The battle system really reminds me of something a MMO would use.  Is this kind of what Final Fantasy XI is like?  I've always thought that FF's character developent was a little weak.  Each FF(for me anyways) has only had one or two characters that I actually care about. 

Yeah, FF12 was terrific. The voice acting was incredible (especially, but not limited to Balthier). It was a breath of fresh air for the series and I was so happy to see them integrate battles seemlessly into the environment instead of having a seperate "battle screen". I found gambits to be great for dealing with easy monsters, who I'd rather not waste button presses with anyways. During boss battles however, I'd micromanage characters to the point of not even using gambits. Some of the optional dungeons and battle with summon monsters were extremely difficult, and I got a real sense of accomplishment sometimes after fighting a monster I wasn't supposed to fight yet, but managing to beat him because of good micromanagement. So much fun...

I quite enjoyed the gameplay side of FF XII. It was the story which i didn't care too much for throughout. The worst part was the characters. Aside from Balthier who is awesome, there seemed to be such little character development and backstory that it was hard to care about them, and there wasn't really any emotional investment like i had in other games of the series, particularly FFX. The game is good overall, but it still left me completely disappointed.

Nice to hear somebody else likes Final Fantasy XII. I played the game for about 70 hours (although I never finished it), and had a blast with it. The battle system is a welcome change and the story was a nice shift too. The only thing that I didn't particularly warm towards was the cast. With the exception of Balthier, nobody is particularly interesting in FFXII. In fact, I'd argue the supporting cast are more interesting than most of the main characters. Anyways, I hope you continue to have fun with FFXII.

You know, I love FFXII but most people tend to hate it.  I played it for about 130 hours, and every hour was awesome.

While unpacking today I found a rather pleasant surprise hidden away in some boxes, an unopened copy of Final Fantasy XII.  I have always been a pretty big FF fan, started playing way back in the Snes days, but in recent years I have lost interest in the franchise.  I remember playing the demo of XII when I purchased Dragon Quest, and at the time I was pretty upset with the changes to the battle system.  I have always been a huge fan of the turn based way of fighting, and this new battle system shoved me out of my comfort zone with the FF series.  After that, I vowed never to play XII.  But to my dismay a realtive bought me a copy for my birthday, they figured it was a perfect gift for me given its name.  That was about three years ago, and I am now just getting around to playing it, and all I can say is that I am surprised.

I am absolutly loving this game so far.  Granted I am only a few hours in, but the game is doing a really good job of sucking me in.  I'm not sure what it is, maybe the three years I spent away from the JRPG genre, But I am really digging this battle system now.  It's seems like you can make it really easy for yourself with the gambit system, but at the same time there looks to be a lot of debth to it.  Actually it looks like Dragons Age: Origins is borrowing this concept.  Fighting in this game is just so much more exciting compared to the previous Final Fantasys.  You do not have all the time in the world to make a decision anymore, you need to react quickly or you are done for.  Its nice to see that Square-enix has the guts to make a change this big to a franchies millions hold dear to their hearts.

I have not experienced much of the story yet, so its hard for me to comment on what I feel about it.  I was a pretty big Final Fantasy Tatics fan, so the world of Ivalice is a world I like.  In XII they managed to keep it familiar but new at the same time.  So far the story does feel pretty original, well atleast for a JRPG.  At least you have you have not lost your memory in this game.  I'm not sure how I feel about Vaan yet, he does not seem like a protagonist I can get behind.  Hopefully the other main characters will be a little more interesting.

So far XII has reinvigorated my love for Final Fantasy.  However I am only 5 hours in, lets hope this game stays this good for the next 50+.