LogFAQs > #878809107

People love to mention the two bosses that come to mind that involve letting your team play on autopilot (Hell Wyrm and Yiazmat - both optional end game bosses at that) and exaggerate their point to say "a number of bosses" or sometimes even "most bosses." FF12 is actually one of the more difficult FFs, and there's a fair bit of micromanagement that goes on during combat - more so than any other FF that I can't think of. People fail to remember that you need to first reach the point where you become an unstoppable badass... before being that unstoppable badass.

Also, there's no be-all-end-all gambit arrangement you can stick with for the entirety of the game, meaning at the very least you're putting some thought into deciding which gambits would be most beneficial in each area. Especially with vanilla FF12, where you need to purchase/find gambits - which unlock gradually over the course of the game - in addition to unlocking licenses for abilities and gambit slots. Part of the reason why the first half of the game is actually quite challenging. And Zodiac Age limits your class choices to force you to use all your party members equally; no more jack of all trades invincible super hero squad anymore.

As for Matsuno's involvement, he wanted Basch to be the MC - no problem with that. You can already tell this was the case if you played the game. That would've been a huge boost to the narrative right there. There's also the fact that I love every game the guy has made, with special mention of Tactics Ogre, FF Tactics, and Vagrant Story. He has a knack for asking players to put some actual thought into confronting enemies, and I adore that philosophy. With him at the helm for 100% of the game's development, the world might have stopped in pure shock at sight of the final product. Yeah, I'm fanboying it up hard here, but it's hard not to do so when two of his games are your favorite games ever.