Final Fantasy XII Comments by Rob Fahey
Nothing lasts... But nothing is lost.
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Poster
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"Nah, western RPGs tend to be pretty standard as well. Doesn't make the jap counterparts any better, though. They tend to be even more on the cliche side of things :P"
And that's why Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest sells a lot more than The Elder Scroll and Heroes of Magic and Might. :P Cliches or not, they're fun... |
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Laserbream
01/11/06 @ 08:57
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I wish the reviewer hadn't mentioned the new Battlestar Galactica - I gave the DVDs back to my friend after watching 5 or 6 episodes because I found it intensely dull. And I don't want to watch Lost because all the hype reminds me of 24, another series that sent me to sleep.
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Eighthours
01/11/06 @ 09:14
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I wish the reviewer hadn't mentioned the new Battlestar Galactica - I gave the DVDs back to my friend after watching 5 or 6 episodes because I found it intensely dull.
Dead inside. Galactica's one of the best shows ever. 10 for FFXII? Bloody hell! |
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HyperShadow
01/11/06 @ 09:25
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Reviewing a Sony Import game? Better check your mailbox for a lawsuit for promoting 'grey imports'. We are Europeans and must wait because it would make Ken cry otherwise.
Still, 10, wow. I'm even more interested in the game now. |
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Laserbream
01/11/06 @ 09:28
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@eighthours - is it? I watched Firely before ever watching an episode of the new BG. All the characters in Firefly are fully fleshed out with complex backstories. With BG it just seemed like they were all pink blobs attached to uniforms, backed up with shallow stories and cliches.
One man's bread and all that... |
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I missed that BSG comment.
I utterly hate the new series. The old one was a cowboy fantasy action series with rubbish reused action sequences and the new one is on one hand a cgi-fest with shakycam footage to make it seem more 'real' but also a soapopera with simplistic and boring relationships between some key characters. |
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" Damn, as good as Oblivion then?!"
lmao Even if both games were alike at all, it wouldn't matter. Even making comparisons - in any way - between the two is completely ridiculous (and this is me not even having played FFXII yet). Final Fantasy is a properly made superb videogame, Oblivion isn't. Eurogamer were silly to rate Oblivion 10... they need to play Morrowind once in a while. Actually giving Oblivion a 10 has brought the websites standards down somewhat, but it's the first time they've rated a game much higher than it deserves (from what I have seen). |
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I can't quite work out the similarity between the storytelling on this and BSG, Lost etc..
the seem in no way related to me. Although I've watched the first 2 seasons of BSG trying to enjoy it i too found it dull. Just doesn't seem to be much happening most of the time. 24 is also 'old' now. Lost i don't understand at all and hate the hype.. but FFXII is great, i love the CGI parts they look amazing, (skips a bit though) the mix of old style with future tech is cool. Theres no shaky cam like BSG, i just don't see what the comparison is. Just wish i had more time to play it. |
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Ok, so I am interested in this game too. But I also hated FFX, mainly because the maps were like corridors, with scripted events along the way. There was no exploration, no chance of ever getting lost, no meaning to the world other than to act as corridors leading you from one cut-scene to another. Also, it was 100% linear.
I've read that FFXII has a world map. Also, that there's lots more sidequests to find and take part in. But is it more open-ended than other Final Fantasy's? Will I be able to explore and actually find interesting stuff? Are there more to the story than longwinded cut-scenes and anime characters talking about emo problems? Actually, I'd settle for non-linearity. |
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I think you hit the nail on the head there mkreku, one of the best things about having a world map was happening upon interesting locations, for me that was a big part about what made FF7 special because the Devs seemed tuned into such an idea.
FFX's complete lack of such an element instantly killed the majority of the appeal for me, then other shortcomings just drove the nails deeper into the coffin. |
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Great review. 10/10 sounds about right and I shall be importing this imediatly.
I've heard that this is plenty of opotunity to explore in this game and that the world map is huge. I think it was in GamesTMs review they mentioned that there was forests and caves etc that didn't need to be explored or even visited as part of the main story, which suggests this game isn't as linear as FFX. Personally though I don't care, I hope there is chance to do loads of things other than the main story, if not I'll buy it anyway. The series has always been must buy and glad to see it still is. |
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homerramone
01/11/06 @ 15:34
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10/10 Yeah right.
So its got Perfect Gameplay Perfect Audio Perfect Graphics And Mega originality. Somewhat dubious of something thats in its 13th incarnation ! (If its not 100% original then surely it should be no more than 9 ?) |
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JediMasterMalik
01/11/06 @ 15:53
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Surely you don't understand that the Final Fantasy series is not a series of sequels and that every game is it's own game completely?
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@homerramone: 10/10 doesn't mean perfect, it means the highest award the reviewer can give it. Meaning the reviewer cannout recomend this enough. Nothing can be perfect in everyway, especially games. So going by your logic nothing warrants a full 10/10 score...which begs the question, why rate things out of ten?
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homerramone
01/11/06 @ 16:39
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>Mr_Brown
I disagree. Surely 10/10 is perfect in the eye of the beholder ? As for bieng perfect in every way, why not ? Best GFX/Gameplay/Audio youve ever seen as well as bieng original. As for the FF series bieng different.. Then they should give em new names (and not sell em on the back of the others - If they are that good then it wont matter) |
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"Extremely linear gameplay"
What's wrong with linear gameplay?! Guess you mean linear storyline. But even then, I'm getting sick and tired of the "linear" bashing. If you want a game with a good story, it's bound to be 'extremely' linear because that simply is the best way to tell a story. Games that allow you to traverse different paths (KOTOR, etc.) are still ‘extremely’ linear, they just have multiple predefined storylines. So, to summarize, there's nothing wrong with linear! ;) |
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As for the FF series bieng different.. Then they should give em new names (and not sell em on the back of the others - If they are that good then it wont matter)
Blasphemy!! What makes a Final Fantasy game into a Final Fantasy game? Each game in the series is set in a new world, with new characters and a re-imagined battle system, but common themes join them together. Over the course of the NES and SNES titles in the series, things like chocobos, moogles, characters called Cid and orphans emerged as key elements which threaded between the various games while latterly - and especially in the PlayStation and PS2 titles - massive production values, high quality rendered video and sweeping orchestral scores also became recognisable elements of the series. |
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We shouldn't forget that the Japanese reportedly love linear gameplay that leads them through a fixed story. That's why games like GTA and Elder Scrolls don't sell well there.
Having said that, I like a bit of off track exploration. The only issue with FFXII seems to be that you can quickly run into more than your match - MMORPG style. |
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True, I suppose perfect is subjective to each reviewer. But I still think even though this game isn't the most original game out there and it doesn't do everything better than everything, it has undoubtly re-defined the RPG genre (especially JRPG genre) I'm guessing that the majority of JRPG's following this will look remarkably similar (battle system etc wise) and rightfully so. So on those merits as RPG's go, this is pretty much the best it gets at the moment.
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Being a big fan of the FF series (excludes X-2) I felt the need to sign up and leave something nice after all this time of just reading what you lot think. I'm glad to see a nice 10/10!!
EG is always a reliable and accurate source although every FF I've played (excludes X-2 ¬_¬) has been 10/10 so i didn't really expect anything less :) |
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Can't begin to express how glad I am with the critical and commercial succes of this game. With all jrpg's following the FF bandwagon, this could mean the end of random encounters and menu driven batllesystems (altho some of those were good, most sucked). Especially the random encounters were a terrible and unneccesary Videogame cliche.
Going the way of MMORPG battlesystems seems cool.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 02/11/06 @ 13:57
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Yes, finally. A couple of years ago I impulsively bought a US PS2 because it was quite cheap and lots of games I wanted were about to come out for it. (and no doubt 6 months later in the UK)
But they all either got delayed, like FFXII or I lost interest. Finally, a use for the brick that's been sitting in my room for 2 years! Ordered! |
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I've just completed this and I completely disagree with this score. The plot is so thin it's quite astounding, the dungeons last about 4 hours each and have so little variety you'll swear you're just revisiting the same one over and over. And who the hell is this Penelo bird and why is she even in the story? To display a gasping animation every 2 minutes?
No way is this a 10/10 game, it's not even this side of 5. Worst FF game ever. It's made me an official ex-Final Fantasy fanboy, which has been a long time coming since the Enix merger. /Glances at his dusty copy of FFVII and weeps. |
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thefilthandthefury
23/02/07 @ 20:33
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Totally agree with this score. Been playing it loads over the last three weeks and it's possibly the best FF to date and easily one of the greatest games of all time.
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cocking cocking cock! if i had to review this game it would recieve a big fat 0, simply because after all of the polish and presentation, they fucking forgot to put in an option to allow you to invert X and Y! cuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnts!!!
/weeps because he can't get the camera to do what he wants, and rather being filled with joy and wonder, is filled with anguish! |
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Useless review for the objective gamer. I'd say if you're the kind of gamer who knew they were going to buy this the moment they read the words 'final fantasy', this review is dedicated to you, written to please your eyes. Anyone who needed to read further had better disregard what they've read and try and play before you buy.
I read very little in the FFX review to prepare me for the horror of that game, and this review appears to be in a similar vein. |
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CitizenGeek
24/02/07 @ 11:04
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Final Fantasy X was a great game - all the critics agree. Eurogamer don't just hand out 10/10s to any game and when they do, they are usuaully right. In this case, they most certainly are. Whatever way you want to put it, Final Fantasy XII is a truly fantastic game.
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hmmm originality? zero!
i'm playing now ffvii. first thing I did was random encounters=0 how can anyone play it with ran encs every 2 seconds??!! how impossibly annoying! after XII or more editions, doesn't it get you know, BORING? was this a review or a hype fest / press release from the developer? |
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CG, what did you think of the story in FFXII? I know im in a minority, but I find that if an RPG doesnt have a compelling story and characters I often lost interest in it. FFXII managed to keep me interested in spite of its story and characters, not because of them. In simpler terms, the characters were naff and the story was dull and peripheral to me. It was fortunate that the combat was executed so superbly or I'd have lost interest.
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SomaticSense
26/02/07 @ 11:30
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"We shouldn't forget that the Japanese reportedly love linear gameplay that leads them through a fixed story. That's why games like GTA and Elder Scrolls don't sell well there. "
GTA always sell over there, it's just that they don't get released until long after the Western release. San Andreas was released not long ago and was way up there in the charts. Besides, GTA has as linear as story as you can get. Anyway, just ordered this. I'm going to save it until I've finished Zelda:TP and Okami (too many mega-hour RPG plots is just going to be confusing to keep track of!!), and am only about 20 hours into each of them, so it might not be a while. Not played an FF game since VII, and it has a lot to live up to, as that game holds a special part in my gaming memories which RPG since has come anywhere near to replicating. Hoping this is just as special. |
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