FFXII hogs top spot Comments by Robert Purchese

Well deserved.

It really is one of the best game in the last seven years.

Teenage angst has never been more popular!

Everyone's a winner it seems!!!

Dizzy obviously hasn't played this one

>Dizzy obviously hasn't played this one

True... so it is a FF without teen angst? In that case I support it ;) Haven't seen that since FFVI.

No teen angst and less colourful than the last few offerings. Seems more atmospheric, definitely deserving of the top spot.

I'm sick of waiting so long for RPG's to make it. Hopefully with Bluray they can fit all the languages n one disc and have the pal english available with the Jap ones.

Why do we have to "Head over to GamesIndustry.biz for the full story" on every bloody news item lately?

Two words.

Ellie Gibson

I haven't played a FF game for ages after being annoyed with the PAL conversions and also because these days I do not have a PS2.

Just out of curiosity, is the PAL version full screen with no borders?
Or are Square/Enix still pumping out crap for the UK market?

if the conversion is good, I would be tempted to pick it up, along with a cheap PS2 :)

Just out of curiosity, is the PAL version full screen with no borders?

Main gameplay window and menus - yes
Cut-scenes: fuck no

The movies all have bloody big borders on three (!) sides of the picture, left, right and bottom. I was really annoyed at first, but tbh, it doesn't *really* detract I suppose. I've stopped noticing them anyway.

I think it's far more interesting that Crackdown is selling so well tbh. Unestablished franchise on a console with a far smaller installed user base than the PS2's. It's among the best 360 games for me so far, easy, and it's great to see that the buying public agree!

Crackdown's performance is more deserved of platitudes if you ask me
Well, there's been sod-all else worth buying on the 360 this side of Christmas. Lost Planet being the exception, possibly. Gives me a chance to catch up on some of the older titles, at least.

Ah, I see you deleted and reposted something less bundy-esque...

I'm sick of waiting so long for RPG's to make it. Hopefully with Bluray they can fit all the languages n one disc and have the pal english available with the Jap ones.

Being able to fit all localizations onto one disc is potentially good, I agree. But the problem is not necessarily the size of the media, it's more like the huge amount of time it takes to localize games. The upshot is, we are only gonna get PAL English (and/or other locales), if Japanese RPG devs perform localisation in parallel with game development. Is that gonna happen? Who knows?

Being able to fit all languages on a single disc does not necessarily mean all languages will be available together and sooner. The extreme would be the whole product would wait until the last language was localized before the game entered production at all - possibly adding considerable time to the dev process.

More likely we will still see staggered localized releases as before. Unfortunately.

I think we can all agree that it is good that people are buying good games, regardless of personal gaming preference.

I think it's really great that....

Head over to AnotherSiteEntirely.com for my full comments.

ooooo GTA is out Friday :)

It's certainly an accomplished game but FF is a bit hard going, especially when crackdown is winking seductively at me from the shelf under the telly, aw... go on then, just a quick go...

I think GRAW2 will be No.1 next week.

GRAW2
FFXII
Crackdown
GTA: Vice City Stories

I hope FFXII manages to hold of GTA: Vice City Stories, but it won't. GTA'll be number one next week, despite the fact FFXII deserves that top spot for much longer.

I really like FF12, it's my first real FF (Crystal Chronicles doesn't count), the combat system is great, but I wish there was more to do than just fight all the time.

Do not underestime the power of PS*


*Patrick Stewart.

azmol01

+1

Love this thing so far but it sorely needs more minigame sequences like the stage-fight in FFIX, plus a sub game in the vein of Tetramaster or Blitzball.

I don't want to criticize it too much, 'cos like I said I'm enjoying it despite it being a dungeon crawler (which usually I don't enjoy) It does basic things right like having a fully controllable camera and no random battles, that so many JRPG developers leave out for God knows what reasons.

But it's kind of sad that it took Square nearly a lifetime to get rid of random battles and the annoying fixed camera angles, sadder when you consider that Western devs (the companies allegedly not capable of innovation) have done so for years. They're just two of the reasons why I won't play FF X, FF X-2 and a whole host of JRPG's. It's also extremely accessible, even for FF novices like myself so thats another big bonus.

The Gambit system is good and I like how it's flexible, you don't have to use it if you don't want to, but can do so if you wish, personally I just prefer to do things manually though on some bosses I find the Gambits are better.

I'm not entirely sold on the License Board though. I think it's a good way to earn new magic spells/abilities/quickenings/summons etc, as most other RPG's I've played will have you repeat existing skills X amount of times before granting you new abilities, so this way is new and allows greater customization.

But to use the license board as a means of equipping new weapons/armour/accessories is poor. Nearly every other game I've played allows you to equip the mentioned items as soon as you have the money to purchase them or have found/won them on your quest. I can't understand why I'm made to buy them first and then earn a license just to use items I have lounging around in my inventory, by the only means available, levelling up for ages.

It seems to me like a cheap way of extending the length of the game, with the usual grinding that seems to be the norm for JRPG's and the stingy way the game hands out the needed points and cash.

Like I said I still like it and this is just my opinion based on around 43 hours worth of playtime, it's good but it ain't perfect.

>I hope FFXII manages to hold of GTA: Vice City Stories, but it won't.

120 million ps2 owners compared to how many psp owners?

glol

It's the PS2 version!

"Dungeon crawler", "more to do"? You can't really be talking about FFXII, can you? The dungeons are a lot of fun, possibly the best designed dunegons in any RPG I've ever played and each dunegon is usually puncutated with those beautiful cutscenes and the gorgeous graphics and superb music making getting through dungeons bliss. As for not having enough to do, well, the monster hunting is great fun IMO and there are sidequests and the story istelf is never to far away. FFXII excels everywhere.

@ Geek

The core combat is excellent, yes, but unlike previous 3D FFs there isn't anything besides the core combat. I'm loving it, but I'd love it even more if there were some other mechanic (again, like the card game or blitzball) to divert me when I get bored of dungeon-crawling.

I also agree with azmol's comments on the license board system.

Anyway I'll shut up now, because I'm breaking one of my own cardinal rules by talking about a game I've only played fifteen hours.

/thinks guiltily of the Okami thread

Sorry Geek, but I am talking about FF 12, the dungeons are designed well, though personally I do feel that one or two follow the same structure rather than being completely unique. But what I would have love to seen more than anything in the dungeons are some puzzles. Imagine something along the lines of using all members of your team to progress past obstacles, and I don't just mean block pushing/lock and key stuff. I'm talking about real environmental, logic puzzles that get the grey matter working and give you a real sense of accomplishment once you've beaten them. Though some may say I should just re-boot up Zelda TP again, but still it's just something I'd like to have seen.

As for the monster hunt sidequest, well that kinda proves my point about there being nothing more to do than fight huh? :)

Some interesting cities, (not saying that the existing cities are boring) with some fun mini games and sub quests that didn't involve fighting or tedious fetch tasks would have been nice, but I guess Square can leave that for the next installment.

I don't want to sound like I hate the game, 'cos I really don't, I've done 45 hours on it, so I know it's doing alot right to keep my attention for this long.

Still opinion is healthy and that's just my two cents.

FF12 is simply a stunning, amazing game, and while Crackdown is brilliant it just isn't one the same level. For once the top 2 in the UK game chart is a fair representation of quality, when it is usually a depressing barometer of the percentage of chav population in this country.

FF12 is the first Final Fantasy game I've played since the 7th, and have not been disappointed in any respect whatsoever, in fact my expectations have been exceeded. Superb gameplay, great graphics, and easily the greatest music in any game I've ever played (the movie industry would benefit hugely by hiring the composer as it's miles better even than any recent film scores).

I've played countless RPG's since FF7 trying to find the same 'feeling' I got from it, and this is the first time I've actually 'felt' it. Didn't get it in any of the other JRPGs, Oblivion, KOTOR, Fable, or even Zelda.

Only a couple of weeks ago I got a Wii and while I love the console, I was massively disappointed by Zelda. Apart from the motion sensing side, the controls were awful and I absolutely hated the 'auto jump' (died a number of times because I didn't want to jump), annoying save system, and out of date gameplay. I was new to the Zelda franchise and it just wasn't my thing at all.

With this in mind and considering that FF12 came out last year in the US, how the hell did Gears and Zelda:TP get the majority of the Game of the Year gongs up for grabs on the various gaming sites? *looking at you EG*
As a gaming experience FF12 is far better and infinitely more memorable than either of those, or anything else released last year come to think of it, and by a million miles.

Stunning. Hope it stays top for many months to come.

Noticed something interesting yesterday when looking at the Australian PS2 sales charts. Usually we're practically lock-step with the UK charts, but FFXII wasn't at the top of our charts this week. Okami was. Given that I had thought it bombed, that really surprised me.

Well strangely enough i love it, it really doe grab me by the testis and pull ever so gracefully....i think the graphics and the world have cunningly been set out...i nice diverse range of customisation has been implemented...there only flaws i could possibly was gemini summon, scorpio,and the end part of pieces...not much though...and obviously wot has bee lost from all but one king of ffvi is the sense of discovery and ultimate adventure which has never been re done again to date....AND i may add i do not see why there is no reason at all to remake it!...capitalise i'd say square