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103th Post
 
Regular Customer
   
|  "Re(3):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Thu 9 Mar 13:17
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The more this game resembles Vagrant Story, the better in my book. One of my favorite games of all time!
Yeah, this game is totally "Vagrant Story for the people." You will see!!
Notice Famitsu readers didn't put Vagrant Story ANYWHERE on their top 100, even though it got a 40, too.
Then, they put Matsuno's Tactics Ogre in at #7!!
So . . . Final Fantasy XII will probably be at number one.
The thing is, it's so . . . "risky" in that it doesn't really have any gimmicky characters. The girls look just like "Real-life Yuna and Rikku", though I guess that's alright. I like that it doesn't rely on characters who would look cool on a lunchbox -- the story is just great, so far. Again -- "Vagrant Story for the people." The people didn't get Vagrant Story because it was too narrow in scope.
They will . . . totally get this, because it's so big. It's damned huge.
I still need to play more, though hey.
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| Time Mage 2340th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
    
    
    
    
| "Re(7):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Fri 10 Mar 03:11
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Vagrant Story's gameplay is the best part of the game, once you understand it. I can spend hours in the workshops making new equipments, and it never gets boring! Also, understanding the weapon type/element/enemy type concepts and how they affect damage makes the game even a little too easy.
Heh, maybe it was the way the gameplay took place in such, ah, very brown dungeons. Very very brown.
And a grey city, and green woods, and blue undergrounds, and red mines, and...
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| Cain Highwind 665th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member
| "Re(6):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Fri 10 Mar 22:55:
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TVagrant Story for the people sounds great, seeing as how Vagrant's chara designs, music, and story really grabbed me but the gameplay made me flee.
That;s the problem with me. I LOVED everything else about Vagrant Story, but I just couldn't figure out the gameplay and got really frustrated with it. Giving up halfway through.
If FFXII has the same great graphics and story, and simplifies the game a little, then I can see where the 40 comes from.
I also played the demo. I felt kind of lukewarm about it. Not terribly excited, but certainly not bad either (Playing the FFX demo I was really excited, but disappointed with the final game; maybe XII will be the opposite)
I forgot to say, the environments in the demo looks great. It's like FFX with VS's design, although despite VS's different locations I didn't like that t felt like a dungeon crawler, FFXII seems to add a real sense of exploration (I'm hoping for a more DQ8-ish world.
[this message was edited by Cain Highwind on Fri 10 Mar 23:05] |
| Time Mage 2342th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Sat 11 Mar 00:41
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although despite VS's different locations I didn't like that t felt like a dungeon crawler,
Well, that's because VS is a dungeon crawler. One with great graphics, wide variety of backgrounds, great story and spectacular gameplay. VS is not a RPG, at all.
And I really, really hope they don't dumb down the gameplay just to make it more appealing to the masses. I mean, if they simplify it, making it interesting, great, but if they take down good ideas just because they are "too complicated", I won't like it.
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| NARUTO 3380th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Sat 11 Mar 19:30
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Well, that's because VS is a dungeon crawler. One with great graphics, wide variety of backgrounds, great story and spectacular gameplay. VS is not a RPG, at all.
And I really, really hope they don't dumb down the gameplay just to make it more appealing to the masses. I mean, if they simplify it, making it interesting, great, but if they take down good ideas just because they are "too complicated", I won't like it.
Well VS is somehow still a RPG game...the characters stat and the items systems comes from the RPG.
As for FF12 the game play isn't too much simple. it's somehow a regular FF gsystems with some additions.for what I've heard for exemple, the ennemis are on field now, you have have the screen "clash" like usual and to see if you can attack all weapon have a reach, and an arrow shows you if you can attack or not. Othger characters can be set on Auto, if you only wish to take care of 1 characters, but it's deffinitely not a good thing to do agaisnt bosses or strong ennemies....and so on...
Tu Fuis Ego eris...Like you I was Like me you'll be...
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| NARUTO 3384th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Re(10):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Mon 13 Mar 17:54
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Thanks for the info. My Japanese knowledge is limited (limited = no idea), but it may be interesting.
That's why I've gived you the world preview... Those are like their name says a preview of the game they'ed only shows between 1/4 or 1/3 of the game shows only the basic and not the deep systems, just a few bosses and not the full bestiary. 2nd those books are more pics or map based with a limited amout of text so even a Zero japanese speak can find some usefull stuff in here...
Unlike the Ultimania which are the Full guide, with more than 600 pages full review of the system, bestiary and walktrough...interview and other bonus those can be hard to undersatnd with no knowledge of japanese, but still having a bestiary with all info, and once again some pics and map can be helpfull...
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About playing the game: I've also played the demo quite a few times, but sadly it only gives a rough idea of the system. You can't use skills, you can't customize your gambits, you can change the equipment, you can't manage, not even see, the license board, etc... That's why I'm saying that I need to play the game to judge the gameplay properly.
the demo is deffinitely limited, If I didn't have any hopes about the licence board, I was hoping something about the gambits, and the skills...it's a demo after all...
I maybe be able to try the game this weekend or next week...(released the 16 right?) maybe be able to tell you more then....
Tu Fuis Ego eris...Like you I was Like me you'll be...
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| NARUTO 3389th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):Re(10):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Wed 15 Mar 18:59
Some impresions gathered as spoilerless as possible..
2 hours into the game, barely scratched the surface...
* The prologue/intro is amazing. The battles are like watching a mix of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Pretty fast paced too. Events happen one after the other, so not many long dialogues.
* Once you are able to move your character, the city feels big enough. There's a lot of people which you can't talk to and just standing there, but it gives you a sense that you're in a city. I like how there is an icon on top of NPCs you can talk to.
* Treasure chests, doors you can enter, anything you can interact with also have an icon. I don't know what other games do this, but I've seen it in Grandia III which I thought was a cool feature. Props to FFXII for using the same feature.
* The license board (to learn spells, equip new weapons/armor, etc) looks overwhelming at first, but like the Materia system in 7 and Sphere board in 10, it looks straightforward once you know how it works. However, I am being careful as to how I should raise my characters - might want a FAQ for this personally ^^;
* Battles feel like KOTOR and FFXI. I haven't figured everything out, but so far seems strightforward. The color of their gauge shows if you are strong enough to beat it, now this is pretty useful. The first DO NOT FIGHT enemy would probably be the dinosaur once you go out the city. One hit, bam, you die
* Not much complains for voice-overs so far...except Panero :-)
Overall so far, it doesn't feel like the traditional Final Fantasy, but I like the atmosphere so far. It's probably apparent with the previews you guys watched, not to sound like a broken record but...I'd say the architecture and mech design feel very much like Star Wars Ep 1-3...with characters coming from Vagrant Story.
The game begins with probably the most action packed, visually stimulating intro in any Final Fantasy game. What surprised me even more is how sharp everything looks, maybe it's due to playing on vga display, but the video, the characters, textures, all look really sharp and colorful. Simply from the first few minutes you will be able to notice the amount of work that went into this game. The character models, their faces, their clothing, the texture, everything is overwhelmingly amazing. Right after the intro you go into the game, and immediately you will be introduced to the new splinter cell styled navigation system in FF12, which is basically straight from FF11. You can rotate the camera all around you, it's fast, responsive, and so far I haven't ran into any camera problems at all. The 3rd person camera combined with the fact that every area in the game is connected really conveys the feeling that you are in the world of Final Fantasy. It's a great feeling really, you won't be able to put this game down once you start.
The actual game starts you off as Vann in Rabanastre. The town is full of people, and as Troidal said, the game does an amazing job conveying the sense of a real city. There are areas where it's more crowded than others, which is a nice touch conveying the sense of different parts of the city like the market, the central square, city gates, etc. In many of the areas you will see more than 10 NPC's at once. Amazing feat that Square has done and keeping everything nice and smooth. I will also mention that the sound is equally impressive. Even in the intro, at the first few minutes, you can hears the clanking of sword clashes, the sound of the armor colliding as different characters walk, etc. All crystal sharp, and superbly combine with the animation and the amazing graphics to really give the sense of tangible objects in the game. This game is a treat both in graphics and sound. The only complaints I have about the game's technical merits is the loading and sometimes fairly bland environments. I am being very very picky here, the loading is probably about 2.5 seconds and environment wise, it's not bad at all. I'll clarify what I mean.
The environments are big. The first city spans multiple areas and multiple floors. Imagine sizes close to FF11 cities. The world map is comprised of cities and interconnecting regions. Each region is comprised of several areas. Each area or dungeon being the size of what you saw in the demo. Some of the areas I visited include a desert and dry plains, and they are pretty looking and wide open. The dungeons are basically intersecting hallways and stairs for the most part, and this is where I feel it's a little bland, but it's not a big deal since you will be worrying about the battles anyways.
Here is the good part. I love this new battle system. Gambit takes aways the monotony of mashing attack and otherwise boring fights with lesser enemies. You might think the game is too easy with the AI controlling the characters, and I'll now explain why you are wrong. Each of the areas I've visited so far host a variety of different types of monsters of varying difficulties. Like what Troidal said the first world map area you visit contains a freaking dinosaur. You can not simply run around and just let the AI attack, cause you will aggro too many enemies and make your life much harder. There are also times when the game throws groups of enemies at you, if you don't do a bit of micromanagement or set the Gambit options, you will be pretty confused at all the stuff going on. I'll say it again, Gambit is good, it makes the game more fun rather than taking it away. If you start playing the game and you don't think Gambit is important, wait till you get to the first big boss fight, or just try playing the game in ATB mode. It's very very easy to die if you are not micromanaging.
Character development is very streamlined and I'm sure you all know about licenses now. It really forces you to vary the way you develop each character because of the way it's laid out. I won't go into this since it's been done more than enough times.
Story wise, I'm not in noob land anymore, but there are alot of things going on in the story, and alot of characters. I definitely love the more serious tone and the political intrigue of the plot. Voice acting is superb imo, much better overall compared to FF10. To talk about this further would be more spoilers, so I'll stop here.
To sum it up, this is probably going to end up being my favorite Final Fantasy game. The mmo style gameplay (for a lack of better description) really gives you the sense of being in an open world and the sense of adventure. I do get a star wars vibe from this game especially the first time you meet a judge.
Tu Fuis Ego eris...Like you I was Like me you'll be...
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| Time Mage 2349th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Re(10):Re(10):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Wed 15 Mar 22:25
In FFXII, you can't just get a piece of equipment and wear it, you need a license that will allow you to do so. For example, there's the "Low level swords" license, that will allow you to equip the... low level swords (wow! XD ). However, you need licenses not only for that, but also for gambits, skills, spells, etc. The licenses are purchased with License Points, that are won in battle, they are basically the typical AP you see in all the games in one shape or another. Also, you can't get any license you want, provided you have the LP. The licenses are arranged in a board, and you can only get the ones that are adjacent to others that you have purchased. This is very similar to FFX's sphere grid, in fact.
Now on gambits: Gambits are, basically, AI patterns for the characters. Since in this game you are controlling one character and the other ones are controlled by the AI (the "gambits"), you have a wide array of gambits to choose from, in order to customize your partner's behavior. For example, there's the "Heal when HP is below 30%" gambit, so if you equip it, said character will heal anyone that falls under that amount. That's just an example, but you can get an idea. There may be gambits to control what enemies to attack, what attacks use, what should the positioning be, etc. Please note that you can equip several gambits at the same time, so you can tell a character to focus on casting thundaga, but stop doing so when someone's HP is under 40% and heal him, while always staying as far as possible away from the enemy. It may be really good if there's a wide and interesting enough variety of gambits to choose.
I'll love this game, I know it. 
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| Sensenic 1464th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(3):Re(10):Re(10):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Wed 15 Mar 22:49
quote:
In FFXII, you can't just get a piece of equipment and wear it, you need a license that will allow you to do so. For example, there's the "Low level swords" license, that will allow you to equip the... low level swords (wow! XD ). However, you need licenses not only for that, but also for gambits, skills, spells, etc. The licenses are purchased with License Points, that are won in battle, they are basically the typical AP you see in all the games in one shape or another. Also, you can't get any license you want, provided you have the LP. The licenses are arranged in a board, and you can only get the ones that are adjacent to others that you have purchased. This is very similar to FFX's sphere grid, in fact.
Teh LOOOL! So armors and weapons are now protected against piracy too?
Will there be "time-limited" demo versions too? 
*cough* *ehem*
Your Ultima spell will only be available for 3 casts from now. Do you wish to license it now?
1- Yes
2- Remind me later
3- Always trust "Squarenix magic spells Inc" products. (Yeah, I know, this 3rd one doesn't quite belong here, but you get the idea)
Sorry, had to do it XD
quote:
Now on gambits: Gambits are, basically, AI patterns for the characters. Since in this game you are controlling one character and the other ones are controlled by the AI (the "gambits"), you have a wide array of gambits to choose from, in order to customize your partner's behavior. For example, there's the "Heal when HP is below 30%" gambit, so if you equip it, said character will heal anyone that falls under that amount. That's just an example, but you can get an idea. There may be gambits to control what enemies to attack, what attacks use, what should the positioning be, etc. Please note that you can equip several gambits at the same time, so you can tell a character to focus on casting thundaga, but stop doing so when someone's HP is under 40% and heal him, while always staying as far as possible away from the enemy. It may be really good if there's a wide and interesting enough variety of gambits to choose.
Oh, so the good ol' tactics system from Tales of Phantasia it is? (enhanced, of course)
Thx a bunch for the info!
Deidara. I just loved that face. XD
"It's you know like when you die and you can't quite believe it"
An undead friend.
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| Time Mage 2350th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Re(10):Re(10):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Thu 16 Mar 00:09
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Oh, so the good ol' tactics system from Tales of Phantasia it is? (enhanced, of course)
Well, you said it, but I'll stress it: Many games rely on the AI for several tasks, and many of them have options to customize its behavior. However, the most I've seen is around 10 different options or around 20 or so different combinations of options. In FFXII, the possible combinations of gambits are practically infinite. I've seen a screenshot of the gambit screen, and there are LOTS of gambits. and, since you can combine them, that will make possible to describe to a very exact degree the behavior you want for you AI controlled characters. Well, that's suposing the gambits work as they are intended to.
So, my point is: Being able to control the AI behavior is not revolutionary at all; being able to micromanage it to such a high degree is what makes the gambit system unique.
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| gorgeous
111th Post
Regular Customer
| "Re(6):Re(10):Re(10):FFXII scores a 40." , posted Thu 16 Mar 17:32
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I'm just afraid, I loved Rogue Galaxy until about halfway through, and then... it sucked.
It's unCANNY how much this game resembles Rogue Galaxy character/setting wise right in the beginning. And even in a lot of what it . . . does, it feels like Rogue Galaxy. Rogue Galaxy, which I loved until about halfway, at which point I just started "really liking" it, felt from the start like a bit of a one-trick thing. You know. Bashing the buttons. Cheap entertainment. LOTS of potions.
FFXII has a richness to it. I've played it about twenty hours now, and it just . . . reached a point in the plot that scared the hell out of me. It made me think, "Holy shit, this game is never going to end." Even though I haven't been playing it very long and even though I like it very much, it made me think "This is never going to end." It kind of reveals something interesting about videogames in general, I guess -- you know, with a book, especially a big one like War and Peace, you have this big nasty knot of a conflict and even if you might wonder, "Man, this could go on forever," you only need to feel the remaining pages with your right thumb and think, "Well, it's going to end after . . . this much." Until Final Fantasy XII, RPGs have tended to have a set number of mystical whatevers you've needed to collect; that was kind of your yardstick for measuring how far you were in the game. Now I'm at this point in FFXII and it's like . . . shit!!
So yeah! I don't think this game is going to burn anyone. Rogue Galaxy was great, I think, though only if you can stand its immaturity and episodic nature. This game is very しっかり. It is とってもしっかり. You will see!! Play it!! I doubt copies of it are in short supply or anything.
And the dialogue is damn well-written. And -- well. You'll see.
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| KTallguy 853th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "gripe rant time" , posted Fri 17 Mar 02:38
Haha, considering your piece on Insert Credit really got me to buy Rogue Galaxy, maybe I should be mad at you, but I really don't care =) I did my research before buying and I really enjoyed the first half of the game...
Just, man some of those dungeons are so long and boring. I'm playing the game, and it's just the same over and over. Even the combat has a facade of depth that falls after you realize that some enemies have super armor, and you MUST burst attack to kill them, not even magic works (BTW your AI friends have no awareness of this fact). Even worse, the enemies that you have to jump to attack, what a pain in the ass. And then I've been hit by glitches where enemies disappear and I have to run from battle to end it. There's no real strategy associated with the battles, it's 'cast the best damage spells you have' + 'whack whack whack'. Don't even get me started with enemies that have inpenetrable shields if you don't pull a specific gun from your inventory that ONLY the main character has, that will ONLY remove the shield (it does no damage), and that the process of going into your inventory takes about 10 seconds to equip the weapon when in normal fights 2 strong spells kill the enemy in around 5.
To me, the game just feels like a big pile of busy work. The characters are actually pretty well designed visually, but storywise I haven't learned anything very interesting about them. The voice acting is great, and gives the characters, well character, but it reminds me of Chrono Cross, where 99% of the characters have no meaning backstory and the player is expected to bond with them because they have a funny accent.
The story really hasn't grabbed me at all. I'm wondering if after I collect these three magic pieces, there will be something solid to chew on with it, but I'm really not motivated enough to get through it... is there really a good story to be had here...? Give me a sign.
The design of Rogue Galaxy itself is great, as long as the characters have some meat behind them, then I'll enjoy it. Also the combat seems like a thinking man's combat.
And I'm frankly glad that we're moving away from 'mystical pieces' or whatever in our RPGs. There should always be those kind of RPGs out there, because it's a fun, more whimsical style, but hopefully as the genre matures we'll see some more advances, with more real life human (emotional) drama and intrigue in our games.
end rant.
Proud Supporter of Next Generation GAMEPLAY
"手前は役不足なんだよ!"
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"Gil versus yen" , posted Thu 9 Mar 09:05
