Final Fantsay XIII

[Sosa]

That's what I was trying to say. I love the side-quest stuff... and you have met me in FFXI, right? I had four sets of macros for red mage, spanning eight pages... three of which were in use for a typical EXP party. On average, 53 of my 60 inventory slots were dedicated to macro-swap gear. Needless to say, I enjoy maximizing my returns... and this is one of the things I absolutely loved about FFXII. What I didn't like, however, was the exclusivity of the whole mark system. Instead of being built into the storyline, there was a giant disconnect. As you stated, if you stuck around to level up for the marks, you could basically waltz through the main story without any complications. To me, that's just crappy design. I appreciate the detail that went into the hunts, I just wish they didn't force you to focus on them at the expense of the rest of the game.

As for the license board, I wanted to love it. I tried to. My problem with that lies with thought that they really didn't test it as well as they should have. Blind unlocks? OK, it makes you look forward to what's coming next. Useless filler in the form of equipment that you will NEVER use or that will never be useful? Uhh... well, OK. Got to put something there, I guess (stat boosts would have made more sense to me, personally.) Mist quickenings near like the third boss in the game? Wait a second... nobody thought that was a bad idea? One quickening is basically enough to kill any of the first dozen or so bosses... but suddenly your characters have access to one of them each?

It won't matter by the half-point of the game anyway, because you'll probably have mastered the entire board with all of your characters... leaving them exactly the same. OK, I can see both sides of this. The highly modular character design means that it's up to the player to distinguish character roles by equipping them with different gambits and gear... in theory.

Really, most of the buffs you get are so ridiculously overpowered, however, that it doesn't matter... because there isn't really anything more efficient than having all of your characters whacking away at baddies with a sword and shield. Bubble springs to mind, as it is probably the most easily abused spell in the game. Double your HP for a little over a minute for a paltry amount of MP... and ANY damage taken that keeps you over the 50% mark disappears when the effect wears off? Did they even test that spell? Two handed weapons, rarely, if ever, significantly outdamaged a one-handed sword... until you start getting to the one-use endgame weapons (like Ragnarok, Zodiac Spear, ect.) Those are, unfortunately, the exceptions to the rule. A large number of weapons are so clearly inferior, you will pretty much never use them. Grenades, rods, and crossbows come to mind... though Guns were actually quite useful for most of the game since they ignored DEF.

That said, I really did like the game. It's one of the most enjoyable console RPGs I've played in a very long time... my problem with it lies with the fact that this quite easily could have surpassed all other games in the series... and perhaps been one of the greatest RPGs ever created... if they had just held out against the public outcries to just put the game out, finished or not. For some reason, that just leaves a sour taste in my mouth... :/

[lockejv]

So you're saying 12 had the potential to be the best in the series, if not for the unbalanced buffs / weapons, lack of difficulty and license board? Now I think you're giving it way too much credit

Vaan was absolutely pathetic, perhaps the worst lead of all the post 8-bit FF games. One dimensional, clueless, stupid...he brought absolutely nothing to the table. He could have grown up. I thought for sure he would! But late in the game, Giruvegan IIRC, Baltheir or someone asks what he's fighting for. He responds something along the lines of "Oh this is exciting! I wonder what we will find next!" He had no cause, no purpose, just wanted adventure. Sorry, that's about as shallow as you can get. It was as if he even forgot about his brother.

Basch had tremendous potential, but pretty much just faded away into the background as a simple bodyguard as the game progressed. Penelo might as well have not even been there. Baltheir was probably the strongest character in the game, but I disliked him - he didn't look the role, and I thought he was more effeminate than badass. Fran's entire character can be summed up by the same line she used in every cut scene: "the mist is thick here". Thanks for that, now move along bunny girl, and put some pants on. Ashe was really the main character, but she just came across as rather generic, an empowered princess trying to regain her kingdom, which certainly could have worked...but unfortunately she usually just moaned and sighed at her dillema instead of saying something meaningful. She got to the point of annoying.

I'd have to say:

combat system: 8/10 (assuming you hunted marks) - evolution with non-random encounters and gambits, but at the same time...macros really would have helped

characters: 5/10 - already discussed above

story: 8/10 - I liked the struggle between the kingdoms and the judges and the infighting among the royal family for control

I used to have a rating system I'd use to review each RPG I played, did it for about 30 different games. Maybe one of these days I'll break it out.

[Jonathan]

Locke even gets addicted to endgame in console games

I had my casters use bows. I mean why not? Sure a caster should use a staff or wand or w/e, but the bonuses from them were too horrible compared to the flexibility/damage added by having ranged attackers.

I kept Bar.. I forget all the names But the male sky pirate who comes with a gun - I had him keep his gun and kept him in Berserk at almost all times.

I didn't like the license board either. I try to always level up all characters in Rpgs - it's one reason why I loved FFII and III so much - there're so many reasons and scenarios to keep them all equally levelled. I don't like the trend they seem to have of "well we'll throw 397 characters at them, and then they're bound to find 3 they like best and roll with that."

I also prefer Classes, or at least a general path. FFX you could by the end make who plays what almost meaningless, but at least there was a starting point - it gave your chars an identity.

FFXII you have to do it yourself, and it's alright, but meh. I find it makes who does what a lot less meaningful and also makes the game easier.

Most games force you to fight with a Dragoon and no Rdm every now and then, but here you always have the optimal merit pt set up.

And yeah, one last randomly ordered comment - the storyline was incredibly too easy. The game should be extra hard for those who don't do sidequests, and normal difficulty for those who do. I remember one boss fight where simply making a Lv 2 chain one-shotted the boss and his 2 guards before they ever had a turn.

It was a big fight too, makes the game rather anti climatic. I prefer a game where I'm constantly nervously saving the game getting ready to hit reset should the words Game Over attempt to make an appearance.

[Sosa]

God help you if you ever play Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne...

That will change your whole outlook, Jon...

That series is mostly about old-school RPG difficulty for the sake of abuse. But oh, you'll love the way it abuses you, time and time again...