OFFICIAL Final Fantasy XII thread

[Roufuss]

I found a kick-ass leveling spot. Don't worry, I'm keeping spoilers to a minimum. When you get to Lhusu Mines, on the 4th "area", these skeleton enemies keep respawning. You can clear out like 40 of them before they are gone for good. Then you just move back two areas, and return, and they will have re-spawned.

1) It took me about an hour to level from 10 to 18 so its easy and very quick. Basically as you cross this bridge, skeletons keep rising from the ground. You fight like 3 at a time, for a total of 15 or so. When you get to the end of the bridge, just turn around, and they come back. After clearing about 40 of them, they no longer respawn, so you have to go back 2 areas then return and they will have "respawned."

2) Since the skeletons are all the same type of enemy, killing them gives you chains. I've chained like 100 enemy kills so after my 40th kill, they were dropping real valuable loot. By the time I finished leveling up, I had about 70,000 gil. You know how in the beginning of the game money was so hard to come by? I've bought all the best weapons, 50 of every potion and item, all the gambits, all the magic, and I still have about 30,000 gil. You need to chain to get the valuable stuff though.

Maybe I did someone wrong... I did this at the very beginning while you're escorting lawson or whoever and it took me about an hour to go from 10 to 12, and I got my chains up to 100 and the skeletons were still just dropping dark stones and bone fragments and that's it.

What am I doing wrong?

[Rei no Otaku]

I'm sure someone like Rei can explain them alot better than I can, so I'll just let him do it whenever he shows up online :lol:

Basacially Quickenings are the ticket to huge amounts of damage... my characters are starting to fall into roles now that I'm having them go after different quickenings on the board (since only one person can get any specific quickening).
Sorry, was enjoying my brand new 360 XD

Quickenings are how you do the most damage. Here's how it works.

When you select a quickening you'll notice in the lower right there's an option with a button to the left of it. The option consists of two things. Either another quickening or a mist charge. Mist charge completely fills your MP back up, and if you select another quickening you can chain them.

So lets say you only have 1 quickening on Ashe. You set it off, and you see mist charge and you hit triangle. Bam, full mp. Now hit R2 until you see Ashe's name pop up, and hit triangle again. Bam, she does it again. Repeat for however long you can keep it up. When you get multiple characters with quickenings then you can start some massive chains.

Also don't worry, there's enough quickenings on the board for every character to learn 3. My best advice here is to get them as soon as possible. Because the second one for each character DOUBLES THAT CHARACTER'S MP, AND THE THIRD TRIPLES IT. This will be a huge help.

[Moxio]

I have a question: exactly how hard-pressed are you for gil throughout this game? I'm assuming it gets easier as you go on and then eventually there's some Gil exploit leaving you set for the rest of the game (a la previous FF's).

I've heard things are tough and you'll be scraping the bottom of the barrel for most of the game... major suckage?

Oh hmmm good question. I'd like to know as well.

<_<

>_>

*head explodes*

[Rei no Otaku]

Oh hmmm good question. I'd like to know as well.

<_<

>_>

*head explodes*
I'll put it this way. You're going to have to farm. You're not going to get enough money by just going through the game.

[Zen Davis]

Dude, the horse monsters underneath Ozmone are absolutely butt-raping me. Is there something I need to do to get past them because it feels like I've hit an impasse?

[Moxio]

I'll put it this way. You're going to have to farm. You're not going to get enough money by just going through the game.

Ah man what a ripoff. Oh well.

[62t]

For people that has the collector's edtion: Once you open it up does it has a copy of the regular edition?

[Rei no Otaku]

For people that has the collector's edtion: Once you open it up does it has a copy of the regular edition?
I don't get what you mean.

[Ziv]

For people that has the collector's edtion: Once you open it up does it has a copy of the regular edition?

The label is different, but the content is most likely the same.

[62t]

I don't get what you mean.
i need to know does it have a different case inside. I ordered a collector's edition, but i brought a regular edition. I need to know if i can return the copy inside the collector's edition with the regular ed. recipt.

[willardhaven]

No, it's not like RE, the case is a case, not a case within a case.

[62t]

No, it's not like RE, the case is a case, not a case within a case.
so it is safe to open the regular edition that I got?

[Kayden]

so it is safe to open the regular edition that I got?

:wall: You're asking if you can open the regular edition you got in the place of the CE?

If you want to pay $10 extra for it, by all means. :roll:

[62t]

Let me put it this way, when I open the CE, I should have another sealed copy of the regular edition?

[Kendro]

Maybe I did someone wrong... I did this at the very beginning while you're escorting lawson or whoever and it took me about an hour to go from 10 to 12, and I got my chains up to 100 and the skeletons were still just dropping dark stones and bone fragments and that's it.

What am I doing wrong?

It might be that your characters are weaker, hence, your taking longer to kill them. Things were definately speeding up for me when I hit level 12. Not to mention that all of my characters were melee and all of their License Points were used in raising power and attack, so they were pretty powerful for their levels.

FYI, once you get 99 Bone Fragments, it's good to head back into town and sell them because I think 99 is the cap, and anymore you get just gets wasted. 99 Bone Fragments sold as loot gets around 15,000 gil, so if you buy new weapons that may help.

Oh and getting massive chains like 100 don't give you more experience. The benefit of high chains is enemies drop more valuable goods (in this case, Bone Fragments which sell for 140 gil compared to Dark Stones which sell for 30 gil).

[CAG 79]

The CE is just like the RE4 Premium Edition case or the Mortal Kombat Armaggedon Kollector's Edition case. It is a metal case with the two discs inside. The discs are also labeled Collector's Edition and they have different artwork than the regular edition.

http://www.ebgames.com/gs/ffxii/ffxii_casedetail.jpg

[Kendro]

Let me put it this way, when I open the CE, I should have another sealed copy of the regular edition?

What the hell?

[Roufuss]

It might be that your characters are weaker, hence, your taking longer to kill them. Things were definately speeding up for me when I hit level 12. Not to mention that all of my characters were melee and all of their License Points were used in raising power and attack, so they were pretty powerful for their levels.

FYI, once you get 99 Bone Fragments, it's good to head back into town and sell them because I think 99 is the cap, and anymore you get just gets wasted. 99 Bone Fragments sold as loot gets around 15,000 gil, so if you buy new weapons that may help.

Oh and getting massive chains like 100 don't give you more experience. The benefit of high chains is enemies drop more valuable goods (in this case, Bone Fragments which sell for 140 gil compared to Dark Stones which sell for 30 gil).

Oh ok, gotcha, I thought after initally reading your first post on this that past 40 chained kills they would start dropping something OTHER than bone fragments and dark stones.

I might have to go back and do it again.. I just killed Cluckatrice, that was pretty tough.

[willardhaven]

Let me put it this way, when I open the CE, I should have another sealed copy of the regular edition?

NO!

[fmarxnge]

Does anyone know if I can get the 20% off the guide if I buy it in stores or is it an online thing only?

[spoo]

Does anyone know if I can get the 20% off the guide if I buy it in stores or is it an online thing only?
It works B&M also.

[MSI Magus]

Ok...im wondering if im opening the wrong chest for demons bane. Iv opened the one I think it is like 10x and yet to get it. Its at the bottom of a series of stairs surronded by red flans right?

[Kendro]

Correct. There is a 70% chance a chest will appear, and a 75% chance that it will contain gil or an item. So basically you have a 25% chance of getting the sword in that 70% chance there is a chest. It took me like 15 tries to get 4 Demonsbanes, though I recommend it because I'm 2 hours from where you are and it is getting ASS HARD. If it weren't for those Demonsbanes...

I swear, this is the first FF game in a long time where I fear some of the bosses, and I'm using Potions like they were Gatorade in a marathon. I can't tell if this is "normal" difficulty and that I was just "pussy-whipped" from FFX.

[Rozz]

Bah, the characters are really boring and I dont like the combat system in FF XII #-o

[fmarxnge]

YES YES YES....after trading in 4 crappy PS2 games, my total came out to be 74.67 for the Collector's guide and game.

And I got Ashe on the cover! Damn am I psyched....I knew I had good luck but this is too good.

Now to enjoy this game I have been waiting oh so long to play

[BREVITY]

Dam I didnt know about Quickenings till last night (I dont have the guide and stay away from FAQs unless I really need them) so when I found out about it I started working toward them. Well today I found out the hard way about only one player being able to have them. I was taking Fran and Vaan toward the same one. Fran won and Vaan got to backtrack and waste loads of LP. DAM DAM

Ok this optional Deamon Wall is kicking my ass. I cant seem to beat him b4 time runs out. I am all done with the place but for this one guy and I want that sword big time so I am stuck for a bit. Stupid moving walls!

[Kayden]

Dam I didnt know about Quickenings till last night (I dont have the guide and stay away from FAQs unless I really need them) so when I found out about it I started working toward them. Well today I found out the hard way about only one player being able to have them. I was taking Fran and Vaan toward the same one. Fran won and Vaan got to backtrack and waste loads of LP. DAM DAM

Ok this optional Deamon Wall is kicking my ass. I cant seem to beat him b4 time runs out. I am all done with the place but for this one guy and I want that sword big time so I am stuck for a bit. Stupid moving walls!

Yeah, he is a bastard. Hes got about 20k hp where the second one only has 10. I think the bridge for him is shorter too. You're best off doing a quickening, then use charge and then an ether and go for it again.

My first one only hit for about 5k, but the second one hit for about 12, so I just beat the piss outta him and hoped I didn't get squooshed.

When I went up against the second one, I was expecting it to be just as hard. I opened up with a quickening that I managed to chain to 10 and he was dead. :lol: It was weird though, because I did it all with Vaan. Ashe just wouldn't get a mist charge, so I wound up with a 10 hit quickening from Vaan alone. :bouncy:

[Kayden]

Just got my demonsbane as I was opening this thread to bitch about not getting it. :lol:

wooohoooo 2 in a row. :bouncy:

[BREVITY]

Christ!
I cant believe this button timing, I just about suck ass at it. Fucking hit it missed seeing what button it called got a time out. Tried again with Ash, seen it and hit like X then X then R2 then... what nothing... where... what oh there X. Bahh too late. Next person Vann [] then [] then R2 then oh wait I see it X, then X, then it goes to God mode speed where the lame need not apply and I miss it time and again, I am just to nervous or something, I need a break.
FFXII > My ability to hit a fucking button on time. CHRIST!

[Moxio]

Wow, finally got my game. Got to the Nomadic tribe and I'm loving this game so far, even though I haven't done anything yet.

[BREVITY]

Fran has some wicked bad Silence right now. I tried Vox and Echo potions and they all say miss when they hit her. I am worried its a bug cus I dropped like 10 on her and none worked.

[TrenoV]

What accessory do you have on her? Might have an item thats fubar'ing your magic.

[whoknows]

Either this game is too hard or I'm not at a high enough level. I'm at:

Leviathan. I just barely beat the two judges and the other soldiers with them. I get Ashe and run to back to where I start where I have to fight that other Judge and his soldiers. I've tried like...5 times and I can't win...maybe I shouldn't have been so lazy in leveling up. I think my characters are around level 12 or so...is that too low or do I just suck?

[pimpinc333]

Either this game is too hard or I'm not at a high enough level. I'm at:

Leviathan. I just barely beat the two judges and the other soldiers with them. I get Ashe and run to back to where I start where I have to fight that other Judge and his soldiers. I've tried like...5 times and I can't win...maybe I shouldn't have been so lazy in leveling up. I think my characters are around level 12 or so...is that too low or do I just suck?

You should be fine. Do you have your gambits and such set? Also kill the other guys first the concentrate on the judge.

[Kendro]

Fran has some wicked bad Silence right now. I tried Vox and Echo potions and they all say miss when they hit her. I am worried its a bug cus I dropped like 10 on her and none worked.

Un-equip the Nethicite accessory that is causing her Silence. I too, bugged the fuck out thinking it was a glitch at first.

[Moxio]

Is there any other way to powerlevel besides that stupid Fish way? IF they give ~360 each time and Vaan wants 1500 EXP to level up, I don't want to spend 1.5 hours raping fish to get to level 15. I might just try to "master" quickening and try my luck with the dino.

Right now I'm solo with Vaan, 7.

[BREVITY]

Un-equip the Nethicite accessory that is causing her Silence. I too, bugged the fuck out thinking it was a glitch at first.

God I wish I had asked sooner I feel like a goober. Seeing Silence that day that I equiped it I thought I got that spell not that it would hoodoo me.



Question: I beat that dam optional wall and then ran right out and saved. Then I came back in and hit the switch and opened up the two hidden bridges. But after looking all around in the hidden areas... I cant find that dam chest. I checked gfaqs with no luck. Help.

[Kendro]

The chest appears in the middle where both stairs on each side meet in the middle (the area with like 20 Flans). There is like a 25% chance that a chest will not appear. Keep re-loading your saves to get the sword.

[TrenoV]

Necrohol of Nabudis can blow me, that place sucks. High 50s and it was tough as hell.

[Kayden]

Either this game is too hard or I'm not at a high enough level. I'm at:

Leviathan. I just barely beat the two judges and the other soldiers with them. I get Ashe and run to back to where I start where I have to fight that other Judge and his soldiers. I've tried like...5 times and I can't win...maybe I shouldn't have been so lazy in leveling up. I think my characters are around level 12 or so...is that too low or do I just suck?

just sit in one of the hallways, guys will pour at you. Then just chain them, get lewtz, fall back to sell and heal, repeat until you rapzor.

[BREVITY]

Anyone here tried or trying to get DEATHBRINGER? I am reading about it over at GFAQs http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/final_fantasy_xii_b.txt
Sounds awesome.

[infamyRISE]

I finally understand Quickenings. These things are almost too powerful.

[Kayden]

I finally understand Quickenings. These things are almost too powerful.Considering they're mostly luck and the harder mobs have 30k+ life... Sometimes they don't feel strong enough. I've done a level 1 chain of 7 for cataclysm and it only did like 8k. I did a level 2 chain of 2 for 4k. The damage seems exceptionally random.

[hohez]

I finally understand Quickenings. These things are almost too powerful.

I agree, these things are very very powerful. I have all with at least 2, and when the boss has 9600HP and my first attack(quickening chain) does 9k. Well, needless to say it has gotten easier.

[BREVITY]

4 Demonsbanes later I am through with this area. Tnx for the help, I cant believe I got 4 that fast. I am actually going to lvl in here just a bit more so I can get eveyone enough LP to equip them.

[Roufuss]

I agree, these things are very very powerful. I have all with at least 2, and when the boss has 9600HP and my first attack(quickening chain) does 9k. Well, needless to say it has gotten easier.

Yep... I took down Judge Ghis AND Nidhogg in one shot of quickenings.

[Kayden]

4 Demonsbanes later I am through with this area. Tnx for the help, I cant believe I got 4 that fast. I am actually going to lvl in here just a bit more so I can get eveyone enough LP to equip them.

If you just wanna get LP fast, you're better off going to the Dalmasca Estersands and just one shotting everyone. You get like 2 Exp, but still 1 whole LP.

[BREVITY]

With the gambits it like if something doesnt work in a battle or if something doesnt happen period that I think should, I blame myself and not the computer AI. I just reload my save and retool my plan/gambits/spells or whatever. I played that fucking Deamon Wall like 20 times and that tape worm in the mines about the same.

Anyways even though I know most AI is set up like this for you but with the same basic ideas I still think this system would port well to many other game. I just love the fact that I decide whats important to me. Stealing > killing it fast. Most of the time this is an example where I may differ from other players. So I like that I myself can make that call.

I went back to the mines for two hunts, the tape worm and something else I wont say. But I cleaned up there ex was ok near 100 everytime and I got 1LP everytime. I went back and used all my cash to get everyone Gold Armor and such. I am in love with this game. I ended up not sleeping last night and just played this all night. I will crash later.

[keithp]

Bah, the characters are really boring and I dont like the combat system in FF XII #-o

I think you're in the minority here.

How many hours in the game are you?

I've gotta say, I'm digging the battle system! And the character-development doesn't bother me, I'm liking the story too.

[Kayden]

Is anyone else really not happy with the guide? I've found it to be a huge pain in the ass. Not only are something flat out wrong/missing, but its also just plain inconvienent. Nothing in the fucking book is alphabatized! Can you tell me what order the rare mobs are in? Items are aranged by license, magic by LP cost... WHAT THE FUCK?!

I sent this letter the BradyGames to be ignored. Does anyone have like a corporate/important email for them? Or even snail mail? Thats how much I hate this game. I am willing to actually write a letter.


*********************************

I'm writting this letter in reguards to the Final Fantasy XII guide. I've noticed several errors, inconsistancies and inconviences.

On page 231 alone there are atleast 5 errors. There are places where they make references to other parts of the book that literally say "(See page ???)". When the guide is 350 pages, page ??? is pretty hard to find. This occurs FOUR TIMES on a single page. One of these also says "(See the "Ferryman Missing" side quest on page ???.)" Not only is there no page given to find the quest, but the quest "Ferryman Missing" isn't even in the book! After much searching, reading and playing, I found that the quest in the book is actually called "Cactaur Family".

Theres an area of the game that is open to you right away, but none of the storyline takes place there. This means that the map for it is tucked away in the back of the book on 240. Its not critical, so its not a huge deal, but evenstill, the map is wrong. It doesn't show where to areas connect nor the fact that two other areas actually aren't connected in the game. The map is associated with a quest and refers to locations on the map by name, yet doesn't label them on the map! It doesn't show a line through the area to the targets or even a simple dot showing the location.

As you're playing through the game sidequests open up after some events, but the guide doesn't say "Ok, nows a good time to take on these side quests on page ???." If you don't keep an eye on the sidequest section, you can shoot right by them.

Theres a mechanic in the game called Chaining. While the guide does a pretty good job of telling you about the bonuses of the chain levels, it doesn't show you how to distinguish between the different levels of the chain or what all the different text colors mean. Your chain counter can be: Blue, Red, Green, White and Blinking. Yet none of this is even mentioned in the book. I've gathered it has something to do with hunting rare monsters--Which brings me to my next points.

In the different zones of the game, there are 'rare monsters'. To get these monsters to appear you have to meet certain conditions and be in a special location in the particular zone. However, the guide doesn't tell you anything about them other than their base stats- Things that do you no good if you can't even find the monster, and if you're using the guide, you can't.

The rare monsters, as well as the entire bestiary, are in no discernable order. I've gathered that the weaker monsters are grouped by the areas they appear in and those groups are arranged chronologically in relation to the storyline. Then it lists Espers, Marks, Elite Marks, Bosses and Humaniods. Each of the subsequent categories have seemingly no arrangement. Every monster is numbered in the bestiary, however, this number is not listed anywhere else in the guide where the corresponding monster shows up. Why wan't the bestiary made alphabetical? There is no functional reason for the current arrangement other than to waste time.

Which is another issue I have with the guide; of the hundreds of items in the game and dozens of lists in the guide, only one list is alphabetical- and its not even a useful one! All of the weapons, armors, helms, magics and accessories in the guide are arranged by license. This does no one any good. You use the guide because you wat to find out more about an item. This would mean you probably don't know much about the item. Ergo, you probably don't know which license the item in question falls into! Wereas, if you just sortes the tables alphabetically, you'd know that "sash" should be inbetween "Sage's Ring" and "Steel Poleyms". Instead, its between "Amber Armlet" and "Argyle Armlet" because Sages Ring and Amber armlet are usable with license 6 and Argyle Armlet is 7.

The listing for Bazzar items is even less useful. They're apparently sorted by the order you can unlock them, but again, if you haven't unlocked it, you have no idea where it would be in the list (even if you did, you'd have to look it up ingame to know where to look in the book).

Technicks and Magics and Augments are all sorted by their cost in LP. Again, what good does that do anyone!? If you're trying to look up a skill, you probably don't know what it is, much less what it costs! Alphabatize!

Then theres a whole page dedicated to one use items. Theres about 30 items on the page and all the descriptions are ripped word-for-word out of the game. "Dark Mote- A mote containing the power of Dark." Why not just say "Dark Mote- Casts Dark on one enemy." We buy the guide to be helpful, not to give you money to rip off the same cryptic crap in the game.

All in all, this guide is hands down, the worst arranged, least helpful, most aggravating guide I've ever bought. I would have brought it back to the store as its hardly worth $10, let alone $30, but GameStop doesn't take back open items. I just thought you may like some feedback.

[Kendro]

I concur, the battle system isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Now that I have my Gambits set, laziness has consumed me. My team steals an item, heals when needed, and rapes every enemy without me doing anything except pointing the analog stick to get in range of the enemy. Make me wonder if I can get a Gambit that will make my lead character automaticaly run to the enemy so I could reach lazy nirvana.

Also got a GREAT accessory that doubles my LP. I have 600 LP just sitting their for each of my characters (have already maxed out Power stats for fighters and Magic stats for mages. Probably going to have to overlap job classes which will make all my characters "equal."

[Roufuss]

Wow... thanks for that, I guess I'll just pass on this guide then.

[BREVITY]

Wow... thanks for that, I guess I'll just pass on this guide then.
Ditto!

[Roufuss]

Is there any way to get exp for the 3 people not fighting? I'm getting sick of having to keep swapping people just to keep their levels about equal...

[Moxio]

Man, why are Quickenings so hard for me? Right now I've got 2 for Vaan (no one else) and I hold R2 and just MASH /\ like crazy but I can sometimes get only one, most I've gotten is only 3 (+ inferno)

Wtf $$$$az?

[robbart914]

Wow... thanks for that, I guess I'll just pass on this guide then.

I concur. I'm not too happy with the Faqs myself, but I recall not liking the guide an awful lot. I sold it cuz I got a Vaan, and I was going to go back and pick up one with the Fran or Ashe, or pass altogether and get the regular edition since its dirt cheap (and I didn't care too much for the artbook), but I'm still hesitating.

What little I saw of the Strategy Guide didn't look all that organized. The Faqs obviously lack the pictures, but at least you have a Find option there. With the guide the info was scattered and sparse, and I really wish they'd make indices for these things. I recall looking at the final weapons, seeing the required loot, then looking up the monsters, some of which dealt with special conditions.

The game's a bit of a mess to try and organize anyway, but the guide didn't seem all that great, and because of it, I'm pretty torn about whether bothering with the LE, just buying a regular, or passing altogether.

[Roufuss]

Man... to the person who said quickenings were overpowered, you're absolutely right. I can now add the Garuda to the list of bosses I've killed in the first 15 seconds of fighting them.

I'm almost hoping that they start tacking on the HP to these bosses, like Kayden said... I'm getting kind of bored moping the floor with them ;)

[robbart914]

Man, why are Quickenings so hard for me? Right now I've got 2 for Vaan (no one else) and I hold R2 and just MASH /\ like crazy but I can sometimes get only one, most I've gotten is only 3 (+ inferno)

Wtf $$$$az?

Multiple people and bars help significantly. With Mist Knacks, you take the number of full sp bars you have. If you have three quickenings, start up the chain, and use a level one, if you land on a level one or two you can pull a consecutive one. You've used one of three bars, thus you have two left, and the only thing you could land on that will screw you is a level three.

Should you ever hit an "charge", you get all your sp back to use on quickenings. Thus, if you hit a level 3, you're depleted. But a level 1 or 2, and you could possibly get another hit in before requiring a charge again.

So basically, the tactics are to have multiple characters at once. Why? More odds one of your characters gets a charge each turn. The easiest tactic up to your controll is pretty simple. When hgihlighted multiple characters come up, if one of them has charge as an option, mash that one. Other than that, if you can keep track of who still has sp bars left, that'd be good, because that would be the button to mash like crazy as you shuffle if noone comes up highlighted.

I usually just shuffle once or twice instead of mashing, but then, I've not got past twenty myself. But the gist of it all is to give priority to charges, and have as many different people with quickenings as possible to have a better option of hitting those charges (3 times the odds of a single member).

[robbart914]

Is there any way to get exp for the 3 people not fighting? I'm getting sick of having to keep swapping people just to keep their levels about equal...

No. Though there is the "Embroidered Tippet" that let's you double gained experience. I've found that it's best to let a character or two get skewed upward anyway. Makes clearing things out or level grinding easier when one of the characters is a total tank.

[robbart914]

I concur, the battle system isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Now that I have my Gambits set, laziness has consumed me. My team steals an item, heals when needed, and rapes every enemy without me doing anything except pointing the analog stick to get in range of the enemy. Make me wonder if I can get a Gambit that will make my lead character automaticaly run to the enemy so I could reach lazy nirvana.

Also got a GREAT accessory that doubles my LP. I have 600 LP just sitting their for each of my characters (have already maxed out Power stats for fighters and Magic stats for mages. Probably going to have to overlap job classes which will make all my characters "equal."

Might I recommend Esuna and Cure spells then? I also recommend every character fill up the slots southwest of the strating point on the top boards. HP boosts, strength boosts, and magic boosts for all.

[BREVITY]

Just finnished getting 4 Deamonsbanes last night and spent this morning getting the key for Deathbringer. I had so much fun getting the key alone (felt totaly like FFXI or WOW stuff from when I played those) that I thought I would cut and paste the two parts of getting that stuff here from FAQs so that anyone who wanted to could find them ez and it really is loads of fun, I killed a few NMs just trying to get it all done. Also I had to run through N. East Del. avoiding agro like old MMO days which was hard but rewarding.






***************Spoiler of sorts******************************


DEATHBRINGER

here goes. After the tomb of raithwall, when you get your first esper. you must first get the barheim key to get back into the mine. copy and paste this link. then hold Ctrl+F and type barheim into the blank and search till you find "back to barheim passage". I give all credit to "sephirosuy" as this is the link to his guide. ***************POSTED BELOW*********

http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/final_fantasy_xii_b.txt

after you get the barheim key go back into the mines and follow the path till you get to the teleport crystal(orange). save your game. now go down/ south a screen. your camera should be behind you, now follow the bending tracks to the right, with the camera behind you take the left when the tracks split again.

Now when your in the next area haul a** untill you pass the admantiose, keep going deeper in untill you see a rock on the right side of the tracks. on the far side of that rock there will be a vase. if there are 2 vases one of them being silver examine it. if its not there leave and re-enter or restart your game from the save.

Let it chase you all the way to the entrance that way no other mobs will attack you. Set all your gambits to steal, the deathbringer sword is the only thing you can steal from it, so it may take several tries. If you are low on health exit that area and reheal with MAGICS not the save point. turn right around, go back into the area and it will still be there.

You can steal as many as you like, they sell for 16000 a piece. And at level 30 they do about 1300-1400 dmg a hit. plus instantly killing some enemies.

credit: goldeneye86





7a. Side Quest / Mini-Game
7a-3. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
O---------------------------O ------------------------------------------------
-O Back to Barheim Passage O
O---------------------------O [btbp]

After events in Barheim Passage, you can return to this from other entrance in
Dalmasca Eastersand. Reason for return is because of Barheim Passage is related
to certain side quests and esper/summon, as well as some great treasures.
All you need is the Barheim Key. To get Barheim Key:

- Clear Flower Saboten and Nidhog Mob Hunt missions (rank E), so you should
have Python's Scaled Skin.
- After got your reward of Flower Saboten mission from Dantro (your client),
talk to him again.
- Now go to South of Nebra River where you can find the Dalmasca Eastersand
Gate Crystal. Talk to Dantro's wife to get Thousand Needles (treasure).
- Leave and return this area, talk to the people near the river and the boy
named Chiguri, then choose first option in the dialogue to go North of
Nebra River.
- Talk to Chiguri for some events, then will back to South site.
- Now speak with Dantro's wife again, then search behind her camp for the
red flower, examine it, a flower saboten will follow you.
- Speak with the boy, Chiguri to go North site again.
- Get close to the giant flower saboten, watch a scene.

- Now back to South of Nebra River and talk to Dantro's Wife.
- Search the left side near the river can see a shinning thing there, check it
to pick up the Sem Shell. Pass it to Dantro's wife.
- Return to the small camp section and talk to Dantro again. Same place, find
the boxes in the central, check the jars there for Nebrarin, pass it to
Dantro's Wife also.
- Move to Northern most section of Dalmasca Eastersand, find the flowers in
the valley. One of them is in the middle of the section, beside the rock
which you can push down. Examine it to get The Drip Of Valley Flower.
- Back to South of River and talk to Dantro's Wife, also pass the
Python's Scaled Skin to her.
- Leave here for awhile and return, talk to the Traveller Under Recovery,
she's behind the camp where Dantro's Wife by, she will gives you Barheim Key.

From the Dalmasca Eastersand Gate Crystal, go South, then turn to South-East,
there is a small area, use your Barheim Key to unlock that door can back to
Barheim Passage now.

_____________
/ \
= Translation =
\_____________/

NPC
-----
- Chiguri = ƒ`ƒOƒŠ
- Dantro = ƒ_ƒ“ƒgƒ�
- Dantro's Wife = ƒ_ƒ“ƒgƒ�‚Ì�È
- Traveller Under Recovery = ‰ñ•œ‚µ‚½—·�l

Item/Treaure
--------------
- Nebrarin = ƒlƒuƒ‰ƒŠƒ“
- Python's Scaled Skin = ‘åŽÖ‚Ì�U‚¯Šk
- Sem Shell = ƒZƒ€ŠL‚ÌŠLŠk
- The Drip Of Valley Flower = ’JŠÔ‚̉Ԃ̂µ‚¸‚

Posted this too since it was good that I got 4 of these.
DEMONSBANE

1) beat the first demon wall in Raithwall's tomb.

2) save you game

3) go down the secret stairs, open chest, reset if is not demonsbane

you can get this multiple times

[Moxio]

About what level do you get this Demonsbane and Beathbringer? Right now I'm lvl 13, just left Barheim for first time.

[BREVITY]

I think with the right gear and some Quickenings you can get Demonsbane at your lvl. You really just got to beat that wall, when I was going back for the additional swords I did Fleeing all the way in check the chest and back out w/o fighting if there was a sword. I could have fought but I did not want to waste time since I knew I was getting many. On the Deathbringer I know you can get that key already but I dont know about the next part since I have yet to start it my self. I bet your good though. There is no lvl requirement for these weapons in this game.

[TrenoV]

Is there any way to get exp for the 3 people not fighting? I'm getting sick of having to keep swapping people just to keep their levels about equal...
No, people not fighting do get LP at least though.

[Moxio]

I think with the right gear and some Quickenings you can get Demonsbane at your lvl. You really just got to beat that wall, when I was going back for the additional swords I did Fleeing all the way in check the chest and back out w/o fighting if there was a sword. I could have fought but I did not want to waste time since I knew I was getting many. On the Deathbringer I know you can get that key already but I dont know about the next part since I have yet to start it my self. I bet your good though. There is no lvl requirement for these weapons in this game.

cool. so where exactly is this place? I'm still in Rabanastre...

[Kendro]

Might I recommend Esuna and Cure spells then? I also recommend every character fill up the slots southwest of the strating point on the top boards. HP boosts, strength boosts, and magic boosts for all.
All my Melee fighters have strength/HP augments maxed. All my Mages have magic augments maxed (didn't License all magic yet because I didn't get every magic yet). Plus every character regardless of Job Class has all useful White Magic.

If you guys are having trouble leveling up, this is what I did. I have 2 groups of three.

Group A consists of Vaan (fighter), Basch (fighter), and Fran (mage).

Group B consists of Ashe (fighter), Penelo (fighter), and Balthier (mage).

Right now, all characters are level 30. So when Group A gets to level 33, I switch to Group B till they get to level 33, and switch. Since both groups are pretty much the same, and no group is inherently better than the other, I have no preference in using either group. Which means it is not a pain in the ass to level "stragglers" because the only changes I make is the entire group and not the individual characters.

[Kendro]

Nice trick BREVITY, before advancing the storyline, I'm going to go for that Deathbringer. Your saying I can steal unlimited swords at once? What's the catch? Does that enemy kill you in one shot?

[robbart914]

Nice trick BREVITY, before advancing the storyline, I'm going to go for that Deathbringer. Your saying I can steal unlimited swords at once? What's the catch? Does that enemy kill you in one shot?


Not all at once. Just once actually. But he reappears, so you can save your game when you get one, reboot, and continually try. Either way, he doesn't appear all that often, so expect to be sacrificing a little of your time. well worth it though. Don't even have to bother killing the thing. Attach some thiefs cuffs if you got em and go nuts. The steal rate is still not all that high, and he is pretty tough for a normie, but other than that, no catch.

Just be cautious of the other bad guys, as they are tougher and can put a hurting on you if you're low level. Personally, I'm still using the sword, so its worth it. Pretty much as good as you're gonna get until you go after the ultimate weapons.

[Starky27]

Is anyone else really not happy with the guide? I've found it to be a huge pain in the ass. Not only are something flat out wrong/missing, but its also just plain inconvienent. Nothing in the fucking book is alphabatized! Can you tell me what order the rare mobs are in? Items are aranged by license, magic by LP cost.
Eh, I'm fine with the guide. All the lists (except Loot) are arranged how they are displayed in the game and most are short enough that scanning them isn't that big of a hassle. I agree that referring to monster numbers in other places of the walkthrough portion would be helpful as sometimes, there's monsters you'll run into that aren't 'local' to that area. Overall though, using it as a companion piece to what's shown/listed in the game is fine with me. Also, for the rare monsters, pg. 244. It's a side-quest but I think everything you need is shown there...

[Kayden]

Eh, I'm fine with the guide. All the lists (except Loot) are arranged how they are displayed in the game and most are short enough that scanning them isn't that big of a hassle. I agree that referring to monster numbers in other places of the walkthrough portion would be helpful as sometimes, there's monsters you'll run into that aren't 'local' to that area. Overall though, using it as a companion piece to what's shown/listed in the game is fine with me. Also, for the rare monsters, pg. 244. It's a side-quest but I think everything you need is shown there...

That only shows 30 of them for a quest. I want to know about all of them.

[King]

I recently opened a chest in the game that I wasn't supposed to (place where you get you stuff back), and I was wondering if it's worth it to reset just for the Zodiac Spear.

[Moxio]

Well I'm finally at Lhusu mines. Avg level 15/16

[robbart914]

I recently opened a chest in the game that I wasn't supposed to (place where you get you stuff back), and I was wondering if it's worth it to reset just for the Zodiac Spear.

You sure don't need it to beat the game. But if you decide you want the most kick ass spear at the end of the game, you'll be kicking yourself as you run in and out of the room about a hundred times.

[Roufuss]

Woot, another boss has fallen to the mighty Quickenings!

[Moxio]

You sure don't need it to beat the game. But if you decide you want the most kick ass spear at the end of the game, you'll be kicking yourself as you run in and out of the room about a hundred times.

More than a hundred. Remember, it's 1/1000.

[willardhaven]

All this talk of chests reminds me of X, when I opened all the chests to get 99 warp spheres, and then reset the game because I was just messing around in the dungeon.

Then I found out that my chances of doing that again are quite slim.

[Roufuss]

That was easy... just beat the first Demon Wall thanks to quickenings, on my first try... only level 17 for everyone.

I reeeeally hope this game gets alot harder... these quickenings are like an "I win" button.

[Moxio]

That was easy... just beat the first Demon Wall thanks to quickenings, on my first try... only level 17 for everyone.

I reeeeally hope this game gets alot harder... these quickenings are like an "I win" button.

Level 17, huh?

I'm 15/16 at Lhusu... how far am I? I'm really loving this game so far.

Battle system = awesome
Gambits = awesome
Graphics = awesome
Sound = awesome

I really don't know why people don't like this game, but whatever.

[Roufuss]

I beat the first demon wall, but I'm not seeing a hidden passage... wtf am I doing wrong?

Nevermind, found it on GameFAQ's.

[TrenoV]

Game doesn't really get that hard, can't 1 shot stuff with quickenings after awhile. The hunts and sidequest stuff past 35 or so are very fun and challenging though. Edited cuz I just didnt make sense.

[Roufuss]

The game gets a lot harder, but you can still cheese it, just not with quickenings. The hunts later on get INSANE. I haven't ran into a lot of difficulty with the story stuff though, just the sidequest stuff that can be difficult.

Good... so far it's so easy to abuse quickenings.

For everyone who dosen't know, only ONE person needs a full bar to start a quickening, and the rest can STILL chain into that person's quickening.

What I do is have my party of three, they do a quickening, then after that I sub someone else in and start a quickening, then sub in someone else, and then sub in the last person.

I can effectively get off four quickening chainings in one battle.

[TrenoV]

The hunts later on are my main drive, the story is pretty cool but its just not difficult. When the hunts have over 200k hp and can 1 shot you quite a bit its interesting.

[King]

You sure don't need it to beat the game. But if you decide you want the most kick ass spear at the end of the game, you'll be kicking yourself as you run in and out of the room about a hundred times.

Wait so can I just keep exiting and entering a room until a chest appears?

[robbart914]

Wait so can I just keep exiting and entering a room until a chest appears?

I think with that one you can just run in and out of the room, but me personally, I just save at the orange save crystal close by, go to the chests, and if it's not there, reboot the game. It's like start and square, about as much time as hauling ass out of the room, and I'd rather not take the chance that my chance at it isn't resetting.

[Starky27]

Wait so can I just keep exiting and entering a room until a chest appears?
Yep, moving two screens away triggers the ememies and chests to respawn. One of the useful things about the guide is it shows the spawn/item % charts for the chests, so there's a certain % that a chest will appear and then a certain % of what will be inside said chest.

[Chrono72090]

I got two demonbane's earlier today, huzzah!

[Roufuss]

it opens a passage way to a chest which 25% of the time contains a Demonsbane, a sword which at that time is very powerful (does 59 attack compared to the best weapon you can buy at the time - 35 attack).


Actually, this is a bit wrong... the Demonsbane has a 59 attack, yes, but the merchant outside of Raithwall sells an Iron Hammer which has a 53 attack (or at least that's what Basch has while using it).

The Demonsbane is still good, I got one of them and that's good enough for me.

What license does it take to use it...? Nevermind, it's in Swords 3.

By the way, is it just me, or is black magic useless? I haven't found myself casting a black magic spell once.

[Kendro]

True, but I find the Hammer weapons to be too unpredictable.

As for the Deathbringers, WOW...took me 2 hours to get 4 Deathbringers (doesn't include the time completing the mini side-quest to "trigger" it). Can't say it was fun. From my account, the "chest" only appeared 1 out of 10 times (ie. re-loading a save will test your patience), and it took me an average of 25 steals to actually steal the Deathbringer.

Completely worth it though, my characters are doing 1500 damage, and killing Level 38 enemies in 2 swipes (I'm level 27 so it makes for fast and easy leveling up).

[Roufuss]

I'm going to have to do that.

I haven't found myself using magic at all in this game... I'm about 20 hours in and really haven't fired a spell once unless it was Cure / Cura / Raise. Magic used to be this awesome force in every other FF, here I am just ignoring it for the most part =/

I don't even buy Black / Arcane magic spells since my people are more than good enough to handle them physically.

[TrenoV]

There are some bosses that throw up physical immunity barriers that you cant dispel, so try not to make black magic an after thought.

[martin8me]

Ummm does anyone know if FFXII is still going for $40 at CC?

[Setzer]

Anyone interested in trading LE guides? I got the Ashe cover and would prefer to have Balthier or Fran. If interested, shoot me a PM.

[Rei no Otaku]

Anyone interested in trading LE guides? I got the Ashe cover and would prefer to have Balthier or Fran. If interested, shoot me a PM.
How about a Panelo? *wants the Ashe cover*

[whoknows]

Ummm does anyone know if FFXII is still going for $40 at CC?
I was there today and it was marked at $37.99, not sure if it's still that price though because the new ad is out.

[keithp]

Ok stupid question time. Or maybe not.

How the hell do you switch Party leaders? If Vaan gets KO'd it asks me to pick a new leader, so I do, but then after I raise Vaan I can't figure out how to switch him back to be the leader again!

Manual was no help. ??

[robbart914]

Ok stupid question time. Or maybe not.

How the hell do you switch Party leaders? If Vaan gets KO'd it asks me to pick a new leader, so I do, but then after I raise Vaan I can't figure out how to switch him back to be the leader again!

Manual was no help. ??

Yeah, agro messes up switching on the option screen. Turns out there's a much, MUCH easier way anyway.

Try using the thumb pad. I'm totally serious. I wanted to kick myself too.

[Thongsy]

Press up or down on the d-pad. I found the manual and guide to be of little help. I'm disappointed in many guides being release lately.

I'm at the first demon wall, and I'm having a tough time killing it. My guys are all around lvl 20. Should I just skip it or go level up a bit more? It's really annoying me, I've tried to kill it like six times now.

:D I got the Balthier cover, I wanted Ashe at first, but I like the cool gun sky pirate. At least I didn't get Vaan or Panelo, those were the only two I didn't want.

[robbart914]

Press up or down on the d-pad. I found the manual and guide to be of little help. I'm disappointed in many guides being release lately.

I'm at the first demon wall, and I'm having a tough time killing it. My guys are all around lvl 20. Should I just skip it or go level up a bit more? It's really annoying me, I've tried to kill it like six times now.

:D I got the Balthier cover, I wanted Ashe at first, but I like the cool gun sky pirate. At least I didn't get Vaan or Panelo, those were the only two I didn't want.

I got vaan. Sold it. Could go back and buy another with the chicks since I helped out the GS guy (picked up guide early and tthen hey handed me an extra one when picking up the game and getting my 20%, I walked back in and handed it right back to them). But I'm kind of sick of the whole LE mentality, and didn't see the guide as very useful. If I did, I'd probably just buy the reg anyway. Decent shot of all the chars, and I didn't care for the artbook, plus its super cheap.

As for the wall, I had trouble as well, but I'd recommend taking it out before you leave the place. If you want to finish, fine, but definitely take it out before finishing and leaving past the crystal. And make sure and get yourself one of the Demonsbane swords along the path it opens. Took me twenty tries, but its probably worth it. Best thing you'll see for a while. I came back 5-10 hours into the game later, had a hell of a time getting it, and still wound up using it enough to probably warrant the hassle.

Best tactic against that wall is mist knack. I should've learned how to master it earlier. Instead, I wound up coming back 5-10 hours later and berserking my characters. Mist knack, sub in a character, and do it again. Learn to abuse that while you can. It's not quite so helpful for the last third of the game.

[soliddragon]

Party setup question.

Im like 7 hours in (taking my time) just got through the part with the Mother Mimic. I'm kinda lost as to which way to setup (spending License Points) my peeps. Anyone have any setups they'd like to share.

I'm a little afraid to waste my points on unecessary Lps and need em later on in the game.

Right now I've got Vaan leaning towards being a fighter (swords, heavy armor, etc.) The rabbit chick is doing Black Magic, and Im at a loss as to what to do with Balthier.

HELPO!

[Roufuss]

Party setup question.

Im like 7 hours in (taking my time) just got through the part with the Mother Mimic. I'm kinda lost as to which way to setup (spending License Points) my peeps. Anyone have any setups they'd like to share.

I'm a little afraid to waste my points on unecessary Lps and need em later on in the game.

Right now I've got Vaan leaning towards being a fighter (swords, heavy armor, etc.) The rabbit chick is doing Black Magic, and Im at a loss as to what to do with Balthier.

HELPO!

Have everyone go for their quickenings ASAP, and they'll evolve into natural roles over time. Class roles are non important in the face of quickenings.

I'm at level 18 and I've got all three quickenings for everyone minus Penelo and this game is a breeze.

And don't worry about LP, it's extremely easy to get and extremely easy to farm.

[Kendro]

I concur, getting the maximum amount of Quickenings > stat boosts like HP and strength early in the game. I made the mistake of increasing everyone's stats early in the game which made boss fights tolerable since my characters were powerful. But powerful characters = 3 minute boss fight. Quickenings = 30 second boss fight (5 seconds if you take out animations).

BTW, at this point in the game (30 hours in with second most powerful sword equipped on every fighter), I do A LOT more damage from normal attacks than Quickenings. Quickenings aren't as useful later, so enjoy them immensely while you are still early in the game.

[moe11888]

For the people that got the Art Collection bonus at BB, was there a DVD that came with it?

[BREVITY]

I got a Deathbringer first try but I opted to wait for another. I am at such a low lvl
18 at the highest that the dude was one shotting me and it took several PD's and Raises to even keep my boys alive to get the dam thing. I loved it, was a blast, though I do wish this was like FFXI and I had some Sneak/Invis/Deodorize to cast.

Since I was a long time FFXI player I have found it natural to use loads of magic just as I would have in FFXI. In fact I would catagorize my people as all being very Redmage-ish in that they are good melee and quite good with a mix of healing and black magics. I bet most people are this way.

I personally have wasted the hell out of LP because of the nefarious means in which I got my copy of this game near the first weeks of Oct I had no guide book on how those were used and I didnt use gfaqs much so let me tell you they are easy to come by and before long you can fill in every spot you could possibly want.

These hunts remind me so much of Monster Hunt (big supris ya?! lol) but boy are they fun. In FFXI I would spend days and hours and hours a week hunting NMs. I would lose a claim and wait wait patiently and lose again but the payoff was huge if I got some things I wanted. These remind me so much of NM hunting too. Its just a really fun side of the game that they have these hunts and NM type mobs. On my way to do a hunt in the Sandsea last night I got caught up in a NM hunt/sidequest thing I had no clue existed. It cuased me to go to bed nearly two hours late... dragging today. This game brings back loads of great FFXI memories.

[Kendro]

Lucky, wish I got my copy early October. I've put in nearly 30 hours into this game hoping I would beat it before Gears of War, but that ain't happening. Do you know the earliest we can obtain a "Double Experience" accessory? I heard one exists and I am hesitant to level until I get it. And yes, LP is very easy to come by. I have about 1000 LP for each character and have no need to use them yet so they sit there.

[TrenoV]

You can get double xp bracers once you get to Old Archades, its kinda far into the game

[Kendro]

So much for my original plan to specialize each character. Every one of my fighters are pretty much identical and both my mages, Fran and Balthier are similar with the exception of Fran knowing both black and white magic, and Balthier only knowing white.

http://img159.imagevenue.com/loc384/th_54646_IMG_0234_122_384lo.JPG (http://img159.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=54646_IMG_0234_122_384lo.JPG)

[TrenoV]

Beat it after 70 hours, my main gripe is how everyone will pretty much end up the same and the damn randomness of treasures! If i see another knot of rust I'm gonna snap! Really wish they'd have each character with special abilities like final fantasy 3 or something.

[keithp]

So since you've beat it already, how would you rate the game now, overall? Also, you have plans to replay?

[TrenoV]

I might replay it during a lull time of year, I really really loved this game. Characters and story were great, so was the gameplay. I wish they would do what VP 2 did and have bosses scale, because they just didnt seem very difficult IMO. Sidequest stuff towards the end was fun, except on getting the uber weapons which just wasn't worth it. I got a couple but farming over and over for rare drops just is not fun.

License board was a welcome change to me because I didnt like the sphere grid, but they should allow special abilities for each character to make them truly unique. Towards the end game each character will end up the same, not much you can do, also the different armors seemed like a non issue. I tried them all out multiple times but heavy armor just seemed so much better in any case.

I'd agree with most scores and put it in the high 9's. I hope they stay with the current battle system and just tweek it, because I loved how smooth it was without getting the annoying random battle swirls on the screen and more possible load time. Oh and nerf shields.

[Moxio]

Heh. I don't know why people give Demon Wall 1 such a rap... I beat it pretty easily. Now I have to keep trying for that stupid sword.

[willardhaven]

I just started and I'm having a blast, I can't even progress because I'm enjoying hunting monsters and upgrading skills/equipment.

[Ender]

Beat it after 70 hours, my main gripe is how everyone will pretty much end up the same and the damn randomness of treasures! If i see another knot of rust I'm gonna snap! Really wish they'd have each character with special abilities like final fantasy 3 or something.

My God. The game came out a week ago tomorrow. That means you played the game more than 10 hours a day. That is altogether admirable and pathetic.

[TrenoV]

Heh I used a weeks vacation since it was gonna dissolve by the end of the year anyway, didn't have anything better to do.

[Kendro]

I thought I was being hardcore. Logged in 40 hours in 7 days and my eyes are bleeding. I'm taking a break from this game (yeah right).

[Kayden]

My CE Guide is up for trade.... :roll:

[Kayden]

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/images/061105.jpg
:rofl:

[Moxio]

I'm level 23, on my way to Bur-Iscase (sP)

[JEKKI]

man, how are u supposed to level up in this game???

I am clocked in like, 25 hours, and all my characters are level 20.

I am on the part after u visit the village of those mask guys, and Larsa joins your party.

I can continue on w/ the game, but there's this cave full of horsies, and an esper too I believe,

but they all kicked my ass hardcore!

I spent like an hour beating those horsies one by one, but they keep on respawning!

I got ganged up by 2 of them, while I was deep in the cave!

I tried to run out the cave to reheal but all the respawns chased me, and I lost an hour's worth of play!

I wish I had some better magic, but the stores dont sell it!

[TrenoV]

You should skip the cave, it's way out of your level range.

[Moxio]

man, how are u supposed to level up in this game???

I am clocked in like, 25 hours, and all my characters are level 20.

I am on the part after u visit the village of those mask guys, and Larsa joins your party.

I can continue on w/ the game, but there's this cave full of horsies, and an esper too I believe,

but they all kicked my ass hardcore!

I spent like an hour beating those horsies one by one, but they keep on respawning!

I got ganged up by 2 of them, while I was deep in the cave!

I tried to run out the cave to reheal but all the respawns chased me, and I lost an hour's worth of play!

I wish I had some better magic, but the stores dont sell it!

Whoa, 25 hours? I think I'm at 18 or so and I'm at the same place.

But seriously, you can't handle that cave yet. I found out the hard way.

[assasin4hire]

I think I'm going to have to agree with MSI Magus here. I'm about 15 hours in and nothing about this game has gave me the impression that it deserves the scores and the hype that it has been getting. As of right now I would probably give it an 8. I also really hate Vaan as the lead character, it should've been Balthier instead. When are we going to get some more manly lead characters in FF games? Someone that is old enough to have a beard and doesn't look like a homo.

Your right on, but not Balthier he's like Auron a side- man who knows everything, but the same could go for Basch. The main character should have been Ashe, Vaan is honestly a waste of a character im about 22 hours in and i'm still lost on what purpose Vaan has in this game.
Baltheir- wants to become a rich mother fucker
Fran- I dont know much about her either but she hasn't said much yet
Ashe- Wants to get back her rightful place of leader of Dalmassca and destroy the Imperial Army
Penelo- ???? i'm lost with her too, shes really just tagging along with Vaan

[MrSneis]

This is BS, it seems everyone and their grandma's can beat the "optional wall boss" NO PROBLEM except for me. I even busted out as much quickening action as I could given my level of LP's, WTF gives? Why is my brady guide so useless? Grrr.....

[Thongsy]

It took me like ten times, even when I got at least one quickening for everybody, those depend a lot on luck. Try to get all your guys at least one quickening and you should be able to perform four quickening combos by switching guys in and out.

[whoknows]

I just started playing again after taking a break for a couple of days due to school stuff and I'm at level 13 I think and I can't even make it through the desert. I'm pathetic, I think I should level up :lol:

[Purple Flames]

What the hell is up with the fact that there are NO SAVES POINTS in this game? I just started out in the desert and was wandering around killing shit for about 45 minutes and never once saw a save point. I was doing fine, leveling up and buying new licenses, when all of a sudden this big-ass ball of energy that's like lvl 45 comes and kills my entire party. All that hard work down the shitter just because I couldn't save my progress.

It's shit like that that makes me quit games partway through.

[Roufuss]

What the hell is up with the fact that there are NO SAVES POINTS in this game? I just started out in the desert and was wandering around killing shit for about 45 minutes and never once saw a save point. I was doing fine, leveling up and buying new licenses, when all of a sudden this big-ass ball of energy that's like lvl 45 comes and kills my entire party. All that hard work down the shitter just because I couldn't save my progress.

It's shit like that that makes me quit games partway through.

Yea, I don't play FFXII very often now because the damn save points are spread so far apart, it's a huge pain in the ass... I have to devote an hour or two to one gaming session and that's hard to do unless its a weekend.

[spidey]

This is BS, it seems everyone and their grandma's can beat the "optional wall boss" NO PROBLEM except for me. I even busted out as much quickening action as I could given my level of LP's, WTF gives? Why is my brady guide so useless? Grrr.....

If it's that much trouble, I wouldn't even bother. It took me about three tries and killed it with only Quicking Chains. I had a string of luck with a 9 Chain.

The only thing you get from beating the optional wall is a *chance* to get the Demonsbane sword. The guide makes it seem like the odds are pretty good to get the sword. Boy were they wrong. It took me about 2 hours of resetting my PS2 and reloading the savegame to get the damn sword. 70% chance that the chest will appear, more like 50%. Was it worth it? Granted the sword is pretty powerful at that stage in the game, I still don't think it really was worth it. Too much time wasted. You can buy it later on in the game anyway.

[Kayden]

What the hell is up with the fact that there are NO SAVES POINTS in this game? I just started out in the desert and was wandering around killing shit for about 45 minutes and never once saw a save point. I was doing fine, leveling up and buying new licenses, when all of a sudden this big-ass ball of energy that's like lvl 45 comes and kills my entire party. All that hard work down the shitter just because I couldn't save my progress.

It's shit like that that makes me quit games partway through.

There aren't any saves in the fighting areas. Saves are the blue crystals in towns. They're also generally at the begining of every dungeon and just before the boss.

[MrSneis]

If it's that much trouble, I wouldn't even bother. It took me about three tries and killed it with only Quicking Chains. I had a string of luck with a 9 Chain.

The only thing you get from beating the optional wall is a *chance* to get the Demonsbane sword. The guide makes it seem like the odds are pretty good to get the sword. Boy were they wrong. It took me about 2 hours of resetting my PS2 and reloading the savegame to get the damn sword. 70% chance that the chest will appear, more like 50%. Was it worth it? Granted the sword is pretty powerful at that stage in the game, I still don't think it really was worth it. Too much time wasted. You can buy it later on in the game anyway.


THANKS for the advice! I'm so frustrated that I can't beat the damn wall; everyone makes it seem like its such an easy task but I bet these are the same kids that dont have much else to do but school and play video games:)

[Kendro]

What the hell is up with the fact that there are NO SAVES POINTS in this game? I just started out in the desert and was wandering around killing shit for about 45 minutes and never once saw a save point. I was doing fine, leveling up and buying new licenses, when all of a sudden this big-ass ball of energy that's like lvl 45 comes and kills my entire party. All that hard work down the shitter just because I couldn't save my progress.

It's shit like that that makes me quit games partway through.

Your in the Sandsea area aren't you? That HUGE freaking area? I was cursing to myself the entire time I was exploring that area. Needlessly huge. And that big flame thing nearly killed my entire party. I had to haul ass to save my 2 hours of exploring and leveling.

[Moxio]

Wow, when I hear you guys talk about how hard the game is I think the opposite: it's pretty easy. The only time I've really died was against the Saurian with Vaan alone and than once (due to foolish mistake of blowing all my MP and thus couldn't use Quickenings) against the Demon Wall.

I mean, I haven't even died when trying to get the Deathbringer, which involves me going into a room with ~level 40 monsters that can do 800 damage in one hit and an Adamantitan that has thousands of HP.


26//Post-Ehruyt

[Ecofreak]

It took me about 2 hours of resetting my PS2 and reloading the savegame to get the damn sword.

You don't have to physically reset the game, you know. Just hit "Start" and then (I think) Square to go back to the main menu. It's just like resetting the PS2 only using 1/10 the time. Picked up two Demonbane swords in about 45 minutes. I"m sure it's also a lot easier on the PS2 itself.

[Kendro]

This game's camera has offically fucked with my mind. I can't even play Gears of War without making my character go ass backwards. Once I complete this game and it's crap camera, only then am I going to play GoW.

[spidey]

You don't have to physically reset the game, you know. Just hit "Start" and then (I think) Square to go back to the main menu. It's just like resetting the PS2 only using 1/10 the time. Picked up two Demonbane swords in about 45 minutes. I"m sure it's also a lot easier on the PS2 itself.

Damn, never paid attention to the pause menu. I don't think I ever used it. Too late for that now.

[Kayden]

This game's camera has offically fucked with my mind. I can't even play Gears of War without making my character go ass backwards. Once I complete this game and it's crap camera, only then am I going to play GoW.

:lol:

[Over easy]

This game's camera has offically fucked with my mind. I can't even play Gears of War without making my character go ass backwards. Once I complete this game and it's crap camera, only then am I going to play GoW.

Hahahaha. I'm in the same situation. I tried Gears of War on my housemate's 360, and I keep screwing up with the camera because of FFXII.

Although, I did play Marvel Alliance fine. Maybe I got used to that camera control.

[Mr Durand Pierre]

I don't get why everyone keeps ragging on the camera. I heard it was backwards from most third-person games so I was a bit worried, but it turns out that the camera controls like EVERY 3D PLATFORMER I'VE EVER PLAYED! I guess having the option to invert them would be nice to appease the naysayers, but I honestly can't think of a third person game that doesn't have camera control like this. I mean no one ever complained about the camera in Sly, Ratchet, Jak, Maripo, Zelda, Okami, etc, etc...

[SpikeSpiegel]

I just got my guide today. It was damged by water because some fucking moron thought it was a good idea to leave a thing fucking piece of cardboard in the rain. I really wanted to get started with this game too. Should I bitch and moan or just keep it. ( It is readable)

Also should I complain to walmart first?

[Moxio]

Game's getting really good.

Just finished Stilshrine of Miriam (most. annoying. dungeon. evar.) and witnessed the destruction of the Temple of Mt BurIsace. Now I'm off to Archades.

27//Archades

[keithp]

I just got my guide today. It was damged by water because some fucking moron thought it was a good idea to leave a thing fucking piece of cardboard in the rain. I really wanted to get started with this game too. Should I bitch and moan or just keep it. ( It is readable)

Also should I complain to walmart first?

Complain and get a new one, you paid for it.

I don't get the complaints with the camera either. I was expecting it to be backwards from what I'm used to, but it's fine--other than it's a little hard to navigate tight spaces and position it correctly.

[willardhaven]

I personally prefer the camera like this, because it [the camera] goes in the direction you push on the stick... what kind of moron decided it should be any other way?

[pimpinc333]

Damn, I can't wait to get back into my game. Stupid GoW and COD3 taking up my free time.

[Dead of Knight]

God fucking dammit. I must have the worst luck in the universe. I've been trying for well over an hour to get ONE Demonsbane. I easily beat both Demon Walls but now I'm getting fucked in the ass by probability. Fuck you Square for implementing a probability system for chests so it's nearly impossible for me to get this reward that I most certainly earned.

EDIT: I FINALLY GOT ONE!!! FUCK YOU SQUARE!!!!

[Moxio]

God fucking dammit. I must have the worst luck in the universe. I've been trying for well over an hour to get ONE Demonsbane. I easily beat both Demon Walls but now I'm getting fucked in the ass by probability. Fuck you Square for implementing a probability system for chests so it's nearly impossible for me to get this reward that I most certainly earned.

EDIT: I FINALLY GOT ONE!!! FUCK YOU SQUARE!!!!

Ouch. Took me about 20 minutes to get mine. I only got two, though, because very soon after I got some Deathbringers.


By the way, what's your guys' highest Mist chain? So far mine is 23 or 24, but I only got Wind because only one or two chars had lvl 3 Quickenings.

32//Post-GilSnapper, Pre-Archades

[Calamityuponthee]

23? How in the hell.. I can get like 12, but by then I can only press R2 once before the timer runs out.

[Moxio]

23? How in the hell.. I can get like 12, but by then I can only press R2 once before the timer runs out.

I guess I got lucky.

Finally got that Ark one (electricity) MQ finisher.


37//Archades

[MSI Magus]

Well I quit the game. Just couldnt take it anymore. Deffintly one of the lamer FF games. The story is extreamly flawed, the charcters receive little to no development, the pacing is consistently off both in gameplay and in story. The liscense board is a good idea but handled badly. All around dissapointing.

[Kayden]

Well I quit the game. Just couldnt take it anymore. Deffintly one of the lamer FF games. The story is extreamly flawed, the charcters receive little to no development, the pacing is consistently off both in gameplay and in story. The liscense board is a good idea but handled badly. All around dissapointing.

The more you post, the more I'm sure your opinions are wrong.

[pimpinc333]

The more you post, the more I'm sure your opinions are wrong.

I dunno he could he right. I mean he is a die hard fan since he did put a very nerdy and ugly FFX tat on his forearm.

Personally I like the Game.

[TahoeMax]

I've gotten the ark blast finisher quite a few times. Once i got cataclysm...is that better or worse than ark blast?

[MSI Magus]

The more you post, the more I'm sure your opinions are wrong.

How about countering it with facts. People always quesitons others views, but never bother to back up their own. I can back up my opinions. What motive did the charcters have to stay together most of the game? What motive did Balthier have for his chance encounter with Vaan in the first place? What conversations were ever had that should keep any of these charcters together? What do we know about ANY of the charcters pasts?

I read plot summaries so I know alot of the story and questions come together in the end, but thats just bad pacing. If your going to have a game with a story that doesnt come together till the end then the charcters need to atleast have temporary motives...and you should offer up atleast a few charcters who get some freaking kind of charcter development to keep the player intreasted.

This game like it or not is flawed. Its easy to rip into it and I could go further...plus do this with gameplay. The battle system was the only area of the game that was AAA and I cant find a ton of flaws with(cant find any flaws with the gameplay outside it would have been nice if the controlable charcter was action based).

[Kendro]

I sort of agree with MSI, although not because of the "flaws." Its because it is just not that fun. To be honest, I am basically relieved that I am nearly 3 or 4 hours from completing the game. That way I can finally move on. I don't hate the game, but its more of an "indifferent" attitude toward it. After the initial "OMG FFXII is finally here" euphoria wore out, I finally realize how I feel about this game. Definately a great pickup at GH price, definately not worth the $60 I spent (along with the $30 LE Guide - WTF was I thinking?)

[Kayden]

Amazing. Its like you didn't even play the game or you did so with your eyes and ears shut and your brain off.

How about countering it with facts. People always quesitons others views, but never bother to back up their own. I can back up my opinions. What motive did the charcters have to stay together most of the game? What motive did Balthier have for his chance encounter with Vaan in the first place? What conversations were ever had that should keep any of these charcters together?

I could understand you not being real good at infering details from implied events, but this shit was stated flat out atleast once.

Basch- He feels responsible for the situation because he couldn't protect the King. He sticks around because he wants to do all he can to prevent others from suffering another war. Protecting and aiding Ashe is the best way he can think to do that.

Balthier- He was at the palace to steal the Nethicite that Vaan got. He doesn't just kill Vann and take it because he's not a bad person. Hes just a sky pirate that hates the empire. He then saves Ashe under the pretext of promisses of wealth. In all actuallity, hes just curious how things are going to turn out.

Fran- She sticks around with Balthier for some reason... I don't really know, maybe I'll find out later. I'd assume he saved her and hes the only Hume she really trusts.

Vaan- He hates the empire for the death of his brother and wants to free Dalmasca from them. Helping Ashe reclaim the throne is about the only way to do that.

Penelo- She loves Vann like a big brother... or maybe more. She doesn't want to leave him alone because she's afraid she won't see him again.

Ashe- dur...

What do we know about ANY of the charcters pasts?

Balthier- Sky pirate... don't know much about him, but he seems to do that intentionally as part of his personality. Mysterious could be another name for too lazy for a decent back story, but he's a pirate. You don't become an overly successful pirate by being loose lipped.

Fran- Left her village because she doesn't think that the Viera can remain separate from the rest of the world. She has two sisters and a seems to have some debt to Balthier. Again, fairly mysterious, but she comes from a village where the outside world is shunned. They don't like non Viera. Just because she left her village doesn't mean shes going to blab everything to everyone.

Vaan- Older brother killed by the empire, for which he hates them. His parents where both killed in the war. Hes become a sort of big brother for Penelo and other orphans of the war. Does odd jobs for Migelo.

Penelo- orphan of the war, much like Vaan, works for Migelo.

Baltheir- A Dalmascan knight framed for the kings murder. ...

Well... I could type of the whole game for you, but if you didn't catch it then, I doubt you'd understand it now.





I read plot summaries so I know alot of the story and questions come together in the end, but thats just bad pacing. If your going to have a game with a story that doesnt come together till the end then the charcters need to atleast have temporary motives...and you should offer up atleast a few charcters who get some freaking kind of charcter development to keep the player intreasted.

This game like it or not is flawed. Its easy to rip into it and I could go further...plus do this with gameplay. The battle system was the only area of the game that was AAA and I cant find a ton of flaws with(cant find any flaws with the gameplay outside it would have been nice if the controlable charcter was action based).

The controlable character is action based if you so desire. :roll: Shut of gambits and it'll only do what you tell it.

[MSI Magus]

You take things to litterally and are obviously pleased with too little.

Yes the charcters have pasts, but we are given their basic info almost the moment we meet them and then they are not developed any further. Bash could have been replaced with any knight with any attitude and it wouldnt have made a difference, Vaan again any orphen etc etc. In some cases like Baltheirs most of the game he could have even been replaced with a compltly different style of charcter like a Theif and it wouldnt have made a difference. The charcters were given their most basic stereotype and basic reason to be in the story and then most of the game forgotten about. Maybe your happy with that but after playing so many other RPGs that have done it better im not.

FFVI and VII spoilers. To use these games as examples. Ok Basch is a knight out to protect the heir to the throne and redeem himself. Cyan from FFVI was a similar charcter but they took his charcter OUTSIDE that role by giving us frequent scenes which related to both his past and his current mental state. We saw his son and wife boarding the train leading them to the after life and his dealing with it, we got many scenes with Sabin talking to him about what was going on, we saw him snap at the empire and we saw him come to terms with things. FFXII on the other hand just handed us Basch and said her you go, one stereotypical knight on stereotypical quest, he has a motivation that will keep him on course...hope your happy! Thats NOT good development and it tossed the pacing of the game off!

In FFVII we saw the extra charcter Vincenet and Yuffie go through development in scenes like the revealing of Vincents past with Shinra and his dealing witht he death of a loved one. We saw it in Yuffie when she dealt with the issues of her father and it developed a reason for why she is materia obssesed. FFXII didnt do this with Panelo who is the most useless tag along charcter ever.

Like it or not FFXII did not do a good job developing most of the charcters nor giving their actions reasons. It said heres baltheir he is out for this gem...yet he wont steal it from the charcters nor does he take it in many oppurtinites. Fran and Baltheir have a relationship....but its not expanded upon. FFXII handed the very minumn it possibly could and then in the end of the game wrapped some stuff up. Like I said, if your happy with that good. But personally iv come to expect well developed charcters with depth and history.

The story was no different. They just opened plot point line after plot line and then ended them briefly. There was no fleshing out, there was no development, no history...nothing.

And are you kidding me, you actually think the main charcter your controlling as action based? No, he still follows commands which you give him by bringing up a list. Action based would be you push X and he instantly attacks, you push square and he instantly casts a spell. Again im not knocking the battle system its great! I was just saying it would have been cool if they went all out and made it truely action based.

[Roufuss]

Well, I guess there will be no FFXII tattoo for you then.

[MSI Magus]

Well, I guess there will be no FFXII tattoo for you then.

Heh nope but I hope to get one for IV, VI, VII and maybe IX. First comes the Kingdom Hearts tat though. Me and the fiancee are going to get matching ones for either KH or Invader Zim.

[willardhaven]

I like how the guy marking up his body with tacky renditions of video game artwork is lecturing on the intelligence of storytelling.

Sorry man.

Now I don't have any tattoos, but in my eyes, if you can create compelling characters without using flashbacks you are doing a much more effective job.

[Calamityuponthee]

It's a great game so far (i'm a few hours from beating it), but I think the game is lacking in some parts. When I saw the opening FMV, I was instantly wowed. It was amazing. I was hoping for more things like it. When it breaks off to the save point thing and he explains the story, I love that shit.

I guess i'm just feeling left out in some aspects of the story. It's not a bad game at all, but I've seen better. I also hate how almost every boss is a monster, why can't I fight more Judges, or important people? Bleh.

Either way, it's a compelling game and I will beat it.

[MSI Magus]

I like how the guy marking up his body with tacky renditions of video game artwork is lecturing on the intelligence of storytelling.

Sorry man.

Now I don't have any tattoos, but in my eyes, if you can create compelling characters without using flashbacks you are doing a much more effective job.

Why toss insults? I never insulted any of you let alone you specifically. Anyways....that would be true, but the thing is compelling is in the eye of the beholder. Facts are that the charcters like Tidus, Wakka, Cloud, Cyan, Cecil and many others were developed not only through flash backs but also the story. XIIs charcters didnt get this. So you can argue all you want that they are compelling but that just means they were to you. If a charcter is developed he/she is much more likly to be compelling to a person. So again...XII is flawed.

[willardhaven]

Sorry, I'm just joshing you.

I thought that X was really trite, and other than that and X-2 I've enjoyed the entire series.

[Moxio]

I've gotten the ark blast finisher quite a few times. Once i got cataclysm...is that better or worse than ark blast?

I've gotten Black Hole (highest?), so take that! :lol: But I think Cataclysm is better than Ark.

42//Giruvegan
Zodiac Spear//Deathbringer//Deathbringer

[Thongsy]

The story is fine, nothing great or memorable. I think I've played too much mmorpgs, where there is basically no story. I agree that there does need to be more character development. Overall a flaw but good game.

[MSI Magus]

The story is fine, nothing great or memorable. I think I've played too much mmorpgs, where there is basically no story. I agree that there does need to be more character development. Overall a flaw but good game.

Agreed, im not saying its a bad game. Id still give it an 8/10 Just saying I personally really dont care for it and that it does have some major flaws which means it shouldnt be ranked the Godly AAA best FF/best RPG ever as many sites and fans are saying.

[martin8me]

Ummm I hope im not interupting anything but whats all this talk about about not obtaining X number of items to get a rare X item.

Sorry got the game yesterday

[MSI Magus]

Ummm I hope im not interupting anything but whats all this talk about about not obtaining X number of items to get a rare X item.

Sorry got the game yesterday

The game uses a horrible system of making chest drops random based on a percent system. This means when you open a chest it has a X % chance its an item and an X % chance its money. Once it determines if its an item or money it then has X% chance its X amount of money or X % chance its X item. So while there may only be one chest in the game that drops the weapon Demons Bane there is only a small chance its an item and then only a 50% chance its the Demons Bane and not a Holy mote. This means that many chests have to be opened multiple times to actually get what you want. In the example of Demons Bane many people spend an hour or even hours(took me 2 hours)to get 1....others spend 30 mins and get 3 for the whole party.

Personally I feel its a horrible system. Whats the point of having a huge world to explore when what you get is random....it kills any reason to explore....especially since alot of the good stuff comes from monster hunts anyways.

[keithp]

Whats the point of having a huge world to explore when what you get is random....

Umm, a little thing called REPLAY VALUE, maybe? Perhaps you've heard of it, if you haven't unstuck your nose from the player's guide yet.

[martin8me]

The game uses a horrible system of making chest drops random based on a percent system. This means when you open a chest it has a X % chance its an item and an X % chance its money. Once it determines if its an item or money it then has X% chance its X amount of money or X % chance its X item. So while there may only be one chest in the game that drops the weapon Demons Bane there is only a small chance its an item and then only a 50% chance its the Demons Bane and not a Holy mote. This means that many chests have to be opened multiple times to actually get what you want. In the example of Demons Bane many people spend an hour or even hours(took me 2 hours)to get 1....others spend 30 mins and get 3 for the whole party.

Personally I feel its a horrible system. Whats the point of having a huge world to explore when what you get is random....it kills any reason to explore....especially since alot of the good stuff comes from monster hunts anyways.

IS it really recommedned(sp) to get the demonbane(i heard of the death bringer, is that any good?) ? Thanx anyways

[defiance_17]

You take things to litterally and are obviously pleased with too little.

Yes the charcters have pasts, but we are given their basic info almost the moment we meet them and then they are not developed any further. Bash could have been replaced with any knight with any attitude and it wouldnt have made a difference, Vaan again any orphen etc etc. In some cases like Baltheirs most of the game he could have even been replaced with a compltly different style of charcter like a Theif and it wouldnt have made a difference. The charcters were given their most basic stereotype and basic reason to be in the story and then most of the game forgotten about. Maybe your happy with that but after playing so many other RPGs that have done it better im not.


What the fuck are you talking about? Your character swap argument is pointless--you could say the same for basically any RPG, but seriously, what does it even matter? I don't understand how saying "Character A could have been like this instead and it would have worked" is pointing out flaws in FFXII. The cast works incredibly well as is.

And what's with your insistance on one type of formulaic storytelling? Why do you absolutely need to know everything about the characters and their past? I'm not even halfway through, and everyone's actions are justified--I don't need to know about their fucking childhoods if they aren't relevant to the plot (and there's no reason they need to be). The story is crafted in a manner that focuses on the present, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

"But we don't know why Balthier is a sky pirate! Is he a womanizer because his dad was an abusive alcoholic? Why aren't there flashbacks to show how he was raised so his character can be properly developed?"

Put down the James Patterson and Dean Koontz novels and take FFX's cock out of your mouth.

[Chacrana]

I haven't read through this thread because it's long and probably filled with spoilers, but I am wondering: How long is FFXII compared to previous FF games?

[Kendro]

Why is everyone getting worked up over someone's opinion? I'm not gonna bash someone just because they think country music is awesome and rock is garbage. Life is too short, let it go. Unless you were conceived by Square Enix and they are your daddy and mommy, there is no reason to be so upset.

And martin8me, go for the Demonsbane first. It's basically a level 30 weapon that you obtain while your level 15 to 20. The Deathbringer is more like a level 45 weapon and you should be at least level 25 before attempting to get it. And the Demonsbane is a great sword when you first get it. Makes the next few dungeons so much easier.

[MSI Magus]

Umm, a little thing called REPLAY VALUE, maybe? Perhaps you've heard of it, if you haven't unstuck your nose from the player's guide yet.

Ermmm I didnt use the strat guide. I didnt even know things were random untill I heard about demonbane. As far as replay, yes you could argue that....but the items you get in chests in most cases and most of the game are worse then the monster hunts meaning again there is no point to it. And again without the strat guide you would have to play obsessivly to know an item came from X chest meaning again the replay value of it is nill. You would have a point if every chest was compltly random like in Diablo 2....but the way it is...no.

Defiance as I said before but you people keep choosing to ignore we dont HAVE to have back story to have charcter development. Wakka and Rikkus relationship with the whole prejudice thing developed them as charcters, as did Lulus reletationship and questiong of Tidus. Any good RPG has things like this. XII didnt.

You can argue all you want that its just a diferent style of story telling...but thats just not true. XII basically equated to.

Baltheir - Im a pirate. I want your gem.
Vaan - You cant have it.
Baltheir - O really? Well nows not the time to talk about this.
Vaan: Ok lets escape!
*charcters escape*
Vaan: So, your a pirate. I always wanted to be a pirate.
Baltheir: Ok come with us then!
Vaan: *pockets gem and dances away becoming an air pirate

The whole game is like this. Plot points are raised and never dealt with. Motives are given....but then forgotten. The charcters should have split up a million times or atleast had SOME kind of conversation with eachother over whats going on. But outside Vaan and Ashe having a conversation once or twice this isnt the case. Not only is there no real past given for the cahrcters(till end game)but they rarely even freaking talk to eachother and never deal with hanging plot lines which need to be dealt with.

So, ya. Insult me like a child(resorting to insults in a tame topic about games like this is rather childish, especially considering iv not been insulting). But ya know, Id rather be told I have FFX's cock in my ass, the cock of a game that actually did things right, then have XII's shit stained old man cock in my mouth. Some people think feeling boned feels good, but no one enjoys the taste of one as nasty as XII's.

To the few of you that have given objective arguments, and done so without insulting thanks.

[defiance_17]

Defiance as I said before but you people keep choosing to ignore we dont HAVE to have back story to have charcter development. Wakka and Rikkus relationship with the whole prejudice thing developed them as charcters, as did Lulus reletationship and questiong of Tidus. Any good RPG has things like this. XII didnt.

You can argue all you want that its just a diferent style of story telling...but thats just not true. XII basically equated to.

Baltheir - Im a pirate. I want your gem.
Vaan - You cant have it.
Baltheir - O really? Well nows not the time to talk about this.
Vaan: Ok lets escape!
*charcters escape*
Vaan: So, your a pirate. I always wanted to be a pirate.
Baltheir: Ok come with us then!
Vaan: *pockets gem and dances away becoming an air pirate

The whole game is like this. Plot points are raised and never dealt with. Motives are given....but then forgotten. The charcters should have split up a million times or atleast had SOME kind of conversation with eachother over whats going on. But outside Vaan and Ashe having a conversation once or twice this isnt the case. Not only is there no real past given for the cahrcters(till end game)but they rarely even freaking talk to eachother and never deal with hanging plot lines which need to be dealt with.

So, ya. Insult me like a child(resorting to insults in a tame topic about games like this is rather childish, especially considering iv not been insulting). But ya know, Id rather be told I have FFX's cock in my ass, the cock of a game that actually did things right, then have XII's shit stained old man cock in my mouth. Some people think feeling boned feels good, but no one enjoys the taste of one as nasty as XII's.

To the few of you that have given objective arguments, and done so without insulting thanks.

Don't take it so personally. I'm an asshole when it comes to my opinions, it's nothing against you.

I thought the characters, as well as the story, in FFX were total shit, so it's hard for me to accept that someone (you) could absolutely worship that game. You can cite examples all you want--they only serve to remind me why I'm right.

As far as your dialogue "recap," you're wildly exaggerating, and forgetting that Balthier was able to keep an eye on Vaan, and thus the "gem." It's reasonable to infer that he intended to get his hands on it at some point, until it became a more important part of the plot. I could do the same thing a million times for FFX:

Wakka: I hate technology! This is a sin!
Tidus: We can't talk about this now. We have to use technology so I can confront my daddy about the way he treated me. *cry*
Wakka: Okay, we'll use technology. *growl, kick some dirt*

Reoccuring themes aren't spectacular in and of themselves. If the themes are garbage to begin with, or aren't implemented in a manner that is even remotely interesting (as in FFX), going back to them repeatedly isn't going to do anything to enhance the story. In FFX, the characters' constant stubbornness was irritating, at best--not a sign of "development."

And how can you go from saying FFXII is an 8/10 to calling it a "shit stained old man cock"?

[MSI Magus]

Don't take it so personally. I'm an asshole when it comes to my opinions, it's nothing against you.

I thought the characters, as well as the story, in FFX were total shit, so it's hard for me to accept that someone (you) could absolutely worship that game. You can cite examples all you want--they only serve to remind me why I'm right.

As far as your dialogue "recap," you're wildly exaggerating, and forgetting that Balthier was able to keep an eye on Vaan, and thus the "gem." It's reasonable to infer that he intended to get his hands on it at some point, until it became a more important part of the plot. I could do the same thing a million times for FFX:

Wakka: I hate technology! This is a sin!
Tidus: We can't talk about this now. We have to use technology so I can confront my daddy about the way he treated me. *cry*
Wakka: Okay, we'll use technology. *growl, kick some dirt*

Reoccuring themes aren't spectacular in and of themselves. If the themes are garbage to begin with, or aren't implemented in a manner that is even remotely interesting (as in FFX), going back to them repeatedly isn't going to do anything to enhance the story. In FFX, the characters' constant stubbornness was irritating, at best--not a sign of "development."

And how can you go from saying FFXII is an 8/10 to calling it a "shit stained old man cock"?

I dont worship FFX. I love the game but I can be I dont know...OBJECTIVE! FFX had its flaws, it was FAR too easy, many side quests take longer then humanly possible(blitz)and they needed to put more info into making the charcters lip sycnch better.

The whole Vaan/Baltheir thing is a joke. Your telling me a crafty pirate of the world didnt have the mental abilty to steal it from him in some way? Or as an experienced fighter with another person on his side he couldnt have just physically taken it at some point?

Your Wakka Tidus thing was a joke. It wasnt doing the same thing I did because there wernt conversations directly like that. Your taking your hatred for the charcters arch type and stereotyping them to it then mixing scenes. Tidus hated his father but he never just randomly started crying about it, nor did Wakka flip out unless someone was doing something against the teaching. The charcters responded as their charcters should have in any given situation, but were also developed through their pasts, through the story, and even just through random interaction. And from start to end they had reasons to be together and we saw them discuss this not only directly with eachother but with others(like when Wakka and Lulu talk about Tidus behind his back). Again this isnt the case in XII. XII no matter how you are going to try arguing this just had bad pacing and was not filled out.

The way you end your post just shows you are judging off nothing but a personal bias. The theme nor charcters were garage, given that they were well developed and not full of plot holes(which is more then you can say of XII)yet you call them such and unintreasting. You cant set aside your dislike for the world or charcters of FFX to give them a chance. I didnt buy FFX for 2 years because when I read up on it and saw it intially I thought it was going to be crap, I hated the stereotypes of the charcters and pretty much everything about the game. But you know what....when I played it I opened my mind. I didnt say hey I cant see myself in this charcter so I dont like him. I didnt react like you and say he's not the uber cool sexy pirate I wish I was, nor is he the brooding anxty jackass squall is so hes like me. I saw it for what it was, and ended up enjoying it as a result. Even when I havnt enjoyed a game though ill give it a fair rap. I freaking hate FFVIII, V and XII but I still call them great games. I loathe Halo 2 but I still recognize it as an awsome game. Judge thigns for what they are.

And I called FFXII shit stained like that because if your going to call X that then that fits XII.

[sarausagi]

Okay, so now that I am officially done with Xenosaga, gave up on playing Ultimate Alliance, and finished with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, I have started my very first playthrough of Final Fantasy XII.

I am utterly unimpressed. The opening cut scene was absolutely gorgeous, but after that everything went downhill. My real problem isn't the battle system. I admit it isn't perfect. I think it honestly would have been better if they had made the battle system completely hack and slash [like X-Men Legends or Kingdom Hearts]

However, my real problem is that I am just completely uninterested by the story. People often complain about games like Xenosaga, that start out by throwing a bunch of terminology and scientific "mumbo jumbo", and I think I understand how they feel now. The introduction of XII, from the cutscene, to the narration, throws a bunch of names, regal titles, and countries at you, and it's just plain BORING.

Then I thought, where have I played this before? And I thought to myself, XENOGEARS. The entire intro is a small anime cutscene followed by a six page text intro, that describes a war between countries: a political conflict. Except I remember playing Xenogears for the very first time and that text intro was INTERESTING to read. I don't know if it's just me, but nothing in the introduction actually pulled me into the story.

What's worse is the game...it's just so overbearing. I admit I've barely played an hour and a half, but the first hour has been just completely ridiculous. Go here, for no reason. Okay, I am here, now go here. Okay, now I'm here, oh, go kill this monster that's been stopping all the couriers. So I go to the desert and what's this great and powerful monster that's stopping all the couriers? No, it's not the packs of wolves, cactuars, or the huge overpowered T-Rex roaming around, it's a foot tall mutant tomato..now look it from this point of view.

I just went from battling giant mechs, demonic entities, and immortals, from solving the mysteries of the universe and exploring the relationships of deep, fleshed out characters, to killing a fucking cartoon tomato. Final Fantasy XII is supposed to be the most fucking epic RPG on PS2. What did we wait for it? 5 years?! And this is what I get characters that look mostly the same [Rex, Vann, what's his name, they all look the same to me] and little mutant guys that look straight out of Star Wars, running around killing tomatoes. And don't get me started about Vann's little airship fetish and his sky pirate dreams...this is Final Fantasy..what's it doing stealing a cliched plot from Grandia III and Skies of Arcadia?

I'm going to keep playing, because I paid $42 fucking dollars for this so far utter mess of a game. I'll keep playing, and maybe my mind will change, if something changes. The battles are okay, but everything else is just hideous..

Someone tell me, if this game gets ANY better...?

If it doesn't, no wonder X-Play gave it a 5/5

[MSI Magus]

Okay, so now that I am officially done with Xenosaga, gave up on playing Ultimate Alliance, and finished with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, I have started my very first playthrough of Final Fantasy XII.

I am utterly unimpressed. The opening cut scene was absolutely gorgeous, but after that everything went downhill. My real problem isn't the battle system. I admit it isn't perfect. I think it honestly would have been better if they had made the battle system completely hack and slash [like X-Men Legends or Kingdom Hearts]

However, my real problem is that I am just completely uninterested by the story. People often complain about games like Xenosaga, that start out by throwing a bunch of terminology and scientific "mumbo jumbo", and I think I understand how they feel now. The introduction of XII, from the cutscene, to the narration, throws a bunch of names, regal titles, and countries at you, and it's just plain BORING.

Then I thought, where have I played this before? And I thought to myself, XENOGEARS. The entire intro is a small anime cutscene followed by a six page text intro, that describes a war between countries: a political conflict. Except I remember playing Xenogears for the very first time and that text intro was INTERESTING to read. I don't know if it's just me, but nothing in the introduction actually pulled me into the story.

What's worse is the game...it's just so overbearing. I admit I've barely played an hour and a half, but the first hour has been just completely ridiculous. Go here, for no reason. Okay, I am here, now go here. Okay, now I'm here, oh, go kill this monster that's been stopping all the couriers. So I go to the desert and what's this great and powerful monster that's stopping all the couriers? No, it's not the packs of wolves, cactuars, or the huge overpowered T-Rex roaming around, it's a foot tall mutant tomato..now look it from this point of view.

I just went from battling giant mechs, demonic entities, and immortals, from solving the mysteries of the universe and exploring the relationships of deep, fleshed out characters, to killing a fucking cartoon tomato. Final Fantasy XII is supposed to be the most fucking epic RPG on PS2. What did we wait for it? 5 years?! And this is what I get characters that look mostly the same [Rex, Vann, what's his name, they all look the same to me] and little mutant guys that look straight out of Star Wars, running around killing tomatoes. And don't get me started about Vann's little airship fetish and his sky pirate dreams...this is Final Fantasy..what's it doing stealing a cliched plot from Grandia III and Skies of Arcadia?

I'm going to keep playing, because I paid $42 fucking dollars for this so far utter mess of a game. I'll keep playing, and maybe my mind will change, if something changes. The battles are okay, but everything else is just hideous..

Someone tell me, if this game gets ANY better...?

If it doesn't, no wonder X-Play gave it a 5/5

Considering your complaitns of the game are similar to mine...ya you probally wont care for it as it goes on. As far as Xplays review im not suprised, US reviews of RPGs are generally idiotic. RPGs that are viewed as classics like Suikoden 2 and ToD were scored lower then crap that came out at the same time...this today has not changed. I dont know why I got hyped for XII when every mag was calling it the best FF ever......none of them are ever right.

[onikage]

I have had much more fun with this game than I had imagined I would. To be honest, I didn't expect much after playing the demo. However, I've enjoyed the battle system so much that I got Vaan all the way to lvl.17 at the first chance I had to explore.

One great thing I noticed was that when a character joins your party they are automatically at your level or higher. In most RPGs party members have a set level that they started out at, so it was a nice surprise to see that Penelo was lvl.17 with license points equivalent to Vaan's when she joined.

[Moxio]

I have had much more fun with this game than I had imagined I would. To be honest, I didn't expect much after playing the demo. However, I've enjoyed the battle system so much that I got Vaan all the way to lvl.17 at the first chance I had to explore.

One great thing I noticed was that when a character joins your party they are automatically at your level or higher. In most RPGs party members have a set level that they started out at, so it was a nice surprise to see that Penelo was lvl.17 with license points equivalent to Vaan's when she joined.

That's the reason for the good powerleveling exploit you can do with Vaan. Some people (strangely enough) have leveld up to their 30's before they get Panelo so they can breeze through 70% of the game.

I, not having the patience nor the motivation to do this, decided level 13 was good enough.

[Dead of Knight]

Got 4 Deathbringers, gonna get 2 more so everyone has one. Having a MUCH easier time getting this than Demonsbane. Getting ONE Demonsbane took me like 2 hours, got 4 Deathbringers in less than an hour. All of my characters are level 24-26 btw.

EDIT: Highest Quickening chain was 19, got it a couple times.
EDIT 2: Just got another one. One more!!!!
EDIT 3: GOT THE FINAL ONE! God that was easy.

[eau]

Finally managed to get out of town and drive 40 miles to the nearest GS in order to pick up my FF-XII CE preorder yesterday. Also picked up the LE guide (Ashe cover) too.

BB was already out of the mini artbook :cry: Anyone who has no use for the artbook please PM me to work something out...

[Ender]

Okay, so now that I am officially done with Xenosaga, gave up on playing Ultimate Alliance, and finished with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, I have started my very first playthrough of Final Fantasy XII.

I am utterly unimpressed. The opening cut scene was absolutely gorgeous, but after that everything went downhill. My real problem isn't the battle system. I admit it isn't perfect. I think it honestly would have been better if they had made the battle system completely hack and slash [like X-Men Legends or Kingdom Hearts]

However, my real problem is that I am just completely uninterested by the story. People often complain about games like Xenosaga, that start out by throwing a bunch of terminology and scientific "mumbo jumbo", and I think I understand how they feel now. The introduction of XII, from the cutscene, to the narration, throws a bunch of names, regal titles, and countries at you, and it's just plain BORING.

Then I thought, where have I played this before? And I thought to myself, XENOGEARS. The entire intro is a small anime cutscene followed by a six page text intro, that describes a war between countries: a political conflict. Except I remember playing Xenogears for the very first time and that text intro was INTERESTING to read. I don't know if it's just me, but nothing in the introduction actually pulled me into the story.

What's worse is the game...it's just so overbearing. I admit I've barely played an hour and a half, but the first hour has been just completely ridiculous. Go here, for no reason. Okay, I am here, now go here. Okay, now I'm here, oh, go kill this monster that's been stopping all the couriers. So I go to the desert and what's this great and powerful monster that's stopping all the couriers? No, it's not the packs of wolves, cactuars, or the huge overpowered T-Rex roaming around, it's a foot tall mutant tomato..now look it from this point of view.

I just went from battling giant mechs, demonic entities, and immortals, from solving the mysteries of the universe and exploring the relationships of deep, fleshed out characters, to killing a fucking cartoon tomato. Final Fantasy XII is supposed to be the most fucking epic RPG on PS2. What did we wait for it? 5 years?! And this is what I get characters that look mostly the same [Rex, Vann, what's his name, they all look the same to me] and little mutant guys that look straight out of Star Wars, running around killing tomatoes. And don't get me started about Vann's little airship fetish and his sky pirate dreams...this is Final Fantasy..what's it doing stealing a cliched plot from Grandia III and Skies of Arcadia?

I'm going to keep playing, because I paid $42 fucking dollars for this so far utter mess of a game. I'll keep playing, and maybe my mind will change, if something changes. The battles are okay, but everything else is just hideous..

Someone tell me, if this game gets ANY better...?

If it doesn't, no wonder X-Play gave it a 5/5


Man, seriously, youi're a whiny bitch.

[Zing]

EDIT: I FINALLY GOT ONE!!! FUCK YOU SQUARE!!!!
For some reason I found this absolutely hilarious.

[Dead of Knight]

For some reason I found this absolutely hilarious.

I'm glad people are getting a kick out of my trouble. I also basically repeated those lines to a friend over and over on IM while I was getting my 6 Deathbringers.

[JEKKI]

dude I beat White Mousse at level 25!!!

gamefaqs said it was one of the hardest hunts, but not I!!

he's weak to fire, so I set everyone's gambits to use FIRA instead of attack,

and when I was ready, I brought out my character from Reserve who can cast Belias.

I made sure to have that character have reflect casted on her before I went into battle,

then brought her out, summoned Belias, casted reflect on him ASAP (otherwise wateraga kills him in one hit)

and then I was set!!!

[Thongsy]

I'm glad people are getting a kick out of my trouble. I also basically repeated those lines to a friend over and over on IM while I was getting my 6 Deathbringers.

Bleh. I had the same trouble getting all those swords. It took me like two hours+ to get four of the Deathbringers and like three hours just to get two Demonbanes. I'm not going to keep resetting just to get two more swords. I'll just switch equipment since I have to do that for armour anyways.

[MSI Magus]

Bleh. I had the same trouble getting all those swords. It took me like two hours+ to get four of the Deathbringers and like three hours just to get two Demonbanes. I'm not going to keep resetting just to get two more swords. I'll just switch equipment since I have to do that for armour anyways.

So not to keep the argument going...but ya I guess to keep the argument going I want to raise this question. Whats more fun? Exploring a dungeon, beating a boss and being rewarded with chests containing uber swords for your party? Or having to learn from a guide that a chest may contain a sword sometimes and spending two hours resetting the game and running back and forth trying to get it?

[Roufuss]

So not to keep the argument going...but ya I guess to keep the argument going I want to raise this question. Whats more fun? Exploring a dungeon, beating a boss and being rewarded with chests containing uber swords for your party? Or having to learn from a guide that a chest may contain a sword sometimes and spending two hours resetting the game and running back and forth trying to get it?

I take it you've either A) never played an MMORPG or B) absolutely hate them?

I honestly see why people don't dig the whole system of FFXII since it's modeled around that of an MMORPG... if you don't like MMORPG's, chances are pretty decent you won't like FFXII gameplay.

All FF's had a time sink in them, somewhere, whether it's doing the chest thing in FFXII or farming a rare monster in some other FF game (like in FFV, spent about three hours farming fucking movers for job points).

The swords are optional though, you can get through the entire game without ever doing it, so it's not really a major point.

[MSI Magus]

I take it you've either A) never played an MMORPG or B) absolutely hate them?

I honestly see why people don't dig the whole system of FFXII since it's modeled around that of an MMORPG... if you don't like MMORPG's, chances are pretty decent you won't like FFXII gameplay.

All FF's had a time sink in them, somewhere, whether it's doing the chest thing in FFXII or farming a rare monster in some other FF game (like in FFV, spent about three hours farming fucking movers for job points).

The swords are optional though, you can get through the entire game without ever doing it, so it's not really a major point.

Lets see...iv played
Everquest
Dark Age of Camelot
World of Warcraft
Monstania
Monsters Online
Maple Story
Ragnarok Online
Fairyland

I'v played MMOs. This is a different style of game, and if they were trying to mix the two flavors they didnt do it well. Also ALOT of MMOs...hell id say most dont use random drops from chest. People assume ignorantly because WoW does all do. But EQ doesnt, EQ2 doesnt and I dont recall most others iv played doing that.

I disagree with the swords being a major point. Maybe its not a game breaker but it certainly cuts back on the fun. Killing monsters is a large reason people play RPGs be they MMOs or traditional Japanese RPGs...so saying every FF has a time sink and using monster is a horrible example. Thats something most people find fun, and atleast your getting experience, items nad power that whole time. I doubt many people find running from point a to point be then resetting for two hours very fun....just to turn around and do it again in a few hours.

And again using random chests made XII have the same problem World of Warcraft currently has. It makes the huge world pointless. Who outside a graphics whore or someone with no life enjoys exploring a huge world with no lore or items. Walking into a cave and battling the same monsters you find outside that area and getting the same items makes it pointless. Walking into a cave and fighting harder and cooler looking monsters just to ultimatly fight a huge boss that actually rewards you for the risk you took in exploring this area makes it a true role playing game where you went on an adventure.

[coltyhuxx]

I ended up not sleeping last night and just played this all night. I will crash later.

Manufactured methecite.

[coltyhuxx]

So not to keep the argument going...but ya I guess to keep the argument going I want to raise this question. Whats more fun? Exploring a dungeon, beating a boss and being rewarded with chests containing uber swords for your party? Or having to learn from a guide that a chest may contain a sword sometimes and spending two hours resetting the game and running back and forth trying to get it?

That is a damn good point. As far as I know (I'm no FF expert by any means) you've always needed to have a guide to get most of the secrets. Um for instance, "Make sure not to open that chest in the beginning of the game."

Very frustrating.

Here's my question for you guys. WTF is up with beating the bosses - in addition to no loot of any sort do you get ANY license points or XP?? I'm not seeing anything.

[Kayden]

Water doesn't heal him? I just cast berzerk on him and had my tank decoy'd. All I had to do was cast curaga once in a while while everyone slapped the shit outta him. I found the serpentwine hunt a bit harder, but just set up your gambit to keep him slow and blind and decoy your tank with guantlets on.

dude I beat White Mousse at level 25!!!

gamefaqs said it was one of the hardest hunts, but not I!!

he's weak to fire, so I set everyone's gambits to use FIRA instead of attack,

and when I was ready, I brought out my character from Reserve who can cast Belias.

I made sure to have that character have reflect casted on her before I went into battle,

then brought her out, summoned Belias, casted reflect on him ASAP (otherwise wateraga kills him in one hit)

and then I was set!!!

[robbart914]

That is a damn good point. As far as I know (I'm no FF expert by any means) you've always needed to have a guide to get most of the secrets. Um for instance, "Make sure not to open that chest in the beginning of the game."

Very frustrating.

Here's my question for you guys. WTF is up with beating the bosses - in addition to no loot of any sort do you get ANY license points or XP?? I'm not seeing anything.

Mob hunts yield LP. Boss fights? Nothing.

[Backlash]

I doubt many people find running from point a to point be then resetting for two hours very fun....just to turn around and do it again in a few hours.


Yeah it doesn't sound fun, so I won't do that. If this chest has a sword in it, great. If it doesn't, oh well. Why is everyone obsessed with this anyway?

[Dead of Knight]

The Deathbringer took about an hour of gameplay to get me 6 of them. I'd say that was worth it; the 1 Demonsbane in two hours, definitely not. I'm "obsessed" about this because I want to get through the game as easily as possible. I also bought the double LP armlets for everyone. I'm honestly not really enjoying the gameplay or the storyline. I don't want to get into a flamewar over it, but that's really how I feel, and the easier I get through the game with these items, the better. I've already invested 30 hours in the game so I'm not going to just quit even though I don't really like it. I want to see how it plays out.

[coltyhuxx]

Well, like many others I started out in awe. I'm still having a good time (consider this my official preface) but I'm starting to become disinterested in the storyline, slightly. The first twenty hours I was really in to the cutscenes. They seemed of higher quality (all in all) and had more relevance (semblance) toward/of a storyline. That's an exaggeration... there is a semblance of a story line - it's just getting murky and I think they are letting the threads slip.

I'm probably (?) half way. I'm about to head to the northern continent. After the infamous shrine.

Can anyone give a VERY vague hint - is this story going to come back together?

[sarausagi]

So I just tackled another 4 hours last night. And I feel kind of pathetic, because those four hours were just going to the plains to get the sunstone and making my way through the water ways

I played four hours last night because I had my hopes up that once I got to the palace and the feast the game would turn around. Well, it kind of did, but I was so disappointed. The save points told me to save over a separate file, so I expected some boss battles or some LOOONG cut scenes, but it was just a puzzle, and a very short cut scene.

I saw a glimpse of Ashe and finally got Fran and umm..god I forget his name, the guy with the guns. I finally got gambits and party in my menu. Hopefully it'll make the game easier, less tedious.

I certainly hope this game isn't just fetch quest after fetch quest after fetch quest.

So far I feel like I'm stuck in the Pirates of the Carribean world from Kingdom Hearts 2.

[Dead of Knight]

Yeah, one thing I really enjoy about the game is the CG cutscenes. The quality is INSANE. Vaan doesn't look like a complete douche in them. Very impressive.

Colty: I'm around the same place as you are, so I can't really comment very much, but I hear the story doesn't really "come together." :(

[robbart914]

Having completed the game, I was far from impressed with the story. Had some decent moments, but few swerves if any and none comparable to the ones in the intro. But I'm still playing. Want the best weapons, and want to complete the toughest hunts. Not something I normally bother with in an RPG. I suppose that speaks good things, but the story? It accelerates near the end, but they never do anything incredibly out of the ordinary with it. Decent eye candy though.

[willardhaven]

I have to say after 9 hours that this game far surpasses the tenth iteration.

It takes the feel of Final Fantasy XI and applies it to a smooth 1-player experience.

Almost as tasty as FFIX, plus the Gambits make random encounters seem so outdated.

[Moxio]

I think I'm almost done. Now that I've got access to the airship, I think I'm going to go and do some leveling (probably until 60's), than get the rest of the espers.

I've heard Zodiark is a boner.

[robbart914]

I think I'm almost done. Now that I've got access to the airship, I think I'm going to go and do some leveling (probably until 60's), than get the rest of the espers.

I've heard Zodiark is a boner.

That's when you start getting access to all the cool stuff, that potentially takes up more hours than the game itself.

I just finished farming stuff for the best bow in the game. Took a long, long time, but I love the gameplay, and I'm loving the bow.

It seems to me they decided to go with less of a direct approach with the story in the first place with this one, so I don't really consider it flawed but intentional. They didn't even show flashbacks of all sorts of the events that happened around you. It feels like they often just skirt the surface and, let your imagination derive the rest.

I do admit though that I sincerely hope FFXII keeps a battle system as deep and involving (except a little tighter if possible), and mixes it with a more cinematic experience, even if it feels more like a movie than a game at times. After spending 120+ hours on this one though, I've no reason to complain. the inadequacies of the story were more than countered by the gameplay, though its admittedly not for everybody.

[sarausagi]

Well, I am officialy done with the game. I've played for six hours about and while it picked up a tiny bit, I am very unimpressed.

XII isn't -bad-

but it's not good: the word that sums it up is just unimpressive

I think after such a good summer [Xenosaga Episode III, Okami, finally getting a new DS] my bar is a lot higher than it used to be..

Anyways, if anyone's interested in buying a near mint complete copy of Final Fantasy XII for cheap, PM me

[Kayden]

Well, I am officialy done with the game. I've played for six hours about and while it picked up a tiny bit, I am very unimpressed.

XII isn't -bad-

but it's not good: the word that sums it up is just unimpressive

I think after such a good summer [Xenosaga Episode III, Okami, finally getting a new DS] my bar is a lot higher than it used to be..

Anyways, if anyone's interested in buying a near mint complete copy of Final Fantasy XII for cheap, PM me

Great, I have yet to play Xeno 3 and Okami, so it looks like things can only get better as I really like XII.

However, I dont know if I'll ever get to Xeno3 as that would require beating 2. :wall:

[spidey]

Mob hunts yield LP. Boss fights? Nothing.

It's weird but you do get money/loot for beating bosses. Not directly from the boss but from speaking to Mont Blanc in the Clan Hall.

[Kayden]

It's weird but you do get money/loot for beating bosses. Not directly from the boss but from speaking to Mont Blanc in the Clan Hall.

Some, yes. I know the fire horse and earth tyrant were rewarded by Monty.

[Setzer]

30 hours in, probably 1/2 way through the game and this is by far the best FF game I've played since VI.

[sarausagi]

Great, I have yet to play Xeno 3 and Okami, so it looks like things can only get better as I really like XII.

However, I dont know if I'll ever get to Xeno3 as that would require beating 2. :wall:

Don't bother playing 2, the plot is mostly about Jr. and a little about Ziggy at the end, it doesn't have much to do with the central plot.....well..it does..but it's not worth playing through the second episode

Just read the VERY detailed multiple page very well explained Episode 2 synopsis within Episode 3's database = )

Think of Episode 1 as FFX, Episode 2 as FF XI, and episode 3 as the greatest FF ever.

I think if you had played Okami and Episode 3 before XII, you might not like as much, think about the budget Clover and Monolith have, think about the way Namco and Capcom treat their developers, and then think of the budget for XII..it'll change the way you look at things.

[depascal22]

So I just tackled another 4 hours last night. And I feel kind of pathetic, because those four hours were just going to the plains to get the sunstone and making my way through the water ways

I played four hours last night because I had my hopes up that once I got to the palace and the feast the game would turn around. Well, it kind of did, but I was so disappointed. The save points told me to save over a separate file, so I expected some boss battles or some LOOONG cut scenes, but it was just a puzzle, and a very short cut scene.

I saw a glimpse of Ashe and finally got Fran and umm..god I forget his name, the guy with the guns. I finally got gambits and party in my menu. Hopefully it'll make the game easier, less tedious.

I certainly hope this game isn't just fetch quest after fetch quest after fetch quest.

So far I feel like I'm stuck in the Pirates of the Carribean world from Kingdom Hearts 2.

I'm in the same place you are. I'm just not enjoying the battle system at all. I hope this picks up and I can enjoy the rest of the game but for right now, the game seems like a chore.

[sarausagi]

I'm in the same place you are. I'm just not enjoying the battle system at all. I hope this picks up and I can enjoy the rest of the game but for right now, the game seems like a chore.


I made it past that point [about an hour later, got out of the dungeon] but I couldn't take anymore. The battle system isn't flawed, but the skill system is: I have no problem with multiple systems [Xenosaga had skills, techs, and ethers, plus items] but XII is ridiculous; having to buy weapons and equipment, plus getting the licenses, getting the spells, getting the gambits, getting the techniques...

My main problem is how dry the game feels....I felt like I was playing Baldur's Gate or Summoner or god forbid, King's Field. I can recognize how "Well Made" the game is, and I can recognize how "polished" it is. And I can see why so many people like it..

However, just load up X or god, just any game..I haven't seen one hint of "color" XII...I was hyped about the fete, I thought there was going to be dresses and dancing and food and funny rich people...but they just totally avoided having to use a color besides light brown.

[depascal22]

I also hate how Basch is a "guest". I can't get him to do anything but stand right in the middle of a couple monsters and get whaled on. Now I have to make sure I have someone healing him full time.....I'm giving this game a couple more hours and then it's up on my tradelist.

[keithp]

I also hate how Basch is a "guest". I can't get him to do anything but stand right in the middle of a couple monsters and get whaled on. Now I have to make sure I have someone healing him full time.....I'm giving this game a couple more hours and then it's up on my tradelist.

That's what gambits are for! Just create one for stuff like this that you don't want to do.

Don't want to micro-manage your PT? Great, create all the gambits you want!

Want to control EVERYTHING? Turn all gambits off!

While I don't think this is the greatest slice of gaming life ever, I have to say from not expecting much after playing the demo I'm all over this at 15 hours in!

[Kayden]

I also hate how Basch is a "guest". I can't get him to do anything but stand right in the middle of a couple monsters and get whaled on. Now I have to make sure I have someone healing him full time.....I'm giving this game a couple more hours and then it's up on my tradelist.

Uh... hes only a guest for that one dungeon. If you dont like it, move faster. :lol:

[depascal22]

Yeah, I'm finally past that part and I've got my gambits all set up. It was just tough with the limited gambits I had at the beginning.

[willardhaven]

I'm at about 10 hours and I have to say that this is up there with IX, IV and VII.

[Kayden]

I want Self: MP < 10% goddamnit!

[martin8me]

Is there unlockable/secret Quickenings?

[Kayden]

Is there unlockable/secret Quickenings?

No. 3 per.

There are 13 Espers though.


Where the fuck do you find Self: MP < x% gambits?!

[keithp]

Shops. I forget which one(s) I saw them at, but don't forget to tab over (right d pad) to check out everything the shops sell.

[Kayden]

Shops. I forget which one(s) I saw them at, but don't forget to tab over (right d pad) to check out everything the shops sell.

I don't think I'm far enough in the story for them.... I'm level 30 for christs sake! Gimme!

[Starky27]

I don't think I'm far enough in the story for them.... I'm level 30 for christs sake! Gimme!

I remember not having more than just the lone Self gambit until just recently (I'm at 50 hours). You'll be able to get most of the Ally: MP & HP gambits in the 2nd wave of store stock though.
EDIT:
Didn't see you were lvl 30 so you should've already got the Ally ones. Hell, I'm glad to have just recently found the Enemy:element-weak and all the Ally status gambits...

[pete5883]

I've played like 60ish hours, still not at the end yet.

I loved the game at first but at some point the story becomes pretty thin and the game becomes "Ok, we have to get to this location, and even though we have an airship, we have to walk there. So to get there, we just have to go through Bright Forest, then to the Dark Jungle, which has a puzzle that requires we go to the Caves of Rockington first, then return to the jungle so we can go through Beachville, then over the Plains, and then we're there!" which takes at least a half hour per map and saving up for/buying new equipment a few times, just to see <5 minutes of plot development before we have to walk somewhere else. Ironically this is a lot like FF I-V, which are not my favorite FFs. Granted, I still like the game enough to keep playing it but there are things they could've done better.

(They should've just called it Final Fantasy XI: Offline.)

[xmrblondex]

I don't think I'm far enough in the story for them.... I'm level 30 for christs sake! Gimme!
I bought them after going to Archadia and fighting a boss. After that you go to a seaport and can buy it there

[Dead of Knight]

Well, after nearly 37 hours of gameplay, I am quitting this game. I'm just not enjoying it at all, and games are supposed to be fun, not a chore. It really saddens me. I'm glad a lot of you guys are enjoying it, but I plainly wasn't for like 80%+ of the time I was playing.

[Thongsy]

I like the game for the first 20 hours or so. But now I'm just playing it to beat it. I'm about at 35 hours and it just seems to be dragging now. Once the newness of it wore off, I actually don't care so much for this game and regret buying the collector's editon and the LE guide. :cry:

[Kendro]

Well, after nearly 37 hours of gameplay, I am quitting this game. I'm just not enjoying it at all, and games are supposed to be fun, not a chore. It really saddens me. I'm glad a lot of you guys are enjoying it, but I plainly wasn't for like 80%+ of the time I was playing.
I like the game for the first 20 hours or so. But now I'm just playing it to beat it. I'm about at 35 hours and it just seems to be dragging now. Once the newness of it wore off, I actually don't care so much for this game and regret buying the collector's editon and the LE guide. :cry:
QFT. The game is truly a chore for me now. I'm 55 hours in, and I think the 3rd to last dungeon. I'm pretty much forcing myself to beat the game and see the ending because I've already invested so much time and money (CE and LE guide). Of course, I can barely force myself because I haven't touched the game in about 3 days.

A good story can be an RPG's saving grace, but this story was mostly, "Go here to get that, rescue this party member, then go over there and rescue that party member, then go here but we have to go get that thing over there, after we get it, we come over here and do this, then we go over there." There is absolutely no substance to the story.

[depascal22]

It's a good thing I only paid $38 for it. If I had paid $90 for the game and guide, I'd be high tailing it to Square Enix's headquarters to demand an apology.

I hate to say it but this game has turned into a single player MMORPG.

[Dead of Knight]

Well, this is going for $30 trade-in value at GS right now... off it goes. I did pay for most of it in trade-in credit too, ironically. It can pay for most of a Wii game.

[xmrblondex]

man, you guys are really hating on the game. I'm having fun at least...

[depascal22]

man, you guys are really hating on the game. I'm having fun at least...

I don't know if I hate the game. It's just that I'm disappointed after all the hype.

I love the graphical style since it looks so much like Vagrant Story but I'm disappointed Square didn't give us an option for 480p. I like that they gave us Gambits but it doesn't stop Fran from standing right next to an enemy when she has a bow and arrow to shoot from long distances.

Tales of Symphonia did this the right way by not only allowing you to command the individuals in the team to act a certain way but it also allowed you to have them stay out of the mix if they aren't attacking. If I wanted Collette to heal, I'd have her chill out on the fringes so she's not getting bashed over the head while casting spells.

If this wasn't a Final Fantasy, this game would sell less copies than Magna Carta. Again, I'm not saying this a bad game. It's just a monumental let down.

[Moxio]

man, you guys are really hating on the game. I'm having fun at least...

Yeah I'm not sure why everyone else has some kind of Disappointment Stick up their ass but I'm really enjoying the game.

[Roufuss]

If this wasn't a Final Fantasy, this game would sell less copies than Magna Carta. Again, I'm not saying this a bad game. It's just a monumental let down.

Yep, I think this is the thing to keep in mind. If it wasn't a Final Fantasy, it would have gotten reviewed alot worse I believe and this thread would be 1/8 of the size.

Like alot of people here, I got about 23 hours in, stopped playing it for awhile, and now I just can't get back into it. The last 3 hours or so I played the game, it did feel alot like work, and I just don't find 1/2 of the characters interesting, the villains are kind of blah, I'm not a fan of political plots and the game feels like one giant fetch quest.

I'm glad Square tried something new but sadly, this just isn't for me. If the plot was better I'd find myself going on just for the story, but this isn't the case, and if I wanted an MMORPG game I'd go renew my World of Warcraft account.

It was fun until I realized I'm just running from place to place doing menial chores to advance some tiny bit of story that I don't care about at all. Plus the fact that Vaan and Penelo have seem tacked on to the game for no reason for the last 15 or so hours sucks, as well. Too bad Square can't make an RPG without ditching the gender confused 15 year old males.

If Gamestop / EB is really giving $30 credit, that's $33 after the card and I might go dump mine as well. Nevermind, if I get lucky I can get almost $40 on Ebay, that's a better route since I only paid $38.

[sarausagi]

man, you guys are really hating on the game. I'm having fun at least...

I think why people are hating on it is because it alienates quite a few legitimate fans of the series.

Pretty much, a large chunk of the "10/10" reviews come from people who tend to give the Final Fantasy series low scores.

Many people who enjoy it are those insult the rest of the series by calling them "interactive movies".

The game felt like a chore to me because there was just no reward for the actual gameplay, and the actual gameplay itself isn't enjoyable enough to be its own reward. A killer soundtrack, a beautiful story, and more cinematics would have been reward enough.

When you have a story that sounds like a canned Lord of the Rings rip off, that looks like Star Wars Episode I rejects, and feels like an online RPG without any players, there's just no way not to look down upon it even if it is Final Fantasy

and I'm not the only one, so I can't say I'm crazy .

[depascal22]

They should've cut out the party members, got rid of the political plot, and made this Vagrant Story 2.

[Roufuss]

Yea, I honestly thought all the haters were just being stupid, but it's been over a week now and I don't have the drive to pick up the game and keep playing whatsoever... there is nothing about it that is making me care about what happens to the characters / plot / story and I've played enough WoW in one lifetime to not worry about grinding in some single player MMORPG.

[sarausagi]

Oh, and if you hated XII, play XENOSAGA III....

[drools thinking what Monolith could do with a FF budget]

[Roufuss]

I felt kind of bad, like maybe I didn't like RPG's anymore, but I just played through all of FFV and put like 25 - 26 hours into it and it didn't feel like a chore at all, so maybe it's just this game.

I'll try it again in a year or so when it goes GH.

[martin8me]

Umm really quick question, do guys think it was worth getting the dragonbane and what levels were your characters at?

[xmrblondex]

Yea, I honestly thought all the haters were just being stupid, but it's been over a week now and I don't have the drive to pick up the game and keep playing whatsoever... there is nothing about it that is making me care about what happens to the characters / plot / story and I've played enough WoW in one lifetime to not worry about grinding in some single player MMORPG.
I guess that would be something I am interested about. I've never played an online MMO, so I didn't know what to expect from this one and, I guess I'm kind of enjoying it. I actually think that the story is all right so far (just went to archadea) and I'm looking forward to see what happens. I like basch as well, he's a badass.

I guess what I like a lot about this game is that where before in FF games, I was trying to find a way to press my buttons faster, now I have them pressed, and I get to enjoy the traveling and the story, and the customization.

For reference, my favorite final fantasies are (with reasons so you know where I'm coming from)
6 (all the characters, and the 3 party dungeons)
Tactics (customization, and interesting story)
4 (my first RPG, story)
10 (The sphere Grid, Auron, etc)

So, I guess this would be me sticking up for the game, it's not that bad! If you see all the negative comments, there is good in the game too. And it's beautiful.

[pete5883]

Sorry, I was wrong earlier. They really should've called this .finalfantasy//XII since its a prettier .hack with much fewer problems.

[Dead of Knight]

Roufuss, Gamestop.com's trade-in values say $30, so it really is $30 unless they changed it for some reason.

martin8me: The Demonsbane is NOT worth it, however, the Deathbringer IS.

pete5883: I enjoyed .hack more than this. I stuck around for all 4 games even though I was very disappointed in the end and I am not interested at all in GU.

[Backlash]

For those of you who dislike this game, especially those who don't like the plot/characterizations or think it's a fetch quest, can you compare it to Dragon Quest 8?

That game didn't have a super deep plot or developed characters, and had some fetching elements, but I really enjoyed it. Does that mean I would probably like this one too?

[willardhaven]

It's pretty different from DQ, it is more streamlined but doesn't have the same old-fashioned charm.

I think overall it's a better experience because you don't have to wait 5 years to do everything (from attacking to saving).

I've been playing final fantasy for about 15 years and I think this new system is pretty good. I do wish they'd make another FF IX style game though.

[Dead of Knight]

For those of you who dislike this game, especially those who don't like the plot/characterizations or think it's a fetch quest, can you compare it to Dragon Quest 8?

That game didn't have a super deep plot or developed characters, and had some fetching elements, but I really enjoyed it. Does that mean I would probably like this one too?

God no. I LOVED DQ8. DQ8 is extremely old-school. This is pretty much the complete opposite of old-school. While both don't have much character development, there are MORE character development and story in DQ8 than this game. I know, hard to believe, but it's true. The fetch questing in DQ8 was more fun and rewarding than this, and I enjoyed DQ8's monster hunt (you know, how you'd get the monster coins) much more than FFXII's equivalent. I would definitely recommend a rental of this before buying in your case.

[sarausagi]

For those of you who dislike this game, especially those who don't like the plot/characterizations or think it's a fetch quest, can you compare it to Dragon Quest 8?

That game didn't have a super deep plot or developed characters, and had some fetching elements, but I really enjoyed it. Does that mean I would probably like this one too?

I didn't like Dragon Quest VIII at all, but, I liked many things about it a lot more than XII

1. Traditional battles: they get boring after five hours but at least they work

2. PROGRESSIVE SCAN: each and every progressive scan game on the PS2 is a treat just visually

3. Music is a LOT better, very lush orchestrated stuff

4. Characters designs are better. Sorry, but Toriyama is a lot better than Amano, if you have a problem with Final Fantasy characters looking weird, it's mostly Amano.

5. At least the game had some light hearted moments, and didn't take itself seriously, VIII never said it was Xenogears or something..while a million dollar budget FF has to be epic [and XII wasn't]

So yeah, I -hated- Dragon Quest VIII, but I enjoyed Dragon Quest VIII a tiny little bit more, and it plain looks and sounds better, and definitely plays better.

[Roufuss]

Roufuss, Gamestop.com's trade-in values say $30, so it really is $30 unless they changed it for some reason.


Well, I didn't realize Ebay values were still really high for this game, and I can easily get more than $30 on there since my copy is pristine.

I'm hoping for $38 since I'll make back everything I spent and have enough for FF 3 if I use a GGC at Best Buy.

At this point, FF 3 is looking alot more appealing to me.

For some reason, the license board just made me wish they went back to the job system, since imo it was alot better done.

[Dead of Knight]

I didn't like Dragon Quest VIII at all, but, I liked many things about it a lot more than XII

1. Traditional battles: they get boring after five hours but at least they work

2. PROGRESSIVE SCAN: each and every progressive scan game on the PS2 is a treat just visually

3. Music is a LOT better, very lush orchestrated stuff

4. Characters designs are better. Sorry, but Toriyama is a lot better than Amano, if you have a problem with Final Fantasy characters looking weird, it's mostly Amano.

5. At least the game had some light hearted moments, and didn't take itself seriously, VIII never said it was Xenogears or something..while a million dollar budget FF has to be epic [and XII wasn't]

So yeah, I -hated- Dragon Quest VIII, but I enjoyed Dragon Quest VIII a tiny little bit more, and it plain looks and sounds better, and definitely plays better.

I totally agree with the music and the lightheartedness of DQ8. However, FF12's designs were NOT DONE BY AMANO OR NOMURA. They were done by the same guy who did Vagrant Story and FFT, Akihiko Yoshida. He is also incidentally the guy who did the designs for the FF3 remake. But yes, I agree that the character designs are pretty bland. I do think the characters as a whole are cool and have decent personalities (I really like Fran), but there's absolutely no development of them. I wonder how much better the game would have turned out if it actually had some semblance of character development.


Roufuss: I would sell on eBay myself since my copy is also pristine, but since I'm at college in a dorm, I don't want to have to go through eBay bullshit and prefer to trade-in at EB now.

[sarausagi]

I totally agree with the music and the lightheartedness of DQ8. However, FF12's designs were NOT DONE BY AMANO OR NOMURA. They were done by the same guy who did Vagrant Story and FFT, Akihiko Yoshida. He is also incidentally the guy who did the designs for the FF3 remake. But yes, I agree that the character designs are pretty bland. I do think the characters as a whole are cool and have decent personalities (I really like Fran), but there's absolutely no development of them. I wonder how much better the game would have turned out if it actually had some semblance of character development.


Roufuss: I would sell on eBay myself since my copy is also pristine, but since I'm at college in a dorm, I don't want to have to go through eBay bullshit and prefer to trade-in at EB now.

Wow, he did FF3 on DS?

But FF3 on DS looks SO CUTE...!

[Kayden]

I need to stop reading this thread before you guys kill my buzz.

[Roufuss]

But yes, I agree that the character designs are pretty bland. I do think the characters as a whole are cool and have decent personalities (I really like Fran), but there's absolutely no development of them. I wonder how much better the game would have turned out if it actually had some semblance of character development.


Yea, one thing that really bothers me is that 5 out of the 6 characters you could play as are Humes. That's incredibly boring espically when I see Bangaa's and Moogles and other things walking around, and I'm stuck as humans.

I liked Fran simply because she was something different from the rest of the cast.

Plus, Vaan and Penelo really honestly killed this game for me, since they don't even seem necessary to the plot, Penelo espically. You could have cut both of them out at about hour 5 and the game still would have worked perfectly.

Also, and this is just a gripe on my part, I didn't like how the entire VA cast was mostly british. I'm not sure what the reasoning was behind that.

[Dead of Knight]

Yea, one thing that really bothers me is that 5 out of the 6 characters you could play as are Humes. That's incredibly boring espically when I see Bangaa's and Moogles and other things walking around, and I'm stuck as humans.

I liked Fran simply because she was something different from the rest of the cast.

Plus, Vaan and Penelo really honestly killed this game for me, since they don't even seem necessary to the plot, Penelo espically. You could have cut both of them out at about hour 5 and the game still would have worked perfectly.

Also, and this is just a gripe on my part, I didn't like how the entire VA cast was mostly british. I'm not sure what the reasoning was behind that.

I liked Fran not only because she was different, I really liked her character design (I think the Vieras are pretty in general, NO I AM NOT A FURRY) and I LOVED the voice acting, I really thought it fit the character.

Vaan and Penelo were worthless. Some people try to argue Vaan being in there to get revenge for his brother and then eventually wanting to fight with Ashe to restore Dalmasca, but if I were Bathier, Fran, Basch, and Ashe, I'd tell him and his immature brat ass to GTFO of the party as soon as Penelo was rescued. The only reason why he was there was because of the pretty boy main character image that for some reason Square insists on maintaining.

I guess they made people British-sounding because of the whole monarchy and empire thing, the former of which they have in Britain, and maybe because a British accent just sounds eviller. It's stupid though IMO.

[Backlash]

I liked Fran not only because she was different, I really liked her character design (I think the Vieras are pretty in general, NO I AM NOT A FURRY) and I LOVED the voice acting, I really thought it fit the character.

Vaan and Penelo were worthless. Some people try to argue Vaan being in there to get revenge for his brother and then eventually wanting to fight with Ashe to restore Dalmasca, but if I were Bathier, Fran, Basch, and Ashe, I'd tell him and his immature brat ass to GTFO of the party as soon as Penelo was rescued. The only reason why he was there was because of the pretty boy main character image that for some reason Square insists on maintaining.

I guess they made people British-sounding because of the whole monarchy and empire thing, the former of which they have in Britain, and maybe because a British accent just sounds eviller. It's stupid though IMO.

You could probably say that several of the characters from VII and IX were extraneous (hell, some you didn't even have to get) but I liked using them anyway. E.g. Yuffie and Vincent Valentine from VII. I don't remember IX much, but the red-haired dude was definitely extra.