Current Events > Final Fantasy 12... Good game or nah?

(+) Yeah! (+)

also whats the take on the Gambit system?

I tried many times over the years, I just couldn't enjoy it. Unlike many, my gripes weren't with the battle system, but I found the world, characters, and story to be completely and thoroughly uninteresting. It was easily my least favorite FF until XV came along to take that crown.

I'm not sure where the general consensus is on it these days. It was well loved when it came out, then over the years the general sentiment seemed to sour, then with the remaster it seemed to gain new fans.

It's OK
I like the combat system
But it's story is such a disappointment
On paper it has an amazing plot. But it wasn't executed very well so it's story ended up being one of its weakest aspects so it feels like wasted potential
And it doesn't help that with a core cast of 6 characters three of them are pointless
You could remove vaan, penelo and Fran from the game all together and very little would need to be changed to make the story still work
Basically would need to give the others a different reasons to go through the mines and find an alternative way through the forest and that's it

Good game, mediocre cast, terrible Final Fantasy game.

The gambit system was a good attempt to transition to real time combat, but it did look a lil silly to have you and your enemy staring at each other for seconds while their ATB charged. Very MMO-esque

Fantastic game. I thought I would hate the gambit system but, by god, it works well.

Probably my 2nd or 3rd favourite.

pros:
gambit system allows you to eliminate the boring stuff. Anyone who says the game plays itself once you setup your gambits hasnt played all content. Late game stuff will make you change your gambits frequently and they arent even required if you want to play without them.

lots of options for weapons and builds

lots of fun content like bosses, hunts, rare game, espers and secret areas.

finally you can change armor and weapons miscombat. So if you know an attack with an element or status is coming you can block or absorb it
cons:

story falls flat about halfway through.

at times progression to the next story is blocked off by about 3-4 entire areas (not zones) so youll find yourself walking a lot. 4x speed boost does remedy this

at times it feels like the treasure and bazaar system wants you to have a guide with you

if you like exploring and active turn based battling youll enjoy it.

its very boring in pretty much every way. gameplay, character design, writing, music, all boring

It's the only console FF I've completed. Doesn't mean I love it or anything, I just don't have much games to play at that time.

And the bazaar is impossible without a guide.

The gambit system was surprisingly fun.

The storyline was not so fun.

To me, XII is one of those FFs that is mediocre-leaning-on-bad. Always at the bottom half of my FF lists.

Baltheir, Fran and Basch are good but the rest of the cast were annoying.

Excellent game marred by the fact that its story wasn't pulpy.

https://youtu.be/vSyfGm6wXgs

Give it about 4 hours. If you're not feeling it, it's probably not for you. I bounced off of it after the opening sequence. I tried it again and ended up playing it all day.

I didn't like it when it came out. I put about 90 hours in before I finally accepted it wasn't going to get more interesting.

I didn't really utilize Gambits, but I didn't hate the combat either. My problem was with the License Board making everyone too samey and boring, side content consisting only of hunts, and a lack of story (despite well-written dialogue).

I've wanted to try Zodiac Age, but I'm not in a hurry.

Hayame_Zero posted...

I didn't really utilize Gambits, but I didn't hate the combat either. My problem was with the License Board making everyone too samey and boring, side content consisting only of hunts, and a lack of story (despite well-written dialogue).

Hah, tell me about it. All my active party members rocked the Deathbringer.

i love it. Zodiac Age version made it a lot better too

Hayame_Zero posted...

I didn't really utilize Gambits, but I didn't hate the combat either. My problem was with the License Board making everyone too samey and boring, side content consisting only of hunts, and a lack of story (despite well-written dialogue).

then you might appreciate zodiac age as they reworked the license board
now there are 12 jobs you can pick for your six characters and they have to use the job specific license board which limits what they get
like if you pick a white mage your character with that job isnt going to be using warrior equipment and fighting

I liked it. The story loses itself about halfway through but it looks really good and the battle system is fun.

The only main line FF game Ive never completed. I always seem to get bored around the Sandsea.

no way

I didnt care for it. Didnt care for the combat and the story didnt grab me either. It was the first Final Fantasy that I had to force myself to finish and where I completely skipped the postgame content.

Game was mid af

Love it, one of my favorite games. The story is eh but it is the way "open world" should be. Big contained areas full of treasure, secrets, and bosses. There is so much to do in the game. There is always some loot you can be going for or some big boss you need to beat.

It's a good Final Fantasy, for what that's worth. It just doesn't respect a player's time with how the RNG plays out for some of the item spawns, drops, monster spawns, quests, etc.

It's a completionists nightmare, and that's before considering if it's even worth bothering over at all in some cases.

It's pretty good. Solid B. Story is whatever.

Though part of it depends on how much you love tedious grindy stuff, cuz the License Board kinda requires you do.

Also, make sure you're always playing at 2x speed. The devs should be arrested for thinking the regular running speed was alright for the size of the areas the game has.

How long is the game? I'm thinking of getting it since Zodiac Age is on sale for 15-20 bucks, and I kinda wanna fill the time until Paper Mario gets here

The last good FF game for me until FF7 remake

Best in the series

PowerOats posted...

How long is the game? I'm thinking of getting it since Zodiac Age is on sale for 15-20 bucks, and I kinda wanna fill the time until Paper Mario gets here

Decently lengthy, especially if you want to go for everything. Story alone should run you maybe 40-50?

PowerOats posted...

How long is the game? I'm thinking of getting it since Zodiac Age is on sale for 15-20 bucks, and I kinda wanna fill the time until Paper Mario gets here

My PS5 says I have 51 hours clocked in, but that's doing some extra stuff and being afk a bit.

So prob like 40ish hours for just the story, if you're using the 2x speed feature like I was for traversing and fighting.

For me it was the worst of the series.

I probably shouldn't have to ask this because it's a final Fantasy game, but how is the soundtrack?

Out of every single FF game Ive heard high praise for each games soundtrack except 12. I don't think I've ever heard anything positive or negative about it's music, and the only songs I can remember are featured on Tactics A2

The most I can say about the soundtrack is that I kept going, "Yo, it's the track from XIV!"

No, it certainly had the potential to be but outside of maybe the gameplay it fell short by all metrics.

The story is boring, generic and by the books, villains are forgettable, the party has little to no development or chemistry(were they even friends by the end?) and the world tbh felt lifeless and void for the most part.

Nah