FF XII....What are the prospects?

[Gorefiend]

I've been looking at the official website of Final Fantasy XII, and, well, I couldn't understand anything. It was all in Japanese. However, I still have my doubts. The characters look.... wierd. The game is to be yet another sequel (same world at FFTA), and we all know what happened last time they tried a sequel... I know it won't compare to, say, FF 6. But I was wondering what seems to be the prospect. Will it be better than some of their more recent games? Or will it, too, bite the dust gameplay- and plotwise, preferring to hand us graphics (which DO seem good) and voices? What will it look like? Anyone?

Also if any of you can read Japanese, a rough translated summary of the main points of the website would be appreciated greatly. Or maybe I'm just looking at the wrong one...

[Wetflame]

I think it looks pretty cool, and I think after FF10, which I love so far, and getting stuff like X-2 out of their system, they'll do something nifty.

A lot of people are badmouthing it, saying that Square can get away with anything. But I like the look and feel of the redesigned Ivalice, so that's one thing I'll enjoy.

And as far as I know, it's actually very different how thr world in FFTA was protrayed. It's a bit more grown up and a lot deeper. In fact, it could be well be a totally new world that bears some similiarities; I think this may be the case.

[KefkaTaran]

It's not a sequel. It takes place in a world that has the same name as FFTA's world, but the story is not connected at all and as far as has been talked about the worlds aren't REALLY connected besides by name. After all FFTA's world had the same name as FFT's world and they weren't even close to related.

Everything I've heard about FFXII has me excited, and trust me, I'm far from a fanboy of the series. But the guy in charge of the project is the same guy who was in charge of FFT, Vagrant Story, and FFTA, of which (on varying levels) were quite successful and mostly well-praised. He's also said he wants to adress issues of race and class in the game's storyline. I know some people are all about keeping any message out of gaming, but I think that's a big part towards games as art, so this has me excited.

Gameplay-wise it sounds like it's changing quite a bit from the normal single-player FF we're used. The fighting is supposed to be really similar to Final Fantasy XI oddly enough.

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

I'm interested. Every new FF game is a chance to be either good or bad. Some FF games aren't all that special to me and some are really good to me. It really just depends on who's working on it and if it'll be fun.

I know it'll have this big story with almost no doubt a similar story to all the FFs before it. I know it'll be a certain amount of time. I know it'll have item searching and a 3 party team and a somewhat character driven story. Its all the other stuff that can change (as it has over the course of FF) and will be the deciding point for me.

And most of all, it just really depends on if its just another FF that's all about watching a story with pauses of repetative fighting or if its a game with a good story....but with original and battles that are fun to play.

[Cloud Strife]

The game is going to be very interesting, that's for sure. It's not going to be like the usual FF that we've seen. The main difference here, is that the game is being developed by the same team that made FFT and FFTA, so, including that with everything I've heard about it so far, it has a LOT of potential. Here's hoping.

[In Hindsight]

Letsee, planned by the same team as FFT/FFTA/Vagrant story, with a soundtrack composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, with Uematsu co-composing, producing and supervising, I honestly have a hard time believe this game will not be good. That's a goddamned all-star team if I've ever seen one.

Sakimoto doesn't get enough credit, hopefully his contributions to this game will provide him the respect that he deserves. Listen to the OST's for FFT, VS, and Radiant Silvergun... you'll know what I'm talking about.

[Aeria]

It bears more resemblence to the FFTA world than previously mentioned. Other than just name, it also has the different races of FFTA. Who knows, it may even have some of the same cities and locations, but even though the names of the places may be the same, the places themselves will be very different.

And to address a comment, 3 player teams is not the standard. FF1-3 had four players, 4 had five, 5-6 had four as well. 7-10 had three true. Mystic Quest had two, Tactics had five, Tactics advance had (for the most part) six, and FFL 1-3 had four. So while it has been the trend recently for three, I'm kinda hoping for a change. It's about time too.

[beinsane]

Actually, 9 had four.

[Astral Harmony]

Yeah, Final Fantasy IX had four PCs maximum on a team. Also, what's FFL 1-3?

I really liked Vagrant Story myself. I've still got the potential to beat it because when it comes down to it, Vagrant Story is really tough. So do we know when it's coming out, anyone?

[Cloud Strife]

FFL1-3 are known as Final Fantasy Legends I-III, for the Game Brick. :D

I have no idea for the release date US, however...

[beinsane]

The FFLs were released in the early '90s. They're not really connected to the FF series, having been released as SaGa I-III in Japan, and followed by Romancing SaGa I-III (not released in America) on the SNES, SaGa Frontier I and II on the PlayStation, and Unlimited SaGa on the PS2. The series is known for game systems that are very innovative and experimental, which is to say nearly unplayable.

And for that matter, FF Gaiden: Seiken Densetsu (a.k.a. Final Fantasy Adventure / Sword of Mana) had one playable character and one NPC in the party; SD2 (Secret of Mana) and SD3 had three, but each player could only control one at a time; I haven't played SD4 (Legend of Mana).

[snuj]

FFXII has me worried. After FFX, I lost some of my faith in Square (although FFXI did help to restore it a bit). But Vaan looks way too much like that bastard Tidus. I sure hope he isn't such an annoying, whiny ass the way Tidus was.

I've heard that FFXII is going to be very non-linear, which is deffinatly a good thing. One of the biggest things I hatted about FFX was how goddamn linear it was.

I don't know much about the new battle system, but it sounds good so far.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

i have an xbox so i dont play any of the newer ff games but
i have seen a spoof animation on a flash site its pretty funny and if u play ff ull see alot of the jokes http://www.flashplayer.com/animation/finalfantasy.html
u can watch it if u want

[mammothtank]

I have played and beaten FFLII-III, and I will say that they have very few connections to the more familiar FF series. Fire/Lit/Ice representing the three primary damage spells is the only similarity I can think of.
One thing I didn't like very much about them was the monster/meat system. For those of you who have no clue what I'm rambling about, you would often find monster meat at the end of a battle. When given to one of your characters to eat, this meat would change him/her into a monster. The only purpose I could find in it was the novelty of having a party full of monsters; few of them were any better than the humans and/or mutants you started with.
BTW... where's this FFXII site? I'm curious - I really enjoyed FFTA.

[Lost in Time]

Actually looking at FFXII, I'm kinda excited for it. I haven't played X-2 or compleated FFX. And it looks like its going to have loks of puzzles on account of you having the ability to move the camera around.

The only relation XII has with FFTA is the land. The judges is compleatly different. In FFTA the judges are respected law enforcers. In XII the judges are feared throughout the land. So that's plenty different.

I also haven't played FFT, FFL I-III, or Vargants Story. I have no idea what they're about either. So this is going to come to me as a plesant surprise. Hopefully. :)

[Gorefiend]

Guess what, NIETHER HAVE I!!!! I've lived ou most of my life on a little desert island with my buddy Wilson, having contact with boats, and updating myself about society sparingly. Unfortunately, every boat that tried to resque me has become shipwrecked, so I'm stuck! (jk) However, the effects are still the same. I've missed out on just about every cool thing that's going on. Otherwise, I'd probably be a fan of TONS more games. I HAVE played the Legends series, but got bored because I happened to have the ability to play FF6, or 5, or 4, or X at the time....

The FF XII website is in Japanese. It's here (http://www.ff12.com/top.html).

I also decided to re-search the internet for the proper URL, and stumbled upon the US website (talk about ignorant!) it is here (http://www.ffxii.net/).

After looking at the character pictures I saw, you might get what I meant by wierd lookig characters. (I saw the ones in the Japanese site) Also, I only question the battle system because, in text, it sounds wierd. I'm sure that once I PLAY the game, or a similar one, I'll get it. BTW, I agree with an earlier post that each game is it's own game, to be judged differently. I STILL think that they could have tried to add vioces to the PS versions, though.... but that's an entirely different, and currently non-existent thread....

And, I don't know where I heard that it was in the same Ivalice. I know that FFT and FFTA were both in worlds named Ivalice, but that that was as far as the two were related. However, I guess seeing a Viera as one of the main characters, plus hearing it from some source, add up in your mind...

And, WHY THE HECK aren't there any Moogles? If you're going to have an FF game happen in Ivalice, with all the same races, then WHY NO MOOGLES? And no (insert name of lizard guys...) either! It's an outrage!!!

Lastly, there is still one doubt in my head, which is whether anyone can give me a guess if this one will stand out. As the first poster in this thread said, they got some of the crap out of their system now. And the gameplay looks promising. But, there is always room for a screw up. Always.

[Zarb]

I hope this game crashes and burns. Ive been unhappy with Final Fantasy since 6, with the exception of the two Tactics games.

[Lost in Time]

And, WHY THE HECK aren't there any Moogles? If you're going to have an FF game happen in Ivalice, with all the same races, then WHY NO MOOGLES? And no (insert name of lizard guys...) either! It's an outrage!!!

I can't remember if I have seen any moogles in any screenshots or not. But I have seen the Bangaa (Lizard Guys) They're pretty huge, big as some buildings in the town.

[EVILNess]

I don't consider 12 a sequel. Sure it takes place in Ivalice, but it has nothing to do with any FFT game. In all actuality if you look hard enough in 9 there is enough to support that it takes place in the same world as the original Final Fantasy. So, unless they have judges or the church of saint Ajora, this game has nothing to do with any Tactics game. Unless its a prequel to the original FFT, that thought has crossed my mind many times.

[KefkaTaran]

Actually, yeah, I'm pretty positive that I've read there are both Moogles and lizardmen in the game. I've seen pics of the lizard guys but not of Moogles. Chances are they'll rock.

And I doubt it'll be TOO non-linear, and that's not a bad thing. Console RPGs, especially FF games, are not meant to be very non-linear. But I have heard it'll be a bit less linear than FFX, yes, so... no problems there.

[beinsane]

And, WHY THE HECK aren't there any Moogles? If you're going to have an FF game happen in Ivalice, with all the same races, then WHY NO MOOGLES? And no (insert name of lizard guys...) either! It's an outrage!!!


There are moogles. They've just been redesigned (http://www.ff12.com/about/moogle1.html). Kupo.

[Kenryoku_Maxis]

All I know is, when it finally gets here, we're going to have another RPG without dual track voices.

And people have made fun of FFX and some even hated FFX just for the voices. Once again, I say its time for dual track RPGs.

Many people have already stated Tales of Symphonia, Star Ocean 3 and a ton of other recent titles have been some of the worst dubs ever. When are we going to getto choose...

[Toastburner B]

There are moogles. They've just been redesigned (http://www.ff12.com/about/moogle1.html). Kupo.

I was about to say, there are moogles.

Mostly what I have seen has come in the form of articles from Game Informer. I think that XII has a good chance of "saving" the series, as I have seen many people say that this one will make or break the series, after FFX-2, which was...different.

Note: I've haven't played FFX-2 every much...maybe 20 minutes at my friend's house. I'm just going by what he said. He said it was good, but it wasn't his favorite.

Either way...I'm an admitted FF fanboy, so I'll probably get it either way. From what I have seen so far, it looks good.

[Roland]

All I know is, when it finally gets here, we're going to have another RPG without dual track voices.

And people have made fun of FFX and some even hated FFX just for the voices. Once again, I say its time for dual track RPGs.

Many people have already stated Tales of Symphonia, Star Ocean 3 and a ton of other recent titles have been some of the worst dubs ever. When are we going to getto choose...



And just who are these people?

Edit: And on the subject of dual tracks (or, in GBA games, Dual languages)... it's a waste of space, imo, and can do worse to a game than things like turning wine into water.

Case in point: Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword's PAL release. In order to create space for extra languages, they had to dumb down the already stupified Ai of the US release, as well as cut out a large portion of the ending. And this is a GBA game, with no voices.

[KefkaTaran]

Ken: I don't know anyone who hates FFX just for the voiceovers, and few people who dislike Star Ocean for the same. In fact I know many people who LIKED the voiceovers in both. (Not me personally, but I could stand it).

I think that getting good actors is a very important part of new videogames. I think that should DEFINITELY be paid attention to. I do not think dual track voices is that big of a deal. I don't think many people care about that, and I doubt that the people that do comprise a big enough group to make videogame developers care about it. I'm not saying it'd be hard to do, adding on another track, or anything. But I don't see it happening. Especially now that they're starting to change facial animations in English releases of voiceover titles so that the mouths match up with English.

Then again, it was pretty cool that you could play Jak 3 in like four different languages. *Shrug*

[Gorefiend]

Cool. I saw the moogles. The redigns look much like the drawings and sprites on FFTA. Only about a million times better quality... And, as far as dual voice tracks... if the game is good enough, I really wouldn't care. Then again, I'm a very causal gamer (and I can already hear the cries of "HEATHEN!!!!" and "BURN HIM!!!!" ensuing from some you guys) and don't pay attention to detail like that. It WOULD be nice to get at least a portion of the game with the original voices, or the dual track, but for those of us who don't speak English and Japanese, I don't think it should make or brake a game. While a nice add-on, It's not vital... Besides, I kinda liked FFX's voice overs, when I didn't look at their mouthes, or listen so much to the voices as to what they said... It WAS about time there was an FF with voices in it, and considering that every cutscene and FMV, as well as many (though not all) NPC's had voices, it was good enough for me. And, like KefkaTaran before me, I don't think the companies will do that. Unless, maybe, someone gets the entire population of the US (or it's equivalent in Europe, or worldwide) to actively boycott the games until dual tracking is available, or something like that....

As far as my expectations of the game, the English version of the website is reassuring, though I wonder who designed the characters... They still look wierd to me... And they most certainly could have varied the hair color. (sarcasm) THAT'S DISCRIMINATION TOWARD BLACK-HAIRED PEOPLE!!!!! (like me...) (/sarcasm)

The gameplay looks promissing enough, and if they work with the plot well (it IS still developing, right?) it should make a fine piece of work. A bit pale compared to it's predecessors, pehaps, (due to the fact that they can water it down with graphics, voices, and a "neat" minigame/battle system, and get enough sales to turn a profit...), but pehaps it WILL save the series from becoming soley a fanboy franchise (ooh, alliteration...)

BTW, Im going to go a bit off topic here, but two posts ago, Roland used the term "imo" Could someone translate that for me? I suck, and never learned L337 SP34K, or chat slang (except for lol, stfu, and ttyl) yeah.... it would be nice... thanks in advance...

[In Hindsight]

The whole linearity complaint about FFX was entirely ridiculous. It was just as linear as any other FF game, there is no question about that. Some people just really, really loved the whole world map thing. Every game in the series that occurred before FFX certainly lends to the notion that linearity is not a bad thing, but for some reason, I guess some folks just can't live without their worldmap.

The only non-linear game to bear the FF title would be FFXI.

[gurusloth]

...BTW, Im going to go a bit off topic here, but two posts ago, Roland used the term "imo" Could someone translate that for me? I suck, and never learned L337 SP34K, or chat slang (except for lol, stfu, and ttyl) yeah.... it would be nice... thanks in advance...

IMO stands for In My Opinion. Also known as IMHO, which is In My Honest Opinion. The second one seems extraneous, though. Why would you lie about your own opinion?

[KefkaTaran]

Off-topic: In my experience, IMHO has always meant in my humble opinion. But that's me, a humble fellow. ;)

[gurusloth]

Ah, yes, that's true. I'd forgotten that one. Perhaps it's both/either. Perhaps I'm just wrong. It has happened.

[Kike14]

Well, the game looks promising, but, in the webpage the moogles were showed, there is a part for the characters...and it really disappointed me.
If you are making a game with many "interesting" races, you have to put at least one playable character of each race. I didn't like the fact that there only non-human party member is a Viera...where are the Nu Mou, the Moogles or the Bangaas...
Also, I don't like Vaan's design and outfit, it seems like Tidus mixed with Zidane...

Well, I just hope Square-Enix doesn't screw up this game too...