Well after seeing some of the new videos from FFXIII, I was inspired to go out and get FFXII.  I thought--for $12.99 new, you can't go wrong.  So far, I'm 3.5+ hours into the game and from my past experiences with JRPGs, I haven't really even started the game yet.  

FF12 is a bad game. I mean, it's got the production values, but the combat is absolutely horrible, the music forgettable, and the characters bland.

"FF12 is a horrible game. I mean, it's got the production values, but the combat is absolutely horrible, the music forgettable, and the characters horrible."

I thought FFXII was okay. It had the most minor main character ever though. Vaan hardly ever does anything significant, and it's always one of the other party members that actually lead.

"FF12 is a bad game. I mean, it's got the production values, but the combat is absolutely horrible, the music forgettable, and the characters bland."

FFXII was actually my favourite of all the FF's (well except maybe 11, but I didnt play enough of 11 since no friends played it). I like the old Final Fantasy's but I got into the characters more in 12 and I was getting done with the turn based style of jRPG's. Ive played so many jRPG's that FF12 felt like a breath of fresh air just because of the combat system.

I would be playing more of it but I got to a point where I had to do a large section without a save and kept dying right at the end, and since I left it for so long (being annoyed at dying right at the end) im now dying faster since im less "intune" with the game, though I cant wait until I get past it :)

I really enjoyed FFXII and I don't understand why people hate it so much. The series needed to evolve and that's exactly what the game provided: an updated take on a franchise that was becoming dated.

The combat was much better then the other games because I didn't have to go into a stupid loading screen before every battle and I could see my enemies before I fought them and that's if I wanted because now I actually had a choice and not an archaic random battle. Also I don't really understand the complaints with the gambits system because if you didn't like it you could just turn it off and do everything manually, the game didn't force you to use it. I thought it was a nice addition because I didn't have to worry about things like healing and I would be able to focus on actually finishing off the enemy.

I'll agree that story wasn't brilliant but it was ok. I liked the political side to it and I thought the judge characters were well developed but the plot became quite predictable by the end. The only thing I didn't like about the game was the liscence board. I prefer to have specialist character but with the board everything was too general and it was annoying if you spent liscene points to unlock a square which you found out you didn't need.

Camera angle changes corresponding to the current implying action. You'll find it very interesting.

mracoon said:

"I really enjoyed FFXII and I don't understand why people hate it so much. The series needed to evolve and that's exactly what the game provided: an updated take on a franchise that was becoming dated.The combat was much better then the other games because I didn't have to go into a stupid loading screen before every battle and I could see my enemies before I fought them and that's if I wanted because now I actually had a choice and not an archaic random battle. Also I don't really understand the complaints with the gambits system because if you didn't like it you could just turn it off and do everything manually, the game didn't force you to use it. I thought it was a nice addition because I didn't have to worry about things like healing and I would be able to focus on actually finishing off the enemy.I'll agree that story wasn't brilliant but it was ok. I liked the political side to it and I thought the judge characters were well developed but the plot became quite predictable by the end. The only thing I didn't like about the game was the liscence board. I prefer to have specialist character but with the board everything was too general and it was annoying if you spent liscene points to unlock a square which you found out you didn't need.

I played through FFXII and I had some fun but the story is really weak. There is never a point in the story that it gets interesting, predictable plot-twist - the guy who looks evil but says he's brings nothing but good intentions, is actually is really evil, 0_0.

The Gambit is kind of dumb, having to unlock them by leveling up and having to buy certain actions like have the A.I heals you when you lose a certain amount of health is also dumb.

There is also the progresstion, Dragon Quest VIII offer a huge, beautiful, well design, non-liner world. FFXII's world is liner, and some of it is pretty shallow.

But overall, FFXII is a okay game and I had some fun.

I don't see how having the same basic combat as 11, but in singleplayer was a good evolution.

I like the game. It's better than FFX or VIII but not as good as VI, VII, or IX. Balthier is an amazing character. Probably my favorite FF character.

I really liked it.

"Dan_CiTi said:

"I like the game. It's better than FFX or VIII but not as good as VI, VII, or IX. Balthier is an amazing character. Probably my favorite FF character. "

Han Solo's my favorite Star Wars character, too."

LoL, Balthier is a bit of Han Solo, too much of a gentleman to think as a pirate. For some reason, he plays the shivery card real well and make it looks very cool. So does that make Fran the Chewbaca?

I bought this game too on my quest to build my collection. It should be in the mail sometime this week.

This game gets hated on.  I loved it.

"I really couldn't get into Final Fantasy XII.I think I'm way into the minority when I say this, but I vastly prefer turn-based combat to real-time."

i am pretty sure you still can pause the battle to give you time to take a break or think what move you should do next. I am actually loving the fact that there is no over-world and load into a battle field, after 100 battles, it seems quit tedious. One good thing about turn based, the animation sequence when something cool is about to happen. Playing FF XII and not having a load screen every encounter is great, also the enemies on the feild is WYSIWYG, so no surprises unless it was a true sneak attack.
This game does get allot of hate, like Kombat said, because of the real time battle mechanics. The gambit system is there to help your characters self govern their actions, this gets better as you unlock, find and purchase new gambits and slots. I tweaked my gambits to have my characters self manage battles, so I can leave a room as constant hordes of respawning enemies attack as the gambits farm EXP points and gil without me being present.