Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings -- Official North American Thread

[Amir0x]

I don't like this. It absolutely raped the best aspect of FFXII, the world, and replaced it with saccharine crap about the boundless joy of being a sky pirate and basically changed entire character personalities to suit this new world.

The game is ridiculously shallow, oppressively simple and provides no challenge at all and I'm a fair bit of the way through (65%). I won't complain about the other things I typically complain about in a DS game, but those ones are there too. Troop management is easy at least and stylus dragging works well, but that's it. Feels like a "my first" type of game, which is not at all what I'm looking for.

Think I'll shelve this and give it a 3/5 or something.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

That's because all of the sites you listed suck.

I remember you. You're the guy whose opinion I wrote off completely after I read that insufferable article you posted the last time I made a thread.

http://insomnia.ac/commentary/arcade_culture/

genre or developer; the "games are art" ***s who won't shut up already about ICO and Rez

 

[explodet]

I'm starting Chapter 4, Balthier's only had about 10 lines, and he's still cooler than all the other characters put together - with the possible exception of Ba'Gamnan. :lol

It's not a deep game, but I'm enjoying what I've played so far. And the music's fantastic.

 

[AdmiralViscen]

Oh, yeah, there's no question it's bombing. There's, like... zero interest in the game here now, which is weird considering how much there was before. I guess it has a stigma that it sucks now, despite most of the people who've played it saying they like it and despite the reviews being almost unanimously positive.

Ah well. Square Enix's DS stuff is bombing in Japan and now bombing in the US -- looks like that gravy train has come to an end!

I was keeping a distant eye on this when it came out in Japan, but somewhere along the line I got the idea that it was shitty/average.

Anywho, I bought Rock Band at Target so I have a $25 EB preorder I want to apply to something. I was oddly in the mood for a strategy game on DS (AWDS2 too far off) with some old Square charm and color. I was looking at Front Mission, seemed too complicated... scrolled down IGN's latest reviews... 8.3!? Watched some videos, and it seems RIGHT up my alley.

I didn't even know it was out, let alone releasing a week ago! Buying it today.

I guess a lot of people got a bad taste in their mouth about the title somehow.

 

[Fady K]

I don't like this. It absolutely raped the best aspect of FFXII, the world, and replaced it with saccharine crap about the boundless joy of being a sky pirate and basically changed entire character personalities to suit this new world.

The game is ridiculously shallow, oppressively simple and provides no challenge at all and I'm a fair bit of the way through (65%). I won't complain about the other things I typically complain about in a DS game, but those ones are there too. Troop management is easy at least and stylus dragging works well, but that's it. Feels like a "my first" type of game, which is not at all what I'm looking for.

Think I'll shelve this and give it a 3/5 or something.

Yikes, I felt the same about FFXII, so I wonder if I'll feel the same as you did about RW. Honestly it never got my attention much in the first place. If the number "XII" wasn't in the title then I probably wouldn't have given it a shot in the first place :/ Which is what I plan to do when I buy it next weekend. Shame though, I envisioned a much bigger project for an FFXII following.

 

[Mejilan]

Picked this one up today. Since I dropped about 97 hours into the game this shoots off from, and still managed to only experience about 1/3 of the story before I wearied of it all, would someone like to give me a bullet listing spoilering of FFXII? It needn't be in-depth or anything, since I'm not interested in a GameFAQS-esque script dump.

Thanks in advance.

 

[BuckRobotron]

Picked it up a couple days ago with the Best Buy $10 off. Despite loving FFXII, still did not want to part with $40 for this. Part of it is characters. I played FFXII as if Ashe/Balthier/Basch/Fran were the leads and babysat Vann and Penelo. Here, Vaan and Penelo are the "adults" actually babysitting 10 year olds. Groan.

As for gameplay, I teeter on the like side of the like-hate spectrum with this one. While it is true that much of the game you don't really need to bother with the distinctions of attack type and elemental weaknesses, there are a decent number of missions that challenge. And if you like the pantheon of FF summons, there is fun to be had in such things as having Ifrit versus Belias (melee-type Ifrit wins upclose, while at a distance the range-oriented Belias' painflare would whittle Ifrit down).

I can imagine the rank disappointment the easier version of the game must have been at initial release.

As for story, it is cute and all, but when I go back to FFXII (as I often do), I write off the silliness from FFXII:RW as nonexistent.

 

[BuckRobotron]

I'm shifting more to the positive on this game as I've been having more fun with the gameplay.

Some later or optional levels really do need you to stay on top of things with fancy stylus work (like pounding out Kytes spells one after another; keeping Faith and Bravery up from Penelo, etc). Guiding something like a little Ultima or Hashmal around and watching their special go off is fun, especially if you are quick on the stylus and load up special attacks from your characters to hit at the same time. And of course with a dozen other smaller espers like Diabolos throwing their own attacks into the mix.

Still don't care for the way character attitudes and relationships have been altered or muddied a bit (Vaan

Spoiler

smacking down Balthier in a fit of anger

!? GTFO...:lol), but I overall like the mix of chaotic gameplay mixed with increasing challenge and what amounts to Esper/Summon fanservice.

I'm somewhere in low 70% at around level 40 average where a bit of an experience wall has come up, so a little bit of grinding may be in order. That is OK in this case, as it will be a good game for dialing up on-the-fly a quick Monster Melee or Summon Battle and build experience until I'm ready to rededicate time to it. Especially looking forward to the new harder fights apparently added to the localized version of the game.

In the meantime, getting reaquainted with Front Mission, and FFV remains in the GBA slot. S-E has a solid lock on my DS.

 

[SleazyC]

I'm somewhere in low 70% at around level 40 average where a bit of an experience wall has come up, so a little bit of grinding may be in order. That is OK in this case, as it will be a good game for dialing up on-the-fly a quick Monster Melee or Summon Battle and build experience until I'm ready to rededicate time to it. Especially looking forward to the new harder fights apparently added to the localized version of the game.

Didn't play the Japanese version but some of the later missions are pretty tough. I was at around lvl 50 and some of the enemies I was fighting were in high 60's and low 70's. I am sure that with some tactics its doable but I was just overwhelmed and put it off as needing to lvl some more.

 

[AdmiralViscen]

Picked this one up today. Since I dropped about 97 hours into the game this shoots off from, and still managed to only experience about 1/3 of the story before I wearied of it all, would someone like to give me a bullet listing spoilering of FFXII? It needn't be in-depth or anything, since I'm not interested in a GameFAQS-esque script dump.

Thanks in advance.

You spent 97 hours on FF12 and didn't get more than a third through the main quest?

 

[ethelred]

I'm shifting more to the positive on this game as I've been having more fun with the gameplay.

Some later or optional levels really do need you to stay on top of things with fancy stylus work (like pounding out Kytes spells one after another; keeping Faith and Bravery up from Penelo, etc). Guiding something like a little Ultima or Hashmal around and watching their special go off is fun, especially if you are quick on the stylus and load up special attacks from your characters to hit at the same time. And of course with a dozen other smaller espers like Diabolos throwing their own attacks into the mix.

Still don't care for the way character attitudes and relationships have been altered or muddied a bit (Vaan

Spoiler

smacking down Balthier in a fit of anger

!? GTFO...:lol), but I overall like the mix of chaotic gameplay mixed with increasing challenge and what amounts to Esper/Summon fanservice.

I'm somewhere in low 70% at around level 40 average where a bit of an experience wall has come up, so a little bit of grinding may be in order. That is OK in this case, as it will be a good game for dialing up on-the-fly a quick Monster Melee or Summon Battle and build experience until I'm ready to rededicate time to it. Especially looking forward to the new harder fights apparently added to the localized version of the game.

In the meantime, getting reaquainted with Front Mission, and FFV remains in the GBA slot. S-E has a solid lock on my DS.

Feol Warrens, yeah?

 

[yayaba]

You spent 97 hours on FF12 and didn't get more than a third through the main quest?

I'd believe it. There's a ton of stuff to do in FF12 though 97 hours does seem a bit high...

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Picked this one up today. Since I dropped about 97 hours into the game this shoots off from, and still managed to only experience about 1/3 of the story before I wearied of it all, would someone like to give me a bullet listing spoilering of FFXII? It needn't be in-depth or anything, since I'm not interested in a GameFAQS-esque script dump.

Thanks in advance.

No worries. The other 2/3s of the story was just

Spoiler

wandering around looking for magic swords in dusty old ruins while important plot-related characters dropped like flies

.

The ending is standard RPG fare(probably the worst of any FF imo) but some of the final cutscenes are worth youtubing(

Spoiler

particularly the ones involving Cid

).

 

[BuckRobotron]

Feol Warrens, yeah?

Heh, the infamous stage

Spoiler

8-4

was indeed where I began to enjoy the difficulty.

That has been passed now, though like you I also tend to assume that people stopping in the 60-70% range have trouble there.

My breather was taken just after seeing that the espers

Spoiler

Zalera

and

Spoiler

Famfrit

were mid-60s level. Almost had the former in a trial fight, but might as well build up a bit to better my chances.

 

[Macstorm]

The final battle is killing me. I'm fine until

Spoiler

Bahamut

shows up and I can't seem to get a good balance between avoiding

Spoiler

Bahamut

and still killing the respawns.

Any strategies or esper/party suggestions?

 

[ivysaur12]

I still don't know if I should pick this up. I love RTS games, but this seams to be pretty shallow as far as the genre goes.

 

[Kestastrophe]

I still don't know if I should pick this up. I love RTS games, but this seams to be pretty shallow as far as the genre goes.

If you're looking for strategic depth then you will be disappointed. If you like RPGs though, I think that this one succeeds and the leveling/looting is fairly addictive.

 

[stuminus3]

First impressions: enjoying this so far.

The whole vibe of the game compared to FFXII itself reminds me of going from Final Fantasy Tactics to FFT Advance. That sits well enough for me, I don't mind my handheld games being a little more light-hearted.

I find navigation to be a little slow and clunky, though I've found that with all RTS-type games on the DS, I guess it comes from being used to playing RTS on PC for so many years. Seems far more intuitive than LostMagic, at least, if not as unique.

3D graphics are gorgeous for a DS game... doesn't have that chunky-ass PS1 polygons, everything is nice and smooth and sharp and detailed. Which is nice. Music is really good, too. Typical Square Enix production values.

 

[xfactor]

i am at the last mission too and the bahamut is a killer.

and i failed midnight's deep. that one is too hard for me.

 

[Macstorm]

I get so close to taking him down, but something always goes wrong. I'm using

Spoiler

Basch, Penelo, Llyud, Filo, and Kytes with Exodus as my Rank III Esper

and Shivar and Carby as my Rank IIs. My highest character is level 50. I can take out both hands and handle getting the body down half way without a problem, but I can't seem to last against the big B. I'm going to try one more time.

 

[John Harker]

Hi friends.

FINALLY got around to opening FF:RW, just started. Already excited.

I was waiting to play it till I completed Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lions War on PSP - one of the top games for the year, easy - and its been awhile, but MAAAAN what a depressing ending! SO good.


Anyway, my point is, I just started RW, so only on the prologue, but...

Spoiler

Balthier is looking for the Cache of Glabados! How cool is that, that's what he was looking for in FFT: The Lions War!! Nice tie in, go Ivalice Alliance. I still think Ivalice is the best world-concept Square has created so far.

 

[Barrage]

Just started playing Revenant Wings.

As a complete and total rookie to the RTS genre, the lack of difficulty isn't bothering me. The game is well written and gorgeous, so I think i'll be in for the long haul.

(I'm also a big fan of Vaan now talking like Wolverine from the 70's. I'm walking on eggshells until SNIKT! finally flashes across the screen and Vaan starts calling Penelo a "flamin' frail."

 

[RoboPlato]

On chapter 2 and I'm digging it so far. The story is corny but I knew that going in. I like the whole leader/esper group dynamic, it makes for an interesting and different kind of RTS.

 

[IzumiK]

Holy... the speech font is eye raping.

 

[Death_Born]

The game is ridiculously shallow, oppressively simple and provides no challenge at all and I'm a fair bit of the way through (65%).

It's easy at the beginning and gets harder towards the end. Way too simplified though, especially the single gambits on mages >_>

Plus, not attacking as a group is practically impossible. They shouldn't automatically attack the nearest thing to them, it's annoying.

 

[RaidenZR]

Glad to finally have this game in my hands and I've been playing for large chunks of time over the past day or so. I guess I'm the only one who's comfortable with its simplicity? It's about as deep as I want it to be and I just get a kick out of how darn impressive and emotive the sprites are for being even more simplistic than FFTA. I am diggin the individual log book entries, too. There's some amusing things transcribed.

 

[HylianScribe]

Spoiler

Ok, I am on this side-mission to get some sword near the end of the game. I've gone through like 6 "battles" now, and I was wondering how long it was - I don't want to look on GameFAQs to avoid a spoiler. I'm on the part where you have to defeat all the leaders, but they have some sick Yahri around them. I'm trying to 100% the game before beating it, and I am at 89% @ 30 hours right now, though I've spent about 4 hours on this side-mission. I think it may be one of the last ones in the game, it's been ridiculously long and pretty challenging. So, is the item I get - some "god" sword - worth it, and how many total "battles" do you face, and if you know where I am at, how many more do I have to go? The battle before the one I am at now was capturing all Soul Gates from these White Chocobos. I think I am on Chapter 9 or I just finished 9 - I just beat some "Time" world and it wants me to agree I am "ready to go" before starting this next chapter, so I don't want to leave yet without finishing everything else. My characters are all level 60+ now.

 

[zurra]

Spoiler

that area has 10 battles, the last of which is a boss fight. once you clear it, the Anastasia sword powers up, but you might have something better by now/not use Vaan at that point. i didn't, but i did the mission anyway for the sake of completion, even though you don't need it for 100%. you can do it as many times as you want, and each clear powers up the sword even more. or you can just go straight for the crystal in the first mission and powerlevel to oblivion.

you can keep doing other missions up until the final battle itself, by the way. even if that fight's too hard, just exit out to the world map. you still have a bit to go, though.

 

[HylianScribe]

Lame... oh well. I noticed nothing I saved at in that portion increased my completion percent.

 

[John Harker]

Anyone else play Lost Magic?

The games are veeeeeery identical in the gameplay department.
Not too surprising, since LM was Taito and Square owns Taito, no?

I find it funny and sad that LM was last seen alooong time ago at 70k+ units sold, and FFRW only managed 49k in November

 

[zurra]

Lame... oh well. I noticed nothing I saved at in that portion increased my completion percent.

Yeah... since it's a free mission instead of a notice board or story mission it's just good for leveling and the fun factor of finishing it.

 

[HylianScribe]

Just beat it. Yeah, the main game wasn't so hard. Side-missions for the scions were where the challenge was. I finished with 90%, 90% and 84% on the three categories it measured.

 

[zurra]

ahh... since you were in the 60s i thought you had done more. you were definitely kinda high, that would make it easy.

Spoiler

when i fought the boss i had 100% everything, and all enemies became level 99... my low-60s couldn't handle it and i had to powerlevel in midlight's deep up to mid 70s.

i thought the scion fights and the final battle were pretty awesome. it was just about right in terms of difficulty for me since the leveling curve is a lot more mean in the U.S. version.

 

[PolyGone]

just started my quest, seems pretty good

 

[Osaka]

The game arrived in mail today, and I'm tempted to take it out of the wrapping and start playing! The thing is, I'm also working on finishing FF12 and I can't play it really often (playing at my friends' house. I'm really early in the game, prolly 10-15 hours.

So GAF, should I start play RW or do I spoil the original FF12 for myself critically?

 

[joelseph]

I am left handed, and can't get the hang of tap-scrolling. Am I doomed? Is there a secret trick for scrolling faster using tap-scrolling instead of d-pad scrolling? I feel gimped.

 

[Jonnyram]

Anyone else play Lost Magic?

Never mind Lost Magic. You should try Monster Summoner on the GBA. I believe it's the exact same team that developed RW, actually.

 

[Clever Pun]

So, I'm completely stuck at the final boss - I've even given up and checked some FAQs online, but none of them give any true insight into the fight.

Spoiler

I can destroy the two arms, but when it comes to killing the middle part, i don't make any progress once he start shooting that huge beam

Is there some trick to it I'm just not aware of?

Otherwise, the game has been a lot of fun, but I'm on the verge of just never completing it.

 

[RaidenZR]

So, I'm completely stuck at the final boss - I've even given up and checked some FAQs online, but none of them give any true insight into the fight.

Spoiler

I can destroy the two arms, but when it comes to killing the middle part, i don't make any progress once he start shooting that huge beam

Is there some trick to it I'm just not aware of?

Otherwise, the game has been a lot of fun, but I'm on the verge of just never completing it.

I kept summoning my Rank III Esper and sent his ass up the steps to die, slowly whittling the boss's health. A ranged one wiill work best for this approach, I used Belias I think. When Vaan, Kyte's (or any other offensive-based character's) Quickenings charged I sent them up the steps to unleash that shit, then quickly scurried back down. It was a coward's way to fight the boss, but it worked after a little patience

 

[zurra]

Keep all your guys off to the side. There's a sweet spot on the sides of the platform that leads up to him where you can put a few (I could stuff three or sometimes four in there) ranged units. Leave a couple guys near the stairway to take out the spawns (or pull them away from going after your ranged guys) and you'll be fine. It'll take a while to chisel it down, and it's cheap, but it worked for me! After fighting him the first time for 30 minutes (massively underleveled since he got boosted to 99) and then getting a beam to the face that wiped me out, I was ready to be cheap.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

I'm having fun playing through FFIII DS, it's my first time playing a Final Fantasy game.

Would I enjoy this if the difficulty (or lack of) was not my main concern?

 

[botticus]

What level were people heading into Chapter 9? I just finished Chapter 8, and the new side quests have me fighting level 50+ enemies while I'm hovering around the lower 40s. Do I need to do some grinding?

 

[Clever Pun]

Keep all your guys off to the side. There's a sweet spot on the sides of the platform that leads up to him where you can put a few (I could stuff three or sometimes four in there) ranged units. Leave a couple guys near the stairway to take out the spawns (or pull them away from going after your ranged guys) and you'll be fine. It'll take a while to chisel it down, and it's cheap, but it worked for me! After fighting him the first time for 30 minutes (massively underleveled since he got boosted to 99) and then getting a beam to the face that wiped me out, I was ready to be cheap.

thanks, that worked for me - I guess I just wasn't used to going the cheap route after it not being necessary for the rest of the game. Oh well, still fun!

 

[Captain N]

I'm having fun playing through FFIII DS, it's my first time playing a Final Fantasy game.

Would I enjoy this if the difficulty (or lack of) was not my main concern?

You might enjoy this game, but remember it doesn't play anything like FF III DS. I'd compare this game to maybe a Warcraft meets Final Fantasy.

 

[zurra]

thanks, that worked for me - I guess I just wasn't used to going the cheap route after it not being necessary for the rest of the game. Oh well, still fun!

Nice! I wasn't too keen on using such a cheap method either, but it definitely beat the constant cycle of rushing it with mobs of cannon fodder, just to see them all blasted to oblivion.

...actually, that sounds kinda fun too...

 

[botticus]

Okay, I'm starting to get mildly fed up with 9-4.

Spoiler

I have gotten a handle on securing all of summoning platforms, but I can see of no feasible way to beat Mydia. I tried spamming her with Bombs or some level II espers, but nothing puts even a dent in her, since she still has a half dozen Lamias and Tonberries around her. After I did that for a while, I took out the remaining baddies in the middle of the map, at which time she decided she would come over and beat on me. I can generally get her to about half health, but it's really no contest. I'd try bringing in a level III esper to spam her with instead of a level I, but I'm not sure how much it would hurt me removing one of my level IIs (probably my water melee, since they're slow as hell against Lamias anyway). Any tips on getting this over with?

I have unintentionally grinded a bit while losing five or ten times at this mission, but I'm still around 44-46 for my party of 5.

 

[zurra]

Spoiler

make a mad rush to take the top-right summoning gate and float bombs over to her. she'll never come near you, and there won't be any ground units magically floating in the sea of fire.

 

[botticus]

Spoiler

make a mad rush to take the top-right summoning gate and float bombs over to her. she'll never come near you, and there won't be any ground units magically floating in the sea of fire.

Spoiler

Once I've floated a couple bombs over there, she and her cohorts surround the summoning gate and then they demolish anything else I summon as soon as it shows up. Or are you saying I can take out her escort units doing that first?

 

[Clever Pun]

Spoiler

Once I've floated a couple bombs over there, she and her cohorts surround the summoning gate and then they demolish anything else I summon as soon as it shows up. Or are you saying I can take out her escort units doing that first?

Spoiler

if i remember correctly I was able to take out her escort without pulling her, then spam her with flying espers. It took forever, because they barely did any damage to her, but it worked. I also kept a good selection of espers back so i could deal with the constant spawns.

 

[botticus]

Spoiler

if i remember correctly I was able to take out her escort without pulling her, then spam her with flying espers. It took forever, because they barely did any damage to her, but it worked. I also kept a good selection of espers back so i could deal with the constant spawns.

Spoiler

I couldn't figure out a way to draw her escorts away from her, so I finally resorted to spamming her with my Leviathan (or whoever the water melee is) from the upper right, was able to strip away her escorts, and do a little bit of damage. By the time I went to take over the last summoning gate in the upper left, she came over to get me, but alone, and I finished her off with some tiny sliver of health remaining for Vaan.

Thanks for the help guys!