven story and the combat system put my 16 year old self off the game no matter how much I tried, despite how much I liked exploring the world.
But I went back to it a few years later after I had "matured" and really enjoyed it, and now the game is even better thanks to The Zodiac Age version to the point where it's in my top 5 of best FF games.
I remember when I purchased a PS3 and it has a BC so I can finally able to play FFXII with it. Oh, how time flies.
It's also extremely customizable. You can automate the battles as much or as little as you like which is why I never understood the complaints about the Gambits merely existing.
You can manually control every action of your party if you want. You can have gameplay freeze while you're making choices or have it move in real time. Personally, I turned off gambits on my lead character so I had full manual control over them and used gambits on my two party members to make them fine tuned AI allies.
And even then, the gambits aren't an "win the game for me" button. You'll have to plan them out and even intervene because not every fight is going to be smoothly handled by gambits.
Yes. You can in the middle of a battle turn it on or off and instantly the characters just stand and wait for commands like traditional battles. I got it on the Switch by the way so I can confirm the option exists.
Here is a no gambit gameplay vid
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Man I'm looking forward to playing this proper someday. Dabbled a bit on PS2 but it didn't grab me back then. Whereas now I'm finally currently playing my first Matsuno game (FF Tactics: WoTL on PSP) and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be hungry for more games that Matsuno had his hands on.
It's just waiting for me on the Switch too. Tho I kinda wish I had it on the One X for 60 FPS. But handheld...
It's just waiting for me on the Switch too. Tho I kinda wish I had it on the One X for 60 FPS. But handheld...
Most definitely. I don't think political intrigue and complicated tactical planning is in with the under 20 crowd.
Never understood why it took 7 months to get it out over here. Ah, the days of waiting for games to be localized.
People must have been really confused that they announced FFXIII 3 months later when XII hadn't even released.
People must have been really confused that they announced FFXIII 3 months later when XII hadn't even released.
Happy birthday FF12.
I was put off from playing this game for so long because I thought the character designs were unappealing. And wow what a mistake that was. I finally picked up this game on Switch and fell in love with it, it feels like it was made for me in nearly every aspect. The story, the battle system, the music, the world, it's also so perfect. Easily my favorite FF, and thinking back on it now, I might actually call it my favorite RPG straight up.
It's such a unique and visionary game too, and I doubt we'll see anything like it ever again. I thought the gambits system was such a compelling vision for what RPGs could be, but it seems like it didn't resonate with other people all that much, so we never really saw it again.
And Matsuno's world and stories are so good. It's great that he's still getting some work in FF14, but it seems unlikely he'll tackle a project as big as FF12 again, unfortunately.
I was put off from playing this game for so long because I thought the character designs were unappealing. And wow what a mistake that was. I finally picked up this game on Switch and fell in love with it, it feels like it was made for me in nearly every aspect. The story, the battle system, the music, the world, it's also so perfect. Easily my favorite FF, and thinking back on it now, I might actually call it my favorite RPG straight up.
It's such a unique and visionary game too, and I doubt we'll see anything like it ever again. I thought the gambits system was such a compelling vision for what RPGs could be, but it seems like it didn't resonate with other people all that much, so we never really saw it again.
And Matsuno's world and stories are so good. It's great that he's still getting some work in FF14, but it seems unlikely he'll tackle a project as big as FF12 again, unfortunately.
One of my all time favorite games! I love the Gambit System (+ no random battles), the game's beautiful art direction and nuanced facial animation, Matsuno's world building and characters, Sakimoto's atmospheric soundtrack, and Jun Akiyama's exquisite cutscene direction. It also has one of the GOAT English localizations from the duo of Joseph Reeder and Alexander O. Smith, and fantastic voice direction and casting from Jack Fletcher. So goddamn good. I wish Yoshida's designs of Fran and Ashe were infinitely more practical and less sexualized, but the designs themselves are beautiful. Along with the playable cast (yes, Vaan is very important to the story despite complaints to the contrary!), I love the game's antagonists and supporting cast, and how all guest party members have important roles to play in the plot.
Also, literal queen:
So glad the original character animation were retained for the remaster, it's incredible. Poor FFX/FFX-2, you deserved so much better.
My only negative with the game is that there is such a big and beautiful word to explore, but not enough story content to match it in comparison to the previous FF games. If FFXII was made today, it's a game that could have definitely benefited from Dragon Age/FFXV-esque party banter whilst running around on foot. FFXII had a great cast with some genuinely funny and devastatingly poignant story moments (I loved the game's thematic exploration of grief and letting go of the past throughout the whole plot and character arcs) but we don't get to see enough of the cast interacting. I treasure every cutscene, lol. Also, poor Penelo and her subplot being cut. Justice for Penelo!
I'm so pleased we got a remaster via The Zodiac Age, along with the quality of life improvements from the IZJS. The characters run so slow in the base version of the game for such a big world to explore, and having a speed up option in the remaster was amazing. With the ability to toggle the speed on and off, I basically used it as a run button.
(Great article about the localization process from USgamer for anyone who's interested.)
When I played the game in my early teens, I thought the dialogue was beautiful to listen to, but didn't fully understand it all. I replayed it in my late teens, and the localization floored me, it's absolutely extraordinary. Some of the best written dialogue in any piece of media. (David Milch's work on Deadwood is my gold standard for comparison.) As a ????!!!! bonus, some of the antagonists speak in tetrameter, whilst another speaks in iambic pentameter. The attention to detail, good lord.
Also, literal queen:
So glad the original character animation were retained for the remaster, it's incredible. Poor FFX/FFX-2, you deserved so much better.
My only negative with the game is that there is such a big and beautiful word to explore, but not enough story content to match it in comparison to the previous FF games. If FFXII was made today, it's a game that could have definitely benefited from Dragon Age/FFXV-esque party banter whilst running around on foot. FFXII had a great cast with some genuinely funny and devastatingly poignant story moments (I loved the game's thematic exploration of grief and letting go of the past throughout the whole plot and character arcs) but we don't get to see enough of the cast interacting. I treasure every cutscene, lol. Also, poor Penelo and her subplot being cut. Justice for Penelo!
I'm so pleased we got a remaster via The Zodiac Age, along with the quality of life improvements from the IZJS. The characters run so slow in the base version of the game for such a big world to explore, and having a speed up option in the remaster was amazing. With the ability to toggle the speed on and off, I basically used it as a run button.
(Great article about the localization process from USgamer for anyone who's interested.)
When I played the game in my early teens, I thought the dialogue was beautiful to listen to, but didn't fully understand it all. I replayed it in my late teens, and the localization floored me, it's absolutely extraordinary. Some of the best written dialogue in any piece of media. (David Milch's work on Deadwood is my gold standard for comparison.) As a ????!!!! bonus, some of the antagonists speak in tetrameter, whilst another speaks in iambic pentameter. The attention to detail, good lord.
There were even some details you couldn't see back then on a CRT that is only visible with the remaster (and you still have to squint). Look at this one and him clenching his cheek.
