Final Fantasy XII

[Cerberus]

just done a search on it and it\'s not supposed to hit the uk until early 07 aparently, I checked out youtube to see if there were any vids of it, there were a few. It does look pretty good, I might just use this version of the game to get back into the FF series, then again, I might not, I don\'t know for sure yet.

This game blows away the other FF games, and maybe even dethrones FFVII (I\'ll have to finish it first, of course).

- Lots of elements from past FF games and other Squaresoft games (plenty of skies of arcadia references, too).
- The first FF game in a long while to be challenging.  Money is (very) tight, bosses are plentiful and challenging (especially elite marks), and there\'s plenty of untapped power in the character\'s licenses, but it takes a while to get out.
- Great voice acting, and thus far a compelling and interesting storyline, don\'t know specifically why, but I prefer this one\'s to FF IX, X, and X-2.
- Love the combat system (and gambits), very steep learning curve for the first few battles, but once you figure out what it\'s doing, it\'s a very powerful tool.
- Was the treacherous twin executed or will he make an appearance... a judge perhaps?

From someone who has played through pretty much every FF game out there (except X-2 and XI), I will put this one in the top three for sure*.

I\'m just passing 26 hours of in game play time now (not counting the resets from boss deaths), so that\'s less than $2.50 per hour of fun (better value than movies, bar hopping, etc) - and it\'s only going down.  I\'m going to have to take some time off though soon.  Work again tomorow, and certain people were complaining today about my lack of \'wanting to talk about the day\' (rolls eyes).

[spoiler] (not too specific, just general gameplay tips)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Hint for those of you that get this.... when you get ancient tomes in the bazaar, save for them first, they make a big difference (much more than expensive techniques will at first).  
-The south end of the gaza plains is a great place to chain wolves, you can go back and forth from SE to SW (three screens) and do 14 per round.
- In the floating city mine, the same is possible where the skellies pop up.  They will keep popping up to skellie Z, so you get 26 of those, and then mage skellies, so you can leave that room with 40-50 skellies chained if you have patience.
- Big damage works better than more defence, so spend money on weapons before armor.
- Think we\'ll see the treacherous twin again?  Perhaps as a judge?
- Will the story end up all over the world?  26 hours in, I\'m still roundabouts the middle
[/spoiler]

*Although I do still have to finish it, things could always go horribly wrong

Damn!! you people make me want it like crazy! It\'s not yet released in Europe but when its released I ll have studying to do

F*ckin\' university

i\'m about 8 hours in and really enjoying it.

it almost feels like a single player MMORPG in many aspects.

being able to see encounters and avoiding them if i want is a huge improvement.  nothing pisses me off like trying to get somewhere on a map and having to fight 7 fucking random monsters.

[Cerberus]

i\'m about 8 hours in and really enjoying it.

it almost feels like a single player MMORPG in many aspects.

being able to see encounters and avoiding them if i want is a huge improvement.  nothing pisses me off like trying to get somewhere on a map and having to fight 7 fucking random monsters.

that used to piss me off no end as well

[clips]

but if don\'t fight the monsters, how do you properly level up?...i know it\'s good to finally have a choice in fighting them, but this can also have you not properly prepared for boss fights correct?

damn... the first game I really wish I could play since I sold my ps2 a few years back.  Might have to spring for a used one or something... no chance this is coming to pc anytime soon is there?  

This thread makes me want the game. Hmm...

there\'s just something about going into an area and cleaning house.  it feels different, especially when 2 characters attack 3 times in a row almost at the same time.  


i dont want call this a spoiler but dont read if you are really really nervous of spoiling anything about the game


































this is one of the hardest FFs out there, so be patient.... bosses tend to be relentless.

i beat the first 3 boss\'s without the party dying.
normally the "guest" drops like a rock and i continue the fight

I\'m now 29 with my main, mid 20s with others.  Got most of the class I and II marks done, and a couple elite marks (the first two, as it were).  Can\'t seem to beat any of the class III marks though, and the class V one I tried for fun, well, I could barely get to it.  I\'ve got the augment license tree pretty maxed for everyone, just working on weapons/magic now.  Is it sexist that thus far all my female characters are my magic buffers/attacker and the guys are weaponmasters?

Still trying to get the hang of mist techniques... anyone know just how the heck you are supposed to be doing those?  I hit a boss with a lvl 3 blast and it did no damage - but I think I\'m doing something wrong.  I\'ve been hitting R2 (scroll) until I see one of the choices have a button, then I hit it... sometimes it will do it again, sometimes it does lots of damage, sometimes nothing??

Very cool game... I\'m just on my way down to the Ozmone (sp?) plains to visit with the Garifs, I would guess from the world map perhaps 1/3rd through the game?

what i find amusing is that i got about 10 hours into the game already and in comparison to most other games on the market, i would have beat it already.

Ohhkay, I\'m getting a bit better at mist techs, so I\'ll pass on some tips.

1) Choose a party of three and stick with them, and max their mist techs first.  This will give them 3x mana and make chaining the mist attacks much easier.  Try to give every other character 1 mist attack.  (I learned this lesson a bit late, and it made my game a bit harder)

2) When you start mist attack, look to the lower right.  Basically you are looking for a white option.  If you have one, press that button immediately.  If you are early in the combo (pre-5) then you probably have time enough to read/choose and you should always try and select \'charge\' if it comes up.  Charge will always be followed by a valid choice in that slot, you can just hit the button twice if you are close to out of time.  

3) By 8-9 combo it\'s usually moving pretty fast, but you will do thousands (or tens of thousands) of damage if you can get a combo up that high.  By flipping out one character and bringing in another one with 1 mist attack, they can start the attack, and if you are fast enough with charges, you can re-do the attack (your other characters don\'t need mana to participate).

I\'m at just over 37 hours now, and I\'m not working at all until next week, so I\'ll be at least halfway through the game by monday.  By the way, money being so tight, make sure you set up one character to steal constantly (I do it for enemies over 70%, and have the other concentrate on those, so that he steals then fights).  It won\'t make a huge difference at first, but over time the stealing makes a difference.  Once you hit the woods, you will be getting panthers, and you can fill up 100 of their pelts in 15 minutes... which sells for 45k (no more money worries).

what i find amusing is that i got about 10 hours into the game already and in comparison to most other games on the market, i would have beat it already.

It\'s true, but the interesting thing is that the length is the main thing that keeps me away. That\'s a big investment and a lot of tedious fighting.

Here\'s a gameplay tip for those of you in the first 20 hours or (small spoiler):
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Get to the Mospheran Highlands ASAP, I think you can do it right after the rains (the fishing village with the ferry runs again, part of a minor sidequest).  Upon arrival, you can buy golden hairpins (2x LP), and stick them on the players you AREN\'T using, they still earn 2x LP from monsters.
-
Marks get incredibly hard after third class, it seems like it breaks down to party/player level X 10 for class (+10 for elite marks).  I beat my class III marks at lvl 30, still a battle, II marks at 20ish, etc, etc.