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Final Fantasy XII (PS2) is still a gorgeous game

Razmos

Member
Just noticed this over the weekend, as my gf was playing it. Thought it was a PS4 game for a second.


Where the OP's screenshots straight from PS2? I remember it looking a bit blurrier, but maybe it was because I played it on an old PS3.
Probably emulator screenshots, honestly. I just got them from google.

I definitely think it was blurrier on the PS2, yeah. I suppose the emulator just removes the blurriness to show what the game actually looks like under the limitations.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
I don't know man, things don't look blurry when they're ~480p images. Blow up the pictures fullscreen and they're definitely gonna look blurry/jaggy.

Not saying they're definitely screengrabs off PS2 or emulator. I don't know either way either - just pointing out the obvious fact that a tiny display size hides graphical deficiencies, as anyone playing 3DS games can attest.

edit: If the images looked like this fullscreen, then yeah it's obvious emulator.

zjnJs7P.jpg
 

Razmos

Member
Because of this thread I picked up the LE steelbook edition of this game off of eBay this weekend.
Awesome, i'm glad my thread is getting people to play it :3

I was also talking about it with a friend the day after I posted this thread, he just brought the game up out of nowhere saying he's always wanted to play it but can't buy it right now. So i'm letting him borrow it.
 

Sagely

Member
It really is great to see so much love for this game. I was lamenting the lack of FFXII threads when I started playing IZJS a few weeks ago, resorting to reading old threads just to get my fix. So thanks OP! Feels good to be able to join the discussion this time :)

Going by the older threads, there's often been a nice turnout in praise for this game which is great to see (especially since I remember it getting a lot of hate when it initially released).
 

Saven

Banned
Glad to have finally found a place that generally loves FFXII. I thought I was like 1 of 4 people that actually enjoyed this game until now. This is the most underrated game of all time IMO, I never understood the hate that it got when it came out. It's such a shame too, because I felt this game did a lot to evolutionize the series in a good way and took it all out and went a few steps backwards when FFXIII came out such as the battle system, AI control, battles going back to being fought on another screen again for some reason, etc.

It looks like FFXV is trying to bring all that back in FFXII, modernize it, and improve on it. I hope that will be the case.
 

LeoDiBlack

Neo Member
My favorite game of all time.

Obviously, opinions... but what you've described, to me, is a disappointment in that the game didn't hold your hand. The fact that the game didn't play some sentimental music and tell you what to feel.

"Aerith, died! Isn't this music sad? This cut scene was in the trailer! Feel something, yet?"

"Isn't this opera memorable!? Isn't this music memorable? You should remember this!"

"Isn't this formal ball charming? Oh, she is pulling him to dance, how romantic! Aren't you romanticized yet!?"

Final Fantasy 12 doesn't really put a lot of stock in these moments because, frankly, it is too busy being an actual world -a world that doesn't always revolve around the player, or try to hang its hat on telling the player how to feel.

You know what I remember about XII?

I remember standing on the bank of the Nebra River with Penelo for the first time and having one of the strongest feelings of place I had ever had in a single player game. I needed to get a sunstone from the Giza Planes, but decided to take a detour through the Estersand. I had fought my way through a maze-like area, saw the rebuilding efforts at Nalbina Fortress, had almost been killed by a crazy cockatrice, and even visited a group at a small encampment that was worried about their family members across the channel. Here I stood on the edge of this near crystalline river under the mid-day sun totally of my own accord and felt that there was more to the world than what the plot had in store.

I remember crossing the Giza Planes during the rains and being killed by one of the water elementals that patrolled the grounds. It led me to feeling both an incredible sense of awe at the landscapes beauty, the thunderous sky reflected through the gathering water on the ground, while also giving me a great fear of what was around the next corner.

I remember watching airships skitter across the sky in Bhujerba for the first time.

I remember being an hour into traveling across the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea and realizing everything I saw on its edge I would get to touch.

I remember approaching Raithwall and being in awe of its architecture as towering columns flanked me on either side. Then, once inside seeing the ancient fires of the past dance in the distance. Also, running from one death wall only to be greeted by another.

I think what I love about the game so much is that it is a world first and a vehicle to drive a plot second. I look back at previous FFs and my enjoyment of those games largely relies on the plot. I love Final Fantasy X, but when replaying it everything I see (even camera angles) are always the same. I round the same bend looking at the lake the same way I always do. I will feel sad when Wandering Flame kicks in, in the same place it always does, like I always do. You default to giving Top 5 Moments (tm) because moments are fixed because previous Final Fantasies are fixed. There is always something new to discover about XII because it is a world and that world is alive.

So, I disagree with the assertion that Final Fantasy XII isn't memorable.

Oh God... you said almost everything I love from FFXII... can I... Hug you or something?
 

dtcm83

Member
Just chiming in, this game is my most played FF game and my favorite in the series. Played it on PS2 back when it first came out, replayed it on PCSX2 a few times. Looks legit AMAZING on PCSX2 at 4x resolution, soundtrack rivals FFVI and VII as my favorite in the series, and while the plot is easy to lose track of half-way through the game, I've felt that way with the plots of almost every FF game I've played :p. The art and style of the game is unique and memorable. The Sandsea location/music feels straight out of the Star Wars universe. Gameplay is great, I thought the move to the gambit-based realtime-ish combat was fine, never considered it cheap or anything.

Least cringe-worthy/anime-tropey dialog, most adult-themed FF game with primarily adult characters (save for Vaan and Penelo, but you can keep them out of your active party for most of the game if you want to).
 

Grewitch

Member
Ah, whenever there's a FF12 thread, I want to remember the sweet goodness that was this great game. True, I never finished it originally, and I don't really know why, but I loved this damn game. A HD remaster has to happen for this, the sooner the better.

Is it too much to ask for another Matsuno and team RPG? It's so sad to not get another game from such talented folk.
 
My favorite moments in the game are really simple ones:

1 - Arriving in Nalbina fortress town war. There is this really neat scene where you see everyone going about their lives, rebuilding the city. The music really sold the atmosphere of a town that was devestated but looking towards the future.

2 - Walking around Bhujerba. Amazing atmosphere. I would love to live there.
 

TheContact

Member
I would love this game in HD with zodiac job system. This game came out at a weird time and has no AA so jaggies are way too obnoxious, but I can imagine playing on an emulator would look nice. I'd just rather wait for the HD vita remake
 

Turin

Banned
One of the best looking worlds in the series.

Physically they actually look human which is rare for the series. Them cheekbones.

As for the story, I often wonder what Basch would have been like if they stuck with the initial plan. Oh well......
 

Tenrius

Member
Where the OP's screenshots straight from PS2? I remember it looking a bit blurrier, but maybe it was because I played it on an old PS3.

The top ones are actually official promotional shots, they are also on the back of the (PAL) box.

And yeah, this thread got me back into FFXII. I have a complicated relationship with this game: started it 5 years ago, been playing it on and off ever since. I tend to do this with games, especially long ones (SMT: Nocturne took me 3 years and 70 hours of playtime to beat, for example). I'm currently at Henne mines and everybody's at level 22 with 35 hours clocked in. Seems like a pretty long way to go still.

As I said earlier, the anti-aliasing in this game is either very poor or entirely non-existent, so there are some pretty bad jaggies everywhere, which is very much noticeable on a CRT TV (which is to say, it looks significantly worse that many other PS2 games).
 

godeveau

Member
The best FF since SNES era as far as I'm concerned. Loved the characters, the world, the gameplay... Revenant Wings was worth playing just for spending more time in Ivalice even if the game was average.
 

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Hopefully they can swap the max quality models in for every situation without too many awkward side-effects. Little things like finger jiggle idle animation loops go a long way to unstiffening characters.
 

Son Of D

Member
I'm curious why some of you are certain we're getting a remaster of this. Mind explaining?

I've seen some people say 'because FFX HD', but these are two different products, no? When Square was remaking the older FFs on the DS, they did III and IV but didn't go any further than that. What's different here?

I know comments like this usually mean little but SE have said that they'd look at FFX/X-2's sales before deciding if XII HD should be a thing.

X/X-2 sold really well for a remaster. Plus even if XII won't sell as good as X/X-2 it'll still be a worthy investment for SE.

Then again Type-0 didn't sell too well from what I heard.
 

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
This is the one thing I want to hear about at E3.

PS4 remaster. International version.
 

Paltheos

Member
I know comments like this usually mean little but SE have said that they'd look at FFX/X-2's sales before deciding if XII HD should be a thing.

X/X-2 sold really well for a remaster. Plus even if XII won't sell as good as X/X-2 it'll still be a worthy investment for SE.

Then again Type-0 didn't sell too well from what I heard.

Oh, ok. Thanks. There's some basis for it then, whether or not it's actually happening.

People were so deadset on "FFX remaster sold well, so FFXII is on the way" that I was certain I was missing something.
 

Clunker

Member
This is the way
I hope that it will cost

l i t t l e m o n e y


... This thread got me to pick up a $5 disc from eBay and try PCSX2 on my laptop, and I'm stunned that it kind of works! It's slow as fuck but it's bearable for me since the battle speed has always been kind of hectic for me. This is a game I've always wanted to come back to. I'm desperately hoping for a Vita or PS3 remaster.
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
My favorite game of all time.



Obviously, opinions... but what you've described, to me, is a disappointment in that the game didn't hold your hand. The fact that the game didn't play some sentimental music and tell you what to feel.

"Aerith, died! Isn't this music sad? This cut scene was in the trailer! Feel something, yet?"

"Isn't this opera memorable!? Isn't this music memorable? You should remember this!"

"Isn't this formal ball charming? Oh, she is pulling him to dance, how romantic! Aren't you romanticized yet!?"

Final Fantasy 12 doesn't really put a lot of stock in these moments because, frankly, it is too busy being an actual world -a world that doesn't always revolve around the player, or try to hang its hat on telling the player how to feel.

You know what I remember about XII?

I remember standing on the bank of the Nebra River with Penelo for the first time and having one of the strongest feelings of place I had ever had in a single player game. I needed to get a sunstone from the Giza Planes, but decided to take a detour through the Estersand. I had fought my way through a maze-like area, saw the rebuilding efforts at Nalbina Fortress, had almost been killed by a crazy cockatrice, and even visited a group at a small encampment that was worried about their family members across the channel. Here I stood on the edge of this near crystalline river under the mid-day sun totally of my own accord and felt that there was more to the world than what the plot had in store.

I remember crossing the Giza Planes during the rains and being killed by one of the water elementals that patrolled the grounds. It led me to feeling both an incredible sense of awe at the landscapes beauty, the thunderous sky reflected through the gathering water on the ground, while also giving me a great fear of what was around the next corner.

I remember watching airships skitter across the sky in Bhujerba for the first time.

I remember being an hour into traveling across the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea and realizing everything I saw on its edge I would get to touch.

I remember approaching Raithwall and being in awe of its architecture as towering columns flanked me on either side. Then, once inside seeing the ancient fires of the past dance in the distance. Also, running from one death wall only to be greeted by another.

I think what I love about the game so much is that it is a world first and a vehicle to drive a plot second. I look back at previous FFs and my enjoyment of those games largely relies on the plot. I love Final Fantasy X, but when replaying it everything I see (even camera angles) are always the same. I round the same bend looking at the lake the same way I always do. I will feel sad when Wandering Flame kicks in, in the same place it always does, like I always do. You default to giving Top 5 Moments (tm) because moments are fixed because previous Final Fantasies are fixed. There is always something new to discover about XII because it is a world and that world is alive.

So, I disagree with the assertion that Final Fantasy XII isn't memorable.
Great post. I do enjoy both "styles" of memorable and you nailed what makes FFXII special in that sense.
 

JohnB

Member
I adored this game.

...

There's a part where one can level up grinding Marlboros; I recall using Penello as a range attacker and after a few hours (can't remember how!) with her in my party she'd be slaughtering Marlboros immediately when a battle started. Ultra fast character. The rest of the game was very easy if she was in my team.
 
FFXII's world is so vast that I'm convinced you could make a direct sequel with the same world assets, shuffle up the area progression, and convince people that it's mostly a new game. I bet a huge percent of players never even discovered areas like the Great Crystal, Zertinan Caverns, the Deadlands, or the Necrohol. Give me dat IZJS remaster.
 

Razmos

Member
I lent my copy of the game to a friend a couple of days ago and we've been talking about it and now I'm even more nostalgic, especially with the first FFXII content coming to Record Keeper in a week or two (with Fran as an unlockable character I think)
 
I have the itch to play this again but yeah I'm probably gonna wait until the Square press conference though. It looks beautiful on the pcsx2 though.
 
Nearly ten years after the first time I sat down with this game, I'm finally giving it another go via PCSX2 with the intention of playing all the way through. I'm an hour or so in, and I'm just loving it--so gorgeous, such excellent art and music, and the political storyline is right up my alley. Also, seeing characters and hearing music from FFTA2 tickles me just right.

fxUghX3.jpg


<3 Eee.
 

Heartfyre

Member
I played about seven hours of XII back in the day, but it didn't hold me beyond that. That I'm told that the story doesn't develop meaningfully really soured me on returning to it since. Despite my reticence, I'd be excited for a XII remaster simply because the aesthetic would hugely benefit from a HD treatment and that, like the Kingdom Hearts remasters, we can get the Zodiac Job System released for the first time in English.

It's amazing to see how many people warmed to the game over time. Like X before it, I remember there was a general dislike for XII in the immediate aftermath of its release. I guess XIII makes anything look good.
 
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