Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

I got FFXII for Christmas. I'm kinda disappointed. Well, not too disappointed because I wasn't expecting much. Before it came out, I read that the battle system was based partly off that of Vagrant Story. Now, I've played Vagrant Story in the sense that...I didn't get very far into it because of the battle system. It's terrible.

I mean, seriously, I know Square Enix has enough technology to do action RPGs, because Dirge of Cerberus, Star Ocean, and Kingdom Hearts (to name a few) had great action RPG systems, all both of them were by Square. So, I don't know if it's pressure from the old school FF geeks or something, but Square decided to keep FFXII a turn-based system. The worst part of it is that, since it doesn't take you into the special "battle dimension" that most turn-based systems do, and because you can run around in circles, it doesn't seem turn-based. It just is. You feel like you can dodge or block, but it's just an illusion. You can't, and it's utterly frustrating. Well, at least the leveling up is better than FFX's goddamned sphere grid, but still, you have to have gil to buy spells and abilities, so of course they had to make gil harder to get...

I also hate the animation style. I read in another review that it's hard to believe that FFXII's graphics can still be supported by the now outdated PS2; however, comparing FFXII with FFX graphics-wise, I can't say I see much of a difference. The FMVs are slightly more fluid in FFXII, but other than that, I wouldn't say it's necessarily better. I also hate the character design and color scheme. In Vaan's case, although his personality is better than his two predecessors, Tidus and Zidane, I have to say that he looks like a sunburned fop with a pig-nose (In fact, I wished they had just switched his brother's design with his, because at least his brother is kinder on the eyes). Penelo, though less annoying than Yuna and Dagger, is physically like a blond Pippy Longstockings. Furthermore, the color scheme lacks...well...colors. Everything is brown. To me, there doesn't seem to be enough contrast, and it is too dull. I even have trouble telling characters apart because everyone just has a different shade of the same color. I've played FFVII through FFX, and I have to say that of those, only FFIX is worse as far as animation style (Yeah, nothing can be worse than those chibi characters). Even FFVII beats FFXII because at least it had a decent color scheme and originality in character design.

Worst of all, I think, would have to be the plot. So far, there isn't much of one. Now, granted, I may be speaking too soon because I haven't finished the game, and I'm actually not very far because in my disgust with the battle system, I've been refusing to level up. However, as far as I can tell, the plot is very formula. Empire invades smaller country, a resistance grows, you join resistance. There's the former princess, the wanted pirate, the old warrior who supposedly betrayed and killed the king... Hell, you've even got the old "evil twin" thing going on, just to make sure that you understand that Square was trying to be unoriginal. I'm kind of sad, actually, as it was originally the epic plots that attracted me to Final Fantasy, and I've only seen them steadily decrease in quality. I mean, compare FFVII, that was so plot-driven, it was unforgettable, to FFX that took a while to get into the plot and really had more of a teaser plot than an epic one... FFXII either lacks plot, or is just taking so long to get into it, that I'm getting bored. I feel like I'm going on a series of sidequests that have nothing to do with anything other than a method to provide more chances for battles. I mean, seriously, I hear the words, "Those men have kidnapped Penelo," and I think, "Oh, screw it. Just forget about her. In fact, why don't you accept the empire's reign, because I still have yet to see why you reject them other than that you're bitter about losing your old king." I've yet to see any oppression or cruelty that should warrant rebellion, so I don't much feel the burning desire to take down the empire like all the characters do.

In conclusion, I guess all I can say is that...well, Square seems to be taking a big leap in actually making the protagonist of FFXIII (pause for necessary gasp) female (!), so perhaps they'll do more unique and original things with that game. If not, well then maybe Final Fantasy XIII should be the actual Final Fantasy. Square should give it up. In the meantime, I hope Kingdom Heart might take over. At least that's fun to play.