[MetalMike]

I picked this up today. It seems pretty good so far, even though nothing really pertaining to the story has unfolded yet. I'm not sure I like the idea of being a kid, but I'll get used to it. I like the active battle system.

Everything is pretty top notch. The voice actors, however, are

Discuss...

[Pauly]

I'm well behind, the last one I bought was 8!

[This Dying Soul]

I picked it up on my lunch break here at work. Ive got 40 minutes til i leave. The anticipation is killing me. Ive been reading the strategy guide all day. This thing is massive. I thought FFX's was big. This is ridiculous. From what I hear this game is the best one yet. Game nformer gave it a 9.5. So Im pumped.

[MetalMike]

The strategy guide is incredibly thick.

The only problem with the game is it takes about 6 hours just to get into the main storyline. So in other words, it starts kinda slow.

[This Dying Soul]

So did Tactics so Im kinda expecting that. They both take place in the same world and all. So I was expecting a difficult and complex storyline. If anyone can honestly say they understood FFTactics the first time through theyre either geniouses or full of shit.

[Naren]

I assumed the English version would have shit voice actors (like the English version of FF10 which I only heard 10 minutes of at a friend's house and never wanted to see again. I'm glad I live here where I can get the original games with their "masterpiece" glorious acting -- of doom). The Japanese voice actors for FF12 (like FF10) are award-winning quality. But, I knew the English version would suck. I'm not a big fan of Van, but there are some other characters in the game who are really cool like Basshu.

I personally really liked FF12. It's in my top 5 favorite Final Fantasy games. The only part I didn't like was the ending. But, since you haven't got there, I won't say anything about it.

[bulb]

i am about 5 hours into the game and the story is somewhat developping but godamn this game is fun and so far atb kicks ass!
the voice acting isnt great until you get balthier, his voice actor is awesome/perfect for his character!
man im going to lose all my friends this month....

Originally Posted by This Dying Soul

So did Tactics so Im kinda expecting that. They both take place in the same world and all. So I was expecting a difficult and complex storyline. If anyone can honestly say they understood FFTactics the first time through theyre either geniouses or full of shit.

I played tactics like 3 times thru forever ago and i dont think i ever fully understood it, but damn if that game wasnt totally amazing!
As for the name i didnt know if ff12 actually took place in the same ivalice or if it was another recycling of names as the ff series does a lot...

[Naren]

Originally Posted by bulb

i am about 5 hours into the game and the story is somewhat developping but godamn this game is fun and so far atb kicks ass!

While I do like the traditional fighting system, I was really excited by the new active system. It's just so interesting and adds so many elements to the series that were never there before.

[This Dying Soul]

Originally Posted by bulb

i am about 5 hours into the game and the story is somewhat developping but godamn this game is fun and so far atb kicks ass!
the voice acting isnt great until you get balthier, his voice actor is awesome/perfect for his character!
man im going to lose all my friends this month....


I played tactics like 3 times thru forever ago and i dont think i ever fully understood it, but damn if that game wasnt totally amazing!
As for the name i didnt know if ff12 actually took place in the same ivalice or if it was another recycling of names as the ff series does a lot...

No its definitely the same Ivalice. If you have the strategy guide just look at your espers. Addramelch, Queklain, Zodiac. These were the "bad guys" in FF Tactics. Because Tactics takes place 2000 years later these espers are brought back to do evil but in FFXII theyre good guys for you. I find that particularly rewarding just on a nerdy "hey i noticed something" level.

So far the game is amazing. I dont mind the voice acting so much, maybe thats because I normally dont put that much emphasis on it in the first place.

Question about the license board though. How do you go back? Like, I activated the level three accessories and Libra licenses after some level building. Then I read in the strategy guide that I was supposed to buy the Cure license while I was still near the white magic stuff. So basically i fucked up. But I dont see any way to get back there without going way out of my way to loop all the way back around buying licenses as i go.

And they say that Vaan should do the bottom first then the top. But once you activate all the bottom licenses how would you go back up? Thats really the only thing Im hung up on right now.

[NegaTiveXero]

It's not like the sphere grid. You can just go and purchase them in any order.

At any rate, this game kicks so much ass. I didn't get the strategy guide, because I don't want to be tempted to use it, I'll get it after I beat the game.

Also, I was disappointed by one thing. The espers. They're all cool and shit, but once I saw the airships named after some of my favorite GFs/summons/aeons/espers I knew I wouldn't be able to summon them. I mean, it's been a while since a FF game hasn't had Bahamut/Ifrit/Shiva as summons. I guess it's time for some other ones to get the spotlight.

[This Dying Soul]

Well theyre zodiacs not traditional elemental gods. Which is weird because in that sense Ifrit and Shiva and the like are all in FFTactics. Hmm. I still find it cool that you get to summon the bosses from FFTactics in this game.

Originally Posted by NegaTiveXero

It's not like the sphere grid. You can just go and purchase them in any order.

How? 90% of the board is blacked out. So you literally have to travel the entire board. And theres no way to move without making purchases.

[bulb]

yeah but you dont have to purchase the ones next to the one that you just bought, you can get ANY of them, whereas in the sphere grid you would have to backtrack to get back to where you were. If the cure is available and you have enough lp just go and buy it!

Question for the lot of you who DID buy the guide, is it worth it? Or do you think my gamefaqs print out will do the trick?

[NegaTiveXero]

^Thanks Bulb.

That's about the gist. If you've noticed, everyone has two grids, one for magic, technicks, accessories and augments. And one For Weapons and armor. You can move freely throughout each board. It's true, you can't get anything new until you've unlocked something around it. BUT, you don't have to back track to get a new tile.

EX: Say you were at the bottom right of the top grid, trying to work on Technick liscenses. If you for some reason needed some Weapon or magic liscense, you're free to move away and get them, provided you've got the tile visible.

[MetalMike]

Originally Posted by bulb

yeah but you dont have to purchase the ones next to the one that you just bought, you can get ANY of them, whereas in the sphere grid you would have to backtrack to get back to where you were. If the cure is available and you have enough lp just go and buy it!

Question for the lot of you who DID buy the guide, is it worth it? Or do you think my gamefaqs print out will do the trick?

I think your better off with the strategy guide so you can basically get everything in the game. (ultimate weapons, secret summons, etc.)

Even with the strategy guide, I already fucked up getting the best weapon in the game because I opened up a specific treasure chest.

[bulb]

oh shi! which one was that i dont want to start again!

[Naren]

Originally Posted by bulb

oh shi! which one was that i dont want to start again!

Don't worry about it. I'm very very much against strategy guides. You are supposed to find these items yourself and if you can't find them yourself, then you shouldn't have them. I feel that going through a game the very first time you've played it, using a strategy guide, is basically cheating. I'm sure I beat FF12 with like the #10th strongest weapon in the game or something like that (#15 strongest in the game or whatever). The last boss was pretty easy. The only strategy guide I ever bought was for Chrono Trigger and that was after I had beat the game 2-3 times. The only reason I bought it is because I was a huge Chrono Trigger fan (still love that game. I've beat it like 6 times in English and 2 times in Japanese).

[NegaTiveXero]

^Chrono Trigger fucking rules.

[Naren]

Originally Posted by NegaTiveXero

^Chrono Trigger fucking rules.

I put the Chrono Trigger posters on my wall in 1996 when I first bought the game and didn't take them down until 2005. I still have them in my apartment though, just not on the walls (I don't have any posters hung up anymore). Awesome game. Good graphics, good music, good storyline, cool characters, tons of replayability (I've gotten all the possible endings), and just damn fun.

[bulb]

Originally Posted by Naren

Don't worry about it. I'm very very much against strategy guides. You are supposed to find these items yourself and if you can't find them yourself, then you shouldn't have them. I feel that going through a game the very first time you've played it, using a strategy guide, is basically cheating. I'm sure I beat FF12 with like the #10th strongest weapon in the game or something like that (#15 strongest in the game or whatever). The last boss was pretty easy. The only strategy guide I ever bought was for Chrono Trigger and that was after I had beat the game 2-3 times. The only reason I bought it is because I was a huge Chrono Trigger fan (still love that game. I've beat it like 6 times in English and 2 times in Japanese).

Well i dont do it so i can get thru the game, i am pretty sure i can beat the game on my own, i get the guides so i can get the full experience and not miss out on anything i might have missed out on!
But thats just me, i totally understand if people like playing without the guide, i just hate finding out things like i totally ruined my chance to get the best weapon...

[NegaTiveXero]

That's what replay is for. I find that if I get everything on the first time through, it kind of kills the replay value.

Originally Posted by Naren

I put the Chrono Trigger posters on my wall in 1996 when I first bought the game and didn't take them down until 2005. I still have them in my apartment though, just not on the walls (I don't have any posters hung up anymore). Awesome game. Good graphics, good music, good storyline, cool characters, tons of replayability (I've gotten all the possible endings), and just damn fun.

Oh yeah, that game is fucking great. I've gotten all of the endings too. Magus and Crono ftw!

[bulb]

meh i dont really buy ff style games for their replay value, at least not immediate value, i think of it like a good book, worth a good read thru every now and then and it would suck if pages were missing

ok thats like the worst analogy ever but its late so i get a pass this time

[Naren]

Originally Posted by bulb

meh i dont really buy ff style games for their replay value, at least not immediate value, i think of it like a good book, worth a good read thru every now and then and it would suck if pages were missing

ok thats like the worst analogy ever but its late so i get a pass this time

Well, I'm not gonna tell you what to do. But I completely disagree. I've played every single Final Fantasy and I think the storyline is the most important aspect of a Final Fantasy, but that the gameplay is also a huge aspect (it's not like you're going to miss any of the story in a final fantasy if you don't have the strategy guide). I seriously view strategy guides as cheating (that is, if you use them the first time you go through a game. I think strategy guides are only good for replay value and nothing else). I also think strategy guides ruin the story for you, spoil secrets in the game that I feel you should have found yourself, and also reveal how much further until the end of the game. Without a strategy guide, you generally have no idea how much further until the end. With a strategy guide, it's like, "Well, I'm 75% through the game now. I better level up here and get this secret weapon since there will be a level 70 necromancer in the Krankor ruins that I haven't gotten to yet." For me, that would take out all the fun in the game.

Yeah, I've played literally, without exaggeration over 1000 games by now, but I have only bought 1 strategy guide... I really don't like the things. They could ruin the good experience of playing through a game for the first time.

NegaTiveXero said some pretty good stuff.

[Metal Ken]

There's only one kind of game a strategy guide is good for: Fightining games. So you can learn commands and combos and shit. Other than that,i hate strategy guides too... as it was once said: Friends dont let friends use guides.

[Naren]

Originally Posted by Metal Ken

There's only one kind of game a strategy guide is good for: Fightining games. So you can learn commands and combos and shit. Other than that,i hate strategy guides too... as it was once said: Friends dont let friends use guides.

+1000 (but you probably knew that from my past few posts).

For fighting games, I have looked up commands and combos on the internet before. I really do think fightning games is the one major exception.

[This Dying Soul]

Im using the guide but im not the type to flip to the end or anything. I just dont want to miss key items. In fact i make a habit out of skipping the boss strategies and going it alone. Then if i die repeatedly i go back and figure it out with the guide. But typically I only use the guide for area maps, item locations and side quests. IMO scouring the countryside for a treasure pot for hours on end is NOT fun. Especially when you can just look at a map and get it done quicker.

By the way Im level 10 now, just unlocked my first quickenings for Vaan and Balthier. And im customizing gambits like a mother fucker.

Only negative thing ive noticed so far is its a bit too easy to get gil in the game so far. Im a level building whore so Im spending an hour or two in the giza plains and the west and estersands just going around getting license points. And something ive noticed is that if I steal from every foe, get my chains up and just pick up dropped items, by the time im ready to head back to town for a save crystal i look at my loot and ive got 99 wind crystals, 99 wolf pelts and everything else. I go sell it all, and next thing i know ive got 30 grand in gil. And plus, i just purchased the tecknick "poach" and I attached it to a gambit that looks like this:

Foe: HP Critical / Action: Poach

So now ive got Vaan stealing from everything getting items and Balthier automatically poaching critical enemies getting money for that too.

So needless to say when I headed back to Rabanastre and all the shops had new shit, I was able to buy all the new spells and tecknicks and gambits, and Ive got like 5 of each weapon and armor and about 10 grand of gil to spare. Its ridiculous, all from just putting on some music and level building for just an hour or so.