User reviews

Final Fantasy XII is a really great game with a lot of extras to keep you busy for a long time. The fighting system itself has been overhauled - instead of running into random encounters and being transported to a battle screen, the enemies are on the field and you fight them right there. The system does take some getting used to, especially in the beginning when you only have one person in your party. The system works best later on, when the enemies (and you and your party) are quicker, stronger, and smarter, resulting in fast, amazing battles. Any fan of World of Warcraft or other MMORPGs will adapt to this game in two seconds, as it's basically the same fighting system.

I found the weakest link was the story, which is odd because Final Fantasy is known for great stories. It never felt epic to me, and it didn't feel like the fate of the world was hanging in the balance. It had to do more with politics and war (probably because the head guy of this game was the same guy behind Final Fantasy Tactics, which focused less on fantasy and more on warring kingdoms). Also, while the game advertises Vaan as the main character, it's not really so. It makes you wonder why they didn't just scrap him and go with some other party member as the main character, as there are three others with more "main character" story lines than Vaan. The music is also nothing compared to past games. Finally, the only way to make serious money is by selling the "loot" you find off dead monsters. You will find yourself broke often because everything - weapons, armor, magic, Gambits, technicks, EVERYTHING - costs a lot of money.

But those are actually minor grievances once you start playing the game. The sidequests in this game, mainly hunting Marks, are incredibly fun. There are great bosses, the Judge Magisters are cool and intimidating, the voice acting is superb, the cutscenes are excellent, the graphics push to the PS2 to its limit, there are tons of different weapons and spells, the cities are large and sprawling with life, and Gambits - if you like 'em - can be mastered to perfection.

All in all, a great game and a great addition to the series

Finally I've completed FFXII! Spent 80 hours! Did almost all side-quests, got to level 63.

My biggest problem with FF XII is i was not emotionally involved in the game AT ALL. I was trying to focus on the important cut-scenes but keep finding myself thinking about something else (real life, lol ). Like on the boring lecture in university. Some voices of the characters was emotionless. Thou I've got some "mind"-satisfaction, will explain later. The plot was just weak, characters - underdeveloped. At least FF X-2 had no story at all, and there was nothing to criticize Plus we had FFX background, familiar characters and the last final FMV (which SHOULD be the FIRST intro to the FFX-2, not the last one! Damn it).

But FFXII is not all bad. I liked that they made so many FMVs. After FF8 the number of FMV cut-scenes was down dramatically! They were beautiful. The in-game graphics was also just amazing, few times i was not sure if it is FMV or in-game.

I have a mixed feeling about Gambit battle system. At first i did not like it. I could just run through the battlefield and do nothing else, the basic Attack worked just fine. There was no need for something more complex. And the first bosses. I did not "saw" first bosses, because i could eliminate them with chain of boring quickening without a scratch. But later in game the enemies became more harder, and my gambit tactic - more complex. This is where i've got a lot of fun (mind pleasure) from the game. I just love to plan things. And the quickenings became not so effective against bosses, so i've got to know them too But since i did side-quests and became quite strong, the last chapter of the game was too easy for me. Add the gambit system to the mix and i found myself replying to IM message while my soldiers fought and killed the semi-final bosses. It is bad. No suspense at all. At least in previous FF's i HAD to push SOME buttons

License board. I like it. It was not so hard to earn points (FF8) and not so easy (FF10). Just the right difficulty. And i did use a lot of abilities. This was refreshing after the FFX-2 (usage of strong abilities was POINTLESS, since was learning Points for actions. 3 fires = 3 points, 1 firaga = 1 point, which is more logical to use?) Unfortunately, after some time i've realized, that the most optimal thing to do is to train the characters in a same way (axes and heavy armor), plus some chars could inherit armor from each-other, no need to buy 3 different types of armor if you low on Gil. I've heard it was fixed in FFXII international (different class specialties)

Music. I liked the Rabanastre theme and i HATED lowtown's irritating theme.

Overall, i am really scared about the fate of FFXIII since in my opinion, FFs keep getting worse and worse (plot-wise).

I have been playing this game for about 10 hours. Every minute of this game is worth it, the battle system is fantastic, and I really enjoy the new direction they took the series. The Gambit system is a fine addition to the battles, and it really gives players a lot to choose from when customizing each character for battle.

The license board is also done well, and it kills the sphere grid previously seen in Final Fantasy X. You can customize your characters differently or the same, and you have the freedom to do it, there are no restrictions like in the Sphere Grid.

It's refreshing to play something new from Final Fantasy, and it does not disappoint. The story so far is very interesting, and extremely involving. This is one game, especially in the Final Fantasy series that one will not want to miss.

Currently a little over than 60 hours into the game (with all characters at level 40), I'd say that "Final Fantasy XII" ("FFXII") ranks as perhaps one of the best video games I have ever played (not that I've played a lot).

Maintaining everything from previous installments that contributed to this franchise's incredible success, "FFXII" contains excellent graphics, gameplay and story. The world of Ivalice (particularly the kingdom of Dalmasca) is so meticulously rendered and it's refreshing to see Square Enix going for less traditional Japanese feel here than a faux-Mediterranean one. As a metaphor for the transition to PS3, perhaps? Maybe.

The Kingdom of Dalmasca is at war with the neighboring Kingdom of Archadia, which has since conquered and transformed the former to a state seized by military invasion. The Lady Ashe was then a 17-year old Hume (human) princess mandatorily married to Lord Rasler, who died in battle trying to claim the Nabradia Fortress. Two years later, in a desire to set out for revenge, she unites with street urchin (and playing character for most of the game) Vaan, sky pirate Balthier, the initially enigmatic Basch, the ex-Viera (a race of rabbit-like wood-dwellers) Fran, and the perky Penelo. Together, they embark on a journey across the snowy mountains of Paramina Rift to the white beaches of Phon Coast in an effort to restore peace in Dalmasca.

As with all the narratology of "Final Fantasy" installments, characters are given enough history to give the player a little more connection with them. (I agree with the previous comment of another user that Ashe has the best backstory which is why I often use her as the party leader.) While not necessarily attaining the lofty bars "Final Fantasy VII" and, to some extent, "Final Fantasy X" ("FFX") has reached as far as characters are concerned, "FFXII" more than makes up with a better storyline (the nature of which I understand may reduce the appeal to some) and excellent visuals. Rather than the usual narrative mostly involving otherworldly beings, "FFXII" gears more towards the political realm, even if the Victorian-style dialog feels a bit our of place in some parts (not really a complaint). Music-wise, the score is good although there are certain stretches I half-expect "FFXs"'s battle theme, as well as "Final Fantasy X-2"'s "Yuna's Ballad" and "Eternity of Lightwaves," would play.

Regarding gameplay, the battle system of "FFXII" is similar with "FFXI" in that it uses an active dimension battle (ADB) system, which means battles unfold in real time (yep, no more shattering screens and less victory fanfares). This, along with the gambit system (a set of preordained actions to be performed by each character depending on default and user input) and an ala-sphere grid license board (only much less confined regarding the characters), offer much creativity and flexibility to the part of the player. For instance, with the right gambit, license, weapons and/or armor, a character can both be an effective healer and a decent attacker.

"FFXII" is, needless to say, a great game that should satisfy fans as well as casual gamers alike. Honestly, I think it's a triumph for Square that fits as a nice send-off before the shift to PS3.

Oh, and on a relatively unrelated note, Penelo reminds me of ex-Morning Musume member Nozomi Tsuji. Heh.

There comes a time in a game series' history that you need to overhaul the game engine. For many years, the Final Fantasy series lived on turn-based random battles. However, that style of RPG no longer is popular among many gamers. Many people such as myself prefer the Grandia/Tales Of Symphonia battle engines where you see the enemies and can choose to engage them. Then the battle becomes a battle royale until one side is dead.

When Square-Enix announced that they were going to bring in a Western RPG-style engine, many people were concerned it would hurt the series. Well, once people tried the demo and the critics praised the game all that changed and the game sold massive numbers.

FFXII is a fitting final bow to PS2 role-playing and gives us a glimpse of what the PS3 or the Wii will offer in the future.

The battle engine here is flawless and is better than any Western RPG. Similar to MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XI, your party wanders the land looking for battles to fight. You see the enemies and you can choose to engage them. You can choose real-time where the fighting occurs while you're choosing to attack or use magic or you can have the game pause when faced with a menu screen. The fights go smoothly and relatively quickly. Instead of collecting Gil, you earn items, weapons, medicine and various trinkets that you can sell for Gil. There's the element of Diablo where you can luck out and gain a special item that is more valuable than normal.

The game's other new feature is the License Board. Characters can only equip weapons, armor and use new magicks (of which there are many kinds such as black, white, green, etc.) if they have the license. As you battle and gain experience you will be able to buy licenses and mold your characters. This is a much simpler way than Final Fantasy X's difficult-to-love Sphere Grid.

The Gambit system, which allows you to micromanage your CPU mates, is very good and offers many different options that you can manipulate. Sometimes it can be annoying to constantly change the features as the situation changes but it allows you to not be surprised by any moves the CPU does.

The graphics are outstanding. The cities and towns you visit are alive and there's much to do. There might be a bit too much backtracking to do in Ivalice but you won't mind admiring the scenery. The music is stellar as always, although I did miss hearing the Final Fantasy victory music; only playing at the end of certain boss battles.

The voice-acting is superb, better than Final Fantasy X's. A lot of British accents. The game is an homage to Star Wars with the various characters and non-humans you will meet up with like the Vieras and the Bangaas. The story is superb and flows smoothly. Like Dragon Quest VIII, it's a simple plot that expands as you go through the game.

Where the game really shines is due to the sheer fun of running around and leveling up. Going out to collect new Espers and taking up Montblanc's Hunts are fun because the trip won't feature tedious random battles. You'll look forward to these battles and getting those main characters like Vaan, Balthier and that sexy Viera Fran to Level 99. And of course, there are tons of secrets.

All in all, this is a tremendous game in the Final Fantasy series and one of the best ever made along with FFVI and FFIX. I hope FFXIII will offer more of the same. Once again, along with Okami, FFXII is a fitting final bow to PS2 RPG gaming. This is how you do it, folks.

Do not get me wrong I enjoyed it somewhat seeing as how I am a role playing game fanatic...still I did not enjoy it as much as any of the other Final Fantasy games I have played. I looked forward to this one for so long too, as it took forever for it to be released, but the end result has to many mixed results for my tastes. First the fighting engine, I know they want to cater to us Americans who when a button is pushed an action must be performed, but give me the good old turn based fighting any day of the week. Especially, when I have more than one character to control. That isn't entirely fair though as the fighting has some turn based elements to it...the fighting is exactly the same as Knights of the Old Republic to be honest. It took me a bit to get a handle on it, but in the end it was okay and I was able to totally destroy the final boss of the game. However, to do so I had to level up and level up and level up. I have never spent so much time trying to boost my characters in a FF than I did in this one. I ended up taking at least over twenty hours of my 70 hours of playing time just leveling up. That is too much, you should only be required to level up that much if you just want to beat the extra bosses, not just the regular enemies in the field. Also, be sure to make good use of the gambits as that is how I finally won the game. Magic casting takes forever here too so that can cost you as well. Then it is too long, seventy hours and I did not complete all the extra stuff you could, I mean if I did not have a life or job sure I would love to have a game that long, but not when I am working and stuff. The story is okay as it follows a wannabe pirate named Van (or the Tidus clone) as he helps Princess Ashe (the Yuna clone) regain her kingdom. Accompying them are a former guardsmen, an actual sky pirate and his rabbit eared sidekick and a little gal named Penelo. The story has some interesting elements, but gets to political for my tastes. Also with the time you spend walking places and leveling you forget stuff and characters that will be important later become forgotten as they are not seen for long stretches. I think to myself, "who is he?" and then oh yeah I saw him ten or so hours ago. Also, the whole sky pirate plot is a bit dumb here, as you might as well be walking pirates, because if you don't walk everywhere you will not level up enough to beat anyone. Still the character's are likable enough and the beginning part of the game is rather good, cut some time off of it and it would be great...the layout of the land is excellent though as this world is very detailed.

This game is so incredible. It made such an impression on me when I was younger. This is pure art. The language can be hard to understand but the story is deep. The world is just top tier. Ivalice has my heart.

Understand that this game came out at the end of the Ps2's life cycle. However this means its actually one of the most technically impressive ps2 games ever made. Nobody ever talks about that fact but Final Fantasy 12 has full on dungeons in worlds with multiple monsters and bosses casting gigantic spells while your party meets them in kind. Somehow it keeps up, how? With a lot of motion blur but its good motion blur, it feels the misty nature of the game.

The amount of endgame content is staggering and ultimately you can get a lot out of this game. Taking your time and interfacing with the gambit system is key to enjoying 12.

Again I cannot simply state how FFXII is simply art.

Excellent! Bravo! Best game out there, i'd give it a 20 out of 10.

But this game took me 185 hours to beat! But I completed all of the side quests along with all the optional bosses etc. Probably 1/4 of that 185 hours was storyline.

I still remember the feeling of waiting for the game to come out, staying in my room playing 10 and 8, just thinking and wondering what the game was going to be like, then I got it and was thrown into a world of war and peace and kings and queens. Definitely the Final Fantasy that is apart from the others. You know what I mean FF fans, the other FF games are all corny and crap, then 12 comes in and it's about war and crap, which definitely made it better.

I loved the game play. No more random battles people! Thats a thing of the past man, they had to move on and they did! I was very happy. You could actually see the enemies in ADVANCE! The storyline was well thought out but It could of been better I believe.

Square Enix also had the time to make huge and extremely hard bosses. Take Yiazmat for example. A total of approximately 50 million HP, and doubles his level to level 146 when you almost kill him. Took me 5 hours to beat.

Well there you have it, reasons the game had gotten the best rank of the FInal Fantays series, all in a couple paragraphs.

To be honest, after the disappointment of X-2, i didn't have good feelings about XII, but man was i wrong. As soon as i picked up this game, i could not put it down. The graphics are even better than its predecessors, the plot was very good, and the dialogue wasn't unbearable or cheesy. Not to mention the new battle system, which was very well done because instead of random encounters, you now have the option of fighting the enemies wondering around (with the exception of boss battles). The game also offers a lot to do to keep the players occupied. The hidden bosses, the hunts, completing the sky pirates den (achievements within the game) and even acquiring the best weapons of each class gives the game player plenty to do and very well entertained. For me, it truly revolutionized the style of Final Fantasy (IMO).

This game is definitely an excellent addition to the final fantasy series and is a game that should not be missed by any final fantasy fans.

Rating: 10/10

It seems to come in waves- FF VII and FF X were absolutely amazing. Breathtaking, etc. However FF VIII, IX and XI were increasingly terrible. They were progressively worse. This game was a different sort of bad than I was expecting.

I couldn't stand the skill board. I want to see what's coming and how to progress in the game. I don't want to gain the ability to use a certain weapon, i should either be able to or not (character specific). The worst part about this game was that I beat it thinking there were another good 20 hours coming. I had no idea I was fighting the main boss in the game. I had my suspicions but couldn't understand why- I liked him! Terrible!

Why the six? Well, its Final Fantasy! It's terrible rating is way better than so many other games. The music was great and the battle system was unique. There were gems in the game, but by no means was this game magnificent.

This game just is the highest RPG I have. Next to Kingdom Hearts. The Characters are just great. From Living in Rabanastre, to fighting alongside the princess, the storyline is just way past fantastica!

When I first bought this game, I thought it would be like the last RPG square enix had created. Just picture perfect. The races in the game are excellent.

If you don't have the game, get 50 bucks go to a video game store and get this game, you won't never regret it. I said it before and I'll say it again, This game is just perfect. The gameplay, the story, the characters is perfect. Rock on Square.

This game is simply amazing. The epic story, interesting characters and dynamic battle system always leave me wanting more. The Bestiary system is also a fantastic touch, providing background lore to deepen an already amazing world. Would highly recommend.

To start off let me just say that I have played Final Fantay since its inception on the NES and therefore have seen and played the best and worst of the series. After FF 8 I saw a steady decline in the quality of the FF series 9, although a good game and interesting storyline, no where near matched the quality and grace of 7 or 8 (which btw are the two best in the series to date). FF 10 was a good game and very innovative in its own way with the use of voice actors, but the sphere system was very confusing at first it took too long to understand the how it worked but once it was understood it was a very powerful tool. FF 10-2 was possibly the worst idea I have ever heard of in a Final Fantasy period. FF 11 was a bit better but I did not like the idea of it being and MMORPG.

With that out of the way I move on to FF 12, the much needed revival of the Final Fantasy series. When I first heard of its release I was a bit apprehensive given the lack of quality in the ones preceding it. What convinced me to pick up this game (more than it being a Final Fantasy) was a review of it I saw on X-Play on G4. Now any one who has ever watched the show knows that Adam and Morgan judge games on a scale that is near impossible to get anything above a 3 out of 5, they gave this game a 5 out of 5 so I played it. This game is the revival that I have been longing for in the Final Fantasy series; any gamer who loves the series needs this game. The people at Square Enix decided to get rid of the old random battle sequence (thank God, I was tired of running in to Ruby Dragons in Centra). They instead went with a more live action style of battle system where you see the enemy and can decide to either engage the enemy of you feel you can win or flee with out sustaining any damage. Also new was the Licences system, which I like, it is reminiscent of the sphere system of FF 10 but is much easier to pick up and run with. Another think that I loved about the game was that Yoshitaka Amano is back on with the Final Fantasy crew (Welcome Back!!!). For those who don't know Yoshitaka Amano has been director of character design for all of the Final Fantasy's except for 11 and 10-2 I believe, but he was back on for this one. The movie sequences are beautiful they are the true gem of this game, if you love CGI you'll love this game even more. I like the story line for this one because it is different, which is what the FF series needed, in that it isn't a win or the world ends; it's more political but still very in-depth and interesting as each character has a defined back-story and their own purpose for joining the quest against the empire.

The only think that I really didn't like was in the beginning it seemed like I was just playing a little between movie sequences, but that soon changed and more game time was alloted and less movies.

Over all this is a must have for Final Fantasy fanatics and hard core gamers alike or if you just love awesome games.

I love the Final Fantasy series and have played the majority of them. For me, this is definitely one of the worst of them. The technical accomplishments were quite impressive for the PS2 era - I absolutely give it that. The story and characters however are a huge problem. They are SO boring. There is absolutely nothing relatable about any of them. I feel like they attempt to make a rebels vs. Empire story complex and it ends up feeling so shallow and empty I just could care less. The only theme they begin to touch upon that interested me was loss but it ends up being handled in such a non-special way. I can see the dialogue also being a love or hate thing. I personally hate the overly verbose old English...it made listening to the lines quite a chore. Lastly, the combat. I actually liked the departure from the turn based style. That said, if I didn't have the 4x speed that comes with the Zodiac Age editions, this would have also been mind-numbingly tedious.

Overall, this game offers a few unique combat and technical achievements for its time but for a series full of wonderful and unique stories, this is probably the most boring one. I kept waiting for it to get better but instead I just got to the end and was left frustrated.

I am going to keep this sweet. I have played every single Final Fantasy game this includes spin offs such as dirge of Cerberus and Ergheiz anything by square really heck I even played the Bouncer and Vagrant Story.

As a hardcore final fantasy fan I was excited when I heard 12 was coming out I remember going out that week and buying it for 60$. I took the game home popped it in my PS2 and was amazed by the graphics and the story that was happening. Then the combat system started and at first it wasn't so bad it was just a huge leap from what Final Fantasy games were before. As I played more and more the battle system seemed to need me less and less to the point where i could set the controller down and go get food or read a book and I would be leveling up.

The problem, with the game is not the story itself by the characters in it. In the beginning I was interested in the characters but as the game went on I learned less and less and noticed that these were flat characters so much to the point where I could not stand playing any more. I gave up the game 3/4 of the way through because I could not connect with the characters.

This is not a bad game its just not a great one. lets Hope FFXIII/Versus is better.

Starting Final Fantasy 12 The Zodiac Age recently it seemed that the game would have an epic political based plot. However, within a few hours, the plot just seems to go nowhere. This wasn't a straight drop as there were times it seemed like it was headed somewhere but the air was slowly let out of the balloon not long after. I got 30 hours in and just couldn't take the lame plot anymore. The character development was terrible as well. A good example would be Vaan and how he harbored a grudge against Basch because he believes that Basch killed his brother Reks. However, it doesn't take long for this to be resolved simply by Basch telling Vaan this rather than showing him. This was incredibly lazy storytelling and gives some former titles with lazy plot twists like 8 and it's ophanage plot twist and 9 and Necron appearing out of nowhere as I presume the mastermind behind everything a run for their money. I didn't buy this at all and moments like these that happened throughout the time I played sucked any potential emotional engagement and interest out of the story. The orphanage plot twist of 8 while extremely contrived seemed less bad by comparison as it was at least somewhat foreshadowed by Irvine and his hesitancy in shooting Edea although a plot twist like Necron was still inexcusable. The supposed political intrigue people claim this game has is a severely misguided notion. It may throw around flowery dialogue between high ranking members of the Empire but it's mainly hot air and in reality they're just a stereotypical power hungry empire seeking more power and not much more. This would've been fine if these talks had interest but compared to 7 and Shinra and 10 and Yevon these talks were confusing and vapid. The game looks good for it's time and has a good soundtrack but these don't compensate for a weak plot , lousy character development, crap auto battle combat (13's Paradigm predecessor) and too much style over substance. I decided to replay 10 recently for probably at least the 7th time to experience a meaningful story and endearing characters.