OFFICIAL Final Fantasy XII thread

[tehweezner]

The EB in my area is having a midnight launch. I inspected the CE case and it is lovely. the strat guide is very nice and if you buy it w/FFXII it's $24. the clerk said the game is "AWEsome"

couple more days :bouncy:

[Kayden]

It is awesome. I'm about 15 hours in.

[Dandeschain]

I cannot wait. Just paid mine off today. Now I'm going to go to sleep and hopefully when I wake up it will be wednesday.

[Chacrana]

I can't wait, but I can't start the game until like the 10th of November... I've got two tests that I have to study for and if I start playing FFXII, I absolutely will not get work done.

[defiance_17]

I'm putting in at least 10 hours after the midnight launch. And depending on whether or not I attend my classes that day, I might be halfway through before I stop.

[Spades22]

I just had 3 exams in a row, so now I'm finally free for a couple weeks! Sweet can't wait to play some games... too bad I got full labs next week though =/

[Moxio]

ZOMGZ I needz FFXII!

[PawnTakesKing]

This will probably be the only FF that I miss out on.

[Diiz]

So I am a bit unclear. For the EBs doing midnight launches... are they going to have the game on the night of Oct 30 / morning of Oct 31? Or is it the 31st/1st?

[Kayden]

So I am a bit unclear. For the EBs doing midnight launches... are they going to have the game on the night of Oct 30 / morning of Oct 31? Or is it the 31st/1st?
30th/31st

Overall, the game is pretty easy saddly. Atleast, up to the point I'm at. There are a couple of monsters at the beginning of the game you can't even come close to killing like werewolfs and the Sauren (t-rex). Some of the hunts can be pretty hard if you try to do them right when you get them. The first two are cake, but the third and fourth need 2 people and the fifth will bust your balls with all three... atleast at level 11 when I tried him.

The License system is interesting, but it feels almost limiting... probably because it is... You can only wear gear you have a license for. Every license permits you 1-4 items/spells/skills and then unlocks all adjacent licenses. Magic works much the same way, except that you only need to buy the spell once and then every character with the right license can use it. The problem with this system is that you generally only unlock those you absolutely need, but you have no idea what you're going to get next and, subsequently, when you do move on, all those points spent on the subsequent skills just feel wasted. Dispite that though, its great because you can make any character into anything you want.

There are also special 'limit breakish' abilities called Quickenings that only one character can use. I've only unlocked one and from what I can tell is that it uses all your mana and then has you do some kind of button combinations to do more damage. I couldn't really tell exactly what was going on because it only gives you 4 seconds to look around and I only triggered the skill twice. I noticed something in the bottom corner that said 'R2 Shuffle'. I hit R2 and it disapeared... Not real sure what went on there.

Combat is fairly... interesting, if not sometimes boring. Firstly the good-- Combat is real time, you can see all your enemies on screen with no 'swoosh' effect taking you to a battle map. You can change party members at just about any time you want at any point in the battle. The one exception I've found is when the person you want to swap out is being targeted for an attack. Dead people can also be swapped out for healthy fighters and then rez'd and healed while in standby. If you're really getting your ass handed to you, you can run away from battle and cross into an adjacent zone, however, when you go back, the monsters than chased you may be waiting for your return.

Gambits are a mixed bag. One the plus side, they let you make sure everyone is doing what you want them to do in real time. The down side is, for a lot of the fights you feel like you're just watching the game instead of playing it. Every character starts with two gambit slots with more unlockable through the License board. Gambits allow you to choose your target and action such as "Ally: <60% life" and "Spell:Cure" or "Enemy: Closest" and "Attack". The character acts in the order the gambits are listed. If you have attack above cure, then they will not cast cure while in battle. Additionally, you have to becareful because you can set gambits to attack allies automatically. While its nice to be able to make sure all your helpers aren't slacking, its almost too good of a system as it removes even the marginal interactivity of mashing X like previous entries.


Some of the text is a bit hard to read in HD (no where near as bad as Dead Rising) but I can't say how it looks in SD. Overall, its a pretty great game and heads above FFX-2-- Next week can't come fast enough.

[CAG 79]

I think I'm also going to be passing on this game at least for now. With so many games coming out in November, I simply won't have the time to devote to an RPG.

[jer7583]

I would be waiting on this if gamestop hadn't screwed up a trade in transaction and gave me a ton of extra store credit. I've got it paid off but probably won't play it until thanksgiving/winter break, like bully, and VP2, and Okami.. ugh.

[defiance_17]

I would be waiting on this if gamestop hadn't screwed up a trade in transaction and gave me a ton of extra store credit. I've got it paid off but probably won't play it until thanksgiving/winter break, like bully, and VP2, and Okami.. ugh.

I've informed my family, friends, employers, and professors that I'll be locked in my bedroom all of next week. Final Fantasy XII will not wait for any "recognized" breaks--it has created its own.

I just hope I can finish Okami before Monday night (not looking good). Bully and Splinter Cell: DA will have to wait...probably until December, with Guitar Hero 2 and the Wii knocking at our doors. I also made the mistake of starting up Lego Star Wars II last night. I almost miss the days when there weren't at least half a dozen must-have games coming out a month.

[MarkMan]

I posted my impressions in the other thread.

I really loved this game. It was a breath of fresh air for me. Finally something *NEW* to the series that I came to enjoy, and eventually love.

It has some of the best "moments" I can recall from any recent Final Fantasy game.

Even though I already played through it, I'm going to purchase a CE because the game is that damn good.

[Dijital]

I posted my impressions in the other thread.

I really loved this game. It was a breath of fresh air for me. Finally something *NEW* to the series that I came to enjoy, and eventually love.

It has some of the best "moments" I can recall from any recent Final Fantasy game.

Even though I already played through it, I'm going to purchase a CE because the game is that damn good.

You already beat it wow man, so what can you tell us about the game for those who are unsure?

[Chacrana]

You already beat it wow man, so what can you tell us about the game for those who are unsure?

Yeah, personally, I'm worried that there won't be a good storyline or interesting characters... I've really not heard very much about those aspects from... well, anyone. Oh, and how dark is the game?

I'm kinda weird, but one of my favorite things about FFX was the first part where you're in Zanarkand during the night and Sin attacks... everything about that was absolutely perfect so I'm hoping there's some moments like that...

[BREVITY]

I am 30 hours in and far from beating it, there is just so much to do. I mean I stop
drilling through the story often to hunt down some NMs or do a hunt. Also I dont think this game is a walk in the park by any stretch. I recall the first day I played I was walking through this area and in fact had just beat a boss and I thought I was big shit so I didnt even scan this mob I just started hacking at it. In two hits to each of my party members I was dead. I came back and found it again and tried scanning it and found it unscannable. Its now on my payback list when I get way more lvls. Last night I was ambushed into a boss fight I had not known was comming and its got me totally rethinking my gambits. I am trying to stay away from GFAQs but hell I had to have some help and so I went and checked out some gambit ideas and now I think I will make another run at these dudes with a new gambit setup.

Overall the story is good so far and the pacing of the game is great. One of my fave parts of the game is I never really feel lost in what I need to do next. I love that the map screen along with a few others keeps me in the loop on stuff I got to get done.

[Rei no Otaku]

I'm working the midnight launch. I can't wait for the game either. Unfortunately I won't get home until like 1am, so I'll probably have to take a quick nap before actually playing it.

[MidnightRain]

I'm seriously considering taking time off work to head over to Circuit City on Tuesday. XII for 37.99? I'm so there.

[soliddragon]

Is available now at Gexpress. Shipping kills deal though, those greedy bastards.

http://www.gameexpress.com/product_detail.cfm?UPC=662248904078&Section=New%20Releases

[jer7583]

does anyone have that super deluxe sexy time leather edition guide? worth it? i was a bit dissapointed with the KH2 limited guide.. the guide was worthless.

[MarkMan]

Yeah, personally, I'm worried that there won't be a good storyline or interesting characters... I've really not heard very much about those aspects from... well, anyone. Oh, and how dark is the game?

I'm kinda weird, but one of my favorite things about FFX was the first part where you're in Zanarkand during the night and Sin attacks... everything about that was absolutely perfect so I'm hoping there's some moments like that...

Regarding the storyline... it's much different than previous FFs.

The comparisons you hear about Star Wars and LOTR... it's pretty much on point. The game is very much like those movies where it's a GROUP of people fighting together for a common story goal. I know, I know... sounds pretty bland, but when you play the game I hope you can kinda see it the way I saw it.

The game is pretty dark as it has it's good share of killing and backstabbing etc., etc. I can't get in depth without spoiling anything so I won't.

The main game, I'd say it's about 60 hours. If you do everything, including all the mob hunts... probably closer to 100.

[dashwstppr]

So, is it worth it to pay about $23+ to get the Collector's Edition?

'Cause $37 is an excellent price for this game.
What do you guys think?

[erehwon]

How limited do you think the FFXII LE edition will be? I have it on pre-order, but I'm thinking of cancelling it. It sounds like a good game, but my funds are getting a little low and I haven't been gaming as much lately. I need to finish Valkyrie Profile and I need to start Xenosaga 3 which I got at launch, but haven't opened.

I do have a copy of FFVII which I'm thinking of putting on ebay. I wonder how much that would get me to put towards FFXII?

[Dhuk]

How limited do you think the FFXII LE edition will be? I have it on pre-order, but I'm thinking of cancelling it. It sounds like a good game, but my funds are getting a little low and I haven't been gaming as much lately. I need to finish Valkyrie Profile and I need to start Xenosaga 3 which I got at launch, but haven't opened.

I do have a copy of FFVII which I'm thinking of putting on ebay. I wonder how much that would get me to put towards FFXII?

FFXII GS/EB LE will probably flood ebay on the 31st, if you were to sell your FF7 now, you probably paid 70% of FF12 off. Also, buy FF12 on ebay. I am going to assume someone will have free shipping, or 6 bucks off retail....maybe both???

[kittycatgirl2k]

does anyone have that super deluxe sexy time leather edition guide? worth it? i was a bit dissapointed with the KH2 limited guide.. the guide was worthless.

I was in eb today and saw the guide... oh my gawd... it is super sexxi and I kept putting it back... and picking it up again and gazing at it lovingly. As I was checking out (picked up Beatmania for $30 to give as a Christmas gift) I had a crazy freakout moment and blurted out "I'll take this too"..... OMG it was $30!!

But I paid it. Its sitting on my shelf unopened right now. Dont know whether to crack the seal or not. Its so tempting though. There are two books in the hardcase it comes in. One is an artbook I believe.

Oh and I preordered my FFXII through outpost with free shipping for 39.99. any chance that will come in sometime next week ya think? After getting the guide Im real antsy about the game now.

I havent bought a strategy guide since Final Fantasy Tactics. I feel like such a tool. lol

[Chacrana]

IGN Review is up: http://ps2.ign.com/articles/741/741991p1.html


9.5. Holy shit. This game is going to be legendary. The fact that I have to wait a little while to play it absolutely kills me.

[CAG 79]

IGN Review is up: http://ps2.ign.com/articles/741/741991p1.html


9.5. Holy shit. This game is going to be legendary. The fact that I have to wait a little while to play it absolutely kills me.

Damn, I'm going to have to reconsider my decision. Nothing but positive reviews and impressions.

Edit: 1UP (http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3154731) also gave it a 9.5.

[robbart914]

Yeah, personally, I'm worried that there won't be a good storyline or interesting characters... I've really not heard very much about those aspects from... well, anyone. Oh, and how dark is the game?

I'm kinda weird, but one of my favorite things about FFX was the first part where you're in Zanarkand during the night and Sin attacks... everything about that was absolutely perfect so I'm hoping there's some moments like that...

Teehee. Let's just say the exposition is....somewhat dark. May come a little later than what you were expecting though.

As a single player "game", FFXII trounces the other FFs. You simply can't compare the amount of gameplay, as there is seemingly an unholy number of potential activities in this game. It does take a while to get the hang of however. Nothing TOO complicated, but I'd imagine it might shy some of the more softcore away fairly quickly.

As an experience, however, don't fall prey to the IGN review hype. Its not all peaches and cream. Its different. Enough so that I have a tough time even comparing it to the other FF games. As each game tells a different story anyway, I'm glad they travel down different roads instead of treading the path of least resentment, but the story for this game is simply....

...not so much "cinematic". Somewhat closer to an unfolding of events without the extensive inner monologue that made Tidus so open with information that he seemed like....well, a girl. Rather you see the events and some of the subtleties and are left up to whether you will feel anything for the characters or not. Though its hard not to. Its an immersive experience after all. But it sure works for my taste for the lead, as I recall absolutely despising his character design (girly dude WTF FF sux0rs!) and now I don't mind him at all. We seldom see him "touchy feely" at all.

BTW, I can't stand animal girls, and the viera, Fran, is fucking hot. Go FF for changing my views on that. Or is it FF? I don't really know anymore. But its quality. And I think its pretty damn good.

[empyrium]

Target in folsom,ca had it on the shelves this evening. My brother picked up a copy early. You might want to check your local targets

[whoknows]

I am pretty excited for this game now. I had no intention of getting it a month ago, but now I can't wait!! I'll be picking up this and Killzone Liberation at the same time since they have the same release dates :D

[LXL_Guy]

Okay...I bought the Limited Edition Guide. None of the GS/EB did reserves on them. It was all on the first come basis. Anyhow, I opened the guide and took a look. I surely wasn't disappointed. I liked the art work book plus the guide is quite extensive. I only skimmed it but, well worth it I believe considering how massive this game really is.

[Rei no Otaku]

None of the GS/EB did reserves on them.
We were taking reserves on the guide.

[spoo]

I also bought the $30 guide :shock: It is a very nice art book but I'm not sure if the small art book and cardboard case was worth the extra $10. I wish they would of made it a hardcover instead of the pseudo hardcover like it is now.

[Kayden]

I thought it was leather bound...

[Kendro]

Could someone please take photos of the LE guide? Although if the pics are truly kickass, I may be forced to spend $30 on it.

*Edit - Also, aren't there 6 different covers or something?

[spoo]

Could someone please take photos of the LE guide? Although if the pics are truly kickass, I may be forced to spend $30 on it.

*Edit - Also, aren't there 6 different covers or something?
I can take some pics for you.

[LXL_Guy]

*Edit - Also, aren't there 6 different covers or something?

Yeah, there is supposedly six different covers. Mine is a picture of Basch.

[Dhuk]

Is it true EBgames.com has shipped the LE already? I read someone recived theirs yesterday?

[Rei no Otaku]

Could someone please take photos of the LE guide? Although if the pics are truly kickass, I may be forced to spend $30 on it.

*Edit - Also, aren't there 6 different covers or something?
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2930/1rs4.jpg
Front of Folio Cover

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/9075/2xq8.jpg
Folio Open

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/1396/3ae5.jpg
Inside of Folio without the Strat. Guide & Art Collection

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8060/4zc4.jpg
Exterior of Folio Packaging

Here's a few samples of the Art Collection:
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5562/5yt9.jpg

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/3299/6zl1.jpg

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/5724/7it9.jpg

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/7550/8op0.jpg

[Kendro]

WOW. Thanks Rei!

I guess I'll pick this up. Plus it will go great with my CE FFXII. $90 in total for a game...I'm NUTS. If it wasn't FF...

[spoo]

Here are some more pics.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7396/1000085ka2.jpg
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/5849/1000086tl6.jpg
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/8018/1000089qi6.jpg
http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/7384/1000091tc4.jpg
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/396/1000090it8.jpg

[Kendro]

Great pics spoo, you rock! I think its pretty Brokeback Mountain that you have to shell out $30 for a LE Guide and can't even pick the cover you want. I'm heading out to GS today and will try to "peek" through the sealed wrap to get one of Fran.

*Edit - I seriously cannot wait for this game. When I get my hands on it, you'll be seeing http://starbulletin.com/98/01/16/features/lord.gif

[LostRoad]

Am I the only one who is not please with how the past few FF main char cast just look... wrong? I am sorry but the main char here looks like you could find him in gay porn.

[Rei no Otaku]

Am I the only one who is not please with how the past few FF main char cast just look... wrong? I am sorry but the main char here looks like you could find him in gay porn.
I agree that Vaan looks ridiculous. He has one of the worst character designs I've ever seen. What makes it even worse is that I think all the other characters in the game look great. So you have Vaan sticking out like a sore thumb.

And yes, the Vaan cover of the guide does look like an advertisement for a male stripper.

[LXL_Guy]

Somehow I'm actually relieved that I didn't get the Vaan cover. Though I am somewhat still disappointed in getting the Basch one, yet severly satisfied with my purchase still.

Edit- Also, is the game going to be released at midnight on the 31st to 1st??? When I was EB to pick up my guide, I asked the sales guy and he said it was being released at midnight. Does this hold true?

[Foolman]

Wow, maybe I should have bought the LE guide...
Is it true EBgames.com has shipped the LE already? I read someone recived theirs yesterday?
Yes they did.

[Moxio]

I agree that Vaan looks ridiculous. He has one of the worst character designs I've ever seen. What makes it even worse is that I think all the other characters in the game look great. So you have Vaan sticking out like a sore thumb.

And yes, the Vaan cover of the guide does look like an advertisement for a male stripper.

Vaan could have been made 30% less gay if they'd just made him shirtless like many of the people in the game, rather than that... vest...


*shudders*

[Kendro]

Picked up my guide today at EB. Didn't pre-order one but they had extras. My cover has the character Penelo, so I'm feeling indifferent. Would rather have had Ashe or Fran. Oh well.

*Edit - BTW, if your having 2nd thoughts about getting the game at Circuit City for $38, after spotting the CE edition, it truly is high quality. The outer tin doesn't feel cheap, it has serious weight to it, and if this makes sense, it has a "matte" metal cover instead of a shiny, fingerprint visible type of metal. You know how the Prey LE feels very cheap? Complete opposite. It is a "heavy" metal, even MORE higher quality than the Gears of War tin that is on display at EB. Its very sleek and although I'm still feeling like crap forking over $60, after seeing it, I don't feel so bad.

[Kayden]

:lol: You're really going to hate the way he runs.

Vaan could have been made 30% less gay if they'd just made him shirtless like many of the people in the game, rather than that... vest...


*shudders*

[Moxio]

:lol: You're really going to hate the way he runs.

...

*bangs head agaisnt keyboard*

[espy605]

Picked up my guide today at EB. Didn't pre-order one but they had extras. My cover has the character Penelo, so I'm feeling indifferent. Would rather have had Ashe or Fran. Oh well.

Can you post your Penelo cover? And if anyone has a Fran cover, that would be nice to see, too.

I hope my GameStop will open the guides up so we can choose.

[robbart914]

Somehow I'm actually relieved that I didn't get the Vaan cover. Though I am somewhat still disappointed in getting the Basch one, yet severly satisfied with my purchase still.

Edit- Also, is the game going to be released at midnight on the 31st to 1st??? When I was EB to pick up my guide, I asked the sales guy and he said it was being released at midnight. Does this hold true?

Yeah, I got Vaan. Not so much annoyed by the guy in the game, but I hate his character design. Would have rather had any other cover.

But, I bought the guide because I thought this game would be a useful one to have it for, so now I won't be afraid to abuse it. Which is kind of good in itself. Would've killed for a Fran though.

[Kayden]

Can you post your Penelo cover? And if anyone has a Fran cover, that would be nice to see, too.

I hope my GameStop will open the guides up so we can choose.

That reminds me, Fran has a really annoying voice. She has a speach impediment where she sounds like shes wispering with a mouth full of cotton.

[Kendro]

Can you post your Penelo cover? And if anyone has a Fran cover, that would be nice to see, too.

I hope my GameStop will open the guides up so we can choose.
Also added a picture of the insert that came with the guide, so you can see all 6 covers.

http://img130.imagevenue.com/loc533/th_85856_IMG_0230_122_533lo.JPG (http://img130.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=85856_IMG_0230_122_533lo.JPG)

http://img162.imagevenue.com/loc321/th_85861_IMG_0232_122_321lo.JPG (http://img162.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=85861_IMG_0232_122_321lo.JPG)

[Roufuss]

*Edit - BTW, if your having 2nd thoughts about getting the game at Circuit City for $38, after spotting the CE edition, it truly is high quality. The outer tin doesn't feel cheap, it has serious weight to it, and if this makes sense, it has a "matte" metal cover instead of a shiny, fingerprint visible type of metal. You know how the Prey LE feels very cheap? Complete opposite. It is a "heavy" metal, even MORE higher quality than the Gears of War tin that is on display at EB. Its very sleek and although I'm still feeling like crap forking over $60, after seeing it, I don't feel so bad.

Just know that the value of that tin will drop like a stone because chances are EB / GS have overproduced this thing by a shit ton. Maybe if they added more than some stupid DVD (that will be ripped in less than an hour to the internets) I'd be inclined to get it, but $38 is good enough for me.

They should have stopped preorders a month or so ago like they did for MGS 3 LE and really made this tin a true collector's piece.

[Kayden]

Just know that the value of that tin will drop like a stone because chances are EB / GS have overproduced this thing by a shit ton. Maybe if they added more than some stupid DVD (that will be ripped in less than an hour to the internets) I'd be inclined to get it, but $38 is good enough for me.

They should have stopped preorders a month or so ago like they did for MGS 3 LE and really made this tin a true collector's piece.

Or even the PS2 RE4...

Also added a picture of the insert that came with the guide, so you can see all 6 covers.

http://img130.imagevenue.com/loc533/th_85856_IMG_0230_122_533lo.JPG (http://img130.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=85856_IMG_0230_122_533lo.JPG)

http://img162.imagevenue.com/loc321/th_85861_IMG_0232_122_321lo.JPG (http://img162.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=85861_IMG_0232_122_321lo.JPG)

Basche is the man.

[62t]

You mean RE4 CE gamecube. The PS2 LE is everywhere.

[Kendro]

Yeah I definately see FFXII CE won't hold much value in the future. I guess I'm getting it because I'm a FF fan and the fact that it is our first CE (granted its a crappy GS version and not like the ones in Japan).

[espy605]

Yeah I definately see FFXII CE won't hold much value in the future. I guess I'm getting it because I'm a FF fan and the fact that it is our first CE (granted its a crappy GS version and not like the ones in Japan).

I'm also in the "I know it's worthless but I love FF" camp so I don't mind. Just wish it came with stuff like behind the scenes things, like Document of MGS2.

Thanks for the scans, I'll be happy if I get any of the female covers, they all look good.

[Dezuria]

I'm tempted to get this game, but still unsure after the juvenile storylines of FFX and X2. I hope this game isn't about 'cool sports playing/popstar teenagers'. I like the idea of political intrigue.

[jimbodan]

I wonder what the odds are that this is going to be about as limited as the Halo 2 CE. I'm debating whether to get this now or just wait until it's about to go GH and pick up the LE cheap then. My gut says that EB/Gamestop are going to over produce a ton of these. Wondering the same thing about the guide, I was hoping for the leatherbound Amazon.com guide, but I'm pretty sure that thing never existed in the first place.

[Rei no Otaku]

Edit- Also, is the game going to be released at midnight on the 31st to 1st??? When I was EB to pick up my guide, I asked the sales guy and he said it was being released at midnight. Does this hold true?
The midnight release is the 30th to the 31st. So the night before Halloween. We're having a costume contest at 11pm. I'm going to win with my L (Death Note) costume.

[Foolman]

As long as I don't end up with the Vaan or Penelo cover, I'll be happy.
We're having a costume contest at 11pm. I'm going to win with my L (Death Note) costume.
I'm not sure you could win with an L costume, unless you did the hair perfectly. ;) His design doesn't make a very good costume.

[LXL_Guy]

The midnight release is the 30th to the 31st. So the night before Halloween. We're having a costume contest at 11pm. I'm going to win with my L (Death Note) costume.

Thanks for the information.

[robbart914]

As long as I don't end up with the Vaan or Penelo cover, I'll be happy.


You know, I seriously said that EXACT same thing to my friend right before opening it up....to a vaan. Oh well.

[Foolman]

Don't jynx me.

[Kayden]

You mean RE4 CE gamecube. The PS2 LE is everywhere.

ORLY?

I've only ever come across 1 tin at a GS. The tin alone was $20. "New" even. :roll:

[eau]

With my preorder of FFXII at GS, do I get only 10% off the LE guide since i don't have their membership card. On the GS website, they advertise 20% off guide when you buy the game though.

I'm still debating whether to pick up the LE guide. It's almost the price of another new game for crying out loud!

Is the LE guide exclusive to GS/EB only?

[Setzer]

Somewhere I thought I read the LE Guide was leather bound?? The one Kendro posted pics of looks like it's the same design as the Kingdom Hearts II LE guide. Was the leather bound guide just rumor?

[62t]

ORLY?

I've only ever come across 1 tin at a GS. The tin alone was $20. "New" even. :roll:
yeah really. Even stores like circuit city has the PS2 tin case. The gamecube is a gamestop exclusive (not eb as it is before the merger)

[espy605]

With my preorder of FFXII at GS, do I get only 10% off the LE guide since i don't have their membership card. On the GS website, they advertise 20% off guide when you buy the game though.

You get 20% off the guide as long as you buy the guide and game at the same time. Technically if the employee remembers you or is just cool, they'll give you the 20%. 20% off a $30 is $6, so that's nothing to sneeze at.

Additionally, the guy I preordered from appears to be a manager, and he told me that if I gave them my email, I'd get another 10% off via email coupon specifically for the game. I didn't get one for this or another game I preordered, but the guy remembers promising it to me and he knocked 10% off the other game, so I'm expecting he'll do the same for this, so another $6 off of a $60 game. Not bad.

I'm still debating whether to pick up the LE guide. It's almost the price of another new game for crying out loud!

If you like artbooks, it's totally worth it. We don't get a lot of game merchandise in America, and even fancy guides are a rarity. If you just want it as a guide, just get the regular one so you don't feel bad about possibly abusing the guide.

Is the LE guide exclusive to GS/EB only? Their website says it's exclusive to them, so probably.

As an oddity, I saw the FFXII collector's tin on display at FYE for preorders. Strange, I think.

Somewhere I thought I read the LE Guide was leather bound?? The one Kendro posted pics of looks like it's the same design as the Kingdom Hearts II LE guide. Was the leather bound guide just rumor?
I think Brady probably wanted it to be leatherbound initially, but it probably ate into their profit margin. If GameStop really had an exclusivity deal, they probably thought it wasn't worth it to go all out.

Many stores carried the preorder for the LE guide as leatherbound (including Amazon) but I think it has since disappeared from most retailer sites.

[Rei no Otaku]

Looks like online orders are starting to arrive. Mashing over at GAF received his copy from EB/GameStop.com today:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/mashing/FFXII_1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/mashing/FFXII_2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/mashing/FFXII_3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/mashing/FFXII_4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/mashing/FFXII_5.jpg

So chances are even if your order says "Processing" it may of shipped.

Content on the bonus DVD seems to be as follows:
Developer Interviews
Directors
Story & Translation
Battle System
Art Design
Music

The History of Final Fantasy

Promotional Trailers
E3 2004
Destination Playtstation 2005
E3 2005
Demo Trailer

Art Gallery
Illustrations
Moogles
Espers
Concept Art
Airships
Characters

[VAD3R or Fro]

I got mine reserved and getting it on Halloween :) . Unfortunately I cant play it till 6:30 PM becuase I have to go to school and tutoring. :(

[robbart914]

Somewhere I thought I read the LE Guide was leather bound?? The one Kendro posted pics of looks like it's the same design as the Kingdom Hearts II LE guide. Was the leather bound guide just rumor?

Yes. There is no leather involved.

[Kayden]

Yes. There is no leather involved.

Like my sex life. :cry:

[Moxio]

Like my sex life. :cry:

And not unlike your underwear drawer. :cry:

[Kayden]

And not unlike your underwear drawer. :cry:
You said you liked my Hello Kitty thong ... :cry:

[Kendro]

Just an FYI guys, regular version of the guide can be had for $11.99 shipped at Amazon.

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113150

Just in case you want to keep your LE "mint" and have another guide to look at on the crapper.

[Ziv]

You can tell which cover you'll get by just looking at the bottom of the guide and pushing the art book up and out of the way a little bit. You'll be able to see the very bottom of the cover. Compare what you see to the pictures on the back outer cover. That way you don't have to get one you don't want, and you won't have to worry about whether you can open it up first.

[espy605]

You can tell which cover you'll get by just looking at the bottom of the guide and pushing the art book up and out of the way a little bit. You'll be able to see the very bottom of the cover. Compare what you see to the pictures on the back outer cover. That way you don't have to get one you don't want, and you won't have to worry about whether you can open it up first.

That's a pretty good idea. It doesn't bend any corners or anything of the guide, though does it? Have you actually tried it?

[Dhuk]

That's a pretty good idea. It doesn't bend any corners or anything of the guide, though does it? Have you actually tried it?

Thats what I am wondering as well, I don't want to damage the guide.

[Rei no Otaku]

As long as you don't push it really hard it'll be fine. It's not like you're trying to push it through the shrinkwrap.

[LXL_Guy]

Less than 12 hours and counting now. Who can't wait for it?!

[cthcky33]

im still debating whether to go pick up my preorder at midnight, or wait til after work tomorrow..

hmmmmm.......

[Kayden]

im still debating whether to go pick up my preorder at midnight, or wait til after work tomorrow..

hmmmmm.......

Its not that hard of a decision. You can stay up until 1:30, not play the game, wake up for work and be tired all day and not play it any sooner than had you just picked it up on your way home.

[keithp]

Its not that hard of a decision. You can stay up until 1:30, not play the game, wake up for work and be tired all day and not play it any sooner than had you just picked it up on your way home.

OR, you can go pick it up at midnight and stay up all night playing, and be tired all day at work tomorrow.

I agree, not that hard of a decision!

[Rei no Otaku]

Its not that hard of a decision. You can stay up until 1:30, not play the game, wake up for work and be tired all day and not play it any sooner than had you just picked it up on your way home.
Why would he be up until 1:30, and not have played the game by then?

[defiance_17]

OR, you can go pick it up at midnight and stay up all night playing, and be tired all day at work tomorrow.

I agree, not that hard of a decision!

Indeed. That's certainly my plan, even if it means I sleep all night tomorrow instead of celebrating Halloween.

[asianxcore]

so will this be available on October 31st, or 1-2 days after?

I am picking up a copy for a friend and he wanted it ASAP.

[Foolman]

Well, I think I'm going to stay out of this until I either get stuck or beat the game. :)

so will this be available on October 31st, or 1-2 days after?

I am picking up a copy for a friend and he wanted it ASAP.
The 31st.

[Kayden]

Why would he be up until 1:30, and not have played the game by then?

Well, the GS I stopped at said it'd take about an hour to take care of everyone and then I factored in drive home etc

[T234]

Is anybody going to the midnight event in Lexington, KY? More specifically, the EB in Hamburg Pavilion in Lexington.

EDIT: And I live an hour out of town too.

[Rei no Otaku]

so will this be available on October 31st, or 1-2 days after?

I am picking up a copy for a friend and he wanted it ASAP.
We got the game like a week ago. So it's ready to be released as soon as the 31st hits.

[cthcky33]

the gs is a few minutes from my house, and not a very busy one. so i should be in and out.

i will be home by 12:30, then play for an hour to get a feel for the game, then bed and wake up at 8 for work

problem solved

[tehweezner]

i'm going to pick it up tomorrow

hey rei, are there a ton of CE copies?

[Rei no Otaku]

i'm going to pick it up tomorrow

hey rei, are there a ton of CE copies?
No idea. I won't know until I go to work tonight. Last time I was there (Saturday) the boxes hadn't been open yet.

[Kendro]

Can't wait to go tomorrow morning and pick this up. Sadly I am avoiding all gaming forums until I complete this game. Don't want any "Luke, I am your father" moments spoiled.

[espy605]

i'm going to pick it up tomorrow

hey rei, are there a ton of CE copies?

I was told they only received enough copies to cover preorders. Whether or not this is true, I have no idea.

1.5 hours for me to go! Woohoo!

[Rei no Otaku]

I was told they only received enough copies to cover preorders. Whether or not this is true, I have no idea.

1.5 hours for me to go! Woohoo!
Not true. We got extra copies of the CE. We had about 15 extra copies of the CE and 5 extra of the regular edition. Also we only had like 5 extra of the LE guide. No idea on whether we'll get more of any of those, but the regular edition game.

I got a FFXII shirt that they sent to employees!

[Over easy]

Argh, I got to decide whether to keep my pre-order, since I still need to finish Tales of Abyss. Why can't I have more time during the week...

[Dhuk]

i'm going to pick it up tomorrow

hey rei, are there a ton of CE copies?

I read that EB got alot more CEs than the regular editions, that those who preordered the regular had to upgrade to the CE if they wanted to pick it up at midnight.

[Rei no Otaku]

I read that EB got alot more CEs than the regular editions, that those who preordered the regular had to upgrade to the CE if they wanted to pick it up at midnight.
Not true. If you preordered a regular, then you got a regular. You did have the choice to upgrade since we had extras, but you in no way had to upgrade.

[MSI Magus]

I was wondering how set charcters are a role? I mean for example, in FFX yes you could make Tidus into a Mage, however he functioned best as a fighter. Or in FFVI you could turn Realm into a Fighter, but again it took alot more training then it did to simply give her magic.

Im wondering if FFXII is like those two, or if its more like FFVIII and VII where charcters had differences but they were not that large and it didnt take much to change their role. I just recently started and I was thinking about making Vaan my thief charcter giving him daggers, light armor etc etc. But it doesnt make sense to do this if its going to mean not only having to force the role on him(though I think he probally fits this naturally)just to later on then take the charcter who is more built to be the theif and force them to be a fighter/mage/ranged fighter.

So, how stuck are charcters in their roles?

[Rei no Otaku]

I was wondering how set charcters are a role? I mean for example, in FFX yes you could make Tidus into a Mage, however he functioned best as a fighter. Or in FFVI you could turn Realm into a Fighter, but again it took alot more training then it did to simply give her magic.

Im wondering if FFXII is like those two, or if its more like FFVIII and VII where charcters had differences but they were not that large and it didnt take much to change their role. I just recently started and I was thinking about making Vaan my thief charcter giving him daggers, light armor etc etc. But it doesnt make sense to do this if its going to mean not only having to force the role on him(though I think he probally fits this naturally)just to later on then take the charcter who is more built to be the theif and force them to be a fighter/mage/ranged fighter.

So, how stuck are charcters in their roles?
They start as pretty much blank slates. You can make each character into ANYTHING you want. I was taking a look through the license board and it's completely up to you how you want to customize them. While Panelo, for example, may start with the first white magic already learned all the other firsts are near each other. So you can easily turn her into a damage absorbing tank if you choose to.

All the major HP and MP upgrades are learned through the licenses, so it's up to you where you want to put them.

[Dead of Knight]

Just picked up mine at EBGames (regular edition). The guy who came in after me didn't have a preorder, and since they didn't have any non-preorder copies of the regular edition, he had to pay $10 more for the collector's. What a bunch of crooks. ;)

[MSI Magus]

They start as pretty much blank slates. You can make each character into ANYTHING you want. I was taking a look through the license board and it's completely up to you how you want to customize them. While Panelo, for example, may start with the first white magic already learned all the other firsts are near each other. So you can easily turn her into a damage absorbing tank if you choose to.

All the major HP and MP upgrades are learned through the licenses, so it's up to you where you want to put them.

Ya but what about strength, inteligence, speed and the others. What good is turning Vaan into a mage if he gains nothing but speed?

[MSI Magus]

O and a little tip to everyone that iv found makes the game ALOT more fun. Turn the battle speed up, makes things go alot faster and seems more important then in past FF's since its boring sitting and waiting to do anything.

[MrSneis]

Played the game a few hrs last night , really like it!

FRIGGIN CAMERA though!!!! It's inverse from what most games default to and I don't think we can change it :(

I also ended up with the Ashe LE guide, couldn't have worked out better!!! She's pretty much the hottest character!

[Rei no Otaku]

Ya but what about strength, inteligence, speed and the others. What good is turning Vaan into a mage if he gains nothing but speed?
All of it is on the board. They're called augments. They increase magic power, speed, etc. Like I said, make them anyway you want.

[MSI Magus]

All of it is on the board. They're called augments. They increase magic power, speed, etc. Like I said, make them anyway you want.


Hmmm, someone in another topic said that its by level too that and it means that some charcters are going to be way better at certain things(such as Panelo with magic).

Another question can you always come back for hunts on the message board or if you dont do them when available will they dissapear?

[FriskyTanuki]

If there weren't enough similarities between FFXII and FFXI already, the music playing during the intro is straight from FFXI's menus. :lol:

[Empyrical]

George Lucas wishes he could have made FFXII. But seriously, the opening cutscene alone is better than the entirety of Episodes 1, 2, and 3.

This game is so fun, and I'm only a few hours in. Word.

Episode 7: Luke's Final Fantasy INC?

[Backlash]

Just got this today at FYE with the trade 4 get 1. :) I am really looking forward to playing this soon. My wife says I need to finish Castlevania CoD first though, ha ha. (I started that one a few days ago)

[Kendro]

Whoever made the default camera controls needs to be fired, seriously. A multi-million dollar budget and they give you no option to change camera control? I hate the inverted camera and it sours the experience a bit. Game is good so far, am about 3 hours in.

[CAG 79]

Whoever made the default camera controls needs to be fired, seriously. A multi-million dollar budget and they give you no option to change camera control? I hate the inverted camera and it sours the experience a bit. Game is good so far, am about 3 hours in.

I completely agree with you. It's going to take a while to get used to the camera but the worst part is that then I might have trouble getting back to using the regular camera when playing other games.

[MSI Magus]

Whoever made the default camera controls needs to be fired, seriously. A multi-million dollar budget and they give you no option to change camera control? I hate the inverted camera and it sours the experience a bit. Game is good so far, am about 3 hours in.

I agree there should have been an option...but honestly this camera doesnt bug me at all.

[keithp]

I completely agree with you. It's going to take a while to get used to the camera but the worst part is that then I might have trouble getting back to using the regular camera when playing other games.

So you caved in and got the game, huh, Jasonlives13? LOL...keep posting impressions, guys, makes it nice for guys like me that are stuck at work and can't get it for awhile...

[MadFlava]

damn, I can't wait to pick it up tonight. I'm still stuck at work argh!

[MSI Magus]

So you caved in and got the game, huh, Jasonlives13? LOL...keep posting impressions, guys, makes it nice for guys like me that are stuck at work and can't get it for awhile...

Impression - Enjoy it so far though it has had boring moments, but alot of people have said the first 6 hours ARE a bit slow. Overall as I said having fun and liking it alot. My only complaints are that I wish the mini map was bigger or that the full map didnt take so long to load, and that its stupid that when on a hunt you have to not only find the monster but also the person that posted the job.

[Rei no Otaku]

I agree there should have been an option...but honestly this camera doesnt bug me at all.
I agree. It's that hard to use an inverted camera? How are people even complaining about this? I didn't even notice since 50% of games have camera control like that anyway.

I have to add that Balthier fucking rocks.

[whoknows]

Bought it like an hour ago from CC.

I am spending way more money than I should on video games this month. I kind of feel bad about buying it, I'm sure I'll feel find after I play it though :-P

[sonicbooom]

Wow..

I just turned the game on. I'm in the first screen right when you select a new game and they're playing the Final Fantasy theme song.. it just struck a chord in me. I'm expecting a huge game here. I haven't appreciated a Final Fantasy game since VII and VI.

[FriskyTanuki]

and that its stupid that when on a hunt you have to not only find the monster but also the person that posted the job.
How would you get paid if you didn't tell the person who posted the hunt that you completed it?

[sonicbooom]

I've already found something I don't like.. this game looks like SHIT in widescreen. I thought widescreen was all I needed.. looks like I was wrong. Progressive scan probably would've helped tons.

[MSI Magus]

How would you get paid if you didn't tell the person who posted the hunt that you completed it?

Guild system. You go to a guild to get the job, whenever you finish the job you go to the same spot. Kinda like work agencies we have in real life. Cut out all the stupid back and forth you know.

[FriskyTanuki]

Guild system. You go to a guild to get the job, whenever you finish the job you go to the same spot. Kinda like work agencies we have in real life. Cut out all the stupid back and forth you know.
Those are in there as well. Just find a clan hall and you can get some tougher hunts there.

[keithp]

Got the game from CC on my way home from work, nabbed the second to the last one! Guy in line behind me grabbed the last one, after I showed him where they were.

Sadly I have to go out for a while and won't be able to play until later....arrrrgh...

[Dead of Knight]

Hay guyz I didn't know I was buying Final Fantasy XI-2 lolzz.

That's seriously what it feels like: an MMORPG. I had a negative outlook of this game ever since the demo that came with DQ8, and after playing for about 2 hours, my feelings haven't changed. I hope it gets better. :(

[Kayden]

Hay guyz I didn't know I was buying Final Fantasy XI-2 lolzz.

That's seriously what it feels like: an MMORPG. I had a negative outlook of this game ever since the demo that came with DQ8, and after playing for about 2 hours, my feelings haven't changed. I hope it gets better. :(

I actually like the real game more than the demo... but then I liked FFXI too. :lol:

Bonus note, someone didn't pick up their CE art book and the clerk sold it to me because I'm always nice to him. =)

[sonicbooom]

My gamestop had a stack of a few CE games, a lot of regular copies, a bunch of CE guides, and a bunch of Guitar Hero 2's.

Probably going to buy guitar hero 2 this weekend or next.

[Kendro]

*Minor minor minor spoilers*

Apparently to get the strongest weapon in the game, you have to avoid opening 4 certain treasure chests, one of which is really early in the game, the one in front of Dalan's house. If you open it, the 100% sure-fire chance of getting the most powerful weapon in the game goes down to 1% chance. I for one hate crap like this, where you have to read a FAQ before-hand just to have a shot at the ultimate weapon. Oh well. The only reason why it isn't bothering me completely is because even though it warned me in the guide, I wouldn't want to read the guide ahead of time spoiling myself the entire game's story, just to know which other chests not to open.

[Roufuss]

I've already found something I don't like.. this game looks like SHIT in widescreen. I thought widescreen was all I needed.. looks like I was wrong. Progressive scan probably would've helped tons.

I'm glad it's not only me, then... I'm also really disappointed the game dosen't support Progressive Scan, seems like a huge oversight on Square's part.

I'm also not too fond of Vaan's voice, either.

[defiance_17]

Hay guyz I didn't know I was buying Final Fantasy XI-2 lolzz.

That's seriously what it feels like: an MMORPG. I had a negative outlook of this game ever since the demo that came with DQ8, and after playing for about 2 hours, my feelings haven't changed. I hope it gets better. :(

I think it takes the best aspects of FFXI and applies them extremely well to a single-player experience. Final Fantasy was getting pretty stale, and I couldn't have asked for a better overhaul. This game blows FFX straight out of the water, and I've barely gotten my feet wet.

Just like FFXI, I love that running away is just that--running away. It's intense as hell trying to sprint back to a city with three or four enemies trying to tear you to pieces.

[Dead of Knight]

*Minor minor minor spoilers*

Apparently to get the strongest weapon in the game, you have to avoid opening 4 certain treasure chests, one of which is really early in the game, the one in front of Dalan's house. If you open it, the 100% sure-fire chance of getting the most powerful weapon in the game goes down to 1% chance. I for one hate crap like this, where you have to read a FAQ before-hand just to have a shot at the ultimate weapon. Oh well. The only reason why it isn't bothering me completely is because even though it warned me in the guide, I wouldn't want to read the guide ahead of time spoiling myself the entire game's story, just to know which other chests not to open.

Thanks for the info, dude. That really helps me out considering I'm right at that point in the game. Can you tell us where the other chests are if you know which ones they are so I don't open them?

[360CoreGaMer]

so all in all it's worth getting?

[Kayden]

Yea great... I opened that 12 hours ago.

*Minor minor minor spoilers*

Apparently to get the strongest weapon in the game, you have to avoid opening 4 certain treasure chests, one of which is really early in the game, the one in front of Dalan's house. If you open it, the 100% sure-fire chance of getting the most powerful weapon in the game goes down to 1% chance. I for one hate crap like this, where you have to read a FAQ before-hand just to have a shot at the ultimate weapon. Oh well. The only reason why it isn't bothering me completely is because even though it warned me in the guide, I wouldn't want to read the guide ahead of time spoiling myself the entire game's story, just to know which other chests not to open.

[MadFlava]

Hey who here bought the CE version of the game. I really like the case and artwork. I just wish we got some more with it, like a figurine or something.

[Rei no Otaku]

Yea great... I opened that 12 hours ago.
Same here...

[Kayden]

Hey who here bought the CE version of the game. I really like the case and artwork. I just wish we got some more with it, like a figurine or something.

It just comes with a DVD... The paint also comes off really fucking easy apparently as I already have two silver spots on the bottom. :evil:

[Roufuss]

Man, Vaan's voice is the worst in the game, and I figured out why... he just sounds so emotionless and hollow, and it sounds like his VA was WAAAAAAAY too close to the microphone when they recorded his lines.

He sounds like a depressed 30 year old man rather than a 17 year old kid, and all of his lines come out flat and hollow.

All of the other VA's are pretty awesome, though, espically Balthier.

[Kayden]

Man, Vaan's voice is the worst in the game, and I figured out why... he just sounds so emotionless and hollow, and it sounds like his VA was WAAAAAAAY too close to the microphone when they recorded his lines.

He sounds like a depressed 30 year old man rather than a 17 year old kid, and all of his lines come out flat and hollow.

All of the other VA's are pretty awesome, though, espically Balthier.

Please tell me you hate Fran. Wispering with fucking cottonmouth...

[Rei no Otaku]

I don't mind Vaan, but Fran sounds like she just got back from the dentist and the novocaine has yet to wear off.

[espy605]

Anyone know where to get a good graphic file that shows the license board?

I got the guide but the print is so tiny and not clear.

[Rei no Otaku]

Anyone know where to get a good graphic file that shows the license board?

I got the guide but the print is so tiny and not clear.
There's a poster in the back of the guide that has a giant version of the board on it.

[espy605]

There's a poster in the back of the guide that has a giant version of the board on it.

Fignuts, I don't want to rip it out of my LE book.

[JEKKI]

aw man,

with less than 2 hours into the game (all I've done is beat the tomato head),

the combat in this game feels jus like Contact (DS)

[Kendro]

The difficulty of this game surprises me. I'm so used to "easier" FF games and RPGs that I was caught off guard. There were some times I got my ass handed to me until I decided to use strategy this time around. Funny how in recent RPGs I was so used to destroying everything in my path with normal attacks.

[Kendal]

Where is the guild hall dealie?

[robbart914]

Where is the guild hall dealie?

North side of town. Go up one screen from the bar. It's the only dot on the west end of that area.

[Kendro]

It just comes with a DVD... The paint also comes off really fucking easy apparently as I already have two silver spots on the bottom. :evil:

Yeah no joke. You could probably scratch the paint off with fingernails. It's a shame they didn't put "gloss" over the tin so the paint won't come off (ironically I thought it was cooler with the matte look). It's probably so fragile that sweaty hands will take the paint right off.

Oh yeah, Fran's voice stinks. It's like a young Judy Dench.

[willardhaven]

So what are all the products being released with FFXII?

Collector's Edition Tin (GS Exclusive)
Regular Game
Collector's Edition Guide (GS Exclusive)
Regular Guide
BB Mini Art Collection

is that all there is?

[Moxio]

Thanks for the info, dude. That really helps me out considering I'm right at that point in the game. Can you tell us where the other chests are if you know which ones they are so I don't open them?



These are the chests you MUST NOT open:
Treasure chest in front of Daran who lives in the lowtown of Rabanastre.
Elixir chest in Rabanastre palace, which is in the south east corner of the cellars
The treasure chests inside Nalbina Dungeon in the room where you get your inventory back
And finally, the 16 chests in the south east area of Phon Coast

[VAD3R or Fro]

Well got my game yesterday. Pretty damn good. The dubs are actully good to.

[remorhaz]

Is there any forewarning to not open these chests, or is this just something they throw in to sell more strategy guides. I hate that!!!!

[BREVITY]

I once dated this girl who was a total fox and she had this speech impediment that made her sound way cute. So hearing Fran reminds me of her and I really dont mind that. In fact if I lived there Fran and I might be an item. hehe Bunny loven FTW!

[jaso]

Anyone know where to get a good graphic file that shows the license board?

I got the guide but the print is so tiny and not clear.

This is the only complaint I have so far with that guide. When you get to the side quests section in the back, you need a fucking magnifying glass to read the print. It was already 350 pages long. They could have added a few more pages and made the print a little bigger.

As far as the game goes, I was concerned I was going to hate the battle system. Surprisingly, I really enjoy it. It's not all that much different with the exception of moving around freely while fighting, but the upside of not having to wait for battles to start up is too good.

[Spades22]

Collectors edition tin... ROFL HAHAA people actually bought it for that...

[Rei no Otaku]

Collectors edition tin... ROFL HAHAA people actually bought it for that...
What's so funny about that?

[tiredfornow]

Collectors edition tin... ROFL HAHAA people actually bought it for that...


yeah and its sooooooo limited, last night when I picked mine up, there was like a box of 50 copies... NO reserves, lol. then I went to another to pick up another guitar for guitar hero, and they had about the same amount, with no reserves... laaaaame.

[MadFlava]

Yeah no joke. You could probably scratch the paint off with fingernails. It's a shame they didn't put "gloss" over the tin so the paint won't come off (ironically I thought it was cooler with the matte look). It's probably so fragile that sweaty hands will take the paint right off.

The stupid EB manager getting my copy of FFXII was playing/twirling around with it in his hands and dropped it. I was like, you idiot go back and get me another one. He was too lazy to go in the back room to replace the copy he dropped on the floor so he said, just take one of the display cases in case I damaged yours. So now I have an extra FFXII metal case and instruction booklet.

[sails]

These are the chests you MUST NOT open:
Treasure chest in front of Daran who lives in the lowtown of Rabanastre.
Elixir chest in Rabanastre palace, which is in the south east corner of the cellars
The treasure chests inside Nalbina Dungeon in the room where you get your inventory back
And finally, the 16 chests in the south east area of Phon Coast

for that first chest...is this before or after the Rogue Tomato quest? Hopefully I didn't overlook this in the guide....:-#

??????

[Dead of Knight]

for that first chest...is this before or after the Rogue Tomato quest? Hopefully I didn't overlook this in the guide....:-#

??????

I'm 99.9% sure that it's after the tomato quest.

[JEKKI]

These are the chests you MUST NOT open:
Treasure chest in front of Daran who lives in the lowtown of Rabanastre.
Elixir chest in Rabanastre palace, which is in the south east corner of the cellars
The treasure chests inside Nalbina Dungeon in the room where you get your inventory back
And finally, the 16 chests in the south east area of Phon Coastwait why can't u open those chests?!?!

Did I open the one in front of Dalan??

I cant remember...

EDIT: ack! got this off gamefaqs:

(Copied directly from Seph's Guide, but should work for US version just the same)

* Requirement - Do not open the treasure chest in front of the old man (Daran)
house in Rabanastre Downtown.
- Do not open the Elixir chest in Rabanastre Palace. (SE corner of the Cellars - US Guide)
- Do not open the treasure chests in Nalbina Dungeons inside the
room where you get back your inventory.
- Do not open the 16 treasure chests in Phon Coast South-East
section.

IF you do not get the above mentioned treasure, the spear will ALWAYS be in the Necrohol of Nabrudis, in the third area inside a room with 16 chests in it. It's ok to get all of these chests. One of them will contain the spear.

You can get the spear in the Necrohol before you ever get to Phon Coast. Just run in and run right back out.


If you got one of these chests anyway:

The spear is still available in Henne Mines, however the chances to get it are VERY LOW

a) The chest only appears 10% of the time
b) of the 10% that it appears, it will have gil 90% of the time
c) of the 10% of the time that an item is in it, it will be an elixir 90% of the time. it will be the zodiac spear the other 10%

This means you have a 1/1000 chance.

Look at http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/final_fantasy_xii_henne_secret.png

The chest is the light purple (rare treasure) R SW of the word 'Map' and E of the word 'Hints'.

The chest has a chance to respawn if you move 3 zones away and come back.

You can get infinite Zodiac Spears if you are patient (insane?) enough.

someone probably already said it, and I am being redundant,

but I didnt read the previous pages of this thread...

[Kayden]

These are the chests you MUST NOT open:
Treasure chest in front of Daran who lives in the lowtown of Rabanastre.
Elixir chest in Rabanastre palace, which is in the south east corner of the cellars
The treasure chests inside Nalbina Dungeon in the room where you get your inventory back
And finally, the 16 chests in the south east area of Phon Coast

Yea... I've already opened the first fucking 3. Just fucking great. Why the fuck would they put chests in the game you weren't supposed to open? Looks like its gameshark time for a stupid fucking item that I shouldn't have not been able to get anyways.

[BREVITY]

Blah I didnt know about all this. God I am so past that stuff and did all the wrong things. I am not going back and starting over though.

[whoknows]

Yeah, I'm not going to start over either. It was a stupid choice for them to do the chests like that, but oh well...I should still be able to beat the game fine.

[trunks982]

For the ppl who preorder the FF12 CE at gamestop.com using the freeshipping code, did anyone get it yet? cause i still haven't

[spoo]

Yea... I've already opened the first fucking 3. Just fucking great. Why the fuck would they put chests in the game you weren't supposed to open? Looks like its gameshark time for a stupid fucking item that I shouldn't have not been able to get anyways.
Calm down and breathe, you can still beat the game without getting it. Most FF games have had something like this in it.

[Backlash]

Doesn't seem like that big a deal to me. I'm not gonna worry about it. I mean, did you do that stupid lightning game in FFX to get whatshername's ultimate weapon? I sure as hell didn't. Though I did do the chocobo race, which almost killed me.

[Kendro]

LOL, I just found out there is a power-leveling technique where you can get Vaan up to Level 30 EASILY before someone joins your party. That means when the rest of the cast joins you, they start at level 30 as well. Sure you can argue that isn't fun. But I'm into RPGs for the story and enjoy being like God beating the **** out of every monster in one strike. Oh well, that's for my 2nd play through.

[MadFlava]

LOL, I just found out there is a power-leveling technique where you can get Vaan up to Level 30 EASILY before someone joins your party. That measn when the rest of the cast joins you, they start at level 30 as well. Sure you can argue that isn't fun. But I'm into RPGs for the story and enjoy being like God beating the **** out of every monster in one strike. Oh well, that's for my 2nd play through.

Care to share your trick?

[Dead of Knight]

LOL, I just found out there is a power-leveling technique where you can get Vaan up to Level 30 EASILY before someone joins your party. That measn when the rest of the cast joins you, they start at level 30 as well. Sure you can argue that isn't fun. But I'm into RPGs for the story and enjoy being like God beating the **** out of every monster in one strike. Oh well, that's for my 2nd play through.

Yeah, dude, please share.

[Kendro]

It's not my trick, got it off GameFAQs. But here goes. Its quite long, but basically it is killing the T-Rex in the desert for massive exp.

***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING***

If you're the type of person who likes to discover how to do certain things by yourself, then please DISCONTINUE READING.
Otherwise, you might regret it. Strong emphasis on the 'might'.

***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***
This contains a lot of SPOILERS, so please, read at your own risk. SPOILERS meaning it'll take the fun out of playing the game.


LEGEND

LP - License Points
LB - License Board
HP - Hit Points
MP - Magic Points
Exp - Experience Points
MK/MKs - Mist Knack/Mist Knacks

First, a small introduction. I may understand a bit of Japanese when it's spoken, but I definitely don't understand Japanese text. So when I started playing the FFXII J version, I thought I'd level up Vaan until the English version comes out. Here's what I did, which is a bit roundabout, but hey, it works.

After the part where you kill the Stray Tomato mob hunt and head back to Rabanastre, you'll be able to explore Dalmasca Westersand, Giza Plains, and most of Dalmasca Eastersand. Now what you need to do is to increase Vaan's level to 15. Since you're still at the beginning, some of the monsters near Rabanastre just can't give you the exp that you need and most are too difficult to beat right now. Buy the Cure spell and use the appropriate LP in order to buy it in the License Board.

Go to Nalbina Fortress and visit their armor and weapon shop. Buy the Iron Sword (Atk +24), Leather Shield (Eva +8. I'm not sure about this shield, but it's the only one available in Nalbina at this point), Bronze Helmet (Mag Def +6, Str +2), and Bronze Armor (Def +7, Str +2). Of course you need to use some License Points in order to equip them.

Now, at this point in my game, Vaan was already level 15. If you still haven't reached that level, it's ok. That's what the equipment is for, time to kill some enemies. Head to Nebra Shore in the Dalmasca Eastersand and enter the small camp there.

Talk to the shop owner and buy the Battle Harness (Chance to counter when hit, Str +2. Costs 1000 gil). Equip it (use License Points) and head outside the camp. Go to the shore and attack the floating fish (exp 180+ per kill). Oh and remember to steal, steal, steal before you kill them. You can get a nice amount of gil by selling the items you steal from these fishies.

There are only two of them that spawn along the length of the shore so the trick here for quick respawning is to go back to the camp after killing them, save, go back to the title menu (press Start then Square then choose Yes), reload your game, and the two fishies will be back at the shore. Just rinse and repeat until Vaan becomes level 15. Just watch out for the rare monster GREED that spawns at the shore. One way to avoid encoutering it is to kill the Flower Saboten (the cactus-looking plant-thingy) that appears near the shore by the sand next to the coconut trees.

When Vaan reaches level 15, hopefully he has enough LP available to acquire 3 Mist Knacks. Since I'm playing the J version, I didn't mind what Mist Knacks in the License Board to get, I just took the nearest ones because they cost less LP.

Afterwards, head back to Rabanastre Eastersand Gate and save your game there. If you don't have the skill LIBRA (ability to see enemy info and traps) yet, you should buy it in Rabanastre and use LP in order to use it.

If you've done a bit of exploring, you probably noticed the Dinosaur T-Rex type monster that's wandering around the first map of Dalmasca Eastersand, right outside Rabanstre. Use LIBRA skill and check out its stats. Normally the T-Rex's level ranges from only 29-30 (6000+ HP, 300-400 Dmg), but it becomes level 36 (6700+ HP, 700-900 Dmg) when it eats a wolf(the orange-something colored wolflike monsters roaming around). Anyway, keep that in mind.

Now comes the fun part. Since you bought 3 MKs in the LB, you can now use it against that monster Dino. I prefer to use LEVEL 1 MK as a starter since the animation is a lot faster than the LEVEl 2 or the LEVEL 3 MK. It takes a bit of luck and practice, but if you can pull off a nice combo of 6-10 hits (does a random amount of damage from 7000-20000. Well, I THINK it's random), it instantly kills that Dino and you earn 2700+ Exp.

Just hold R2 and keep pressing TRIANGLE rapidly (it's the only button available at this point since Vaan is by himself). Even if you're only able to do 3-5 hits, that's ok as long as it kills the Dino, because after doing MKs, you're MP becomes 0, and if that Dino is still alive, you better make a run for it. When it's dead, go back to Rabanastre, save, go to title menu, reload game, kill Dino, repeat. Do this until you reach level 30.

Now if you're like me, you're probably bored and tired from doing all those MKs (my right arm bicep actually grew larger and became a lot harder, though it's still pretty small). To make the game more interesting at this point, here is what you can do. Use the LP you've acquired and use it to get the UNARMED ATTACK POWER UP (that's what it says in the FFXII LICENSE GRID TRANSLATION(PNG) in gamefaqs by enjirube).

It's up to you to decide which path you want to take in order to get it, but I do suggest you use a path that acquires all of the STRENGTH UP, ACTION TIME SHORTENED 10%, SHIELD EVASION RATE UP, and HP+ skills because it'll make your character a lot stronger. After you've done all that, unequip Vaan's weapon and shield and pound on that Dino with his BARE HANDS. That's right, no weapon and no shield. Attack the Dino.

But always use LIBRA to check if the Dino is level 30 or 36, because if it's level 36, you need to rely on your MK combos again. Vaan can't take the 700-900 dmg per hit from the Dino. Now you might ask why you need to get the SHIELD EVASION RATE UP skill if Vaan isn't even going to use a shield, here's why.

Stop pounding on the Dino for now and go visit Dalmasca Westersand from the Rabanastre Westersand Gate. BIG CREDITS to sephirosuy / Seph (sephiroth_y@yahoo.com) for writing the 80 Rare Monster List. Get a certain number of chain combo from killing wolves, if you notice the chain combo number flashing, that means that a the LIMBLE WOLF rare monster has appeared in the small map located South of South-West.

Now don't mistake the TEXTA Wolf Rank E Mob Hunt monster for the LIMBLE WOLF rare monster. Remeber the LIMBLE WOLF is in another map, a small map South of South-West from your current location. The TEXTA wolf is sort of like multi-colored, big wolf that hangs out near the exit to the small map, while the LIMBLE wolf is big and red (or some shade of red) all over. Go visit the LIMBLE WOLF.

Your goal here is to steal the GRADIUS (Atk +45, Wind Strike) which is a dagger type weapon. Kill the other wolves first and lure the LIMBLE WOLF near the exit of the map. Steal, steal, steal. The LIMBLE WOLF does about 100+ damage per hit and has a special attack that damages (around 300 dmg) and poisons you.

Thanks to all that HP+ and Active Time Shortened skills, not to mention all that hard work at increasing Vaan's level to 30, you'll steal it in no time. If you're having problems though, losing HP and whatnot, just exit and heal yourself then go back in and steal. After you've stolen the GRADIUS, use LP so that you can equip the weapon and now you can equip a shield. Don't kill the LIMBLE WOLF yet though. Just leave it alone for now.

Go pay the Dino a visit and you'll be doing 900-1000+ damage per attack. Bye-bye Dino. Just make sure the Dino isn't level 36 or else you're still dead meat. But wait, since you have all the SHIELD EVASION RATE UP skills, you might be able to kill it even thought it's stronger. Just pray that Vaan evades its blows. Or you can just MK it like before. Easy, right?

Now I get pretty bored easily so I continued the story until I got to the Tomb of Raithwall, just for fun. Vaan was level 37, Balthier and Fran at 38, and Basch, Ashe, and Penelo at 39. It took me about 4 hours (with food and bathroom breaks of course) to navigate through all the maps and storyline events and kill everything before I reached the Tomb of Raithwall.

The fun thing about leveling Vaan at the beginning is that all the other characters level up (actually they're higher in level than Vaan when you get them, except Penelo when you get her for the first time) and they all have the same number of LP that Vaan accumulated. So when I first got Penelo, her level was 37 and her number of LP was 3200. Nice, right? Saves you the trouble of having to run around with Penelo to increase her level and LP.

With Vaan at level 37, you could literally kill any NORMAL enemy with one blow (except for the Dino and some other high level normal monsters), even without a weapon and shield (as long as you have the UNARMED ATTACK UP skill of course).

Some bosses like Baggamonan, Fuuji, Gijuu, and Rino at the Lhusu mines (which you're supposed to run away from) can be beaten without pressing a button (thanks to the Gambit system). Also the Demon wall in the Tomb of Raithwall can be punched and kicked to death. I'm talking about the 1st Demon Wall, which has a lot of HP and Defense. My characters did about 500-700 damage per UNARMED attack. The Demon Wall was toast. And this was done with none of the playable characters at level 40.

Imagine if you had the time and patience to increase Vaan's level to 50 by just killing the Dino over and over again. Oh and I haven't tried it yet, but I have a theory that you can steal the GRADIUS dagger from the LIMBLE WOLF over and over again. You know, just steal it, save, reload, go back and steal it, save, reload. Just don't kill the LIMBLE WOLF. I'm probably wrong but since I'm a bit sick of the game at this point, I'll just try it some other time.

Oh and if you can get Vaan to acquire 3 MKs before you reach level 15, the better. You can beat the crap out of that Dino a lot earlier and you can gain Exp faster. That's all. The End. Sorry for the typos. And the bad grammar. And for any wrong information that I was too lazy to correct.

[Dead of Knight]

Thanks, man. I found it on Gamefaqs right before you posted it. :lol: But this is excellent because Gamefaqs will likely purge it shortly anyway.

[Kayden]

Calm down and breathe, you can still beat the game without getting it. Most FF games have had something like this in it.

Which? Care to back that up? I remember where therewere minigames that were ultra fucking annoying (Lightning dodge, chocobo race) and some weapons just took forever to find (Ultima in FFIX), but I can't remember any game where the best weapons were all but impossible to get because of a stupid chest. Missing things like that is a Suikoden trick, not FF.

[Dead of Knight]

Which? Care to back that up? I remember where therewere minigames that were ultra fucking annoying (Lightning dodge, chocobo race) and some weapons just took forever to find (Ultima in FFIX), but I can't remember any game where the best weapons were all but impossible to get because of a stupid chest. Missing things like that is a Suikoden trick, not FF.

Yeah, but at least with Suikoden games you EXPECT that shit to happen. YOU KNOW that Suikoden tries to fuck with you at every turn so you make sure to check a guide and everything before moving on so you get all the Stars. With FF games, one tends to explore themselves more because they know they aren't going to miss important shit. Not in this game.

[Blackout]

Maybe I am just sucking ultra hard, but I'm already dying at the beginning of the game, with Vaan going to the desert a second time. I mean you can barely dodge enemy attacks, and it seems like it takes forever for your attack bar to load up. I also got killed in one hit by the t-rex thing on the tomato hunt.

The story is great so far, I think its really good.

Should I pick up the guide for this game? I was reading a bit about that stupid chest thing. Is the LE one worth picking up?

[Moxio]

Maybe I am just sucking ultra hard, but I'm already dying at the beginning of the game, with Vaan going to the desert a second time. I mean you can barely dodge enemy attacks, and it seems like it takes forever for your attack bar to load up. I also got killed in one hit by the t-rex thing on the tomato hunt.

The story is great so far, I think its really good.

Should I pick up the guide for this game? I was reading a bit about that stupid chest thing. Is the LE one worth picking up?

You shouldn't even be LOOKING at the Trex at that point unless you're doing the powerleveling strategy. ;)

[Blackout]

You shouldn't even be LOOKING at the Trex at that point unless you're doing the powerleveling strategy. ;)


I didn't even know, I was thinking FF8, LOL.

Is there a way to increase the battle speed?

[Roufuss]

Should I pick up the guide for this game? I was reading a bit about that stupid chest thing. Is the LE one worth picking up?

I'm definitely getting a guide first thing tommorrow... for some reason, I'm not getting the license board at all, I'm not seeing what benefits choosing light armor would have over heavy armor for instance and the fact that everyone starts out at the same place on their boards means I have 4 people who are pretty much identical, so I think I'm doing something wrong.

The manual mentioned how it would be better to have people specialize in certain things (I guess like FFX) but I have so many license points that I'm just blowing them on everything so I have 4 carbon copy characters.

Right now the license systems seems to be more "Buy everything you can hurray!" then "make sure you have a strategy in mind and buy only what you need".

[Rei no Otaku]

Basically the benefits of light over heavy armor is speed. Light armor gets speed bonuses that heavy armor doesn't. If you equip it on a character that uses a dagger you can get quite a few extra hits in.

Thing is that shops aren't good in telling you that. For example, you may wonder why you would bother getting a license for staves when if you look at the stats before you buy it it's a minimal attack upgrade. Well when you actually equip a staff you see that it boosts magic power. I don't know why it isn't listed in the shop stats.

Most of the equipment is common sense things. Like mystical armor is going to protect against magic attacks better, and give boosts to MP and magic power. Daggers will attack faster, and more commonly get double and even triple attacks, than swords. Basically if you've ever played a RPG you know what each weapon specializes in. The only exception might be guns, which specialize in piercing armor.

Is there a way to increase the battle speed?
Under config there's an option for it.

[Kayden]

Yeah, but at least with Suikoden games you EXPECT that shit to happen. YOU KNOW that Suikoden tries to fuck with you at every turn so you make sure to check a guide and everything before moving on so you get all the Stars. With FF games, one tends to explore themselves more because they know they aren't going to miss important shit. Not in this game.

Thats what I was saying. FF makes things difficult by making you find something obscure or killing bosses with 99999HP. I can't think of any FF that made it all but impossible to obtain an item of such importance.

As for Suikoden- the first thing I do when I start is open up a FAQ and ctrl+F missable. :lol:

[robbart914]

Some obvious notes/tips about the game since some of these things defied me fior a while.

Mist Knacks. There IS enough for everyone to get three on the board so don't hesitate to get them. Having two doubles your MP, and having three triples it. IOW, have your healers get their mist knacks as soon as possible. Just plan accordingly, You can see every square on the board that has one, so if you have someone going in the direction, may want to leave them at 2 and have them get that one they're heading toward as the third.

When you find the double lp item, buy a crapload (3-6). Your buddies who aren't in battle still get the lp. Equip them with it. Now they get double. You'll never have lp problems again.

The bangle not only shows enemy status but traps, so if you're having trap trouble, might want to equip it. If your idiot buddies keep running into them anyway and there's no monsters around, take them out of the party and go solo.

Abuse guest characters when you have them. At no other time can you have four people. It makes some of the more advanced mob hunts a lot easier.

When you can handle the load of magic, have someone (or everyone in my case) set to Any ally ---> Haste on low priority. Hell, I have everyone with it, and one with it on high priority. You simply have a HUGE upper hand when everyone's getting more turns in. If you wind up getting mobbed, it could very well be the difference maker in surviving. Its a slaughter. Bad guys often won't get more than a hit in.

Guns pierce defense, so if you're fighting a tortoise or something that looks like its protected well, equip it and give it a go. Don't worry if its a drop in attack power. It pretty much always is with guns. I believe it's supposedly the same with measures, but I've yet to mess with it.

There are some super weapons. Not the best, but far more kick ass than anything you'll see at that point in the game. Those can help you out if you're having trouble, and you can usually even get six if its a random drop. Two in particular is one in the Tomb of Raithwall, if you defeat, well, let's just call it the "first" (you'll know when you get there). Awesome one handed sword. Randomly generated though, and took me a hellish long time to get just one. But far better than anything at that point of the game. Another is in the Barheim Passage when you get in it the second time. There's all sorts of crap in Barheim so check the GF message boards and such when you get the key back in.

Any other obvious tips? Eh, I wish I'd known about that treasure chest thing as I fucked it up myself.

[Zen Davis]

These are the chests you MUST NOT open:
Treasure chest in front of Daran who lives in the lowtown of Rabanastre.
Elixir chest in Rabanastre palace, which is in the south east corner of the cellars
The treasure chests inside Nalbina Dungeon in the room where you get your inventory back
And finally, the 16 chests in the south east area of Phon Coast

why not open them?

[Rei no Otaku]

When you can handle the load of magic, have someone (or everyone in my case) set to Any ally ---> Haste on low priority. Hell, I have everyone with it, and one with it on high priority. You simply have a HUGE upper hand when everyone's getting more turns in. If you wind up getting mobbed, it could very well be the difference maker in surviving. Its a slaughter. Bad guys often won't get more than a hit in.
Where do you place the Haste? 3rd?

[Kayden]

why not open them?

... Can you do me a HUGE favor and just go ahead and punch yourself in the face?

[Kendro]

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.

[pimpinc333]

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.

I Did the same thing but only for 4 or 5 run throughs. Maybe 30 mins of work. Good Stuff Here.

[infamyRISE]

I have a question for anyone whos put a decent amount of time in on the hunts:

I'm just after the first (?) fight with Judge Gish on the Leviathan.

At this point, I have a few hunts accepted, namely the Nidhogg in the Mines at Bespin Cloud City (:D). The thing is, I get my nuts stomped in like its twinkie day at the mall. When I accepted the hunt, it said Rank 1, just like good ol' Rogue Tomato...so am I missing something? Shouldn't I stand a chance at this guy? Peeking at the guide it seems theres a ton more of these things to hunt down, I'd imagine I should be able to easily breeze through the first few. What gives?

[sails]

It's not my trick, got it off GameFAQs. But here goes. Its quite long, but basically it is killing the T-Rex in the desert for massive exp.

Is the Nelbina Fortress the same thing as the Nelbina Dungeon? I didn't even know they had a weapon shop (I looked ahead at the guide- i'm still before going to Dalan's house )

[sails]

Is the Nelbina Fortress the same thing as the Nelbina Dungeon? I didn't even know they had a weapon shop (I looked ahead at the guide- i'm still before going to Dalan's house )
Nevermind ...checked world map LOL

[robbart914]

I have a question for anyone whos put a decent amount of time in on the hunts:

I'm just after the first (?) fight with Judge Gish on the Leviathan.

At this point, I have a few hunts accepted, namely the Nidhogg in the Mines at Bespin Cloud City (:D). The thing is, I get my nuts stomped in like its twinkie day at the mall. When I accepted the hunt, it said Rank 1, just like good ol' Rogue Tomato...so am I missing something? Shouldn't I stand a chance at this guy? Peeking at the guide it seems theres a ton more of these things to hunt down, I'd imagine I should be able to easily breeze through the first few. What gives?

Slow, Immobilize, and Dispel are key in hunts and sometimes even later boss fights. Now Dispel you probably shouldn't have yet, and Immobilize doesn't work all that often anyway, but Slow usually works.

Just make sure you're Hasted before you approach the enemy (every single one of your characters), then have your healer cast slow while you go to work. Since the Nidhogg is all physical, if you have Protect, definitely have that precasted like Haste. It's all about maxing your buffs, and screwing over the enemy's in this game. If that still doesn't work, come back later.

A lot of the mob hunts become available before you're capable of them. There's a few points of the game where you're capable of clearing all of them, but seldom is it worthwhile to take on something when you can go to the next place, get a boost in levels and armor, and trash them the second time around on a whim. You could level to hell to take him out, but there's just not a lot of advantages to it unless you've struck upon some great point for leveling.

[infamyRISE]

Thanks, robbart!

[robbart914]

Thanks, robbart!

Not a problem. Buffs become pretty important, so I'm sure you would have figured it out sooner or later anyway. I actually have a lot of my characters set to auto haste/protect/shell on low priority, so that if we're not fighting, they're casting when it runs out. (Increase priority for long boss fights obviously).

Sounds like a waste of magic, but compared to the cost of curaja and such near the end of the game that you'd be using a bit more if you got hit more, its really not so bad. Besides, you are just plain less likely to get killed in the first place when all your stats and speed are boosted.

Where you are in the game you may not have the sp to do something like that, but as soon as you have enough to handle at least haste in low priority (get those three quickenings so you have tons of magic), the game is a breeze.

It's a painful necessity in a lot of rpgs, but thanks to FFXII, you can just set it on gambits and not have to worry too much.

[jalu6]

Just picked this game up yesterday and played about 2 hours last night. Seems that a guide is worthwhile for it.

But still, I think this is the first console RPG in which being an MMO player will actually help me understand stuff instead of confuse the hell out of me.

[adamones]

Man I just started rolling on the Tomato Hunt, wondering if I should pick up a guide too...

[Kayden]

:lol: I killed Niddog at level 11 with 3 people. It wasn't fun.

[Kendro]

How are your character classes looking so far?

Vaan - My "Juggernaut." Sword, heavy armor and shield, always first to rush in kicking ass (or get his kicked).
Basch - Same, he's my "Colossus." (He's going Conan-style once I get my hands on a two-handed weapon).
Penelo - Attack support, dagger, light armor, back-up white magic.
Ashe - Attack support, dagger, light armor, back-up white magic.
Fran - Bow and arrow and a mix of white and black magic, concentrating on white.
Balthier - Gun and a mix of white and black magic, concentrating on black.

[SpikeSpiegel]

I still haven't played the demo, I'm going to try it out before I pick up the game today.

Is the final game much different from the demo?

[Rei no Otaku]

Ashe - Nuker/Tank/Damage Dealer. I gave her a ton of black magic power and physical attack power. On top of investing in shields and heavy armor. She absorbs damage while dealing it out in large doses. Though I plan to switch her to more of a power weapon soon. Like 2H swords.

Panelo - Basically a white mage/archer. I gave her a range weapon so she stays out of the melee, and loaded her with white magic. Ultimate healing machine.

Vaan - Thief type character. Light armor, dagger and speed bonuses.

Fran - Black mage basically.

Balthier - Gun with a mix of red mage (white and black).

Bacsh - Paladin type character. Some white magic and tanking skills.

Everyone has some "required" stuff though. Like all my characters have cure and raise.

[Calamityuponthee]

if anyone is like 11ish hours in, I need some help with a boss..

The demon wall in Rainwalls tomb owns me every time.. i can get it halfway, but never farther. I'm using mostly melee, but I can't seem to damage it enough.

[robbart914]

if anyone is like 11ish hours in, I need some help with a boss..

The demon wall in Rainwalls tomb owns me every time.. i can get it halfway, but never farther. I'm using mostly melee, but I can't seem to damage it enough.

Are you fighting the second one? The first is optional, and you probably want to skip it at least until you've finished the dungeon (so you've got a couple extra levels under your belt). Turn and run.

If you have the capability, mess around with mist knacks. That's the sure fire easiest way to take out these two bosses. It pretty much freezes time, so if you mess around to the point where you can pull off a 10-20 hit one, you'll have a huge advantage. Then when your mp runs out, sub in another character and have them start it up all over again. The boss will likely give out before you do. I wish I knew how to use em at that point in the game the way I do now.

Otherwise, you'll have to do it the way I did. Hit the switch on the left side to slow the boss down, then melee the living hell out of it whilst being prepared for status chenges that will no doubt mess with you. Best to buy plenty of items before hand, and have your weakest melee person throwing em out.

[infamyRISE]

:lol: I killed Niddog at level 11 with 3 people. It wasn't fun.

How the hell....?

[Kayden]

How the hell....?

All of my people had cure and I went through about 40 potions. :lol:

[Dead of Knight]

All of my people had cure and I went through about 40 potions. :lol:

I'm not sure who this guy is since I'm not that far yet, but that's hardcore and something I'd probably do.

I'm using the powerleveling strategy posted to get Vaan to a good level before I move on. Just got to level 10. Fish>all.

[Moxio]

Man it didn't come in the mail today, so it better be here tomorrow. :(

*bangs head against wall*

[MSI Magus]

Anyone else dissapointed at all? So far all iv heard is positive for this game, and from mags and website reviews we were hearing things like best final fantasy ever or best RPG ever and greatest RPG of the year! Yet....im finding the game to be just ok. Iv played pretty 100s if not 1,000s of RPGs ranging from the FF games to less pop games like Disgaea to the unbelievably obscure like Demon of Laplace and others that didnt come stateside and XII deffintly doesnt top alot of games.

Dont get me wrong, I like this game....im just dissapointed in it both as an FF and for being as hyped as it was. The story seems all over the place thanks to horrible pacing and iv yet to really see any kind of charcter development. The gameplay is solid and I have no complaints with the changes, but the liscense system is weak. First off with charcters starting in similar spots with similar stats it means that it takes quite awhile to make them truely different from eachother. Second even as time goes on it looks like because of bad pacing here too we will see the charcters still not so horribly different from one another. They needed to either make LP come ALOT faster and add WAY more spaces to the liscense board, or they needed to make LP a slower gain but the spots on the board give larger stat boosts and better abilties...as well as spreading charcters out so they are not all the exact same.

Aagain, I AM enjoying the game, and I do think its a good game. Id just place this below FFX, VII, IX and even VI and IV if you judge them by the time at which they came out(dont get me wrong FFVI is my second fav game ever). I just feel this game so far is more of a mid 8 not the perfect 10 too many have hyped it to be.

[keithp]

I just started playing tonight and am only a couple hours in, but all I know is it's starting s-l-o-o-w...

[Kayden]

I'm not sure who this guy is since I'm not that far yet, but that's hardcore and something I'd probably do.

I'm using the powerleveling strategy posted to get Vaan to a good level before I move on. Just got to level 10. Fish>all.

Hes the fifth Hunt. Guide says hes only level 10, but he has 6000hp and hits for about 150.

[infamyRISE]

All of my people had cure and I went through about 40 potions. :lol:

Bah, I have everyone w/ cure and their first +50 HP augment.

Still insane. Everyone's so busy curing theres not enough damage output. :(

[Starky27]

All of my people had cure and I went through about 40 potions. :lol:
I remember going through 20+ potions fighting the Flowering Cactoid hunt at lvl 5. Holy crap that was annoying, and then when it started healing itself I was close to just cutting my losses and leaving it...

[Rei no Otaku]

I didn't have that much trouble with the Nidhogg. Mostly because I casted protect and Ashe had some crazy shield skills.
Aagain, I AM enjoying the game, and I do think its a good game. Id just place this below FFX, VII, IX and even VI and IV if you judge them by the time at which they came out(dont get me wrong FFVI is my second fav game ever). I just feel this game so far is more of a mid 8 not the perfect 10 too many have hyped it to be.
I've never played a game, except for Resident Evil 4 and KOTOR, that have lived up to hype. It just doesn't happen. You have to play a game and take it for what it is.

Though I disagree with you on the license board and the story. As you get farther in the game you're going to see your characters become quite different, if you choose to do so. Already there's a huge difference between my Panelo and my Ashe. As for the story, I'm a Suikoden fan. Slow building stories are the norm for me, and compared to Suikoden 5 this plot is flying.

Definitely not going to bother rating it against other RPGs yet. That would just be foolish when I haven't even come close to finishing it yet.

[Dead of Knight]

Slow building stories are the norm for me, and compared to Suikoden 5 this plot is flying.


I have to disagree with this. Suikoden V's plot was somewhat slow-paced, but it was ALWAYS interesting right from the beginning. I cannot say the same for this game at all. I hope it gets better like Tales of the Abyss did.

[Rei no Otaku]

I have to disagree with this. Suikoden V's plot was somewhat slow-paced, but it was ALWAYS interesting right from the beginning. I cannot say the same for this game at all. I hope it gets better like Tales of the Abyss did.
That's just a difference of opinion. I absolutely loved Suikoden 5. It's in my top 5 RPGs of all time. But the story started out far less interesting than FFXII's.

[MSI Magus]

I didn't have that much trouble with the Nidhogg. Mostly because I casted protect and Ashe had some crazy shield skills.

I've never played a game, except for Resident Evil 4 and KOTOR, that have lived up to hype. It just doesn't happen. You have to play a game and take it for what it is.

Though I disagree with you on the license board and the story. As you get farther in the game you're going to see your characters become quite different, if you choose to do so. Already there's a huge difference between my Panelo and my Ashe. As for the story, I'm a Suikoden fan. Slow building stories are the norm for me, and compared to Suikoden 5 this plot is flying.

Definitely not going to bother rating it against other RPGs yet. That would just be foolish when I haven't even come close to finishing it yet.


Ermmm my problem here isnt that the game is slow moving its that its fast and slow in the wrong parts. Its tossing lots of stuff at you plot wise...but not dealing with any of it nor actually developing the charcters.

As for the grid iv probally filled about 25% of it out...by now I should be seeing major differences.

[Rei no Otaku]

Ermmm my problem here isnt that the game is slow moving its that its fast and slow in the wrong parts. Its tossing lots of stuff at you plot wise...but not dealing with any of it nor actually developing the charcters.

As for the grid iv probally filled about 25% of it out...by now I should be seeing major differences.
Ah. I don't see it then. I can see how it would be slow moving, but I'm not seeing it toss a lot of stuff at me. If anything I'd like it to toss more. I thought it was moving a bit on the slow side. As for the characters, every single review and impression of the game has stated multiple times that the characters are not the focus. If you didn't know that, it's really your own fault. Even the Xplay review mentioned it, and Xplay has to be the worst source of gaming reviews out there.

And if you've filled out that much of the board, and aren't seeing differences then that's your own fault as well.

[TheRaven]

Anyone else dissapointed at all? So far all iv heard is positive for this game, and from mags and website reviews we were hearing things like best final fantasy ever or best RPG ever and greatest RPG of the year! Yet....im finding the game to be just ok. Iv played pretty 100s if not 1,000s of RPGs ranging from the FF games to less pop games like Disgaea to the unbelievably obscure like Demon of Laplace and others that didnt come stateside and XII deffintly doesnt top alot of games.

Dont get me wrong, I like this game....im just dissapointed in it both as an FF and for being as hyped as it was. The story seems all over the place thanks to horrible pacing and iv yet to really see any kind of charcter development. The gameplay is solid and I have no complaints with the changes, but the liscense system is weak. First off with charcters starting in similar spots with similar stats it means that it takes quite awhile to make them truely different from eachother. Second even as time goes on it looks like because of bad pacing here too we will see the charcters still not so horribly different from one another. They needed to either make LP come ALOT faster and add WAY more spaces to the liscense board, or they needed to make LP a slower gain but the spots on the board give larger stat boosts and better abilties...as well as spreading charcters out so they are not all the exact same.

Aagain, I AM enjoying the game, and I do think its a good game. Id just place this below FFX, VII, IX and even VI and IV if you judge them by the time at which they came out(dont get me wrong FFVI is my second fav game ever). I just feel this game so far is more of a mid 8 not the perfect 10 too many have hyped it to be.

I'm still in the beginning, but this already is much better than the crap they through at us with FFX. Also, you do not need to judge either IV or VI via time in which they were released. If you released them today, VI would be better than any other game ever released still.

[MSI Magus]

Ah. I don't see it then. I can see how it would be slow moving, but I'm not seeing it toss a lot of stuff at me. If anything I'd like it to toss more. I thought it was moving a bit on the slow side. As for the characters, every single review and impression of the game has stated multiple times that the characters are not the focus. If you didn't know that, it's really your own fault. Even the Xplay review mentioned it, and Xplay has to be the worst source of gaming reviews out there.

And if you've filled out that much of the board, and aren't seeing differences then that's your own fault as well.

So it cant be that I feel differently then you. I have to be wrong just because I disagree....right! Iv filled out alot of the board and went in different directions....half the board is useless or stuff we should get for free like the abilty to equip weapons.

And I try not to read reviews since they tend to bias you to a game.

And raven VI is my second fav game ever but by todays standards its average. The charcter development holds up.....but the translation was piss poor, the gameplay was borked and it was pretty cliche.

[CAG 79]

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.

[infamyRISE]

I must have missed the free cups of Haterade™ on the way in!

Oh I went there! :D

[robbart914]

The game's far better than I thought. I feared it would be a prettier but paler imitation of my favorite story driven RPG this gen, Xenosaga III.

Instead, it's threatening and has pretty much topped my favorite gameplay driven RPG, Dragon Quest VIII. There are plenty of flaws, but there's just so much to do in this one. And I like the more sophisticated feel of the plot in this one.

[asianxcore]

as much as I fought it, I did a semi-blind buy of the game today.

I played the demo that was packaged with DQ VIII and I didn't like it at all. I thought with all the crazy praise this one is getting, that it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot.

Let's hope I don't regret it :)

[aaandrewww]

I wasn't going to get it because I couldn't really get into Kingdom Hearts and wasn't as in love with FF-X as I was with previous volumes. I had thought that it was me that had changed and that I just didn't like standard RPGs anymore.

Now that you have my life story, I'll say that I'm loving the first few hours of the game. The story is pretty interesting and leaves me wanting more. The combat is much different than any RPG that I have played before, but it is fantastic. I love the faster pace and the on map battles... fighting doesn't seem as much like a distraction and is much more integrating into the game. In past games I remember sighing when the screen faded away and the battle music began when I just wanted to reach my destination. It took a minute even if i didn't want to actually finish the battle. This one feels much more natural.

To make a long story longer the battle system is the best I've seen in any RPG.

[Fatesealer]

Chiming in with a lot of joy with the battle system.

[Kayden]

I remember going through 20+ potions fighting the Flowering Cactoid hunt at lvl 5. Holy crap that was annoying, and then when it started healing itself I was close to just cutting my losses and leaving it...
Heh, yah, he was a little bastard. I tried to fight him alone but it would say 17 (my damamge I did to him) in white and then 0 in red. I didn't know if that meant I wasn't doing damage or if he just had a thorns effect but my damamge was so pathetic it only did 0 to me. :lol: So I just left until I got Penelo for a bit. I really lucked out when I went to kill him the second time. When he gets low on health he uses 1000 Needles and I blocked it with like 20 hp while casting cure. :lol:


Bah, I have everyone w/ cure and their first +50 HP augment.

Still insane. Everyone's so busy curing theres not enough damage output. :(

Yea... I got him down to 90% really fast, but then I got so busy curing that the last 10% was damn hard. I got to the point where I was curing constantly and almost out of MP (about 5 minutes of solid healing). So I said fuck it and just told them all to attack. He died in one hit and I was pissed. :lol:

[Dezuria]

I simply want to say that, while in my opinion FFX was a piece of crap, from a storyline, character and gameplay perspective. FFXII is FAR FAR superior.

No more am I simply walking in a mostly straight A to B line to see the next cheesy FMV sequence, while fighting random battles.

Now I'm exploring huge and almost maze like dungeons filled with monsters and treasures. SO much more fun. :)

[MSI Magus]

I simply want to say that, while in my opinion FFX was a piece of crap, from a storyline, character and gameplay perspective. FFXII is FAR FAR superior.

No more am I simply walking in a mostly straight A to B line to see the next cheesy FMV sequence, while fighting random battles.

Now I'm exploring huge and almost maze like dungeons filled with monsters and treasures. SO much more fun. :)

Ya but atleast X's plot had some kind of pacing and the charcters were developed. Hell X's charcters got development right from the very beggining of the game. And exploring huge dungeons is nice....but WTF is the point whenever the chests are largely chance/random and the stuff you buy is usually as good or better...it makes it so there is little point to actually exploring. Also its rather frustrating to turn a corner and run into a lvl 45 that whipes your whole party and you have to restart the 30 mins you just did.

[defiance_17]

Ya but atleast X's plot had some kind of pacing and the charcters were developed. Hell X's charcters got development right from the very beggining of the game. And exploring huge dungeons is nice....but WTF is the point whenever the chests are largely chance/random and the stuff you buy is usually as good or better...it makes it so there is little point to actually exploring. Also its rather frustrating to turn a corner and run into a lvl 45 that whipes your whole party and you have to restart the 30 mins you just did.

Exploring has a sense of danger to it. I like that--in any other Final Fantasy, you don't hesitate to fight. If there was no chance you could win, the enemy wouldn't even be in the area. Now you have to be careful where you wander off to, or be ready to have your ass handed to you faster than you can blink.

I don't know what your definition of "developed" is as far as characters are concerned, but the cast in XII absolutely runs a train on the whiny, irritating, stereotypical idiots in X.

Seriously, every aspect of FFXII is making X look like it had training wheels.

[metr0man]

I'm really getting the hang of the new battle system. I'm not even that far into the game, but level grinding is a lot less tedious. A new element of strategy enters into picking fights rather than just random battles.

It's a bit jarring at first, but once you get the sense of the timing down, in relation to how the back and forth goes, how much damage you can do, you naturally fall into a groove. Now I haven't even gotten too far into the plot because I'm having too much fun just fighting.

[MSI Magus]

Exploring has a sense of danger to it. I like that--in any other Final Fantasy, you don't hesitate to fight. If there was no chance you could win, the enemy wouldn't even be in the area. Now you have to be careful where you wander off to, or be ready to have your ass handed to you faster than you can blink.

I don't know what your definition of "developed" is as far as characters are concerned, but the cast in XII absolutely runs a train on the whiny, irritating, stereotypical idiots in X.

Seriously, every aspect of FFXII is making X look like it had training wheels.

Danger is fine, and I compltly agree that X needed to be ALOT harder(pretty much every FF did). However in some areas its just not cool. Im ok with having to check an enemies level, and im ok with things like the T Rex roaming around. But things like the pinnaple are just not cool. I turn a corner then BAM a lvl 45 hits my whole lvl 15 party with for 1k+ damage. THATS not acceptable.

And see you just sound biased as hell when it comes to judging on story and charcters. Most people just think ok I dont like this persons personality so im going to call them a whiney brat and say the games bad...or wow that guy has a cool sword so hes uber cool! Thats not the way charcter development works. Charcters like Tidus and Wakka had pasts....pasts we began learning about from the start of the game....and pasts they even managed to intertwine amazingly(chapu anyone?). XII on the other hand at about 20 hours in has YET to reveal anything about any of the charcters accept Vaan and Ashe who are lead male and female. Its unacceptable.

I think that alot of people didnt like the emotion of FFX, dealing with love and emotions is more then alot of us geeks can handle ;) and Tidus didnt have the emo hardcore coolness of cloud and squall, nor was he a pimp like Zidane or Baltheir.....thus he was hated. Again the FFX cast had real emotions and histories and I think alot of people didnt know how to deal with it.

I also think besides some people just thinking adult art style + Basch/Baltheir being pimps = instantly cool game alot of people are just happy to have the new battle system. While its nice it doesnt make up for the flaws nor should people be judging other areas more positivly just because the battles are nice.

[willardhaven]

FF X had one of the poorest casts in RPG history, it was like every anime cliche in the book.

There were more palette swaps in FFX than in MK3.

[MSI Magus]

FF X had one of the poorest casts in RPG history, it was like every anime cliche in the book.

There were more palette swaps in FFX than in MK3.

You can take pretty much any game or story period and say the same. Baltheir is just the swav cool pirate, ashe is just the girl/boy struggling for her people, Basch is the knight trying to redeem himself, Panelo is the awkward girl in love etc etc. You can go through any game and do this. The difference was that while you COULD do that for FFX the charcters broke stereotypes to show real emotions and emotions outside of the box you would place them it. And more importantly they received actual development. We knew who they were and why they were that way....and we learned as the game went on not all at once. So far you cant say that of XII....the charcters are the stereotype and nothing more.

[Roufuss]

Hes the fifth Hunt. Guide says hes only level 10, but he has 6000hp and hits for about 150.

The Nidhogg was incredibly easy... my people were all at level 12, I just chained together some quickenings on him, I did about 6668 damage and he went down before he even got an attack off.

I was really expecting something insane going by this thread.

Now, that giant tortoise... that thing just whooped my ass.

[defiance_17]

You can take pretty much any game or story period and say the same. Baltheir is just the swav cool pirate, ashe is just the girl/boy struggling for her people, Basch is the knight trying to redeem himself, Panelo is the awkward girl in love etc etc. You can go through any game and do this. The difference was that while you COULD do that for FFX the charcters broke stereotypes to show real emotions and emotions outside of the box you would place them it. And more importantly they received actual development. We knew who they were and why they were that way....and we learned as the game went on not all at once. So far you cant say that of XII....the charcters are the stereotype and nothing more.

Maybe it was just the awful voice acting, but I absolutely loathed every character in FFX. After 40-plus hours, I didn't give a shit what happened to any of them. I just wanted them to stop talking.
I would love even one example of how anyone in FFX broke any stereotype or showed any emotion "outside of the box." Yuna struggling between her "role" and what she believes in? Wakka torn between tradition and modernism? Tidus and his daddy issues? Please. You're just grabbing at open air so you don't feel obligated to wear long sleeves for the rest of your life. ;)

[MSI Magus]

Maybe it was just the awful voice acting, but I absolutely loathed every character in FFX. After 40-plus hours, I didn't give a shit what happened to any of them. I just wanted them to stop talking.
I would love even one example of how anyone in FFX broke any stereotype or showed any emotion "outside of the box." Yuna struggling between her "role" and what she believes in? Wakka torn between tradition and modernism? Tidus and his daddy issues? Please. You're just grabbing at open air so you don't feel obligated to wear long sleeves for the rest of your life. ;)

The voice acting wasnt even that bad. maybe the voices grated on peoples nerves, but it atleast showed emotion which is more then you can say about ALOT of RPGs.

As for being otuside the box , heres one. Yes Wakka started off as the hard headed traditionalist who slowly struggled with a changing world. However, there was also the whole dynamic with Chapu, Tidus and Lulu as well as the whole racism thing against al behd and how they made it connect to both Riku and Yuna. These two things alone developed not only Wakka but all of the charcters and they deffintly made wakka step outside just being the knucklehead traditionalist.

At the very first town in the game they started this side story that revealed more about these charcters. Again even if you feel he remained a stereotype its imposisble to argue with events like this that they received less development then the charcters in XII. FF VI, VII and X are shining examples of charcter development in RPGs, even if you feel the charcters in these games remained a stereotype you cant argue that these charcters had histories, emotions and reasons for their actions.

[keithp]

The voice acting wasnt even that bad. maybe the voices grated on peoples nerves, but it atleast showed emotion which is more then you can say about ALOT of RPGs.



I'm not gonna jump into the entire debate, but I WILL say that I've never played an RPG where the voices weren't bad! They ALL sound pretty lame to me! Even if some are better than others, there's always one or two characters or actors that sound so freaking lame, with the wrong intonation and emotion.

I've only played a couple hours into FFXII, so I have no judgement yet on pretty much anything in the game, but I'm hopeful on everything based on what I've read and everyone has said.

I like the battle system--reminds me of a cross between FFXI, which I sunk god knows how many hours into on PC, and Star Ocean TTEOT.

Ok, now back to your debate on character development...

[Roufuss]

Even if some are better than others, there's always one or two characters or actors that sound so freaking lame, with the wrong intonation and emotion.
.

Vaan.

[defiance_17]

Vaan.

Whoever played Tidus still makes this guy look like an Academy Award winner.

[jer7583]

FFXII is the first final fantasy i've really enjoyed since FFVII. Others I felt like i was playing through just to get the story, and putting up with other things. This is a great game. Love the changes.

[Kayden]

The Nidhogg was incredibly easy... my people were all at level 12, I just chained together some quickenings on him, I did about 6668 damage and he went down before he even got an attack off.

I was really expecting something insane going by this thread.

Now, that giant tortoise... that thing just whooped my ass.
:lol: I don't get quickenings. I got one and couldn't figure out what the hell was going on, so I reset and didn't get it again.

[JohnnyDrama]

It took me some time to get used to the battle system, and now I really like it, and with the Gambits it's really easy.

[Roufuss]

:lol: I don't get quickenings. I got one and couldn't figure out what the hell was going on, so I reset and didn't get it again.

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).

[TrenoV]

God I love this game, main group of people nearing 40s and the hunts are soooo sweet.

[Kendro]

Minor minor spoilers - When you get to a point in fighting a certain boss -Demon Wall, the first Demon Wall is optional but if you beat it, 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).

Not to get into too many details, but save the game after you beat the optional 1st Demon Wall, and if the chest doesn't contain the Demonsbane, re-load the save. The best part is since the chest respawns, you can get unlimited Demonsbanes (if you are patient to get them due to the 25% chance).

Before my characters were doing 225 damage per attack but now I got 4 of them topping 550. Things are gonna be a cake-walk for whatever my next dungeon or boss fight is.

[VAD3R or Fro]

Minor minor spoilers - When you get to a point in fighting a certain boss -Demon Wall, the first Demon Wall is optional but if you beat it, 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).

Not to get into too many details, but save the game after you beat the optional 1st Demon Wall, and if the chest doesn't contain the Demonsbane, re-load the save. The best part is since the chest respawns, you can get unlimited Demonsbanes (if you are patient to get them due to the 25% chance).

Before my characters were doing 225 damage per attack but now I got 4 of them topping 550. Things are gonna be a cake-walk for whatever my next dungeon or boss fight is.Thanks dude. I got killed twice now and I really didnt want to fight him. Even though the weapon is powerful its not worth hours and hours of my life.

[coltyhuxx]

I'm five hours into FFXII.. bought it on a whim. Started raining (first rain) as I walked out of the store. Good sign for video game weather. This is the first FF on a modern system I've bought and the first I've enjoyed (I've played around a little with VII, VIII and X).

I have an important question: am i supposed to know about mists by now? I am level 9 and dont' have one. I just looked on gamefaqs and didn't see any clear guide. Can someone help explain these or point me to a faq that I can check before I have to leave work (I don't have net at home right now and I want to work on this game this weekend!)

Any help appreciated!

:bouncy:

[Kayden]

Where is this fucking pineapple! This guide sucks. It says be on the lookout for him, but it doesn't say where the fuck he is or how to locate him.

I also don't like how vague it is. I read through the quickening section and still had no idea as to what I should actually do. I knew how it'd work, but not what was going on.

Also, for chains, it tells you the stats of the different levels of chains, but it doesn't tell you how many kills unlock them or how to distinguish between them. And what does the different text mean? Sometimes its green, sometimes white, I think its also red... and then it flashes... what the hell does it all mean!?

[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?

[Dead of Knight]

I'm not gonna jump into the entire debate, but I WILL say that I've never played an RPG where the voices weren't bad! They ALL sound pretty lame to me! Even if some are better than others, there's always one or two characters or actors that sound so freaking lame, with the wrong intonation and emotion..

QUOTED FOR THE MOTHERfuckING TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!

Also, FFX is a masterpiece IMO. That's all I'm going to say about this debate.

As for FF12, I'm about level 13 with Vaan fighting the fishes. Once I get to 15 I'm just going to continue on with the game and fuck getting to level 30. I'll level up with the skeletons in the mines later for sure though.