There are many factors why I took so long to complete it, but mainly because the story sucks. It is not compelling enough for me to carry on. So basically I took a lot of breaks in between (especially when the torturous schedule kicks in in around June)
Finally completed it on 29th October, Monday! Here are my thoughts...
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First, I'm very weary when I'm giving a negative review to a high profile game, especially one of the Final Fantasy caliber.
For games genre that I don't like, I usually won't conclude that "this game sucks" but would go with something like "it's not for everyone". That's the FPS genre I'm talking about.
But RPGs are like my territory. I grew up playing RPGs and I've played more than enough to see say that I've seen them all - from the good to the bad to the ugly.
And for a reputable game like Final Fantasy XII... this is one of the worst RPG I've ever played. And definitely the worst Final Fantasy. And this is coming from a fan who has played every Final Fantasy.
The good things: Awesome, beautiful graphics.
The bad things: Too many to list. Here, I'll extract quotes from various reviews on Gamefaqs which I agree with 100%. Most of it come from this guy.
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1. "the sidequests in this game is immense, but awful. Most sidequest really does not make any sense. It feels like the developers just think of a random reason to put them in there. For example, there is this guy proposing marriage to this air stewardess. She wants to refuse him but doesn't know how. So they made a bet. If you, a total stranger, who just met them about 30 seconds ago, can deliver a letter to her six other sisters, then she'll refuse his proposal. WHAT THE HELL? Does any of that make any sense to you?" (Awful Sidequests)
2. "Most bosses can wipe your esper out with one single attack or two. So you basically summon your esper, watch the cool animation, and watch it get owned." (Imbalance gameplay)
4. "some characters' backstories are ridiculous; and their main reason for joining the party slowly decays. After the first hour, they're radiating with their persona, expressing whatever made them join you in your quest with every chance they get. Then.....they forget what they're fighting for. It goes from a cliche revenge story to a bizzare family fun adventure." (Story with no depth and development)
5. " I think Square-Enix has this idea that it doesn't matter what the gameplay is like, just as long as the gamer gets a lot of playing time, then he/she will enjoy it. This would explain why some games have pointless boring times where you run around doing the exact same thing over and over. Now, some games get away with this because they do it sparingly…the problem with FFXII is that THAT IS THE GAME." (Extremely repetitive gameplay)
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For myself, the game starts with a decent story and awesome opening. It illustrates the political struggles between countries. The premise sounds great, but the actual plot is terrible. However, hours into the games, the story weighs less and less. In the end, we don't really care what is going on with the story anymore, we just keep pressing the X button to skip the dialogues. The plot is so terrible as it goes absolutely nowhere, and there are no depth nor development to speak of.
Even the main protagonist has no motivation on the quest. He's just like "Yeah, sure let's go" towards the end. And another character, Penelo, is there because she "wants to follow him". It makes no sense whatsoever.
I've spent 90 gameplay hours on this game, one of the longest RPG I've ever played. But it really sucks to the core. You do the same thing over and over again...
And the ultimate concluding statement I wholeheartedly agree with...
"RPG is like a movie, things have to make sense in order for us to enjoy it. We assume the role of the characters, we have to care for them. When we lose our motivation to further advance, it is the moment that the game failed. FFXII has failed in almost every aspect except for graphics. It is shallow, boring, and pretensive. It is evident that those game developers got lazy halfway and just start putting random stuffs together."
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(Spoilers) FF XII Story:
Vann brother is killed and he wants to avenge him. During a quest, he met the Sky Pirate Balthier and Fran. His ambition is to be a Sky Pirate, so he joins him on his quest, and his childhood friend "Penelo" wants to follow him along. After a while, they met Princess Ashe and the war traitor Basch who are on the escape from the empire. Baltheir decides to help them in return for fortune, so everyone joins the Princess. Together, they start on a quest against the empire.
After that, it's 70 hours of travelling the world, escaping from the empire and chasing after some stones with godly powers instilled inside. The stones must not fall into the hands of the empire
Final part, they still failed. Venat, the emperor of the empire got the stone and became a godly monster. The empire waged war. The only way is to kill Venat. During the first empire battle, the party sneaks into Venat "flying fortress" and slay him. Peace is returned after the emperor falls and everyone lives happily ever after.
- The End -
I wasn't kidding. The gist of the story is like that.
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