FFXII-Anyone waiting for this title...worth the wait?

[Anime & RPGl and]

Well, I was looking forward to FFXII until I played the demo...now I'm not so sure. The battle system has me questioning the game. I just couldn't get used to the battle system....it seemed very difficult. As I'm scrolling through menus to decide if I want to "attack" or use magic or an item the enemy is continuing to attack me...kinda like in FFX-2 (which I gave up playing because of this fact). In the demo there were two areas to play. One area the game paused while we scrolled through menus and the other area it did not. Will this be an option to choose?

I can only buy two games and I was thinking about two from this list. Any thoughts on which two:
Grandia III
FFXII
Valkyrie Profile 2
Suikoden V

[Professor Gast]

Suikoden V and Valkyrie Profile 2 generally received positive reviews. Just look at John's and Mark's reviews in the review section, they apparently both liked either game. I haven't played them, but I did play Grandia III and Final Fantasy XII (the Japanese releases at least).

Grandia III's battles are fun. It's basically Grandia II's battle engine plus alpha. The game just happens to have one major flaw that ruined it for me: The story or the lack thereof is as uninspiring as it gets. There was little character development and the motives of the villains for instance were not explained for the most part. While GameArts has never been known for incredibly deep story lines, the stories of Grandia and Grandia II were still OK and the games had a good deal of character development. In Grandia III's case only the battles are fun, and that's it.

Final Fantasy XII I really tried to like. It just didn't work. To me it felt much more like Vagrant Story 2 than a main series Final Fantasy installment. I'm aware that Yasumi Matsuno's intention was to create a different Final Fantasy experience, when he made this game (before exiting Square Enix :P), but while I liked his previous efforts for Square back during the PlayStation years, I could not get into Final Fantasy XII. Granted I did not play this game for a long time, but neither the characters, nor the setting, nor battle system appealed to me for whatever reason.

As for battles, you are right, Final Fantasy XII gives you the option to change the way battles work.

[daschrier]

Stay away from Suikoden V unless you like to be bored. VP2 is pretty damn fun to play though.

I can't wait for FF12. Never really cared for most FF's like 5,6,7,8, but 4 and 10 I loved.

[Dade]

As I'm scrolling through menus to decide if I want to "attack" or use magic or an item the enemy is continuing to attack me...kinda like in FFX-2 (which I gave up playing because of this fact).

You dont like ATB? It's not like it's new or anything. Shit....Chrono Trigger had it.

Edit: And dont listen to Dasch when it comes to Suikdoen V....it's long and the story is slow, but it's a solid game.

[GrimReality]

I find the title of this thread odd. As if the poster isn't aware that Final Fantasy is quite the popular franchise.
Anyway...
I played Suiko V for awhile, then stopped becuase it was boring me. I actually like the game for the most part, but the battles take away from the rest of the game. I hope to return to it eventually, if only for the story.
I'm playing Okami now, and having a blast. Great game.
As for FFXII, I am anxious to play it, because it just looks and sounds amazing. It sounds ridiculously epic. I just wonder if my more casual stance on games nowadays will keep me from enjoying it. Sounds like it would take me a goddamn year to play through.

[Masamune]

I've played the first 3 hours of FF12, and so far I'm loving it.  It's a very new direction they are going with, so if you're hardcore into the old school FF's, you may not like this one.  The battle system is very similar to Final Fantasy XI's.  For me, that's a good thing.  I'm already used to it and it was easy for me to pick up and learn.  Gambits kind of make the game auto-attack, but you don't have to play with them on.  I think they compromised things well enough that you're not forced into a typical FF game.

The license system is open enough to allow you to customize your characters in any way you see fit.  The gambit system helps if you suck at multi-tasking.  There's posters in cities that allow you to go out and hunt monsters, which in return allow you to recieve the bounties for said monsters.  It feels much like Notorious Monsters and Rare Spawns from online gaming.  I love it, but I can see where some people may not.  The characters are interesting and the setting to me, is simply amazing.  Granted this could all change, but from my initial judgement, this game is going to be a very solid game.

[Fadedsun]

As I'm scrolling through menus to decide if I want to "attack" or use magic or an item the enemy is continuing to attack me...kinda like in FFX-2 (which I gave up playing because of this fact).

You dont like ATB? It's not like it's new or anything. Shit....Chrono Trigger had it.

Edit: And dont listen to Dasch when it comes to Suikdoen V....it's long and the story is slow, but it's a solid game.

ATB is the best. It makes so much sense. Do you think the enemy is really going to sit there while you think about what to do next? Of course not. They're going to kill you until you figure out what to do.

I haven't played any of the games mentioned yet, so I can't really give you an opinion on them. Based on reading many previews of FFXII, I can tell it will be my favorite FF next to VI and VII. It might even top those two just based on the battle system.

[Merkava]

People seem to forget that nothing has changed with this battle system other than Gambits and movement. Enemies always attacked you while you made decisions.

[Lilim]

I found FFXII to be strong in gameplay, but crippled by an underdeveloped story. I enjoyed taking my characters through various dungeons and sidequests, but the realization started to dawn upon me mid-game that there was quite a lack of characterization for most of the party and others throughout the game. I started to wonder 'Why is that person here?' or 'What is their background?', but a lot of questions I had were never fulfilled.

I'm trying to keep this as vague as possible to avoid spoilers, but I was disappointed that the main conflict took center stage while the characters weren't fully developed as in previous games so it didn't have quite the impact it would've otherwise. I did enjoy FFXII, but it is far from the perfect game that I see posted on other various forums and I felt like I should add my thoughts so the 'pro-FFXII side' has some counterbalance.

The thing that matters to me the most in a RPG is the story and its characters and FFXII just didn't feel fleshed out enough in this area, so I'd only give this game a 6.5 out of a 10 point scale. I'd say it's a definite rent before purchase.

[Fadedsun]

That's crazy. How can you take off 3.5 points just because you think the story wasn't fleshed out enough?

And besides, there's going to be more story in the DS FFXII game..

[D-Rider]

That's crazy. How can you take off 3.5 points just because you think the story wasn't fleshed out enough?

While I did not make the statement, I can explain how they did it.

10.0 - 3.5 = 6.5

[Eusis]

... Yeah. Admittedly everyone has different preferances, but if I enjoy a game enough, then poor story/characters are irrelevant. See: SO3. I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy FFXII just as a game, even fi the story is a let down.

[Fadedsun]

That's crazy. How can you take off 3.5 points just because you think the story wasn't fleshed out enough?

While I did not make the statement, I can explain how they did it.

10.0 - 3.5 = 6.5

I understand math.

And I'm pretty sure you understood what I meant. Taking 3.5 points off just because you feel the story wasn't fleshed out enough isn't fair point dedcution. I anything, it should bring the game to a 8.5 or a 9

[Serene Prophet]

Meh, Final Fantasy is one of those series you just dont wanna even discuss...cause youve got your fanboys and your haters, and htey are like vocal...aka WoW fanboys and Haters ><

Personally, I enjoyed the demo, the new gameplay is...well...new.  Course for some people, its gonna be a make or break, cause itll be to much of a "change" and they will whine and cry about it.  Frankly, so long as its intergrated smoothly, plays smoothly, and works out, I dont care.  It seemed fine in the demo I played, so I have little doubt the retail version will be any worse for the wear.


I have a gamefly account, so I have it as my next rent, so once im done with bully ill have it sent my way, and hopefully ill enjoy it.  Im sure there will be a few reviews out there that hate on it for the changes, and others that will give it high reviews JUST because its a FF game.  But meh, I usually only look at reviews for the really bad scores.  Otherwise I leave it to my own experience.

[Esper_Crusader]

I'm getting it Tuesday for sure. I've always loved the series and I've heard nothing but good things about XII so it's only natural I get it.  Actually...X-2 was kinda bizarre but at least the battle system was solid..to me anyway.

It's really pissing me off that most retailers already have the damned game but won't sell it till Tuesday:(