Anyone pick up FF XII yet

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-11-10 09:58am

KrauserKrauser wrote:
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.

If you're fiddling with the Grid, usually at the very end points. They are fifty cost items other then the special summons.

For a real easy one, go for the Accessories(if you've been investing) since you can grab it to the route of Orrachea Armlet, Bangle, Gauntlets, Quickening is right above.

Now one thing of note, when you purchase a Quickening...it's for that one person only and it is then taken off the board for everyone else. So choose wisely who gets what early on, because the others are very deep at times.

Ravencrow · Post by **Ravencrow** » 2006-11-10 11:11am

If you hover the cursor around the grids, you get hints of what's under them: weapon, accessory, magic or quickening. The Quickenings tend to be located at the corners around the edges of the board.

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2006-11-10 12:52pm

Ravencrow wrote:If you hover the cursor around the grids, you get hints of what's under them: weapon, accessory, magic or quickening. The Quickenings tend to be located at the corners around the edges of the board.

Exactly. The only licenses that are invisible at first are for the Espers, and once you beat a particular Esper the game basically tells you "HEY LOOK SUMMON HERE"

Few things I've run into:

1) This game only needs three characters. I've used Vaan, Basch, and Penelo exclusively for about the past 20 hours with no problems at all. The other characters don't get EXP, but they do still get LP so if I decided to dust them off and level them up they'd have technicks, magicks, and equipment waaaaay in advance of what they ought to at that level. I think I've got Balthier with 1800 LP. Ridiculous.

2) I don't like how Mist attacks wipe out your MP. I'd be fine with them being expensive, but I hate how the game can decide I don't really need a decent Quickening chain but will still cost something like 1200MP divided among everyone.

3) Quickenings are too random. I can start a chain with only a single mist charge and do over 70,000 damage or I can start a chain with nine charges and have it peter out at less than a tenth of that.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2006-11-10 07:19pm

If you want a great place to level up rather early in the game, the Luasu Mines the second bridge is nothing but Skeletons. Not only can you rack up a 200 kill-chain, but the BoneShards they drop as Loot sell for over 100gil each! Get up a 50 kill-chain, and they start dropping Iron Helms.

If you run out of Skeletons on the bridge, Flee back to the first bridge (so you attack/kill nothing), then Flee back and the Skeletons on the bridge will have reset and you can continue to rack up the Loot and the Chain.

The best part? You can go back, sell your loot, buy your lisences/spells/tecks/gambits, and return multiple times, as long as you don't go beyond the bridge's end and trigger the CutScene.

JLTucker · Post by **JLTucker** » 2006-11-21 01:28am

I just grabbed the game. I noticed something at the very beginning of the game that pissed me off. What the fuck is with the shitty placement of the cutscenes? I want the cutscenes centered. I also dislike the battle system. In my opinion, it would have been better had it been like the previous games, where you choose what each character does before the battle begins.

Ravencrow · Post by **Ravencrow** » 2006-11-21 01:46am

JLTucker wrote:I just grabbed the game. I noticed something at the very beginning of the game that pissed me off. What the fuck is with the shitty placement of the cutscenes? I want the cutscenes centered. I also dislike the battle system. In my opinion, it would have been better had it been like the previous games, where you choose what each character does before the battle begins.

You can choose to fully control what each character does by turning off the gambits, but that would take repeated pausing and issuing of commands.

If you are still playing Reks, you have not gotten to the meat of the game yet.

JLTucker · Post by **JLTucker** » 2006-11-21 02:09am

I am on the mission to get the Sunstone. Vaan and Penelo have already been killed once. One of the foes dealt a nasty 150+hp blow to both of my characters.

Cao Cao · Post by **Cao Cao** » 2006-11-21 02:14am

JLTucker wrote:I am on the mission to get the Sunstone. Vaan and Penelo have already been killed once. One of the foes dealt a nasty 150+hp blow to both of my characters.

You went and picked a fight with a werewolf, didn't you.

Anyway, all I'll say is by the time all six chars have joined you, the game really picks up, if not the story.

JLTucker · Post by **JLTucker** » 2006-11-21 02:15am

Nah it was some big mechanical thing.

Ravencrow · Post by **Ravencrow** » 2006-11-21 02:21am

Ouch. I have noticed that if one chooses to wander too far from mission objectives, one might encounter super monsters.

Cao Cao · Post by **Cao Cao** » 2006-11-21 02:28am

I suppose that's part of the MMORPG feel they were going for. Running into the resident uber-mob that'll kick your ass.
At least they don't chase you through half the game world like in real MMOs.
I pretty much stuck to where I should be at that point in the game. Didn't even try fighting the T-Rex outside Rabanastre either..

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2006-11-21 02:35am

I've beaten it. At no point does a Bishi try to blow up the world. Wow.

And the Princess is a tank who can handle a sword.

And the androgynous child of great stature isn't a whiny twat.

I'm not sure who got shanked in Square-Enix, but I'm glad they did.

Also, Balthier is just awesome.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-11-21 09:37am

SirNitram wrote:I've beaten it. At no point does a Bishi try to blow up the world. Wow.

And the Princess is a tank who can handle a sword.

And the androgynous child of great stature isn't a whiny twat.

I'm not sure who got shanked in Square-Enix, but I'm glad they did.

Also, Balthier is just awesome.

All very true...my only sad part?

Both Omega(son of whore biscuit) and Yaz/Yiazmat....I dunno were not just harder, but what I wanted the final boss to be half of.

Omega stomps you like a bitch who thinks that has mastered the game, and Yiazmat was, well....both long and ugly.

The final dork could've at least had HP near one of those guys level.

Cao Cao · Post by **Cao Cao** » 2006-11-21 09:41am

Ghost Rider wrote:All very true...my only sad part?

Both Omega(son of whore biscuit) and Yaz/Yiazmat....I dunno were not just harder, but what I wanted the final boss to be half of.

Omega stomps you like a bitch who thinks that has mastered the game, and Yiazmat was, well....both long and ugly.

The final dork could've at least had HP near one of those guys level.

The same could be said of most JRPGs, usually the final boss is a joke. After all they want everyone to see their laboriously rendered end-sequence.

JLTucker · Post by **JLTucker** » 2006-11-21 01:08pm

I downloaded the game and I was not sure if there are spelling errors. In the retail version, does it really say "Magicks" and "Techniks"?

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2006-11-21 01:38pm

JLTucker wrote:I downloaded the game and I was not sure if there are spelling errors. In the retail version, does it really say "Magicks" and "Techniks"?

Yes, they are Magicks and Technicks. I have no idea why. It just reminds me of 9th grade when every other kid was a bi-sexual Wiccan.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2006-11-21 02:17pm

Cao Cao wrote:
Ghost Rider wrote:All very true...my only sad part?

Both Omega(son of whore biscuit) and Yaz/Yiazmat....I dunno were not just harder, but what I wanted the final boss to be half of.

Omega stomps you like a bitch who thinks that has mastered the game, and Yiazmat was, well....both long and ugly.

The final dork could've at least had HP near one of those guys level.
The same could be said of most JRPGs, usually the final boss is a joke. After all they want everyone to see their laboriously rendered end-sequence.

The boss is actually a challenge, although a good Quickening chain can knock him down. He keeps casting Status Effects on you, and Buffs on himself. The last buff is the annoying one: "Perfect Defense" makes him immune to -All- damage, whether physical or spells.

But what really drives the whole game is the Story, and getting your characters to the wrap-up is very well worth it.

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2006-11-21 05:32pm

Guess why I'm such a rare sight on the Internets these days.

I'm not very far into it, as I'm taking a very slow and deliberate pace (power-leveling in the magicite mines), but so far I'm very impressed. If nothing else, the combat system alone makes this by far the most enjoyable FF title to play. Being an FFXI veteran certainly helped; I heard rumors but had no idea how much like an MMO this would be. All of the pros of a real-time MMO battlefield without any of the ignorant boobs. That and I'm loving Ivalice the more I learn about it. Between this and the Tactics games makes it one of the most fleshed-out FF worlds bar none, and interesting to boot. I realize that the License Board is supposed to make for uber-customizability, but obsessive-compulsives like me will just end up unlocking the whole thing for every character.

Fanboy gushing disengaged, I thought the music was pretty lackluster compared to Uematsu's work. I refuse to cave to Crowley's influence and misspell "magic".

And WTF is this "green" magic bullshit? Buffs and debuffs are red magic. There's no such thing as a "green mage". My trade got ruthlessly shafted here. Is there some kind of wizardly obudsman I can contact?

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-11-21 07:22pm

SirNitram wrote:I've beaten it. At no point does a Bishi try to blow up the world. Wow.

And the Princess is a tank who can handle a sword.

And the androgynous child of great stature isn't a whiny twat.

...You sure you were playing the right game?

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2006-11-22 07:01am

yup,just got it yesterday

Darksider · Post by **Darksider** » 2006-11-22 09:11am

SirNitram wrote:
Also, Balthier is just awesome.

Isn't he though?

He's like a combination of Han Solo and James Bond.

With that much concentrated awsome on the side of the heroes, how could they NOT win?

My major nitpick with the game is the same as what others have said.

The final boss is a pussy. A gigantic, gaping, pussy. I was at level 52, and I kicked his ass with minimal difficulty. I leveled up to 60, and he went down in less than five minutes. In fact, all of the games bosses were all to easy to defeat. The only one that ever killed me was a gigantic forest wyrm that hits your entire party with every single status effect in the game at once.

KrauserKrauser · Post by **KrauserKrauser** » 2006-11-22 09:18am

Yeah, that guy was a major PITA.

Good thing Esuna is so awesome.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2006-11-22 05:17pm

I'm about 12 hours or so into it, and I'm liking it a lot so far. The story seems a lot more adult than the past few games, and the voice acting is actually pretty good.

I like the new battle system a lot too. Gambits aren't quite all they're cracked up to be, so still definitely useful. My biggest gripe so far though is the lack of higher-level magic availability. I've been through the first two cities, and neither magic shop sold Cure 2, for example. I've got assloads of license points, but I don't use them because the shops are kind of light.

And the license system is nice. Much better than that ridiculous sphere grid thing from FFX.

Techniks seem borderline useless. First Aid restores maybe 30 hp if you're lucky, and you can't use it outside the context of a battle.

KrauserKrauser · Post by **KrauserKrauser** » 2006-11-22 05:43pm

Make sure to use the Augments if you have extra LP lying around. It might not get you exactly what you want but with all the augments on they get 4 enhancements to their damage both magic and sword related as well as +1100 or so HP, which is pretty sweet.

I'm a big fan of Augments, poop on Technics, they suck for the most part. Libra has it's uses and charge was good around lvl 25 or so, but at lvl 53 it doesn't do squat

If you can get a lucky drop of 1000 needles that is fairly useful in the early game.

What weapon types has everyone finalized on?

I currently have a 1handed sword guy, a gun guy and a bow girl. Anyone have any luck with spears/daggers/axes/gun bombs? Always looking to max out my guys.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2006-11-22 06:13pm

100 Hours into the game:

-Just Reached Phon Coast
-Killed All Availiable marks except for Carrot
-Top Character is at level 61 and using a Yakei Katana, rest are at level 48. Other great weapons include Yoichi Bow. I've actually manage to sinf a great Katana well ahead of the Curve (had a Kotetsu before the Fete!)