Just got the Special Edition today and have played it for five hours so far.  The battle system is taking a lot of getting used to, but it's easily the most polished RPG this year--perhaps of the entire generation.  The voice acting is top notch with a ridiculously good translation.  The translation is the same incredible quality that we saw in Vagrant Story, except with excellent voice acting.  Plot is intriguing so far, but a bit slow to start.  Music is...well, everyone's heard the music, but, it's good and atmospheric, but doesn't drive me to buy the soundtrack yet.  Graphics are incredible, obviously.

More impressions later.

Yeah, I would be interested in hearing more from those who have played it.  I haven't been excited about a FF game since VII, and since VII I haven't been excited about a FF game at all.  They all seem to be getting better in terms of graphics and physics, but the linear storylines are totally boring in my opinion.  Also, the battles are a joke, at least I've found them to be completely dull.  I would be interested in hearing if Square has changed any of that.

cheers,

-avatar!

Honestly, the battle system is, as best as I can describe it, like a party-based Parasite EVE style that works.  The storyline is linear as per usual, but the interactions between the characters and the extremely lively dialogue pushes the story along in a manner that you can't help but love.  I can't stress enough how amazing the translation is.  One nitpick: No one can pronounce fete or Marquis properly. 

The world is so huge that every place has its own map now.  The towns and dungeons are all massive.  We're talking MMO massive.  The elimination of random encounters is good, but, in some of the smaller dungeons, it is difficult to avoid fighting simply because there is no room to run.

As Marcel mentioned, the storyline itself is linear as ever, but aside from that the gameworld is much more open than previous FF's (with the possible exception of FFXI?). From fairly early on it is possible to 'break into' areas you're not really supposed to get into yet, which enhances the feeling of exploration. Sometimes you'll have to beat a stronger than usual monster to get to these areas, while at other times regular enemies will be so strong you'll have to do some serious grinding to guide your party though these unexplored areas. Some of these areas are optional, while you'll visit others only later in the game as the story dictates you to do so. Quite a lot of parts of the gameworld are still blocked off by NPCs and the like, though, and exploring areas you're really not supposed to go to yet will rarely get you any significant rewards other than a feeling of accomplishment.

The best description of the battle system I've read (I forget where) described it as being the same as previous FF's while eliminating all of the needless button pressing. Indeed, the philosophy behind the new system seems to have been to eliminate the drag of constantly having to press 'attack, atack, atack' or having to wade through submenus looking for a particular spell while the enemy is decimating your teammates. For weaker enemies you can easily let predefined commands (or 'gambits' as they are called) handle all of the action. To say this makes the game less interactive seems like an invalid criticism to me, as constantly selecting attack while the outcome of the battle is clear doesn't qualify as interactive with me. For taking on tougher enemies you'll need to seriously consider the way you program your gambits and make corrections or manually input commands during battles to win. All in all, I'd say the way battles are fought itself hasn't changed that much from previous titles; the most significant change is that the FFXII system does away with most of the elements of the ATB system which are superfluous anyway.

Because of the gambit system, status effects are more than just a source of frustration in FFXII. You can, for instance, program your characters to cast haste, shell, regen etc. on any party member that doesn't have such a status yet, and when the effect of the spell runs out, they'll automatically cast it again. It works the same way with negative status spells for enemies, so for instance with a tough enemy it could be rewarding to have one party member constantly cast 'stop' or 'dispell' until the status takes effect.

I do feel there are some downsides to the game. Some of the towns are a bit too big with not enough interesting things going on. You can't enter most of the buildings, while the actual outside appearance of the towns in general is somewhat more plain compared to previous FF installments. There's quite a bit of nonsensical stuff like streets floating in the sky with no railings to keep people from falling to their deaths (while airships do have railings and warning signs), and airships flying around when you can instantly teleport to key locations using crystals.

The quality of the textures go a long way towards making up for the sometimes uninspired and simple geometry that makes up both the towns and the world outside, but they can't prevent some environments from looking flatout bland. This isn't helped by the fact that it often takes some time for certain details of the environment (like bushes, trees and even NPCs) to load, so they'll suddenly pop into place out of nowhere. This makes some areas look more barren than they were designed to be. On the plus side, enemies looks really nice and detailed.

I think the music fits the game just fine, by the way. Sakimoto's compositions fit the the epic feel the game is going for nicely enough, though few melodies actually stick out.

Thanks for the really good review, .59.

Regarding the "pop in" as you mentioned, well, its a heck of alot better than FFXI, I can say.

I love this game, it pains me to see so many people bash it, though I knew from the moment I sat down with it that the average FF player will hate it.

Jusy give it a chance people, please?

And regarding the "I didn't like the demo" comment; throw the damn demo away!  The full game is nothing like it!

The gambits don't make the game play itself, it enhances the game by taking alot of the busywork out of the battle system.  Plus, you can interrupt a character's action and tell them to do something else on the fly.  Which is something that you will likely have to do, unless you micro-manage your gambits for each battle.

Also, for those who think that you can set your gambits, go into a fight and your characters will do everything for you... I'd really like to see you try it.  Honestly, the system isn't so foolproof that your team will stay focused on just one enemy.  Ever played an mmorpg?  Familiar with the term "aggro"?  Enemies in XII do the same thing, so and unattended party will quickly pull aggro from any nearby enemy, whereas your characters will quickly become unfocused and target whatever enemy is nearest, and to make a long story short: you will die.

Just because the gambits cause certain actions to initiate automatically, it does not mean your party doesn't need you to direct them.

And, if you really feel that you hate the gambits so much, you can turn them off.  You can't make the gameplay totally turnbased, but if played in Wait Mode, the game will pause when you open your menu to do something.  The end result is something like Baldur's Gate on the PC.

And as for the storyline being linear.  Sure it is, what Final Fantasy didn't have a linear storyline?  Some are moreso than others, but you can't call any of them totally a-linear.  If you have a completely non linear rpg, you end up with something like the Saga series (Romancing, Unlimited, Frontier, etc) and that's not how I want a Final Fantasy to be.

And something I'd like to point out about the gameworld, and how there is nearly a seamless transition from area to area.  This is how Square originally wanted Final Fantasy X to be.  I have long since lost the video and still images of the original alpha version of FFX, before it was scrapped and remade (Amano even designed a different logo for the game, and Tidus was brunette).  At that time, the game was played in third person, and there was a seamless transition from not only area to area, but area to town as well.  Unfortunately, at the time Square wasn't able to get the PS2 to render the graphics on the fly like that, just like how they originally wanted to use the PS2's "emotion engine" to render all the characters portraits in tons of polygons throughout the whole game.  For interesting trivia, FFXII's characters are made up of a fraction of X's polygons, but their facial animations are stunning.

I can't wait to get my US game, though I have to wait until tomorrow.  I spent 178 hours on the import, I wonder how much I'll put in on this one.  Poor VP 2 is getting shelved...

Are the US and JP versions the same game? Did they put extra stuff in the US version? I can't justify spending over 350 hours on the same game...

It seems this is really one of those love it or hate it games. I think many of the criticisms the game has gotten aren't really fair though. I wonder if people complaining about how the game 'plays itself' are taking into account most battles in previous FF games could be won by just pushing the same button repeatedly. FFXII just pushes the button for you, so to speak. Now, you could criticize the game for not being more innovative with its battle system (for instance making each command a strategical decision) but it's hardly a doing away with the ATB system. If anything it's the natural evolution of that system. Most of the innovations (maybe improvements would be a better term) present in the game should (and, if possible at the time, probably would) have been implemented back when FFX was made. It just goes to show how many people out there are willing to play the same kind of games over and over again. Really innovative RPG titles like (again, love it or hate it) BOF Dragon Quarter are largely ignored, while any update to outdated systems like the ATB is met with scepticism rather than anticipation.

On the other hand, I find it hard to imagine why anyone would give this game (or any existing game for that matter) a perfect score. A great game, sure, but perfect? While I really like the game there are still some obvious flaws in it's design. Aside from the stuff I already mentioned, the game also has some pacing issues. After a brief and somewhat confusing introduction, the actual beginning of the game is so horribly slow and unelegant it will turn a lot of casual players off. It makes the game seem more like a chore than it actually is. The licence board too, fails to let players really customize their characters, so much so that it would make more sense for there to be only three playable characters. I consider none of these to be fatal flaws, but they are flaws nonetheless.

From the 1up Review

Man that sounds awesome. I've had the import on my shelf since it came out but never really got into it, it seemed more complex than your average JRPG.

I guess the official release is tomorrow, which is when I'll be grabbing mine. Unless it's already out...?

I picked up the reg'ar edition a couple days ago, and it's pretty cool. I'll be picking up two copies of the Collector's Edition (with the metal tin?) tomorrow morning before work.

So far, the game is highly reminiscient of Vagrant Story, not just in terms of atmosphere, but also in execution. Hitoshi Sakamoto gets props for his work!

I agree that the early part of the game is pretty herky-jerky in its pacing, but afterwards I felt it flowed pretty well.

And as far as the licence board it concerned, I love it!  Some may think it takes the customization out of things, but I feel it makesit even more open.

I mean, take FFX for example, each of your characters was forced to take a certain path unless you for the correct shperes to let them change.

That is to say, Yuna was stuck as a healer/White Mage, and Lulu as a Black Mage, unless you found the unlock spheres that would let them learn skills that were in other characters sections of the gride.

With the license board, all of your characters learn the same things.  Hel, by the time I wrapped up my import copy, all of my characters had cleaned out the license board.  What I ended up with were characters who filled roles of my choosing.

Such as: Basch is my main tank/main damage dealer, who has a bit of White Magic for emergencies.  Ashe is a light fight/back up damage dealer/ supporting healer.  And Penelo is my main healer/sniper.  Since you can swap out party members on the fly it helps to keep everyone the same average level, just for emergencies.  My Vaan is more of a thief type, fast hitting back up DD, whereas Balflear (I will never call him Balthier) is a long range sniper/Black Mage.  Fran is my wildcard.  Like the game calls her "master of all weapons" she can fill just about any spot except main healer, as she casts too slow.

And Zane, I'm not sure what new stuff has been implemented in the US game, just yet, as I get my game tomorrow.  But I'm hoping that they have tightened up the enemy levels (so stuff is too weak versus a powered up team) and I just want to kick back and experience the awesome dub the game has gotten.  Although, I can tell you right now, I hate Fran's dub voice.  I know spending a 100+ more hours may seem excessive, but I'm being honest when I say I love this game.  This is my most favorite Final Fantasy since VI, and I'm glad of it, as I'm not going to be playing FFXIII any time soon as I prefer $600 to be in my bank account rather than spent on a new console.

Beside, I don't like Final Fantasies with sci-fi themes, I like them to be fantasy based.  Phantasy Star is what I look for when I want a sci-fi rpg. 

I truly think the game is a great achievement in all the areas that count but I'm not very invested in the gameplay. In fact, I'm mostly bored while playing it. Part of the problem is the immense size of the areas you go through (and there's very little in them to justify the size). If it didn't feel like I was grinding through an area, MMO style, I'd probably be more into the gameplay.

It's a very plot-based game and since I just came off of TotA (with an equal emphasis on plot and character), I feel that the FFXII cast is underdeveloped and unexplored. That's fine if you like your characters to simply move the plot along but I want to KNOW about these people!

Speaking of which, I just looked up the English cast this evening, and...Basch is done by Keith Ferguson?

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/shop/tool … 901.02.jpg

THIS Keith Ferguson?

After reading people's impressions, my impression is that this is no different than any other FF game out there except for better visuals, voice-acting, and translation.  Apparently that works with many people, but in my book those are mostly superficialities (although I do think a good translation is important).  If all I cared about was good voice acting and visuals, I would never have played Arc the Lad, which in my opinion was superior to every FF game since FFVI (except for Tactics).  To each their own, I shall definitely pass. My RPG time goes to Morrowind and Oblivion... although the later will have to wait until I can get a better machine

cheers,

-avatar!

As I view it, the licence board is merely an obstacle to learning new abilities and equiping new weapons and armor, and provides next to nothing in the way of character customization. It takes very little effort to keep up the license board up to date with the spells, weapons, abilities etc. available in stores, so aside from forcing players to go out and fight for a bit (which you'll need to do anyway to buy these spells, weapons, abilities etc.) it serves no purpose. The real character customization comes from the way you program gambits. They could have just as easily left the license board out and it would hardly affect gameplay. As it is, it just serves to needlessly clutter up things.

What I think the game nicely achieves is a creating a sense of depth in its characters not through overexpository dialogue or backstories, but through well written dialogue and solid voice acting (I only played the Japanese version though). The problem is the pacing falls somewhat flat in the second half of the game, where the sparse dialogue kind of wastes the nice character dynamics the game had built up before, which can ultimately make characters seem underdeveloped/unexplored. I believe this would have less been the case if the game had been better paced, or shortened somewhat.

Err... I would have thought that the overriding impression anyone would get from reading all the impressions here and elsewhere is that it plays very differently from any other FF game (barring XI which it's largely inspired by). A complete overhaul of the environment, combat and encounters system is hardly a superficiality

.

Hey Conn,

Good to know you're still around
Yeah, Oblivion is definitely not for everyone, but it's the kind of RPG I truly love!  It's also a very high quality production (with talent such as Patrick Stewart as a voice actor among other noteables)!  Absolutely lush environments, awesome AI (people live their own lives, sleep, eat, interact with others, sometimes piss other people off and get their asses beat...) although I must say that while this notion of AI that lead their own lives is new to most people, it's been around since Ultima IV back in 1985!   

cheers,

-avatar!

.

Holy crap!  I'm way behind on reporting this as I haven't really had time to play anything lately.

But they have added stuff to it.  I don't want to spoil anything, but a cinematic that was shown in early videos for the Japanese game, then curiously was not present in the final version, is in the US game!

I'm super syched to see what else they tossed in, as I know of one other cinema, this time a cg one, that didn't make it into the JP game.

I guess this ups the chances of Japan getting an "international" release at some point, which I would also have to get, as SE likes to put even more new stuff into those re-releases.

Which is one of the reasons why I have basically stopped buying SE's games.  I'm considering getting FFXII today since TRU has it on sale though... the negative reviews at GameFAQs (especially against the story) has me hesitant.

For some unknown reason FFXII is the first single-player FF that I haven't bought and have no urge to. It could be because FFX-2 was the last new FF game I played and the first FF game I couldn't be bothered finishing but I don't know.

I didn't even know it was getting some negative reviews.

I could never get into FFX, having had my interest in RPGs forever tainted by Xenogears and the interest in FF wane after FFXIII and FFIX, so I never had to bother with FFX-2.  That seems like a big f-u to the fans from what I've heard.  I don't play MMORPGs so passing up on FFXI was really easy.  If it weren't for a lingering love of FFT, the only Square game I own, I probably wouldn't have an urge for this one.  The recent announcements of the "Ivalice Alliance" probably worked to build off that weakness like the FFVII Compilation nonsense did to the Midgar fans.  Although I was successful in dismissing FFTA's ridiculous concept without much regret...

I'll admit that I'll be buying at least one, perhaps maybe two if the latter is truly going to happen, Square games next year---FFVI GBA and Super Mario RPG on the Wii VC.

Yeah well you can't go wrong with the classics. It may be a sign of my age but I'm getting to the point where I'd almost rather play a game I've played loads before and know I love than play a new one and risk a stinker. I got FFV Advance and still love it.

Actually, I just checked there, and I'd say that most of the reviews are generally possitive. 

To put it in numbers, only 12~14 (I forgot my count) of the reviews out of 72 reviews are average or better in rating (5/10 or lower).  The rest were 6/10 or higher.

That's not that bad if you ask me.

Now I have played the import in its entirety (the only thing I didn't do were a few optional sidequests, and by few, I mean 5 or less) and I'm now 50 hours into the domestic game, and I'm loving it just as much as I did the first time.  Sure, alot has changed, the so called "shakespearean English" seems to have characters speakings in the third person at times, and some of the humor got lost in the translation.  In the import, the game played more heavily of class restrictions, and was more direct in pointing out to Vaan that he is a low-born "churl", and he as a character backed that assestment up through some of the things he says throughout the game.  One of them was by constantly calling Ashe "omae", an rather impolite way of calling someone "you".  He doesn't mean to be rude, he just doesn't know better, and just doesn't feel like changing, even though calling her this annoys Ashe and she always snaps back "Stop calling me "omae"."

I wondered how SE would handle all of the "omae" instances, and I was a bit let down to see that they just decided to ignore them.  Whenever a scene comes up where this occurs, appropriate dialogue that matches the lip flaps gets adlib-ed in.  I think the removal of this, though to be honest, there is no way to translate that exchange into English.  This kinda robs Vaan's character of alot of the moments where he was able to re-assert just how unsophisticated he really is; which is the whole point behind him wanting to become a Sky Pirate, so that he can be free of the caste system and live by his own rules.  Other translation quibbles I have are a later line said to Vaan "You really are a child." was changed to "Try to grow up, will you?".  Sure, the literal meaning is the same, but I feel the shift in directness softened the blow, so to speak.

But seriously, I've always felt since I got the game that there would be fans who would hate the game, which is a shame, as it truly is a great game.  All I can say is, give it a try, and keep and open mind while you play.  And with alot of things, if you can suspend wanting to expect a whole lot (i.e. don't got in wanting to try and make it turn based) you might just end up liking it.
And now I'm rambling.  Damn sinuses are killing me. 

I just started Final Fantasy XII recently and regret not starting it like TWO YEARS ago.  I think it's well done so far (12 hours in, on the Dreadnought).

^^ Welcome aboard!  Easily my favourite game of 2006, although I played it like a year later.