Critiques and Criticisms of Final Fantasy XII...

[Matt]

While it is easily the best Final Fantasy since 8, there is still a lot wrong with it. Post your critiques here.

Here are some of mine:

The characters, save Balthier are all rather bland. So far I am at the Dead Valley or whatever it is called and I have acquired all of my characters. Vaan is your typical "The empire killed my loved one, I hate them" and incredibly naive protaginist, Basch is the stereotyped total loyalty knight, Ashe the duty driven princess, Fran the silent sidekick of the lovable rogue, Penello the annoying, over-protective friend. None of them are really that interesting.

And to make matters worse, unlike previous Final Fantasys there aren't little scenes to display the characters quirks and relationships. Practically every scene is deadly serious. It is kind of like the Star Wars prequels, where sure the plot is somewhat intelligent, but where is the fun that made the original trilogy what it is? All the political intrigue and what not is bordering on boring.

The new battle system is a fun change, but I find it incredibly easy to become targeted by five to ten enemies at a time because of it. It is easy to get overwhelmed. I miss the old fashioned RPG battle system. If it ain't broke, why fix it?

Those are my complaints, what are yours?

 

[Fenrir]

The underdeveloped characters and the rather linear plot were also my main criticisms of Final Fantasy XII. In the end, I do think it was over hyped, especially after Famitsu's 40/40 rating calling it the greatest RPG ever made (psh, it's not even close ) and whatnot -

I've just finished the game and I have to say I'm pretty disappointed. The game started out so strong in terms of storyline but it never really takes off. Sure, the dialogue and the writing was great, the voice acting excellent (but still a few kinks in the armor) but the characters were pretty flat. None of them really had a deep enough backstory and this game also forsook the FF tradition of giving each character an extensive subplot - bad idea. The story was more like a monorail trip from point A to B instead of a rollercoaster ride like many other FFs. In fact, of all the FFs I've played, I can't think of any entry in the series weaker than 12 in terms of overall plot.

Such a shame though. I loved Basch and Balthier and with a little more development, they could have become truly memorable.

Anyways, the gameplay was a blast though. And it must be said - sometimes, the difficulty is just ridiculous. Zodiark, Gilgamesh and Yiazmat almost made me give up on this game before completion. Be warned - if you're looking to get all the Espers and finish all hunts, you're going to have to put a lot, and I mean a lot of effort and patience into it.

It's a pretty good game when all is said and done, but it's still a ways off from being a tier 1 Final Fantasy, let alone being one of the best RPGs. Sony fanboys overhyped this one and it didn't meet expectations. Again, I totally agree with Gamespot's rating of FFXII. It deserves nothing more than a 9.0.

...you can read all of it in this thread.

 

[Fenrir]

When all is said and done, I think FFXII is smart and intellectual, but it really doesn't have a heart or a resonating emotional core. It's just feels...too detached and distant from the audience.

 

[Doc_OCK_4MUGEN]

The story is great, but I don't have any attachment to the characters... In order to see the story I need to be attached to the characters... I've played over 90 hours yet, I don't feel attached to any of the characters... Although I hate Fran's voice... she sounds like a foreing person speaking through a bowl of meow mix...

 

[sandwraith]

What were you looking for? The Fantasy version of Schindler's List? Give it a rest Fen. As of yet it has one of the better linear storylines out there which is thankfully not too romantically driven. The combat system could have been better though, having played more speedy and fun RPG combat systems like Valkyrie Profile and Grandia 3. Of course XII's combat is unique, which was undoubtedly what Square Enix was going for.

The term "idiot-friendly" must be under-used in Square since it seems with every new FF their apparent mission is this:

Producer : Ah designer-san, I see you've decided to simplify unlocking new skills in FF12.

Designer: Yes producer-sama. You see, we've reason to believe that the game could be much more fun without...

Producer: Iye, designer-san. Simplifying would be an utter insult to our consumers' intelligence. Certainly they must yearn the challenge of a new, more intricate system!

Designer: But producer-sa...

Producer: Worry not whelpling. This is why I was made Producer. First, we must add Licences which is similar to the levelling system of FF10. But let's not make it easy for them. Let's add Gambits to annoy of honorable consumers in the midst of battle.

Designer: But sir...half the time they won't be using...

Producer: SILENCE WHELP!!! Now lets add Hunting to the game. No more of this Gil after every battle. It's ridiculous when you think about, monsters dropping money? Bah. You can do so much better...

And the rest is history. I can't wait to see just what they cook up next in FF13....

 

[Matt]

Yeah, the lack of Gil after battles annoys me too. It is so freakin hard to get money in that game and therefore really hard to upgrade weapons and armor

 

[Matt]

When all is said and done, I think FFXII is smart and intellectual, but it really doesn't have a heart or a resonating emotional core. It's just feels...too detached and distant from the audience.

My thoughts exactly. People can say what they want about X, but I was sad when Tidus and Auron died (yeah, no spoilers, I think the statue of limitations is up by now). I felt bad for Kihmari when it was revealed how he was kicked out of his tribe and then when they were wiped out. I understood why Yuna was doing what she was doing, I felt Lula and Wakka's guilt and pain over the death of Wakka's brother. Some of the voice acting and character design may have been off, but at least I cared about the characters and related to them.

 

[Speedball]

The whole world they created isn't even original.
There's a game called Skies of Arcadia (Where have I seen that in FFXII?) for the dreamcast about a kid you dreams of becoming a sky pirate, and has to defeat and evil empire.
I mean c'mon, they steal the title of the evil empire in FFXII from the games title.

 

[Matt]

The whole world they created isn't even original.
There's a game called Skies of Arcadia (Where have I seen that in FFXII?) for the dreamcast about a kid you dreams of becoming a sky pirate, and has to defeat and evil empire.
I mean c'mon, they steal the title of the evil empire in FFXII from the games title.

Yeah, I've noticed many similarities as well. Even the characters match up to an extent

Vaan - Vyse
Penello - Aika
Balthier - Gilder
Ashe - Fina
Lamont - Enrique
Basch - Drachma

There are many similarities.

 

[Mr. Credible]

the story was pretty lacking... the idea was great, on paper, it just didn't play out too well.

graphically, and gameplay-wise, it's easily my favorite final fantasy, but the characters are just kind of... blah. they just weren't fleshed out very well.

still a great game though.

 

[AssMan]

I liked the game but the only main problem I had with it was the story. It wasnt original, & it was very straight forward. It was just simply king gets dethroned, power hungry guy takes over, last family member of original king gets the throne back. There is not much going for it in terms of making a gamer want to play & complete the game to see what happens.

 

[Fenrir]

What were you looking for? The Fantasy version of Schindler's List? Give it a rest Fen.

No, I was looking for something at least as good as previous Final Fantasies and/or other prestigious RPGs. When it comes to the overall stroryline and characters, FFXII falls short in comparison. The only thing that FFXII does have over all the others in this regard is significantly superior dialogue.

 

[Fenrir]

And I find it amusing that so many people here agree with my criticisms with the game even though I caught a lot of heat for saying the very same things one month ago. Guess everything is clear now that the dust has settled.

 

[Zenien]

Rest assured I'm only about 12 hours into the game and your off base of a few things imo (but then again you have the benifit of having completed the game) but I'm not going to be able to comment of the game for a while. So far though it kicks the crap out of FFX. Not that doing something like that in and of itself is a hard feat.

 

[XwolverineX]

I'll see in two day's.