Attention nerd gamers: who here has played Final Fantasy 12?

[TK421]

for the PS2? and what are your thoughts on it? I, for one hated it. The battle system was really fouled up and hard to understand ( why did Square have to ruin this aspect of the game )?

Leveling up is a real bitch, as well as gaining gil. I have been a follower of the Final Fantasy series ever since it came out on the 8-bit NES, and I don't really like what I've seen coming out of Square lately...

Your thoughts?

[DarkTirade]

1. I've only played 1-10* myself

but from what I've heard, they were trying to make the combat system similar to 11. Which is odd, since MMO combat systems tend to (be necessity) be very different from other RPG combat systems.

*asterisk denotes that I tried to play 2, and couldn't read it since it was never translated into english. So I gave up after about two fights. :) I have, however, played all three of the Gameboy Final Fantasies, so that's gotta count for something.

[DarkTirade]

2. That's s'posed to be 'by necessity' not 'be necessity'... doesn't make sense that way.

[Akoto]

3. Last I played was 7. Last I enjoyed was 6.

*dons his flame suit* ;)

[WindRavenX]

5. *boohiss*

How can you not like 7???? That's like saying chocobos suck! It's blasphemy!

[WindRavenX]

4. I think it's in my top 4.

And as someone who was really expecting to dislike the new battle system (I'm an old skool turn based chick myself), I loved it.

So far, I rank my favs as:

FFVII
FFVI
FFX
FFXII*
FFIV*

*tie

VIII is not standing up to the test of time--easily the worst battle system of them all.

The ONLY thing about XII that I dislike is that the Espers are not the traditional gods like Ifrit, Shiva, Bahamut, etc. The sanskrit theme is cool, but I don't think it's as "FF" as the older ones.

Oh, and Balthier is wicked hot :)

[DarkTirade]

6. Yeah, 8 was a little weird. I didn't get very far into it

although that might have been because my computer wasn't good enough to run it, so I was playing it on my roommate's computer(didn't own a playstation). Then halfway through disc 1, he decided to reformat his harddrive and didn't warn me ahead of time. Whoops, there go my saved games.

[TimeChaser]

8. Used to love 8

Rinoa had been my avatar since I first got my star. Unfortunately, an ex ruined it for me. I'll probably be able to play it again someday, but I don't think I'll ever be able to get into the characters again :(

[DarkTirade]

11. I suppose part of the reason I didn't get into it much was 'cause I thought Quistis was a much

catch than Rinoa... :) Then again, as I said, I didn't get very far into it, maybe she had more depth to her than I saw at the beginning.

[TK421]

17. I really didn't think 8 was all that bad, really....the battle system sucked ass

but the storyline was drab...that was the worst part about it.....

Gameplay in general was good and pretty straight-forward, but the story REALLY dragged on

Summons were pretty cool, probably the most effective in the series ( since most Final Fantasy summons are pretty useless towards the end of the game, but not this one ).

Eleven was extremely tedious ( while I understand how addictive it was ) you had to dedicate every waking moment of your life to this thing....just tedious. When did Final Fantasy stop being fun?

And ten? Don't even get me started on that stinking piece of garbage...I absolutely HATED that game...so much that I actually took it out of my Playstation and broke it in half. That's right, so I wouldn't be bothered with it anymore, that's how much I hated it.

[DarkTirade]

18. Maybe you should have kept the disc and traded it in for a better game then

instead of just wasting your money. :)

I thought 10 was okay, just not quite Final Fantasy caliber material. The skill tree system was interesting, but once again, just not really Final Fantasy. I don't think they should follow the exact same formula and never try anything new, but at the same time it just didn't really fit well. And the combat... woefully easy except for the occasional boss.

The ability to skip long, slow cutscenes and whatnot would be nice though... especially when you get one of the few bosses that you'll lose to once or twice before you beat them, and there's a long slow cutscene right before the battle, but after the nearest save point.

As for 11... I know some people who play it. And while my computer is good enough to run it, I'm never going to. I've heard them talking about it enough to know that it's not for someone like me who will just play for a short period of time once in a while. When I mentioned this to one of the guys at work who plays, he said something like, "Oh, it doesn't take up that much of your time. As long as you can dedicate three or four hours a day..."

Heh. Right. Three or four hours a day. Not much of your time. Obviously we have different definitions of that concept. Even when I was majoring in music I didn't practice my violin that much every day.

[TimeChaser]

7. Really? I loved 12

Of course, I'm also used to playing MMORPGs, which is what the battle system was inspired by (supposedly), so it wasn't really hard for me to get into. I had to help a lot of friends program their gambits, though.

[TK421]

12. The gambits were the REAL bitch...because you could program certain gambits

that, before you know it they are totally worthless ( especially in a boss fight )or end up helping enemies rather than hurting them. Also, most of the technicks are completely WORTHLESS, except steal, which is always ( and has always been ) helpful in the Final Fantasy series. And some of those technicks were set to gambit slots....and they were supposed to frigging help me instead of hinder me and get me KILLED because that particular character was doing something useless.

It was a really frustrating experience...and I ended up getting to level 33 ( average on all characters ) had the best weapons, armor, all the quickenings for everyone, and STILL got my ass handed to me by those red wolves!!!!!!!!!! COME ON!!! This game was EXTREMELY TEDIOUS....

[TK421]

15. Seven was the last decent one ( probably the best one ) I have played yet

I absolutely HATED 10, and 12 ( the one I'm talking about now ) seems like Square put plenty into the graphics aspect of the game, but the storyline sucked, and it was just...plain...boring!

As I mentioned before..gaining gil was a real pain-in-the-ass and you need it...really need to get it in this game, otherwise, you are screwed. I don't like what Square has done with this aspect of the game.

Some of the "minor" enemies still end up kicking your ass ten levels below you...kind of like Final Fantasy online ( was that 11? I can't remember ) but all I remember about that one is that I was a level 13 fighter still getting my ass KICKED LEFT AND RIGHT by a GOD-DAMNED rabbit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How FRIGGING ANNOYING is that shit...huh? I felt like asking Square for my money back on that piece of garbage.

[Ariana Celeste]

16. Seriously? I am *addicted* to Final Fantasy XI

My current main is a lvl 40 Bard, now that I've got my sub job leveled up a bit more I'm going to work on Bard again to 50 and then AF here I come!

[Kutjara]

21. I played XI for about a year.

I finally got tired of constantly needing a group to do anything. I had a level grinding group that met every night and thwacked the same mobs over and over and over, but it got very tedious after awhile. The only challenge was finding a new place to camp once you'd leveled beyond the current mobs.

The rest of the time, I spent hanging around rare item spawn spots, waiting for the relevant mob to appear. Then it was off to the AH to sell the newly looted prize. I must have collected about a dozen of the peacock amulets.

I was glad when WoW came along and allowed players to do things both solo and in groups.

[Ariana Celeste]

22. Yeah, needing a group can suck.

I've made it to where I am through duo and trio parties though, with my b/f and a friend in our Linkshell. It's a little slower with a trio but if you level in the areas that people about 5 lvls below you camp in full parties, you can get by just fine. Probably also depends on the jobs... Right now we are working with my 40 BRD/WHM, my b/f DRG/BLU, and our friend's RDM/WHM. A decent trio, it does the job.
It can get a bit repetitive, but I have a lot of fun on there. I belong to a small, but great Linkshell, and I spend a lot of time on the side crafting and fishing when I need a break from the leveling and camping.

[Lethe]

9. Never played any past 7

i couldn't finish 7 even. It took me a couple years to finish 6. (couldn't stomach all the dialog and the "watching" instead of playing)

My favorites are FF1 and 4. The revamped 1 and 2 for Gameboy SP are awesome. I hear that 4 on GB is good too...it's the harder non-usa version.

[DarkTirade]

10. I didn't realise the japanese version was harder... I'll have to try and find a copy.

What version of gameboy is it for? All I have is a GBA. (Not even a GBA SP, just the original. Got it for 30 bucks at a pawn shop after the GBA SP came out. :) )

[Lethe]

13. i think its for GBA and SP

I've never played the Japanese version, but I heard it was a lot harder, and the storyline made more sense because a lot of stuff was cut out of the USA release.

[DarkTirade]

14. Awesome. I'll have to look for a used copy.

I'm too cheap/broke to buy new right now. :P

[Whisp]

19. oh, that awful stretched out mostly useless dialogue...

really lame. I truly hate that in games - it's just a cheap stupid way to add in '200 hours of play time! (120 of which is killingly boring, but hey, numbers are everything for a sale)'

I'm playing 8 right now and am having a bit more fun at it second time around. Beefs - the mostly idiotic script and the cheap running around the map 14 times to get to the next event. and managing the ship is awkward and frustrating I find. Rinoa annoys me with her physco analysing Squall and I keep her out of the group whenever I can.

favourite in the series is still 3. Celest and Cyan and that bunch. I really loved that one - last of the old timer good games to me. 7 was okay too, I really liked that materia idea.

I find good old fashioned rpgs are getting really hard to find. I want to see some grubby dwarves and sinewy archers and scarred up Paladins, I've had quite enough of these doe eyed 12 year olds with spikey hair and no vocabulary. old and musty, please!

[DarkTirade]

20. 3 here in the US is actually 6.

They just didn't bother to release half of them until recently. Still haven't released 2 yet, despite the fact that plenty of fans would snap it up in an instant. (But from what I've heard, we're not missing much there. 3 was the best NES one, and I agree with you about 6, that was the best SNES, and probably the best ever. :) )

[Whisp]

24. ah! that's right.

FF numbering system Japanese vs. American has always confused me.

but yes, 6 was great. I sure hope some older style games like this are released again. I really don't like that 3D first person view camera movement thing too much - always bumping into things and getting stuck.

[Bassic]

23. Well, I'm surprised because I really like it.

I'm in the process of playing it right now, and I really enjoy it, including the battle system. I'm a bit annoyed that bosses don't give out XP though, and I also think that you don't get enough LP, but aside from that I really like the game.

[crabcakes]

25. I'm actually playing it right now.

And so far it seems fine to me. But bear in mind I've only played one RPG before b/c I just started gaming. But yes, it does seem to take a long time to level up.