I recently re-picked up Final Fantasy 12 lately mainly because I had thought about it and wanted to give the game another shot. Back in 2006, when the game originally came out, I played for about 10 or so hours and there was alot about it I didn't like. I hated the character designs of some characters, I really disliked how generic and not unique each of the characters were in the battle system.
However, after a recent watching of a review for game that I know I don't like, Final Fantasy 8. I got to thinking about why I didn't like that one, the main reason being how boring it is, and I think that's mainly due to the art style they went with. They were going for a high school drama sort of style and thus, alot of the characters looked very modern day high school... and that's so boring. Sure, Zidane in FF9 looked a little silly with his monkey tail, but at least he looked like a adventurer as opposed to Squall who looks like some gothic loner, but now I'm getting off track.
This realization eventually lead me to thinking about other final fantasy art styles and why I liked them more and of course, my mind eventually came to 12, the one that I had declared worse than 8 and I thought to myself: 'In hindsight, that art style was pretty good... come to think of it, the music was nice too... I really should give this game another chance' and so, after a little bit of time of tracking down a copy, I began to play it again. So far, I just got everyone in the party and here's my impressions thus far:
It's not as bad a game as I first recalled it. I wanna say I got to about 1/3 of the way in before I quit last time, saying the art sucked, the music sucked, and everything about the game sucked.
In retrospect, the art style is something I actually really like about it. Yes, some of the characters look absolutely stupid like Vaan and his disease-ridden chest, and Basch, who looks like Huckleberry Finn randomly decides to go to war and throws on some pots and pans on his clothes, claiming he's ready to go. It's just unbefitting of a former army captain, I think. Despite that, I love the very fantasy-styled look of the game. Granted, I got into Final Fantasy about the same time as the majority of its fans did, around the time 7 came out, but I definately took the time to go back and play the earlier ones and I have to say I really like the final Fantasy that are more fantasy than science fiction, if that makes sense and 12 really captures that fantasy aspect. Sure, there's alot of science involved with the airships and whatnot, but it's not always in your face like in 7 or 8. Also, I got to say that the Judges are some of the most bad ass looking group of villains (?) in a Final Fantasy. Effeminate plotters? Pfft, screw that. Gimme the guy who acts as judge, jury, and executioner any day. They just look so menacing while being respectable. Sort of like a small group of Darth Vaders.
The music is actually really damn good. If you liked Tactics' music at all, then FF12 is pretty much just that, but better due to good use of orchestra. I really don't have too much else to say about that. Yea, the minimal use of the final fantasy victory music is disappointing, but in a way, it makes you glad to hear it each time. I do have to say though, it seems really random about when the game decides to do it. It seems to be after boss fights only, but not every boss fight, just every one that's sort of... not plot relevant or has some cutscene after it, and when it plays, the game congratulates you. For what? Beating the boss? I'm gonna do that alot, so why do you feel the need to congratulate me? It sort of takes away from the experience I think.
The system... my initial gripes involved the pointlessness in leveling more than just three characters, but really, in hindsight, my main problem is how you have so many options and paths to take for each character, but you seriously have to look up information to get the most basic of information, such as why certain weapons and armors might be more preferable for certain characters, let alone why they're different in the first place. One thing I kind of don't get is Quickenings. I know in the previous final fantasies, character have limit breaks that sort of allow them to do feats of epic manuevers, but they always somehow related to the character using them. This time around, I don't quite get why certain characters use certain quickenings and furthermore, what exactly are they? It's weird to see Basch suddenly shoot a mega death ray from his hands or summoning giant swords or something when no one in the plot so much as mentions something like it at any other time in the game. One thing I really don't like about the quickenings is that for all of them, each and every character. They only serve one main purpose, to pump out damage. That's fine and dandy, expect in previous games, character limit breaks would do more than that based on the character. For instance, Aeris in 7's gave various buffs to the party and her first one acted as a super healing move that helped in a pinch. There's nothing like that with 12's quickenings and it's probably one of the main reasons I quit the first time around. But I'll just let it slide for now and see how I feel about it the further in I get.
The gambit system, yes, pretty much is a means to let the game play itself, but without it, the game would be near impossible. It's a load off my mind to know that my characters will heal their allies when their hp totals get under a certain value and even if each character can do everything, you only have so many gambits so you can fit each character into some archetype that you like. Personally, I plan to make Basch my main tank/melee damage guy, Ashe my off tank or healer (paladin), Penelo my main mage girl, Fran my ranger that handles alot of speed-based weapons with some magic to back her up, Balthier will be my weapon master, and Vaan will be the skill junkie.
This is just my current plan, but we'll see how it goes. I imagine this game will be one of my focuses during my downtime in the summer, when I'm not working or job hunting, much like Final Fantasy 9 was during the Spring Semester, though I'm reminded I should really back and finish Parasite Eve... maybe when I need a break from 12, I'll do that.
Anyway, feel free to post comments, your thoughts, or whatever you feel like.
-Gem
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