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Final Fantasy XII (PS2) is still a gorgeous game

redcrayon

Member
An HD remake wouldn't fix the combat though... Seriously, most bosses were press button for awesome, repeat til boss is dead.
There are hundreds of rpgs where combat is finding the weaknesses and a pattern you can maintain without your party dying. 'Press button for awesome' describes the limit breaks/aeon attacks/super moves in every other JRPG going, and particularly half the FF games where they thrive on spectacle.

I like the gambit system. It's open to abuse, but I never understand when a gamer reads up on then exploits a system before claiming the game is easy. Gambits lets you tailor as much or as little as you like to be automatic, the trick is to use it to automate what you find tedious (I mainly used them to clear negative status effects, and to use 1001 needles on flying enemies), not to play the game for you. Having said that, I can see the satisfaction in tailoring a set of gambits to deal with just about anything.
 

BiGBoSSMk23

A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
noticed you left out Vaan's abs

post-5-1091319066.jpg


I don't understand how the game looks so good but Vaan's texture is so bad.

Looks like a freaking car tire. Lol
 

Rising_Hei

Member
There are hundreds of rpgs where combat is finding the weaknesses and a pattern you can maintain without your party dying. 'Press button for awesome' describes the limit breaks/aeon attacks/super moves in every other JRPG going, and particularly half the FF games where they thrive on spectacle.

I like the gambit system. It's open to abuse, but I never understand when a gamer reads up on then exploits a system before claiming the game is easy. Gambits lets you tailor as much or as little as you like to be automatic, the trick is use it to ease what you find tedious (I mainly used them to clear negative status effects, and to use 1001 needles on flying enemies), not to play the game for you. Having said that, I can see the satisfaction in tailoring a set of gambits to deal with just about anything.

The thing is that these same people that complain that the game does all for you are usually those that just googled the best gambits... and the gameplay is how you come to make your own gambits :/
 
If they remaster and fuck up the faces I'll have a personal meltdown.

FFXII (and Ivalice in general) holds a special place in my heart
 

Ophiuchus

Member
I think there will be remastered edition release next year and it will sell like never before.
I still think game looks mesmerizing when emulated by PCSX2 .It looks better than some PS3 games.
 

Dimmle

Member
God, it might be the only 100+ hour RPG I'd consider replaying with an HD sheen.

Please, Square. Charge 80 bucks. Whatever.
 
I think the odds of an HD remaster announcement at E3 or TGS this year are pretty reasonable.

I loved it when it came out but got stuck grinding LP points and burnt out WAY too early into the game. Would buy an HD remaster of the Zodiac version day one. I would LOVE to jump back into this game. The way the world was designed was how I had always imagined the next generation of FF games to be like. I like FFX but it wasn't what I had envisioned.
 
I think the odds of an HD remaster announcement at E3 or TGS this year are pretty reasonable.

I loved it when it came out but got stuck grinding LP points and burnt out WAY too early into the game. Would buy an HD remaster of the Zodiac version day one. I would LOVE to jump back into this game. The way the world was designed was how I had always imagined the next generation of FF games to be like. I like FFX but it wasn't what I had envisioned.
If SE Ultima Troll us Gaf should team up to release FFXII IZJS HD GAF Edition.
 

Meffer

Member
I really cant understand this type of complains. The battle system is basically the same of Baldur's Gate/Dragon Age and I don't see this kind of criticism towards those games. Also, you can issue every single command in battle, if you want: if you think this is slow, well, that's how the older final fantasies played before XII. If people think FFXII is automated, God forbid them from playing XIII.
I'm surprised people didn't make the connection with Balder's Gate combat and 12's. It's very similar.
 

Spinluck

Member
I really cant understand this type of complains. The battle system is basically the same of Baldur's Gate/Dragon Age and I don't see this kind of criticism towards those games. Also, you can issue every single command in battle, if you want: if you think this is slow, well, that's how the older final fantasies played before XII. If people think FFXII is automated, God forbid them from playing XIII.

Yeah it's pretty funny. Never got the automated complaints. Game wasn't a cake walk and eventually required to override some preset commands from time to time as well.
 

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
Unfortunately FFXII committed two cardinal sins that will make it so it is never listed as the greatest Final Fantasy for the greater fanbase; uninteresting "main" characters (Vaan and Penello) and a story that fizzles.

What could have been ;_;

Damn you polling!
 

Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
This probably has been said to death, but the style deminds me of Vagrant Story. Another game that really pushed the PSOne to the limits.

As much as I couldn't enjoy FFXII much, I have to admit the graphics were incredible.
 

Paltheos

Member
Unfortunately FFXII committed two cardinal sins that will make it so it is never listed as the greatest Final Fantasy for the greater fanbase; uninteresting "main" characters (Vaan and Penello) and a story that fizzles.

What could have been ;_;

Damn you polling!

FFXII handles Vaan pretty well. He's obviously there for marketability, but he doesn't ever really get in the way. He's tagging along and messes up a couple things but never in that way - The way that closes an avenue to the competent members of your group or forces you to waste your time on some fetch quest or longer path to the same destination or whatever.

He's there and the story's generally worse for it, but he's not impossible to ignore for the most part. At least... not past the Penelo rescue section, I think. That first part of the game, until you clear the airship dungeon, has its share of problems. After that, Vaan and Penelo are largely ignorable.
 
I always loved the facial expressions. They emote a lot just on expressions alone, whether it be a smirk or lowering their eyes to ponder something. If felt more realistic than FFX in that regard, and less soaked in "anime expression" as both FFX and FFXIII are. It DOES feel a lot more subdued and to the point. Hell, from what I recalled, Nomura was so impressed with the cutscenes and event direction, that was the sole reason he hired Jun Akiyama to do the same for FFXV(though I recall since the whole shift in team, Akiyama might not be on board anymore).
 

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
This probably has been said to death, but the style deminds me of Vagrant Story. Another game that really pushed the PSOne to the limits.

As much as I couldn't enjoy FFXII much, I have to admit the graphics were incredible.

They are set in the same world.
 

Kadin

Member
Just started up another new game just last week. Absolutely love the game but I've been away long enough that the inverted controls for left/right have me all screwed up again. I was used to them last time I played but over the last year I got set back to non-inverted for them. It's the single biggest hurtle I'm facing.

If a remake ever does come out, I hope they offer options for both x/y inverted and non-inverted.
 

Korigama

Member
The last great FF, as far as I'm concerned. To think it took me years after picking it up on release to finally appreciate it.
 

halfbeast

Banned
the t-rex with that "sauron's ring effect" still blows my mind. need to hook up my ps2 and record it, because I can't find any footage of it.
 

Koozek

Member
I always loved the facial expressions. They emote a lot just on expressions alone, whether it be a smirk or lowering their eyes to ponder something. If felt more realistic than FFX in that regard, and less soaked in "anime expression" as both FFX and FFXIII are. It DOES feel a lot more subdued and to the point. Hell, from what I recalled, Nomura was so impressed with the cutscenes and event direction, that was the sole reason he hired Jun Akiyama to do the same for FFXV(though I recall since the whole shift in team, Akiyama might not be on board anymore).

Let's hope not :( He hasn't been mentioned again since the FFXV reboot and I don't think you could tell from just the Episode Duscae cutscene direction if he was involved.
 

[Fugo]

Member
I played it when it came out and again last year (IZJS version)... honestly I think that Vaan gets undeserved hate. Yes it sucks they shoehorned him and Penelo for marketing purposes and teen audience and whatever, but they did it in an intelligent way.
Vaan is not really a main character, but more like a playable narrator/witness to events greater than him. I think he actually serves quite well in that role, the only nuisance is having to control him in towns even if your party lead is someone else - but that could be easily corrected in an HD remaster.
 

YoungOne

Member
[Fugo];165053727 said:
I played it when it came out and again last year (IZJS version)... honestly I think that Vaan gets undeserved hate. Yes it sucks they shoehorned him and Penelo for marketing purposes and teen audience and whatever, but they did it in an intelligent way.
Vaan is not really a main character, but more like a playable narrator/witness to events greater than him. I think he actually serves quite well in that role, the only nuisance is having to control him in towns even if your party lead is someone else - but that could be easily corrected in an HD remaster.
This is also how I looked at vaan role in the game and liked there was someone like that there.
 

Shepard

Member
[Fugo];165053727 said:
I played it when it came out and again last year (IZJS version)... honestly I think that Vaan gets undeserved hate. Yes it sucks they shoehorned him and Penelo for marketing purposes and teen audience and whatever, but they did it in an intelligent way.
Vaan is not really a main character, but more like a playable narrator/witness to events greater than him. I think he actually serves quite well in that role, the only nuisance is having to control him in towns even if your party lead is someone else - but that could be easily corrected in an HD remaster.

Exactly how I see. The game was never about Vaan becoming a sky pirate, it's all about the other (main) characters story. He just gets caught up in the middle of all this. That's far from ruining the game's plot.
 

Koozek

Member
[Fugo];165053727 said:
I played it when it came out and again last year (IZJS version)... honestly I think that Vaan gets undeserved hate. Yes it sucks they shoehorned him and Penelo for marketing purposes and teen audience and whatever, but they did it in an intelligent way.
Vaan is not really a main character, but more like a playable narrator/witness to events greater than him. I think he actually serves quite well in that role, the only nuisance is having to control him in towns even if your party lead is someone else - but that could be easily corrected in an HD remaster.

Obviously it's no secret that he was shoehorned into the story for marketing reasons and not even the director and many of dev team liked him much:
"IGN UK: We've heard complaints from western Final Fantasy fans concerning FFXII's character design, particularly in regard to the somewhat effeminate nature of Vaan, the lead. You've noted previously that the decision was made to appeal to certain Japanese demographic - have you noticed a significant difference between eastern and western audiences and does that come into consideration during the design process?

Akitoshi Kawazu: Certainly, character design is one of the areas we mull over extensively and is one of the most difficult things to develop and decide on. When the game was released in Japan, a lot people actually commented that there seemed to be a lot of western influences in the game's characters! That said, Vaan in particular is obviously a little bit younger than the series is used to and there are a lot of people on the development team who aren't necessarily feeling like this is the right character - it does kind of clash with the other characters and environments in the game. But, traditionally for the Japanese RPG market, you start out with a young, inexperienced character who grows throughout the story so, to an extent, having the lead be this younger immature character that is undeveloped is somewhat expected. That doesn't necessarily mean that we as producers and designers always even like that but certain concessions must be made to cater for what the market wants."


My biggest issue now isn't even the "witness/observer"-role, but rather the silly design (that abs texture, haha). The character design outside of him and Penelo is wonderful, though.
 

Ploid 3.0

Member
Or a mix and match that allow you to customize it the way you want. Example have the option to select fast forward speed button + tactics are available to buy earlier, Invert camera control, but most of the other settings from the standard version (no jobs).
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
This is the "modern era" FF I want to recommend to my newbie friends. Not the X games, not the XIII trilogy. FFXII is the closest to what I originally liked about FF when I played VI - ethereal artistry and world-spanning adventure set against the backdrop of imperial aggression using a hidden magical source.

Just get it in HD and the best 3D FF will be up to modern graphical standards.
 

18-Volt

Member
3DS got DQ8, so Vita needs this, Square. You know how people are gonna complain when FF12HD turns out to be PS4 only game.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
I don't know why Square hasn't announced an HD remaster yet. It doesn't even need all the enhancements Type-0 got. Just the base graphics in 1080p would be fine as long as it get's the same work put into it FFX got. Seeing all the 2D HUD assets redone and the textures touched-up would be simply amazing.

One question: What game would Square bundle it with? Square hasn't been able to ask $40 for a single eight-year-old game. Type-0 is a much more recent game with a lot more enhancements so I'm not sure that counts. The only other game I could think of going in the package would be Tactics. Technically HD assets already exist for Tactics since Square did the tablet version.
 

Klossen

Banned
As long animations don't have the soul sucked out of them
ib0UHMIo8VXi0P.gif

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And the awful character faces.

And the cropped CGI sequences.

And the butchered Uematsu score.

And the ruined color aesthetics.

FFX HD was a blunder. I'm just going to recommend everyone to emulate FFXII in HD instead.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I don't know why Square hasn't announced an HD remaster yet. It doesn't even need all the enhancements Type-0 got. Just the base graphics in 1080p would be fine as long as it get's the same work put into it FFX got. Seeing all the 2D HUD assets redone and the textures touched-up would be simply amazing.

One question: What game would Square bundle it with? Square hasn't been able to ask $40 for a single eight-year-old game. Type-0 is a much more recent game with a lot more enhancements so I'm not sure that counts. The only other game I could think of going in the package would be Tactics. Technically HD assets already exist for Tactics since Square did the tablet version.
Could be Crisis Core?
 

Son Of D

Member
I don't know why Square hasn't announced an HD remaster yet. It doesn't even need all the enhancements Type-0 got. Just the base graphics in 1080p would be fine as long as it get's the same work put into it FFX got. Seeing all the 2D HUD assets redone and the textures touched-up would be simply amazing.

One question: What game would Square bundle it with? Square hasn't been able to ask $40 for a single eight-year-old game. Type-0 is a much more recent game with a lot more enhancements so I'm not sure that counts. The only other game I could think of going in the package would be Tactics. Technically HD assets already exist for Tactics since Square did the tablet version.

Tactics: War of the Lions. It's a HD game plus as you said they have the assets so it's an easy pack-in.

Alternatively, it's just XII but it's a sort of "Ultimate Edition". You can choose either the Vanilla License Board or the Zodiac License Board, but still have the extras from Zodiac if you use Vanilla.
 

halfbeast

Banned
Do you mean Hell Wyrm and the other like him (the other is blue).

http://i.imgur.com/LxfIFW8.jpg

heh, no, not that one (although cool looking) - it's actually a normal enemy with a cool effect pasted on him. found a video (after checking some maps and locations on several wikis, ugh) - it's this dude:

https://youtu.be/jtGap0dahDo?t=97
(at 1:37 if the link doesn't work) - not that impressive in the video, I usually unequipped everything to not kill him too fast and just watched that thing from all angles.
 
Impeccable art direction, it's been years and I'm still not over it.

Square, you re-release this for me, and I'll buy the HD PS4 release in Japanese, English, plus both Vita versions. I don't even own a Vita.
 
I like Vaan and Penelo, but then again, I never viewed them as the main characters, just two members of the ensemble cast. I think that's why Vaan gets so much hate. They look at him as the Tidus of the game, which he really isn't. He's just the reckless kid who sets events in motion, and I think he and Penelo add some levity and charm to the cast overall.

I absolutely need a remaster of this game. All the aditions and improved graphics to do the game justice. I like how Square remastered the soundtrack of its previous games, too. Ivalics has an amazing atmosphere, the world is so cool and full of secrets and lore. Spira is beautiful, too, but Ivalice is more open.
 

Razmos

Member
One question: What game would Square bundle it with? Square hasn't been able to ask $40 for a single eight-year-old game. Type-0 is a much more recent game with a lot more enhancements so I'm not sure that counts. The only other game I could think of going in the package would be Tactics. Technically HD assets already exist for Tactics since Square did the tablet version.
The sequel of course, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
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Remastered for Vita maybe?
 
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