A Final Fantasy GREAT in aesthetics MEDIOCRE in gameplay and POOR in storytelling
after trading 2 PS2 games for it. The package contains the steelbook
case and two DVDs: the game and special videos of FF series. I've been a fan
of the series since 1990 when I first played FF1. FFXII has been a long time
in the making so I was happy to get a copy for free.
LIKES:
Graphics: one of the prettiest games on the PS2. The special effects during
the boss battles and the summons are pure eye candy. Also the movie cut scenes rival or surpass those of Xbox 360 or PS3 systems.
Audio: music and sound effects are spot-on. Although the soundtrack does not
rival FF4, FFX, FF6 or FF7, it still is well-done with high production values.
Voice Acting: Square did a good job with recruitment of their voice actors. There is no annoying character and each voice actor did a splendid job
Fast Loading times: hardly any break in the action when going from one scene to the next
So much to do: FFXII offers players to tinker with the items, skills and license board. It even have the option to do 'guild' quests for side missions and hunting 'big bounties'. It also reward you of 'achievements' that can be viewed in your 'trophy' room. The world is vast and there are underground pathways that you can explore for even more quests and hunting big game.
DISLIKES:
Gameplay: although the game controls responsively and works well, it took away the 'interactivity' and 'fun' from the player. The game looks like an action rpg game but underneath its a pseudo single-multiplayer realtime strategy rpg rolled into one. The result is you either going to love it early in the game but really hate it near the end. I let my 12-year old nephew play the game and he was asking me why the characters does not respond quickly as they were told. I told him the game is a strategy sort kind of game and the computer does all the decision based on his input. In short, playing the game is like having the CPU play it for you. You will know what I mean when you battle the final boss.
Story: The game took off in the opening hours citing how vast the scope of its culture, politics and lore of Ivalice. However, at the middle part of the game, it just became of uninteresting. Not even Balthier can save how convoluted and sometimes confusing the events were presented. Out of all the Final Fantasy that I have played, and I played them all, the pacing and story-telling on this one is very disappointing.
Summons: In this game you are able to call forth your summon but guess what, it does not work. The summons in this game is so underpowered and useless that they can even be killed by a normal beast in the desert. After getting killed several times I never use them at all.
Levelling Up: The license board is an innovative way to specialize your characters. However, this version of the game(the International edition rectified this problem), allows you to level up all the characters with the same attributes. So you can literally buff up little Penelo into a 'warrior' and have the same damage as a Bash or an Ashe character. There is no distinction between character attributes which ruins the gameplay.
Character development: This game has been developed a lot further than any Final Fantasy, except FFXIII, and the one thing that they could have done is to develop each character further. As an example, FFVI has the best character development of the franchise. Who would forget Shadow,Relm,Kefka,Locke,Sabin,Gau,Mog,Gogo,Umaru,Cyan,Setzer,Mog to name a few. Their individual stories made you care about each and every one of them so when the ending credits played you just get a satisfaction that the time you spent on the game was well worth it. FFXII characters were great at the beginning but was a big letdown during and after the end.
Fun Factor: To me, and this is my opinion, the game is more of a 'grind' or work than being fun. I found out that you have to take a long time to travel from one place to another. It's no fun travelling and being stopped by an annoying beast/creature while the 'computer' play the game for you. Where is a shortcut when you need one?
Final Remarks: This game is very beautiful and very polished for a PS2 game. Its a very good game. However, if you noticed, I have bought it almost 3 years ago. I recently finished it last month, March 2010. I actually stopped playing it 4 months after purchasing it because I got 'lost' on the story and its lacklustre gameplay. I came back to play it since Final Fantasy XIII is coming out this year. Well, to sum it up, I should not have bothered, the plot became so ridiculous, the end boss laughable and the end credits forgettable(nice soundtrack though). Buy it if you love 'monster hunting' or want to complete your Final Fantasy collection.