Platinumed the game...

[VraielRev]

Well, I bought this game.  I was gonna stick to it because at first it was kinda cool battling with the Gambit system and it still remained pretty cool.  Some achievements were cool I guess, nothing too bad.  But the last ones.  Bestiary, Magicks, Techniks... wtf.

 

I mean, this game was made for you to buy the Strategy Guide, or go on the internet to chase after whatever you were missing.  But, honestly.  10% chance to spawn chests and monsters, wait 8 mins, or stand in a specific spot.  I mean, how were you even supposed to know that. 

 

I mean, if you wanted to.  You could spend a day trying to get the best bow in the game for all your party members, something I chose to do.  But honestly, an invisible 20% chance to spawn chest and then it was a 1/999 chance the bow would drop?  Ended up having to use the Reks strategy, 88, 97, 90 or 97, 94, 95.  Numbers that will be forever etched into my mind.

 

This game.  I honestly don't know what to think.  I don't understand the plot or if it was anything.  It was a really weak story.  The characters were kinda cool, but not enough interaction with each other, other than cutscenes.

 

I feel like I wasted $30.  Maybe.  All I knew was that I was already 1/2, might as well 100% it.  X4 speed really did wonders.  Thank god for youtubers that had to go through this already, because my god.  This game is something else, and I'm not saying it in a good way. 

 

Well, done and done.  Erased from harddrive.  Hope you guys have fun.  Because in a way, it is fun, but there's so much BS underneath.

[Deadborne]

I actually want to agree with you, to some extent.

I can see why the game might have been great some ten years ago, but there are simply some things that don't stand any more design-wise.
For instance, having the player run to the hunt board, find the contractor, run to the site of the hunt and back to the contractor before going back to the hunt board to get another hunt is just a waste of time. I can't imagine having to do it without 2x or 4x speed. Nowadays, developers understandably want to cut out parts of the game that aren't fun, like that.
 

And while I'm all on board for a Final Fantasy without anime-romance and broody anti-heroes, I also thought some characters were poorly developed, or could have used more fleshing out. There were good moments here and there, but they were altogether scarce. When the game asked me to care about one of the random judges I had seen for a total of 2 minutes, I really couldn't connect. And not for lack of trying.

Nonetheless, the game did something good for the genre, helping phase out of the traditional turn-based combat in favor of more modern formula that would go on to inspire FFXV (for better or for worse.) Not to say the old stuff wasn't good, though. Altogether a 7/10? B-?

[The Moose Knuckler]

16 hours ago, Deadborne said:

I actually want to agree with you, to some extent.

I can see why the game might have been great some ten years ago, but there are simply some things that don't stand any more design-wise.
For instance, having the player run to the hunt board, find the contractor, run to the site of the hunt and back to the contractor before going back to the hunt board to get another hunt is just a waste of time. I can't imagine having to do it without 2x or 4x speed. Nowadays, developers understandably want to cut out parts of the game that aren't fun, like that.
 

And while I'm all on board for a Final Fantasy without anime-romance and broody anti-heroes, I also thought some characters were poorly developed, or could have used more fleshing out. There were good moments here and there, but they were altogether scarce. When the game asked me to care about one of the random judges I had seen for a total of 2 minutes, I really couldn't connect. And not for lack of trying.

Nonetheless, the game did something good for the genre, helping phase out of the traditional turn-based combat in favor of more modern formula that would go on to inspire FFXV (for better or for worse.) Not to say the old stuff wasn't good, though. Altogether a 7/10? B-?

 

How is the hunt board different than any other side quest in any RPG. The hunt board makes it easier by having a set location to find them. Would you have preferred randomly running into everyone to get the hunt missions?

[JNSpradlin]

On 4/8/2018 at 4:01 PM, VraielRev said:

Well, I bought this game.  I was gonna stick to it because at first it was kinda cool battling with the Gambit system and it still remained pretty cool.  Some achievements were cool I guess, nothing too bad.  But the last ones.  Bestiary, Magicks, Techniks... wtf.

 

I mean, this game was made for you to buy the Strategy Guide, or go on the internet to chase after whatever you were missing.  But, honestly.  10% chance to spawn chests and monsters, wait 8 mins, or stand in a specific spot.  I mean, how were you even supposed to know that. 

 

I mean, if you wanted to.  You could spend a day trying to get the best bow in the game for all your party members, something I chose to do.  But honestly, an invisible 20% chance to spawn chest and then it was a 1/999 chance the bow would drop?  Ended up having to use the Reks strategy, 88, 97, 90 or 97, 94, 95.  Numbers that will be forever etched into my mind.

 

This game.  I honestly don't know what to think.  I don't understand the plot or if it was anything.  It was a really weak story.  The characters were kinda cool, but not enough interaction with each other, other than cutscenes.

 

I feel like I wasted $30.  Maybe.  All I knew was that I was already 1/2, might as well 100% it.  X4 speed really did wonders.  Thank god for youtubers that had to go through this already, because my god.  This game is something else, and I'm not saying it in a good way. 

 

Well, done and done.  Erased from harddrive.  Hope you guys have fun.  Because in a way, it is fun, but there's so much BS underneath.

I would stay away from FF games, because this was one of their easier ones.  By far.  I loved every bit of this game and wished there was a direct sequel. 

[Deadborne]

On 4/10/2018 at 11:17 AM, Bahamut3104 said:

 

How is the hunt board different than any other side quest in any RPG. The hunt board makes it easier by having a set location to find them. Would you have preferred randomly running into everyone to get the hunt missions?

Oh no, that would be absolutely awful. But remember: just because it could be worst doesn't mean it's good. Far from it.
To answer your question, here's how it's more annoying:

Typical RPG sidequest:
Talk to questgiver -> Accomplish Quest -> Return to Questgiver (Done)
Huntboard:
Check Huntboard -> Talk to questgiver -> Accomplish Hunt -> Return to Questgiver
The extra step doesn't contribute to the fun of the quest/game. Moreover, the huntboard is not in locations you're going to cross any way. The Witcher 3, for instance, has an excellent example of a questboard done right. You'll pass through town, pick up a few insights from it, and keep going. This is a prime example of modern game design: less padding, more time doing what the player enjoys. And I really don't think anyone strongly enjoys that extra bit of running from point A to the same point B.

 

Of course, I concede that I'm comparing a more than decade old game to a fairly recent one, but the point I'm trying to make is not that FFXII is bad. It's that some elements did not age gracefully at all.

Edited April 13, 2018 by Deadborne
clarity

[The Moose Knuckler]

8 hours ago, Deadborne said:

Oh no, that would be absolutely awful. But remember: just because it could be worst doesn't mean it's good. Far from it.
To answer your question, here's how it's more annoying:

Typical RPG sidequest:
Talk to questgiver -> Accomplish Quest -> Return to Questgiver (Done)
Huntboard:
Check Huntboard -> Talk to questgiver -> Accomplish Hunt -> Return to Questgiver
The extra step doesn't contribute to the fun of the quest/game. Moreover, the huntboard is not in locations you're going to cross any way. The Witcher 3, for instance, has an excellent example of a questboard done right. You'll pass through town, pick up a few insights from it, and keep going. This is a prime example of modern game design: less padding, more time doing what the player enjoys. And I really don't think anyone strongly enjoys that extra bit of running from point A to the same point B.

 

Of course, I concede that I'm comparing a more than decade old game to a fairly recent one, but the point I'm trying to make is not that FFXII is bad. It's that some elements did not age gracefully at all.

 

The only thing I would change about your typical RPG sidequest is:

Find questgiver ->Talk to questgiver -> Accomplish Quest -> Return to Questgiver (Done)

 

A lot of games don't have the luxury of having an icon above people that would give a quest.

[Lance_87]

On 10/4/2018 at 5:58 PM, JNSpradlin said:

I would stay away from FF games, because this was one of their easier ones.  By far.  I loved every bit of this game and wished there was a direct sequel. 

 

Actually, there was... but it was totally different.

 

For the rest... whatever, lol.

[ChaosDivider]

I agree with a lot of the points here. The weakest part of the game is the story IMO. The game doesn't really make you care much about the characters at all as they are not given enough plot developement, it has one of the weakest plots out of all the FF games I have played. This is why this game isn't as highly regarded as some of the others in the series such as 6,7 and 10.

 

But what I loved is the fast paced combat system and the world of Ivalice in general it is much more open than many FF games with many side quests and optional areas to go. I really enjoyed the hunts, optional boss fights and grinding out the better weapons. I found the Platinum a lot of fun to get. This version is of FFXII is very easy though and you really don't need the OP Seitengrat, IMO it spoils some of the enjoyment of the game. The only part that can be a challenge is trial mode level 100 but once you know the strategy it's also very easy.

 

Overall I enjoyed the game a lot and enjoyed getting the Platinum but the weak story means it is not one of my favourite games in the series.

[linkdevivo]

On 4/8/2018 at 4:01 PM, VraielRev said:

This game.  I honestly don't know what to think.  I don't understand the plot or if it was anything.  It was a really weak story.  The characters were kinda cool, but not enough interaction with each other, other than cutscenes.

 

I just bought this game on sale at walmart, i can't wait to get started. I've only heard great things about it. hope you're wrong, buddy.

I made a thread about my adventure to platinum every single player mainline final fantasy in 2018, and i'm thinking of making this game next after FF13 (some hours away from platinum) if anyone is interested:

 

 

[starcrunch061]

10 minutes ago, linkdevivo said:

 

I just bought this game on sale at walmart, i can't wait to get started. I've only heard great things about it. hope you're wrong, buddy.

 

 

You know, I absolutely loved FFXII back in the day, but I feel like it hasn't aged particularly well. The thing it's trying to do with battle has been done so much better so many other times since then. The story is pretty cliche (although I like the writing for the most part). One weird thing is that the characters all sound like they're talking in a microphone. I could accept this for the judges, since they had those big helmets on, but it sounded weird for people like Vaan or Vayne or Balthier. 

 

I don't remember this game feeling so clunky. It's still good, and worth your while, but it feels remarkably dated.

 

On 4/8/2018 at 3:01 PM, VraielRev said:

I mean, if you wanted to.  You could spend a day trying to get the best bow in the game for all your party members, something I chose to do.  But honestly, an invisible 20% chance to spawn chest and then it was a 1/999 chance the bow would drop?  Ended up having to use the Reks strategy, 88, 97, 90 or 97, 94, 95.  Numbers that will be forever etched into my mind.

 

All of that "invisible spawn" weapon stuff is just stupid. I didn't even know about it until I read it online. 

Edited April 13, 2018 by starcrunch061

[Gommes_]

I really, really disliked the game back then

[VraielRev]

I will say that this was one of those games where if you switch to English dialogue, it sounds, better.  They actually tried to give them individual voices.  I really enjoyed that aspect of the game.  It was just, a big grind for me.  I wanted to switch to something else but because I was so adamant on finishing the Plat, it lowered my enjoyement. 

 

It's terribly dated, and it shows, but there's other FF games that don't feel that way.  I mean sure, we all know how FF7 is, but we forgive it because it's just an awesome game.  FF8 had a terrible magic system that I still hate to this day.  Drawing and storing magic is not fun.  Triple Triad made it better.  FFX had a really cool battle system and awesome Techs.  I never tried FF9. 

 

There was just something about FF12 that bothered me.  There was a few fights though that I enjoyed but again like I said.  There's was so much downtime with specific actions that needed to be done that pissed me off.  Like 10% health, or wait 8 mins for a Rare Spawn.  Ah well, if you enjoy FF games you'll love it either way. 

 

I do love RPG's and tolerate JRPG's.  The Star Ocean games I love and hate, and I understand what I'm getting myself into.  With FF12, I wanted to like the characters, but they ended up being very bland.  Which sucks because they had the potential of being memorable. 

[starcrunch061]

On 4/13/2018 at 11:34 AM, Gommes_ said:

I really, really disliked the game back then

 

You know, coming back to this, it is a LOT more annoying than I remember. The Great Crystal is one of the most annoying dungeons I've ever played through.

[Infected Elite]

this fell in the same zone as x2 for me. tried picking it up and continuing a few times and just cant. they haven't aged well Imo. yet the memories from my childhood will stay. maybe one day I'll finish main story but going all the way through hunts espers and yiazmat again, such a slow grind

[fabmorais_2011]

I loved it when I played it back then, but even then some things really annoyed me. I've done almost everything in the game except for the Zodiac Spear (missed it on the pots and couldn't bear to get it in the mines) and the rare monsters. I loved the gambit system, but also felt there was lots of room for improvement. The story stopped making sense for me halfway through and by the time I was fighting the last boss I had absolutely no idea what was going on. That's maybe because I spent so much time doing the hunts before actually finishing the game. I really like FFXII, but it is a time sink and its secrets are impossible to even bump accross them without a guide, which is something I dislike more and more in games as I grow older.

Edited April 20, 2018 by fabmorais_2011

[ShadowReplicant]

I don't know if the massive disappointment that came with the FF XIII "saga" and FF XV had something to do with it, but playing the Zodiac Age made me absolutely fall in love with FF XII (I didn't care for it much in 2006). People will disagree, but I think it has one of the most coherent, mature and well-written stories in the entire series, great worldbuilding and lore, the battle system and character customization/progression is super fun, the amount of stuff to do and monsters to hunt is staggering, the art direction and music are beautiful... it all just felt right. It's probably one of my top three favorite FF games now.

[triplejmzu8]

4 minutes ago, ShadowReplicant said:

I don't know if the massive disappointment that came with the FF XIII "saga" and FF XV had something to do with it, but playing the Zodiac Age made me absolutely fall in love with FF XII (I didn't care for it much in 2006). People will disagree, but I think it has one of the most coherent, mature and well-written stories in the entire series, great worldbuilding and lore, the battle system and character customization/progression is super fun, the amount of stuff to do and monsters to hunt is staggering, the art direction and music are beautiful... it all just felt right. It's probably one of my top three favorite FF games now.

I do absolutely agree. Except for that I already loved FF12 back in 2006/7.

[SquidBaronet]

On 4/8/2018 at 3:01 PM, VraielRev said:

I mean, if you wanted to.  You could spend a day trying to get the best bow in the game for all your party members, something I chose to do.  But honestly, an invisible 20% chance to spawn chest and then it was a 1/999 chance the bow would drop?  Ended up having to use the Reks strategy, 88, 97, 90 or 97, 94, 95.  Numbers that will be forever etched into my mind.

There is actually a more consistent way to get the Seitengrat involving counting Vaan's steps on the deck and watching a kid walk across the deck which is much easier RNG manipulation. I was able to get one Seitengrat this way and it's making the enemies far easier to deal with.

 

 

[Herbalistiikka]

On 5.5.2018 at 8:50 AM, SquidBaronet said:

There is actually a more consistent way to get the Seitengrat involving counting Vaan's steps on the deck and watching a kid walk across the deck which is much easier RNG manipulation. I was able to get one Seitengrat this way and it's making the enemies far easier to deal with

 

 

There's only one really good RNG manipulation guide for Seitengrat and it's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VpFs1O8s9I

This works 100% of the time and takes minutes to set up. All the step counting, second counting in and out checking nonsense is pure waste of time compared to this.

[VraielRev]

On 5/8/2018 at 1:15 PM, Herbalistiikka said:

 

There's only one really good RNG manipulation guide for Seitengrat and it's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VpFs1O8s9I

This works 100% of the time and takes minutes to set up. All the step counting, second counting in and out checking nonsense is pure waste of time compared to this.

 

Yep, that's what I did and it works.  The only thing that sucks is the time it takes for those numbers to appear in that order when healing Rekts, and also if you don't time opening the chest right. 

 

I was glad that I got the bow for all members though, threw a lot of weapons out the window and fight style but I had no regrets once I got them all.

[Lava_Yuki]

FFXII was always one of my favourite FF games since back in the PS2 days, so I loved TZA, but as a long term fan I like all the FFs except XV of course. I got no ultimate weapons at all, but was able to get the plat every easily with just the weapons you can buy and find in chests, like muramasa, yagyu darkblade etc. Didn't do any of the farming or RNG stuff for those super strong weapons, but I did get 3 ribbons, all the genji gear and nihaopaloca needed for trial mode. The ultimate weapons are there for those that want it, but certainly not necessary for anything. 

 

However, if you found this FF a grind/ boring to plat/ difficult to plat, then maybe I'd stay away from FF plats except FFXV which is the only easy one. I've gotten a few FF plats, and XII is one of the easier ones. If I were to rank them in terms of the ones I have so far starting with the hardest/ longest, I would rank them as FFX>XIII>X-2>XII>LR>XIII-2>Type 0>XV. IX is very difficult, probably the hardest one but I have not played it. World of FF is easy but tedious and will probably frustrate you more, same with 13. 

 

Even if you did not enjoy XII, I wouldn't give up on FF as it is the marmite of FFs. For story and characters, I really recommend giving FFX a go, it's one of the best along with VII story-wise (but horribly long and grindy for the plat unfortunately). 

[Herbalistiikka]

On 13.5.2018 at 11:11 AM, VraielRev said:

 

Yep, that's what I did and it works.  The only thing that sucks is the time it takes for those numbers to appear in that order when healing Rekts, and also if you don't time opening the chest right.

I tried the timing methods and only got the chest to spawn once during 50 minutes. Using Reks method it was like 4-5 mins per bow and I only failed the chest opening once so it's still considerably faster.

[SkyMason]

Had a lot of fun with this plat, but I agree with the OP's points. The story is pretty weak, and the completionist stuff in this is a load of BS - the chances to spawn crap in chests is just stupid, no need for it in the game. Also yeah, I liked the story to a point, but the last third of it was pretty disappointing, and yeah - the character interaction is minimal, especially in the second half. Still though, I had a lot of fun "playing" this game. Some of the best boss fights in the series, plus I found the combat system pretty engaging, the ability to fast forward through mobs is a godsend, especially the for the endgame grind.

[VraielRev]

On 5/13/2018 at 1:30 AM, Lava_Yuki said:

FFXII was always one of my favourite FF games since back in the PS2 days, so I loved TZA, but as a long term fan I like all the FFs except XV of course. I got no ultimate weapons at all, but was able to get the plat every easily with just the weapons you can buy and find in chests, like muramasa, yagyu darkblade etc. Didn't do any of the farming or RNG stuff for those super strong weapons, but I did get 3 ribbons, all the genji gear and nihaopaloca needed for trial mode. The ultimate weapons are there for those that want it, but certainly not necessary for anything. 

 

However, if you found this FF a grind/ boring to plat/ difficult to plat, then maybe I'd stay away from FF plats except FFXV which is the only easy one. I've gotten a few FF plats, and XII is one of the easier ones. If I were to rank them in terms of the ones I have so far starting with the hardest/ longest, I would rank them as FFX>XIII>X-2>XII>LR>XIII-2>Type 0>XV. IX is very difficult, probably the hardest one but I have not played it. World of FF is easy but tedious and will probably frustrate you more, same with 13. 

 

Even if you did not enjoy XII, I wouldn't give up on FF as it is the marmite of FFs. For story and characters, I really recommend giving FFX a go, it's one of the best along with VII story-wise (but horribly long and grindy for the plat unfortunately). 

I wanted to reply not quote to you, Sorry for the big wall.

 

I've played FF3, (6 in Japan) and I loved it, one of the first SNES RPG's I got to play alongside with Chrono Trigger.  So that was a memorable experience having 2 great RPG's in the same month.

 

I played FF7 and 8 remains my favorite.  I do enjoy RPG's, and of course playing FF12 brought back those feelings of playing a true RPG despite playing FFX, XIII, 13-2 and so on.  I also like the Star Ocean series.  I have FFXV but haven't started on it. 

 

I didn't mean to say I didn't want to play RPG's because of my experience with 12.  Although I see your point.  During the times when 12 was good, it was good.  Mostly the Gambit system, but later on I just grew frustrated and the tediousness of the game dragged me down.  I just wanted to platinum the game because I just felt I needed to.  I already did so that's done and done, but just wanted to share my experience in case people were trying for the plat.  It's definitely doable if given enough time and with patience, it just might not be enjoyable. 

[Lava_Yuki]

On 17/05/2018 at 11:24 AM, VraielRev said:

I didn't mean to say I didn't want to play RPG's because of my experience with 12.  Although I see your point.  During the times when 12 was good, it was good.  Mostly the Gambit system, but later on I just grew frustrated and the tediousness of the game dragged me down.  I just wanted to platinum the game because I just felt I needed to.  I already did so that's done and done, but just wanted to share my experience in case people were trying for the plat.  It's definitely doable if given enough time and with patience, it just might not be enjoyable. 

I think that was the case with the majority of players, even long term FF fans when 12 first came out on the PS2. Lots of antagonism against the gambit system (and the overly complicated, possibly slightly boring story) and the fact that it was more "action", when back then RPG meant pure turn based. But now with the turn based battles dying out even in Japan, the remake seemed to do much better despite the same gambit system. It took me ages to like the game, same with Lightning Returns where I initially hated it after playing it on release day before shoving to in my shelf for 2 whole years. I only began to love it when I decided to finish all my PS3 games, forced myself to play it and ended up really loving it! 

I guess it can go the opposite way as well, especially with grindy repetitive games. 

 

Judging by the fact that you liked FF3, 7, 8, chrono trigger and Star Ocean, FFXV might be very disappointing for you. However, if you also like Western RPGs like Skyrim, Assassins Creed, Witcher, then XV might not be too bad. But it's certainly not like the traditional JRPG such as older FFs, dragon quest or star ocean. Expect lots of paid DLC, season passe, character episodes etc. all at extra costs.