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If so how is it? I am debating to get a copy or not.

It was given a 9.0 at Gamespot.

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/finalfa ... tasy%20xii

I will probably download it and if I like it, I will buy it.

Not bad...but very nasty in terms of combat. The story is rather, intriguing in that it is far more grounded as of the moment(again could change and be yet another hysterical "I must destroy/conquer/devour the world!).

While save points seem to be the catch all grace(by healing you fully), the initial areas and missions are nasty unless you have foreknowledge.Critters can and do have some powers and hit points that make a party struggle. Bosses are actually worthy of the title, have a incredible HP level, and hurt a lot especially in concern to your damage ability. This is likely to change as the game progresses, and near the end may not even be an issue, but the start up is a bumpy ride.

Also there is a LOT of cinematics...more then any other FF, and certainly more then most games ever begin to have.

So far it's impressive.

In an uncharacteristic move, I did.

And so far, I'm actually rather happy with it. The gambit system removes a fair amount of the tedium that existed in the previous games. You still need to manage combat, but it's a somewhat more detached task than before. Note that you can still micromanage each and every fight as much as you want, but many of the low-risk fights can easily be handled by the gambit system without any substantial intervention.

It should be noted that as good as the gambit system is, you still have to be careful, because if you're not, you could easily get involved in a combat that devolves into a massive mess.

The story so far is pretty good, and a bit of a departure from the previous games (every 1000 years something bad happens, and oh look, it's a 1000 years since the last time). None of the characters are pissing me off. The only complaint I have is that the License system gets you two ways. First, you have to buy the spell, technique, or gear before you can use it, and then you have to buy the license to use it. However, this does let you build your team in pretty much any way that you want.

The camera is finally moving away from the ridiculous "Here's an area, and here's a ridiculously placed security camera that follows you around" and more towards the "Left analog = movement Right analog = camera control" that most games are using these days. The movement map and the combat map are identical now. There are no more "To Battle!" transitions, no more dancing after killing every piddling little rat, and no more "Here are your rewards". In a way, it's similar to an MMO in how that works. You move around, attack things, the reward is shown on the screen where the monster died.

Party size is back down to 3, though sometimes you get a guest (that you can't really control). Magic Points come back as you move around outside of combat, but hitpoints don't, so you always want to have someone in your party with cure. However, this doesn't mean you get unlimited magic. In combat, you can definately run out of magic pretty easily, especially if your main casters are healing everyone that drops below 70% health.

Another note on the gambit system: it's only as good as the commands you can put in. When you first get access to it about 3-4 hours in, each character gets two possible actions, and the arguments are limited "target party leader's target" and "target nearest visible" are the only offensive ones, and the only healing one is <70%. If you have someone on "target nearest visible enemy, then that character may switch targets before one enemy is done. Sometimes it's best to have the party leader under your own control and have everyone else target through the party leader, and other times it doesn't matter.

I take it Europe has been stiffed on the release date?

Ubiquitous wrote:I take it Europe has been stiffed on the release date?

In true Square fashion, the PAL release is slated for February next year. Apparently Sony isn't the only one that hates the Old World.

I do notice the game cover is not minimalist anymore, but has imagery. Looks somewhat out-of-place, though this title intrigues me because of the airship pirate aspect. I've yet to even bother getting FFX and X-2 (the move to voice actors and the plot in general put me off).

Admiral Valdemar wrote:

Ubiquitous wrote:I take it Europe has been stiffed on the release date?

In true Square fashion, the PAL release is slated for February next year. Apparently Sony isn't the only one that hates the Old World.

I do notice the game cover is not minimalist anymore, but has imagery. Looks somewhat out-of-place, though this title intrigues me because of the airship pirate aspect. I've yet to even bother getting FFX and X-2 (the move to voice actors and the plot in general put me off).

Hasn't Square almost always done that anyway? If I recall their Euro dates are hideous in terms of when the original release comes to play.

As for voice acting, a word of caution....if you thought FFX was too much, this one is in the same mold. This one has done better with the Vaing so far, but if the amount was what drew you partially away, it's just the same amount here.

Square are like Sony, as I say. They never release stuff here anytime soon, which makes me burn with rage unless the goods are particularly noteworthy.

As for the VAs, it's not so much the quality of the cast, but rather I'm used to RPGs where I read what is said. Tales Of Symphonia was confusing having VAs for cutscenes, but text for everything else. I guess I'll just have to accept things change.

Admiral Valdemar wrote: I do notice the game cover is not minimalist anymore, but has imagery. Looks somewhat out-of-place, though this title intrigues me because of the airship pirate aspect. I've yet to even bother getting FFX and X-2 (the move to voice actors and the plot in general put me off).

US covers have always been like that, whereas in the UK we used to get the original Japanese covers (plain white with the logo), very distinctive and quite stylish. FFXI is still like that.

Ah, my bad. I much prefer the original covers then. It seems, as with books and movies, the UK gets the better selection.

Ghost Rider wrote:

Admiral Valdemar wrote:

Ubiquitous wrote:I take it Europe has been stiffed on the release date?

In true Square fashion, the PAL release is slated for February next year. Apparently Sony isn't the only one that hates the Old World.

I do notice the game cover is not minimalist anymore, but has imagery. Looks somewhat out-of-place, though this title intrigues me because of the airship pirate aspect. I've yet to even bother getting FFX and X-2 (the move to voice actors and the plot in general put me off).

Hasn't Square almost always done that anyway? If I recall their Euro dates are hideous in terms of when the original release comes to play.

As for voice acting, a word of caution....if you thought FFX was too much, this one is in the same mold. This one has done better with the Vaing so far, but if the amount was what drew you partially away, it's just the same amount here.

Yes. Square has as long as I've bought games they've made had very long delays on Euro releases, if the game is released at all. (I'm looking at you, Chrono Trigger!)

But lately I don't really mind. Because the PAL conversions have stopped sucking. With Final Fantasy X we got it late with big black borders on screen and running at 5/6 speed, same with FFX-2. However since Squaresoft became Square-Enix it has gotten a lot better. Both Dragon Quest 8 and Kingdom Hearts 2 were excellent conversions. Full screen, full speed in PAL50 mode. So yeah, we still get long delays, but it looks like they're actually using the time to make it look and play right, which is ok by me. In fact had it been old Squaresoft I'd expect the game mid June with no optimization done at all. I guess the merger was good for the European conversions.

I don't have it yet, but everything I've heard seems to indicate that it's well worth the atrocious fucking wait. At this point, I'm just ecstatic to get something outside the FFVII timeline.

Hotfoot wrote:The camera is finally moving away from the ridiculous "Here's an area, and here's a ridiculously placed security camera that follows you around" and more towards the "Left analog = movement Right analog = camera control" that most games are using these days. The movement map and the combat map are identical now. There are no more "To Battle!" transitions, no more dancing after killing every piddling little rat, and no more "Here are your rewards". In a way, it's similar to an MMO in how that works. You move around, attack things, the reward is shown on the screen where the monster died.

Sounds like the way they did it in FFXI.

Yes, the comparisons to an MMO are more than fair, as the style of combat comes much closer to MMO stylings than old turn-based stuff. I think that honestly the game benefits from it.

They did steal combat from MMORPGs!

Like an MMORPG, you can target a creature, and draw it away from those around it. If a creature is neutral towards you, you can walk around and it will leave you alone as long as you leave it alone. Creatures can also be Aggro... which can be useful in drawing them out, just let them notice you and back up slowly. They'll sometimes follow and then you can beat on them without the pack hitting you.

Something I've noticed: When you kill a certain number of animals, your Clan Primer's Beastiary will give you a second page of information -- about a totally different subject! Sage Lore is not about beasts, but about the world around you. THe number of creatures you need to kill to unlock it is listed beside the creature's entry.

So far, I'm still mucking about in the WesternSand, just killing things. AVOID WEREWOLVES AT LOW LEVELS! They do 130 damage a shot... and when you've only got 200hp, you're fucked. Same for the Saurian in the EasternSand.

But the Saurian is so cute Tev! It eats wolves and only wants to play!!

But yeah both are to be avoided, and the ugly is one is at least neutral...the others take notice.

A small rant...some marks are fucking beyond just bullshit and range in the territory of easily outdoing bosses. And not by a small margin...they have HPs easily out beyond what you're thinking of facing and and you blow through quickenings like candy to kill more then a few, for crap rewards WHEN you're able to kill the bastard. Yeah, it's optional...but make it challenging not "Now, you die unless you've been powerleveling like a crack addict!".

Only saw it briefly at a buddy's house... was kind of disconcerting to see every character that you start the game with die horribly.

The Licence system is a bit tedious. I can understand the logic behind getting it for weapons and magic, but it seems ridiculous that you need a licence to wear an accessory.

But there's more to like about this game than the few irritations. I like it a lot that there are no more random encounters. Feels a bit like Star Ocean III.

Ghost Rider wrote:A small rant...some marks are fucking beyond just bullshit and range in the territory of easily outdoing bosses. And not by a small margin...they have HPs easily out beyond what you're thinking of facing and and you blow through quickenings like candy to kill more then a few, for crap rewards WHEN you're able to kill the bastard. Yeah, it's optional...but make it challenging not "Now, you die unless you've been powerleveling like a crack addict!".

Well, if you don't really care about a fair fight, it is possible to kill them. Managed to take down a Rank V mark with only level 30 characters by using one character to constantly raise, charge, and run really far away from the huge fucking monster. You definitely need Curaga or Curaja for it, though.

For those who haven't figured it out, Charge is probably the best ability in the whole damn game. It lets you regenerate a sizable amount of MP at no cost to yourself. Unless it misses, in which case it reduces your MP to 0. And the more MP you have, the more likely it is to fail so obviously you should only use it when very low. Once you get Syphon you'll probably use it more often than Charge but it still comes in handy.

I just entered the palace to loot during the Fete, I'm at level 12. I like this game much more than I thought I would to be honest and i'm looking forward to having more fun once I find some new f-king equipment.

For those who haven't played yet but will play, check out Nalbina Fortress BEFORE doing any of the quests for some decent weaponry. I also managed to take out hte first three marks and get all 3 of Vaan's Quickenings before doing any missions, and I managed to chain over 100 wolves. Very fun.

I actually pre-ordered it. It is the first time I pre-ordered a game since Zelda: Ocarina of Time was finally released on the N64. I went straight home from the store that night and played for a few hours. At this point, I am about 20 hours in and I am really enjoying it.

I was a bit weary of all the Final Fantasy games after FF9 came out. I bought 9 and played it about halfway thru and then set the controller down. I know a bunch of people that swear by it and one day I might go back and replay it, but I thought it was god-awful. The characters were lame and the entire game had this cartoonish "I should have been on the N64" feel to it. Then PS2 dropped and FFX was released. Once again dissapointed. Though FFX was an incredible LOOKING game, the game play was weak and the story was lame at best. FFX was like re-living the moment in FFVIII where all the characters find out they grew up in the same orphanage and somehow using GF's caused them to forget things over and over. We can all pretend that FFX-2 was never released as the game was a complete waste of time and FFXI should ahve been called FFO (Final Fantasy Online).

I see that FFXII is coming out and I decided that I would, like I had so many time sin the past, get my hopes up and wait for the release. I went in thinking "I haven't played a good RPG in a few years, so I am just gong to make the best of this one." The games is good. I enjoy it.

Pros and Cons:

Pros-
-The combat system of the game is refreshing to the genre. It is way more active. I know that FFX-2 added the whole "move around while you fight" thing (but not really), this game takes it to the next level. The time where you were running through dungeons hoping you wouldn't get caught in yet another randomly generated battle are over. Enemies can be seen on the screen as you go through the map, and when you encounter them it doesn't warp you into a stage, you fight right on the map. There are "random encounters." But it's like DOOM3. You run around and stuff will pop up out of no where. It is really easy to run away from enemies. And like World of Warcraft, they will only chase you for a certain amount of time (except one sort of boss fight where you have to flee from a bounty hunter). The over combat system has a MMORPG feel. You don't have to select Attack everytime you want to swing your sword. Instead, you just select it once (or use the gambit system and you'll just attack whatever is closest) and you'll start swinging until its dead. Then you hit X to bring up the menu to use spells, items, summons, etc.
-The Gambit System. Technically you control everyone in your party (except guests), but because the combat system is so fast based and active, telling each person what to do will get EXTREMELY tedious, so the Gambit system is introduced to the game. Basically you get to set parameters for each character. "If Ally is HP<70% THEN Cast Cure." "Attack FOE: Nearest visible." "Attack FOE: Leaders Target." After you make a few you put them in priority order. You have to put healing on the top or your allies will never heal durning combat.
-Leveling is back to what it used to be. I don't really remember what FFX-2 had, but I know that FFX used the Sphere grid. I definitely thought there was some merit to the sphere grid, but I prefer a standard leveling system. It is easier to discuss the game with friends when you can say "I am level 25" instead of saying "I have gone through all of Tidus stuff and switched to Auron's for more damage." They also added the license system. Each kill (on verage) gives you 1 License Point (LP) (so far....sometimes bosses give you 8 and higher level "special" monsters yiel 2-3. I am also only level 25 or so.). Then you go to the License board and use them for abilities and such. You can get new abilities/spells/quickenings(limits), ability to use new equipment, augments (+100HP, +10% Haste, etc), and so on. You start with a few already opened for each characters and then youcan move around as you see fit. It is all squares (like a checkerboard) and you can move to any adjacent square. You can't see them until you are able to move to them though, so it is a bit difficult to firgure out which way to progress.
-So far the story is pretty good. It is all about war/politics and multiple nations on the brink of war. There have been a couple of plot points that were a bit confusing, but they started to reveal themselves over time.

Cons-
-Characters. The characters aren't BAD, but some of them are a bit lame. The main character is....I don't know. I don't hate him, but he is no Squal or Cloud. The voice acting is pretty bad, but I don't really expect much from any games. When they do voice acting for video games, they don't attack it the same way the would attack an animated movie. Its a game that probably has 10-20 hours worth of voice acting. Sometimes the characters will say lines strangely or inflect on words that push the meaning to something that doesn't make sense to the story. And Fran......she is "hot" in video game standards, but her voice is killing me. And one of the Viera is Irish or something.... Voice acting is always bad in video games...so I am getting over it. Some of the characters are fine, but the main guy....his voice really bugs me.
-The game is really guided. The dungeons look like they are really expansive and that you will have to do lots of exploring to find the right wa to go, but they aren't. I walking in thinking, "I am going to spend the next hour crawiling this dungeon" and thirty minutes later I am on my way back to town to get my reward from my clan.
-No world map or airship control. This really sucks in my opinion. I like being able to jump in the airship and fly around the map and land wherever I want. It makes "grinding" less tedious, because you can play around. It seems like the genre is moving away from that and its a thing of the past. I think its a mistake, but I am not a game designer.

Overall: I give it a thumbs up. I recommend the purchase. It is better then FFIX, FFX, and FFX-2. I am about 20-30 hours in and I still feel like I have barely scratched the surface. One of my biggest quarrels with recent RPG's has been that they are too short (Xenosaga Ep. 1).

Hope it's helpful.

How do you know this is a fantastic game?

X -Play's Adam Sessler gave it a 5/5

Let me repeat: Adam "I hate Japanese RPGs" Sessler of G4's X- Play gave Final Fantasy 12 a 5/5

Ghost Rider wrote: Bosses are actually worthy of the title, have a incredible HP level, and hurt a lot especially in concern to your damage ability. This is likely to change as the game progresses, and near the end may not even be an issue, but the start up is a bumpy ride.

It changes as soon as your characters get their Quickenings and you learn how to manage them. I beelined straight for them on the license grid and the only boss fights I've had trouble with are the ones I try to get fancy on and don't brute force it.

Gaidin wrote:

Ghost Rider wrote: Bosses are actually worthy of the title, have a incredible HP level, and hurt a lot especially in concern to your damage ability. This is likely to change as the game progresses, and near the end may not even be an issue, but the start up is a bumpy ride.

It changes as soon as your characters get their Quickenings and you learn how to manage them. I beelined straight for them on the license grid and the only boss fights I've had trouble with are the ones I try to get fancy on and don't brute force it.

Sadly...yes. Though I will say, now going after the special shit....holy fuck, the final boss is either a two billion hit point god, or a walk in the fucking park.

Gaidin wrote:

Ghost Rider wrote: Bosses are actually worthy of the title, have a incredible HP level, and hurt a lot especially in concern to your damage ability. This is likely to change as the game progresses, and near the end may not even be an issue, but the start up is a bumpy ride.

It changes as soon as your characters get their Quickenings and you learn how to manage them. I beelined straight for them on the license grid and the only boss fights I've had trouble with are the ones I try to get fancy on and don't brute force it.

I don't want too much of a spoiler and am avoiding strategy guides and the like, but where in the grid are the quickenings located? I have oodles of LP sitting around but don't want to go willy nilly exploring on the grid.