Need some final Fantasy advice

OK, I have a love/hate for Final Fantasy. My history is I got almost to the end of Final Fantasy 7 but my party was not powerful enough to get through the last dungeon because I did not spend enough time grinding. I got half way through FFX but got I just don't have the time to battle through the random encounters to get to a save point. I played some of FFI and II. Got half way through Golden Sun. OK heres the problem. I love the stories but hate the random encounters and level grinds. I have just started FFXII and I like having no random encounters and I love the story. What will happen if I just try to do the story? If I try to avoid combat will I not be powerful enough to finish the game at end or am I forced to level grind? I don't want to never fight a combat but I just don't have the time to spend constantly level grinding. I just can't get past my failure to complete FFVII because I did not grind enough and if the same thing will happen with FFXII I'll quit the game right now and move on before I drop another 40 hrs into a game I can't finish.

Most RPGs involve some sort of grinding.

Normally in my experience, in FF games if you don't run a lot, you'll be fine at the end.

You need to grind in FFXII or it will be hella hard... (FFXII is probably the longest final fantasy out there, my friend put in around 90 hours into it)

FF7 and FFX are not hard games. If you dont like random battle RPG probably isnt for you. You can still follow the story with youtube, or get a gameshark and cheat your way through

[quote name='Ravenduo']What will happen if I just try to do the story? If I try to avoid combat will I not be powerful enough to finish the game at end or am I forced to level grind? [/QUOTE]
Avoiding combat would be bad, but you don't need to grind (depending on your definition). Thoroughly explore every area you pass through and fight every enemy you come across. If your equipment is up to snuff you should have no problem. There should be no need to revisit areas just for the extra experience.

Thanks. I don't mind the combat but I don't want to needlessly fight battle after battle for no reason other then to level up.

if you don't care bout how many hours are on your save file, or leaving the ps2 on, use the negalmuur trick. it will probably add about 20 hours to your game timebut you can get your levels to around 60 for each character. let it run overnight.

[quote name='Ravenduo']Thanks. I don't mind the combat but I don't want to needlessly fight battle after battle for no reason other then to level up.[/QUOTE]
There's an accessory in the game called the Embroidered Tippet which doubles your experience when equipped. Put those on your characters and you won't need to fight as often. Just make sure you're fighting enough to get the LP you need.

As I recall they can be acquired fairly early too. They're expensive if you go the shop route, but I remember having more than a dozen in my inventory at one point because Balthier (my thief) had stolen so many from a particular enemy type.

You won't really need to grind too much just to finish the story. As long as you don't go out of your way to avoid fighting, you should be powerful enough to get through. I will say though, the Mark hunts are fun and you'll get a lot more out of the game if you stop to do some sidequests/hunts along the way rather than just rushing through the main story.

Best game on the PS2 by the way.

[quote name='Hybrid5006']You need to grind in FFXII or it will be hella hard... (FFXII is probably the longest final fantasy out there, my friend put in around 90 hours into it)[/QUOTE]
I beat it with my save file around 57 hours, and that's only 'cause of poor license board decisions.

to the op:
don't waste license points on equipment or spells you don't have, and technicks were pretty useless to me except for steal, libra, and charge (in the beginning).

other than that, i think you'll be ok.
my party was at level 47, 48, and 50 when i beat the game to give a rough frame of reference.

FFXII wasn't that long, around 50-60 hours. It probably could've been over one hundred hours if you wanted to try and defeat every super boss and get every ultimate weapon which would take a long time. I didn't have the patience to do that so I just decided to beat the game instead and it wasn't too difficult.

just do some side quests and you should be fine

Ha, I loved the FF12 gameplay but thought it was the worst (and most confusing) story out of all the FFs I've played.

Anyway, yeah, I'd recommend definitely doing some of the hunts to increase your level, and they're kind of fun, too.