Final Fantasy Xii

[bass]

so Final Fantasy XII comes out on PS2 in 6 days (on halloween).. I for one, being a HUGE fan of the final fantasy series, cant WAIT for this game to come out.. i dont know a whole lot about it yet, because the website is in japanese.. all ive read is the 'prologue' to the story, and it seems like it will make for a good game.. heres the prologue..

**********************

A warrior takes sword in hand, holds a stone to chest
Disappearing memories carved onto the sword
Trained skills entrusted to the stone
The story is told by the sword and continued by the stone
Now, let that story be told...

That is the story of a world called Ivalice.

The strong military kingdom known as the Arcadia Empire
That rules the Valentia Continent,
And the Rosalia Empire that rules the Ordalia Continent
Have been continuously at war for long years.

In the midst of it, Arcadia Empire invaded the small kingdom of Dalmasca,
Positioned in the hallway between the two continents and thus is geopolitically important.

Under the invasion of the Arcadia Empire, the Dalmasca Kingdom accepted defeat.
But Ashe, the rightful heir to the trone of Dalmasca,
Joined the resistance army movements to fight against the empire.

The enemy's chase and attack of this girl with the liberation of her mother nation in heart is severe,
But, she can not be defeated.
At this moment, she meets the young man Vaan.
With this meeting, begins the change in Ashe's heart.

And thus...

The meeting of these two people will greatly change the story of this world.

**********************

sounds pretty sweet if you ask me

the only thing i can tell you about the game so far, is there is a new battle system called ADB (active dimension battle) which seems to be a mix of the turn based system (a la FFX), time based system (a la FF7 and so many others), and the free roaming system (crystal chronicles, horrible game).. the battles happen there on the screen, there is no transition into the battle screen, and you have complete control of motion.. also, the enemies AI has been greatly increased, allowing them to do things like trap you, ambush you, retreat, evasive manuevers, healing/restoration, support other monsters, and consider obstacles in their way.. the combat system looks ingenious..

thats quite a ramble but im very excited about this game..

im sure im not the only final fantasy nut on this board.. so..

thoughts?

 

[drew70]

The only Final Fantasy I've ever played was the original that came out on NES. It floors me that there are eleven sequels.

 

[Speedbump]

I've played the demo. Basically, the battle system is like this:

You control one of the three characters (though you can input commands for the others now and then if you want, I think). The "wait" time, where in the usual FF battles, fills up to full and then allows the character with the full wait time to input a command, is now somewhat the opposite of that. You input a command, then the wait bar fills up and once it's full, the command is carried out.

The demo was horrible, but I am keeping up hopes that the retail version of the game is at least decent.

 

[bass]

I've played the demo. Basically, the battle system is like this:

You control one of the three characters (though you can input commands for the others now and then if you want, I think). The "wait" time, where in the usual FF battles, fills up to full and then allows the character with the full wait time to input a command, is now somewhat the opposite of that. You input a command, then the wait bar fills up and once it's full, the command is carried out.

The demo was horrible, but I am keeping up hopes that the retail version of the game is at least decent.

hm.. well you are the first person who has actually had a go at it that ive heard from.. so im with you, i hope the retail version is much better than you say the demo was.. demos usually arent all that great.. ive played plenty of demos were i was unsatisfied, but the real game was awesome.. im a nerd so im sure ill love it anyway.. but the battle system seems pretty innovative to me.. nice to see something different.. im just hoping it has a good story to tie everything together.. and i cant wait to see the CGI sequences in this one

 

[Speedbump]

hm.. well you are the first person who has actually had a go at it that ive heard from.. so im with you, i hope the retail version is much better than you say the demo was.. demos usually arent all that great.. ive played plenty of demos were i was unsatisfied, but the real game was awesome.. im a nerd so im sure ill love it anyway.. but the battle system seems pretty innovative to me.. nice to see something different.. im just hoping it has a good story to tie everything together.. and i cant wait to see the CGI sequences in this one

Yeah. Usually if the gameplay is mediocre, the story can be interesting enough to keep me playing. Also, all the battle elements weren't yet completed at the time of the demo. I am also happy they've done away with random battles -- they're my major complaint about the earlier games. I hate random battles so much now.

I can only hope the demo is a lot different in the fact that the demo took place in 'missions', and at the end of that stage, it'd have your party stand and look at the camera in a pose and it'd have a big "MISSION COMPLETE" across the screen. The game better not do that. 😉

 

[Goodieluver]

The only Final Fantasy I've ever played was the original that came out on NES. It floors me that there are eleven sequels.

And "Two" movies and now there is a three game spinoff of final fantasy VII, one as a third person shooter type with vincent

 

[Dário F]

I've seen the demo being played by a couple of friends, and the thing that looks really innovative about this new FFXII is the fact that now you can see your enemys from far away, and not as if they appear out of thin air...
The scenarious are much bigger and wider than its predecessors too, wich is a cool thing because there will be alot of areas to explore.

 

[ShiningIce]

All I can say is this game better not suck like FF8

 

[Speedbump]

You'll have to make your own decision on it, but this is from an RPGFan preview, and it raises my hopes that the story will be worth any horrible gameplay that may linger:

"Final Fantasy XII is also graced with one of the most impressive storylines the series has ever seen, filled with a massive cast of fully developed characters. The tale thus far is one of murder, betrayal, intrigue and love. While this might seem par for the series, the mature presentation of these themes makes it quite clear than this is Final Fantasy for grown-ups; which is refreshing beyond words. The voice acting is hands-down, Square Enix's best endeavor yet."

For the full article, click here.

 

[Strider]

Not to threadjack, but my buddy's dressing as Cloud from FF VII for Halloween.

 

[Speedbump]

Not to threadjack, but my buddy's dressing as Cloud from FF VII for Halloween.

That's pretty cool. Cloud is still awesome. 😀

 

[Cave In]

All I can say is this game better not suck like FF8

FF8 was a good game if you played it right, it was totally different from 7 but it was a good game. The aim was to keep your levels as low as possible but get the strongest magic equipped to your stats.

Love the FF series can't wait for this one to come out, just a bit gutted that i have to wait until next year for it.... 🙁

 

[bass]

I've seen the demo being played by a couple of friends, and the thing that looks really innovative about this new FFXII is the fact that now you can see your enemys from far away, and not as if they appear out of thin air...
The scenarious are much bigger and wider than its predecessors too, wich is a cool thing because there will be alot of areas to explore.

i enjoy that part of it also.. its sort of like star ocean:till the end of time, where all the enemies are laid out in front of you on a big map instead of random battles popping up.. its starting to seem like FFXII is the end result of years of RPG making and refinement by square enix..

and as far as what was said about the storyline.. that just makes me want it even more haha 😎

5 more days.. then ill be shacked up in my house for about a month straight

 

[Speedbump]

i enjoy that part of it also.. its sort of like star ocean:till the end of time, where all the enemies are laid out in front of you on a big map instead of random battles popping up.. its starting to seem like FFXII is the end result of years of RPG making and refinement by square enix..

and as far as what was said about the storyline.. that just makes me want it even more haha 😎

5 more days.. then ill be shacked up in my house for about a month straight

Most games seem to be doing away with random battles lately because companies know that people don't like them much anymore. I just recently bought Tales of the Abyss, which is the first game in the Tales series to not have random battles. If you played the original Lunar games, you'll see the remakes no longer have random battles. Now the FF games are going in the non-random battle direction.

Things are looking up. 😀

 

[Cosmo_ac]

Frankly, i always get excited when a new final fantasy game comes out. They have been setting the bar for RPG's for the last 20 years or so, and continue to do so.

and FF8 wasn't a bad game, but i think it probably was one of the weaker FF games. So far FF 10-2 has struck me as pretty weak, which is a shame, as i thought FF 10 was one of, if not the strongest game in the series to date.

 

[Cav88]

When it comes out, I just pray that the magic/skill system isn't as limited as FF7 or as high maintence as FF8.

My favorite Final fantasy game has been 3, or six if you count the japanese versions. I've played FF2, FF3, FF7 and FF8, i've lost touch with the series after that but I defenitly think i'll pick this up.

 

[ShiningIce]

FF10 was alright. ff7 was the shit, so was ff9. FF8 sucked monkey nuts. Dont even get me started on FFX2. 😡

 

[Cave In]

I have to agree about FFX-2 that game was rank the whole charlies angels thing it had going for it just didn't work. I own all the FF games apart from FF3 and i have to say X-2 was the worst....

 

[bass]

4 more days

X-2 was terrible, i agree with that.. i got it for free though so no complaints here.. it had some pretty good concepts but overall it was just often corny and not very good..

id say FF7 and FFX are definately on top of my list.. im still playing FFX to this day.. not frequently of course, but its a game i can always go back to..

the only one i havent played is XI because it was only on the PC at first and you had to pay a crazy ammount for the game, plus sign up for service, plus pay monthly fees for the service.. i was like no thanks.. and then it came out on consoles, but it was the same idea with the fees, and you had to buy a network adapter and all that junk.. i love video games, but something about online play doesnt entice me.. maybe someday it will

until then.. final fantasy

 

[Vae]

I'll probably vanish for some time when this comes out, as well.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I have already paid for the goddamn game. Now I'm just waiting for Tuesday. I even ordered the collector's edition. I have no idea what makes it so great, but I know ordered it.

We so need a nerd smiley. Goddamn.

 

[4stringslinga]

FF7 is without one of the best video games i've ever played in my life. FFX was good too but i didn't like FFX-2. I'll have to check this one out though, it sounds interesting.

 

[Speedbump]

FF7 was the best in the fact that I played it from start to finish more than any other game in history (like 12 times). FFX, though, in almost every aspect of the game (graphics, voice-overs, cutscenes, maybe music; maybe not, gameplay, etc.) is a helluva lot better. Probably the best game out there.

FF7 gives more nostalgia, and more memories however, because it's older, FF's first leap into 3D, etc. Plus it came out when PS1 was just starting up really, so all of this stuff was just so new and amazing. Games aren't like that anymore, really, because we're so used to what they're passing out now.

On a side-note: I am currently playing Tales of the Abyss, which is another awesome game you guys should give a try. I am trying to beat it, and then take it back and get money on my EBGames card, so I'll hopefully be able to afford FFXII when it comes out, or at least, not too long after it comes out. I assume I'd have to wait a bit for the pre-ordered copies to go first.