Final Fantasy 12 is it a good game?

[reepa]

Just as the title says is this game worth playing all the way through?

[Moinaldo]

No it is not. Everything post FFX -AKA when squaresoft became squareenix- is mediocre.

[Acideyeliner]

I played FF7-11 and liked them all a lot. Some more than others, but, I enjoyed them. I only got about 3 or 4 hours into 12 and quit. It's a different fight style I just couldn't get used to. The story is strong though, I think. There's 2 more sequels to it. Depends on what you play a game for.

[Phookah]

In my personal opinion, no. I hated FF12 with the burning passion of a thousand suns. It just doesn't feel like a FF game to me, what with the "gambits" (ugh) and the overly complicated political story plot. Plus, Vann= worst leading character evar!
My two cents.

[Ifeanychukwu]

Final Fantasy 12 was the only Final Fantasy I was ever able to play. I've always hated the turn based combat system of the other games. I honestly tried to get used to it but it was just mind numbing to me. FFXII to me was a very great game IMO. I loved the combat system, I loved the story, I loved the characters... I loved just about everything about it. Point is, don't skip out on something because other people don't like it. Everyone's going to have their opinions on which games are good and which are bad, especially, and I mean ESPECIALLY with Final Fantasy.

[Xeones]

This game suffers a variety of issues that make me hate it, despite popular critical acclaim. It's got some of the worst protagonists in recent RPG history, they have almost zero devlopement through the story. The story has serious pacing issues that make it a chore to actually play through the game. It was one of the most boring combat systems I've ever dealt with, seriously Summoner a medeocre PS2 launch title had a very similar battle system far superior to this game despite it's MASSIVE development time. This game pretty much requires grinding in order to be in top form for the boss fights, something I thought was extinct in the modern console rpg. I basically disliked every aspect of this game, well the grapics were great but I personally got tired of looking at desert.

Also of particular note I HATE VAAN.

I was so excited I made sure I had time off to play it on the day it released, this game is the single biggest disappointment I've ever had in gaming.

Edit: I clicked off the main page and just realized this is in the wrong forum.

[Fenixdown]

Ugh. If I never see that game again, it'll be too soon.

[Myci]

I have played every Final Fantasy, and while 12 is different I personally loved it. It has a very complicated storyline and i think that puts alot of people off. Its combat system is really unique thou, and I enjoyed that ^.^
Plus the hunts are fun ! My favorite is still X though, followed by XIII.

With an open mind its worth playing imo

[macklelol]

FF12 was pretty good, to me at least. Decent story, the battle system seems to play itself (which may be a positive or negative, depending on how you play), and the characters other than Penelo and Vaan were actually not terrible. But god damn, Penelo and Vaan were just terrible characters.

It seems like it's just one of those games you'll either love or hate.

[BicycleMafioso]

For me, Final Fantasy died after IX. (And VII and VIII weren't all that either).

If you don't play it expecting a Final Fantasy game, it might be worth a shot. Only you know what's worth for you. It has its issues though.

[Gallahadd]

it's...... Ok..

There is one MASSIVE problem though, the combat system can be customised to a point that it basically plays itself. I actually watch my friend beat the ultimate 'hidden boss' monster in the game (can't remember his name, but he was frakkin HUGE)... and by watch him, I mean he set his team up, went for a cigarette, we both made a cup of tea and an omelette, came back ate it and the the boss was dead. He didn't actually TOUCH the pad at any point during the boss fight... wtf is that?

also... the story was utter balls :P I think after the wtf mindmelt of X, which people complained about, they decided to make one that was REALLY normal, to balance it out, but it just ended up being boring. Also the characters were all LAME.

[Dragoncurry]

No its bad

[Arganis]

Ya, Vaan single handedly ruins the game but it's still better than FFXIII.

[slackjawsix]

its either a hit or miss some people die hard love it many hate it (because their pissed its not 7) try it cant cost too much any more anyway

[icedwarrior]

Is it worth playing? Yeah, probably. That said, it's my least favorite of the Final Fantasy games I've played (amongst 7, 8, 10, 10-2, 12, 13).

I didn't like the story, combat was mediocre, none of the characters stood out...I honestly finished it to say I did, I wasn't really enjoying it.

[Papabudkin]

It's a final fantasy game made for people who never liked final fantasy games. That is the problem with it. The game alienates the core audience to gain a larger number of players. Final fantasy fans will always buy a new one because they have so much hope, so SquarEnix doesn't have to worry about losing them.

[Yousend]

I didn't like it, but I stilled played through 90% of the game. I got to the last boss's zone before my characters would wait for the enemy to attack and never attack... I'm not sure if it's because it was too demanding for the system or what, but I though the game was alright until you got enough gambits and what not. I think the characters were pretty good, except for Penelo and Vaan, I'm still unsure why they didn't set it around Baasch(sp?) or the princess as the main characters. It's really grindy and it has an annoying "Chain-kill system" that is only useful in certain areas where you fight the same mobs over and over again, otherwise you can either break the chain or run through zones looking for the mobs you need.

[OrcsRLame]

I have played every Final Fantasy, and while 12 is different I personally loved it. It has a very complicated storyline and i think that puts alot of people off. Its combat system is really unique thou, and I enjoyed that ^.^
Plus the hunts are fun ! My favorite is still X though, followed by XIII.

With an open mind its worth playing imo

Complicated? The story was so predictable I wanted to die. I kept thinking, any dozen hours here that story thing is gonna kick in and it'll be great. Never happened. There was no twist! Final Fantasy always has a twist! The thing you set out to do in the first 5 minutes of the game is your objective for the entire game.

[Pendulous]

Meh.

To start, the story feels really bland. I found a great comparison to Star Wars. Group of rebels attempt to take down the big kingdom taking everything over. The plot just felt forced. Oh crap, we lost? It's ok. There's ANOTHER ancient relic that has ultimate power, just like we did three times already, but had never mentioned before.

And similarly, the characters also felt bland. Each one doesn't seem to have much of a story that gives them reason to be there. And from what I've read, Vaan and Penelo (technically the two main characters) were only added on late. Balthier and Fran were meant to be the mains. Which, I would have been ok with, at least he had personality and some kind of drive. Oh, and some might argue that the story is good because there's no sappy love story involved, but I don't really care one way or the other, as long as it's told well.

The combat system is new, and I'm not a fan. I was never big on squad-based games, and this is basically what it is, except more advanced. You can set up Gambits, which prompt your characters to perform specific actions when a specific event happens. For example, you can set up a Ally= HP<50%, cast=curaga, to cast curaga on an ally anytime one drops below half health. Many will argue that the problem with this is that you can set up your Gambits to where the game basically plays for you. That's not really my problem with it. My problem is that you have to keep an eye on your characters anyway, because, well, shit happens. So there's no real point in it. You might as well have set up a typical turn-based system, which is why I subscribe to these games in the first place. As far as combat itself, that's another meh. You spend every boss fight making sure you have 5-6 buffs on your characters while you keep the boss's buffs dispelled. It's very uninspiring to actually care about.

The license board is ok. Each monster you kill gives License Points, which you spend on abilities on the board. In order to equip gear, use spells, and use other abilities, you have to first spend the LP to unlock it on that character's board. There is also a section that gives your character permanent buffs, like extra health and damage, and certain procs, like extra defense when your health is low. The thing that bothers me the most about this, is that it completely takes away from the uniqueness of each character. You can have any abilities you want for anybody, and your choice of part is largely cosmetic. Which, in turn, doesn't help the fact that characters already feel bland, as I've mentioned above.

The one place where it shines to me is the exploration. The landscapes are beautiful, and the world is huge. Taking away random encounters makes the world feel more alive as well. As does the hunts. You have two clubs you can join where you basically wander around and find rare spawns. Each one requires some set of circumstances for it to spawn (for example one will only spawn when there's a sandstorm in a certain area of the desert). Your "summons" are called Espers, as they have been in previous games, and there are a few you earn through the main story. However, like rares, the others are obtained by finding them.

There doesn't feel like many side quests though, except for the hunts. There's plenty to do, but it's all minor stuff that doesn't even feel like it helps you throughout the game. The hunts are the best part.

Oh, and moogles. Moogles everywhere.

Edit: Speaking of combat, the combat queue would lag like hell on certain fights, the last one being a good example. And given his amount of haste, your character could be sitting there for a couple minutes doing nothing.

[couchboi]

I personally found it to be boring. That's mostly because of the bland characters and story. The way combat and skill allocation is done is pretty neato, but that's all it has going for it. Again, this is personal opinion. The only way you'll find out if you like it or not is to play it. Hope this helps.