Final Fantasy XII review (PS2)

[BloodWar]

Ok i know this game has been out a while now but no one has reviewed it yet so ill take up the task . Ok first of all if you are not familiar with the Final Fantasy series get out! just kidding lol, anyway this has to be one of the best games i have ever played.

A little history Final Fantasy was a game developed by a company called "square" as its final game due to money problems square was about to go bankrupt so they developed this last game and called it Final Fantasy as it was supposed to be their last game. How ironic it is that this game ended up being a huge succes and bringing the company back on track. Now although this was supposed to be their final game and most would think they'd end it there they couldnt let a title like this go to waste, So they kept the name in use by declaring every Final Fantasy will be like the final game of a series as the stories will start anew and have no sequel ( hence me hating FF X-2 ).

Anyway here is the review, This game looks fabulous i was amazed the ps2 pulled this off not to mention the huge amount of npcs and large environments i mean i swear some serious vodoo was used in the making of this game. The story is more mature than that of its predesesors although still appropriate for all ages who can play it. The story is based on a War between the Archadian Empire and Rosarian Empire and of course the 2 little countries in the middle. The story has much betrayal and revenge twisted in. Although there are a few very rare emo parts lol its way less than that of its previous titles. All in all the best story in any final fantasy.

Ok the gameplay, I cant believe they changed the battle engine i was so worried given that all the reviews when the demo released said the battle system was stupid and a ender of the series. Now let me explain something this is by far the best battle system a Final Fantasy has ever had. Although at first i though removing random battles was a bad idea i changed my mind after playing the game the monsters chase u if u chose not to attack them which is cool for those noobs who try to rush through the game. The ai is customizable with a system called gambits getting your allies to do what you want them to do and not randomly attack like some other games. Now one thing that i have to admit i disliked in this game was the license board it replaces FFX's sphere grid ( which was perfect ) the license board forces u to learn how to wear an item before u can use it..... I dont know about u but i dont need a license to know how to wear a hat lol. Anyway its easy to get used to and not all bad just no match for the sphere grid. Your new overdrive/limit break is called a quickening it forces u to use your MP so its not always effective. The Summons have returned and are now called Espers. You may remember some of them from the GBA title FF Tactics Advance. Some of the other summons have also returned but as ships.... yes ships made me mad at first but i guess its not that bad. So if u liked Odin,Ifrit,Shiva,Alexander and Bahamut they are all back! as ships..

Ok the music as usual is fabulous, However it was not as great as before as Nobuo Uematsu long time final fantasy music director did not work on it, But all in all its a great soundtrack.

Ok Final Review : This is by far my favorite game for ps2 and one of my favorite all time games if u like rpgs and u have a ps2 get this game. Even if u have a Ps3,Xbox360 and Wii this game is definitly worth the buy it can compete with next-gen titles in gameplay. besides the long story and huge areas of play there are many optional quests and jobs/hunts u can work on to add much more time of gameplay, No game is perfect but this game has come very close.

Final Score : 10/10

[Kenji]

I agree with blood war for the most part excepting that it has the best story of a ff title. It has many good points in the “history back in the hand's of man “concept, and the political interplay and story monologues where fantastic.

However i believe that the title of best story still remains with Final Fantasy 7, the trials that Cloud faced and way the entire story line in a convoluted sense, fix perfectly with all characters and made alot of sense, was better.

[BloodWar]

I dunno i thought VII was overated i liked X and VIII story more than VII i thought it was just the movie that made the story look so great.

[Netizen1]

Wow, let's not get drawn into a debate over which Final Fantasy was the better story, cuz everyone will have a different opinion.

For me, I liked FFVI, FFVIII, FFX, FFVII in that order, which was most influenced by their order of play


As for FFXII, I'm glad someone finally got their hands on it and posted a review. I was a little disillusioned by FFX-2 and the online FFXI. Glad to hear the "Espers" are back, and btw, they were originally referred to as Espers in FFVI

Sounds like they made the battle engine to be similar to MMORPG's

I'll probably get my own for Christmas

[BloodWar]

Oh i havent played VI in years so i cant remember but as for the order u put in which had best stories i agree with everything after VI cuz i cant remember VI but id say for me its FF XII, FF VIII, FFX then lastly VII and i think youd prolly put XII in front to lol .

[TrinireturnofGamez]

  Was considering buy a PS2 for the final fantasies alone... My favourite was FF 6 for the SNES, 7 had better characters and character development , but the whole

 ' Capitan planet , save the world from industrialization!' thing turned me off..
   
 Got halfway through 8 and thats about it for the series...
 
 PS2 emulation is almost complete , with one of the good emulators reaching version 1.0... so i don' think i'll be getting a ps2 anytime soon.

[BloodWar]

PS2 emulation will require a hell of a powerful pc because it takes alot more power to emulate on a pc than to run on a console. About FF VI though was that the one with the robots at the beginning and such or the one with the knights who have the flying ships. I havent played those in so many years woi the memories.

[TrinireturnofGamez]

the one with the robots , i liked the technology/magic fusion scene too .

My pc runs the emulator good   , but it wasn't compatible with the game disk i tried so it barely worked past loading screen , in a few months it should be done . At the very least the final fantasies work

[Nephilim]

PS2 emulation will require a hell of a powerful pc because it takes alot more power to emulate on a pc than to run on a console.

harldy, 7 years ago that was the case but not now, i ran alot of 64 games on the xbox (though most of the not so popular ones look like crap), and the 64 was > powerful than the PS1 and if a xbox can run them the avg joe pc can surely run an emulator for PS1.

had i had access to PS1 games i would have even tried running them with the emu i have for the box

[BloodWar]

not if its configured for the xbox its much easier to configure a game to run on the exact hardware of a console than that of the varying stats of a pc.

[BloodWar]

I just realize this is the first game i have ever given a 10/10 lol but i didnt review FFX i may have given that a 10/10.

[Kenji]

I just noticed not a single person (i think) even mentioned FFIX; i think the kiddy look may turn people off, but once u dive into it, it was decent, and especially funny at times

[BloodWar]

IX was aight i beat it but i dont recall it being all that fun as opposed to VIII,X and XII. VII was aight i never really liked it usually people who say it was the best story are those who saw the movie and like OMG the movie mad so game had best story. FF IX was actually the only one i experimented naming the characters lmao i named the main char stalker, the soldier guy D*ckles cuz D*ckless didnt fit xD and i forgot what i named the chick but it wasnt dagger lmao. Oh i named the black mage squall lol .

[Netizen1]

Played FFIX, but didn't get too far in it, that's why I didn't mention it in my previous post...

It had potential, I'll admit that tho.... will play it over when I get some more free time...

[Cross]

My review.....I would do Fran


I still haven't beaten this game yet but i reached a really long way in it......I hope.....One of the greatest RPGs i've played....plus i would do Fran..

[New Era Outlaw]

To be honest....I never really got into this game. Probably got into a few seconds of it, and then....eh.

[shivadee]

To be honest....I never really got into this game. Probably got into a few seconds of it, and then....eh.

you eh really play an FF game untill you cross 4-5 hours. Play for a while then decide.
Different story for Kindom HEarts...i took a whole weekend....played 14 hours into the game....i couldnt care less about Sora or w/e...his damn keyblade...what it does do....wtf he trying to do with it and who he rescuing. I really tried....started the first KH when the KH2 hype was out, and watched fan vids and zomg'd about it and stuff....all hyped and ready... I honestly tried to like it but i really couldnt. The game was just not my speed

FF VII i thought was a complete overhype. It was what happens when little teenagers who never played FF before have big mouths and go on TV...this is the result. If you try to get someone into final fantasy dont start with this game please. I remember way back on G4TV when they tried to convice people to like genres they dont play. A guy tried to get Laura Foy into FF7 and she said he was very patient...worked on explaining to her what to do for 2 weeks...and she still didnt like it.

1. Although it was the first 3D FF game...it still looks like @ss..

2. Because it looks like @ss you dont want to play it....and the story takes some paying attention to in order to understand....downhill from there.

Doesnt matter what you think or how much you like it...if you cant convey it dont bother. I would have advised to start with FFX..may not be the best FF but very pleasing visually....and its a good way to pull the gamer straight into the game. Especially for those that dont like RPG's. Have to remember...those kinds like their nice graphics....you cant fall short on it.

Now CLoud is a badass..and Sephiroth is a badass...but the story....m e h!!!

Personally I enjoyed FF6 the most...followed closely by FF4.  (Had them as FF2 and FF3 for the SNES when they had come out).  There is always a damn Cid in FF, and now i seeing Wedge in it as a lil peon to get pwnt in the beginning of every one.

[BloodWar]

FF VII i thought was a complete overhype.

Im glad im not the only one who thought this. As for starting with FFX i thought it had the best gameplay aside from XII although its story wasnt as great as its predecesors. I mean the sphere grid was perfect i cant believe the removed it i almost complete license board with everyone in XII and i not really try lmao. It took me a while to complete the sphere grid and it made each characters stats appear very different depending on where they were in the grid.

[shivadee]

They always change the combat system for an FF game, doesnt matter how it works or not....what do they call the monsters now that you summon?
first they were....monsters summoned by Rydia, then espers...then...i forget i loose track.

[BloodWar]

Guardian Force! Aeons! Espers Again! but changing a name aint exactly changing a system lol but i guess they do work a little different