# Final Fantasy XII



## MetalMike (Oct 31, 2006)

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...


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## Pauly (Oct 31, 2006)

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


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## This Dying Soul (Oct 31, 2006)

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.


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## MetalMike (Oct 31, 2006)

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.


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## This Dying Soul (Oct 31, 2006)

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.


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## Naren (Oct 31, 2006)

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.


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## bulb (Nov 1, 2006)

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....



This Dying Soul said:


> 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...


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## Naren (Nov 1, 2006)

bulb said:


> 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.


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## This Dying Soul (Nov 1, 2006)

bulb said:


> 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....
> 
> ...



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.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 1, 2006)

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.


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## This Dying Soul (Nov 1, 2006)

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.



NegaTiveXero said:


> 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.


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## bulb (Nov 1, 2006)

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?


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 1, 2006)

^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.


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## MetalMike (Nov 1, 2006)

bulb said:


> 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.


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## bulb (Nov 1, 2006)

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


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## Naren (Nov 2, 2006)

bulb said:


> 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).


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 2, 2006)

^Chrono Trigger fucking rules.


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## Naren (Nov 2, 2006)

NegaTiveXero said:


> ^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.


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## bulb (Nov 2, 2006)

Naren said:


> 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...


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 2, 2006)

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.



Naren said:


> 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!


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## bulb (Nov 2, 2006)

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


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## Naren (Nov 2, 2006)

bulb said:


> 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.


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## Metal Ken (Nov 2, 2006)

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.


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## Naren (Nov 2, 2006)

Metal Ken said:


> 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.


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## This Dying Soul (Nov 2, 2006)

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.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 2, 2006)

Yeah, I do that a lot in all FF games. I find a place and run around until I have battles. It's even better in XII because you can SEE the fricking enemies. I'm about 13 hours into the game, btw.


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## This Dying Soul (Nov 2, 2006)

Ive got Friday Saturday and Sunday off from work. Thats dangerous. I feel myself getting to level 12 at least, a shitload more licenses and more gil and not even one step closer in the storyline.

Just an addendum. If youre level building like me and going around the license board using up your points. Ive noticed that the only licenses worth getting early in the game are the augments. Once youve purchased your weapon, armor, magick, and tecknick licenses you then need to be able to buy them in shops. Well, seeing as how no shop is going to sell Flare or Ultima Weapon, theres no need in buying those licenses yet. Instead, get all the green ones done because those take effect immediately. And dont forget your quickenings. Remember that Quickenings also double and then triple your mp when you get those as well. So getting those early in the game is crucial too.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 2, 2006)

No need to tell me. I've got all three quickenings for all my main characters. I've got all of Vaan's augments and Magicks. I'm doing quite well.


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## This Dying Soul (Nov 5, 2006)

You sound like me. I have all three quickenings for all 4 characters right now. Im at Bhujerba and I just saw the scene where Penelo talks to the kid whos Vayne's brother (cant remember his name). So you know Im still early in the game. My clock says 23 hours and my highest level is Vaan right now at level 20. And Ive got 36 grand in gil. I think thats all i got to boast about. 

What Im REALLY worried about though, is that when Penelo is freed and I get her back, im wondering where her level is gonna be. Like will they automatically adjust it to mine or will she be down at level 10 somehere? Thats gonna suck if she is. 

And a trick I noticed, if you want to level up lower level people, only use your lowest level people. When I got Fran and Balthier back in the party back in Rabanastre they were level 10 while Vaan was level 19. So going around with him in the active party killing monsters was netting me only like 5 exp per wolf or cockatrice. But when i removed Vaan from the active party all the exp went up. So they calculate the exp you get from creatures based on who the highest level person in your active party is. IE, if you want to level up lower level characters ONLY use the lower level characters.

And a good way to get those levels up early in the game. (heres a good trick if you have at least one quickening purchased and are early in the game) Go to the giza plans where the two level 32 werewolves are. Right next to that section of the map is a little section where a save crystal is. (where you found that kid during the suncrest quest). Follow this process. If youre early in the game, just use everyone, if youre late in the game and just want to level up say Balthier and Fran, just use them. Now. Save at the save crystal. This gives you full MP and thusly a full mist charge for a quickening. Go to the western map and find the werewolves (theyre close to where you enter from). Get as close as you dare (depending on your level they can kill you in one hit, fair warning) and use your quickening. Now if youre good at getting new mist charges and chaining your quickenings together, you can kill one in one hit. If not, after youre done, just hold R2 and book ass back to the save sphere. If you didnt kill him he'll be pissed and chase you but if you make it to the save sphere on the next screen he wont follow. Hit the sphere, replenish your mp, and lather rinse repeat. If youre anything below level 13 they net 1200 exp. Level 13 and up it goes to 600 and then 400, but no matter what theyre AMAZING sources of EXP early in the game if you follow that simple technique of hit and run. Just use your quickenings, save, come back do it all over. And when you kill both of them you can either run around and get license points by killing the rest of the creatures in the vicinity and then hopefully by the time you come back they respawned OR go to where the save is again, but this time go one more screen away. Come right back, save and enter the area with the werewolves again and theyll be back. The general rule of thumb in FFXII is if you go two screens away all creatures will respawn. So just keep following this process til you get the exp you want. They really dont give you much in the way of LP for all the work youre doing (only 2 lp each) but when I followed this little strategy I made up in about an hour I gained 5 levels with Vaan and Basche. 

Hope that all made sense.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Nov 5, 2006)

I only have like 20-30 mins of game play into the game right now, but I will say this: I ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY hate the new combat system. It just does not seem like an FF game to me. Maybe it will grow on me, but I feel more like I'm playing Phantasy Star online.


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## This Dying Soul (Nov 5, 2006)

....

Lets see, theres an active time battle system. Youre casting all the same magic and shit you always have. Three member party system. Summons, limit breaks. 

PSO? Surely you jest.

If what youre not used to to is the lack of random battles then that should be a good thing. Random battles were always the worst part of FF games. Its basically the EXACT SAME THING but now you get to choose whether you fight or not .... thats it. Once you get past that and realize that the battle system is pretty much identical to any other FF youll enjoy it more.

How dare you compare FF to the likes of PSO. FFXII at least contains a shitload of strategy. PSO was a glorified button masher.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 5, 2006)

Really, you're at level 20 at 23 hours?

I have Vaan, Ashe, and Basch all over 60 and my clock says 27 hours. I've been playing a lot for the last few says. Anyone else go after any espers yet? I have 3, Belias, Adrammelech (or wtf ever his name is, he was annoying as fuck to beat), and Chuhcuhcaspnfa;kjdnbfa(seriously, their names are fucking annoying and I'm proud to say I killed this fucker, I tried a thousand times to kill him).


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## Naren (Nov 5, 2006)

This Dying Soul said:


> ....
> 
> Lets see, theres an active time battle system. Youre casting all the same magic and shit you always have. Three member party system. Summons, limit breaks.
> 
> ...



I completely agree. I don't know how someone could say the new system is "not Final Fantasy." Obviously someone who would say that has never heard of Final Fantasy XI, which also uses an active battle system. I mean, we have everything we have in all the early final fantasies, but more. The only difference is that we don't get sucked into a random battle every second. I've been playing Final Fantasy VI over again for the last week or two and, while it is like my third or fourth favorite Final Fantasy in the series, the fighting annoys the fuck out of me. I'll do a long battle, get out, walk 1-2 steps, get sucked into another big battle, win, walk 2 steps, get sucked back in, etc. etc. etc. It was driving me crazy. The traditional Final Fantasy system has gotten old. They've changed it every single game since one. Then, when they went to FF11, they knew they couldn't have the traditional "get-sucked-into-a-random-battle" style since it was an online game, so they created a new souped-up version of the system that had a great following.

Here in Japan, pretty much no one complained about the FF12 new system (to the contrary, people heralded it as an amazing combination of the old system and the FF11 system). But, back in March when I first played FF12, when a colleague asked me how it was, I told him, "Awesome game. But I'm sure when it gets released in North America, there will be a bunch of annoying fanboys complaining about the new system, wanting another Final Fantasy IV." Things change. If they don't, it's boring. Even though FF7 is my favorite Final Fantasy in the series, I would not want a new game using that system.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Nov 5, 2006)

Maybe I just havn't gotten far enough into the game yet to see the similarities, but I don't see any with the old system. The very little time I put into this game hasn't grabbed my attention like any other FF game has.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 5, 2006)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> Maybe I just havn't gotten far enough into the game yet to see the similarities, but I don't see any with the old system. The very little time I put into this game hasn't grabbed my attention like any other FF game has.



You know, I felt that way in the first few events and such, but then the actual story kicked in and I was just sucked in.


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## Naren (Nov 5, 2006)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> Maybe I just havn't gotten far enough into the game yet to see the similarities, but I don't see any with the old system. The very little time I put into this game hasn't grabbed my attention like any other FF game has.



Besides being able to see enemies and moving in real time, name one thing that is different from the old system. You got "attack", "magic" (all the same old spells, plus some new ones), creatures you can summon, "item"... I personally don't see any major difference.

As for not getting grabbed by the story, I didn't get grabbed by the story until I got out of Rabonasta (just guessing at how the city's spelled in English). Once I did, I was very much into the story. From the beginning of the game, I loved the fighting system. It was the same old system, but with all the things I hated taken out or changed (random fights, etc.)

I haven't played FF12 in about 6 months, but all the talk in this thread has made me want to start playing again. Great game.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 5, 2006)

Naren said:


> Besides being able to see enemies and moving in real time, name one thing that is different from the old system. You got "attack", "magic" (all the same old spells, plus some new ones), creatures you can summon, "item"... I personally don't see any major difference.



Pretty much. What'd you think of the summons?



> As for not getting grabbed by the story, I didn't get grabbed by the story until I got out of Rabonasta (just guessing at how the city's spelled in English).



Rabanstre, you were close I guess.


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## Naren (Nov 6, 2006)

NegaTiveXero said:


> Pretty much. What'd you think of the summons?



I thought they rocked old-school hardcore ghetto-style. I remember levelling up like crazy near the end of the game in that one field with the ruined castles outside that coastal city. I'd just summon my strongest "monster" (whatever you'd call the "shoukanjuu" in English. The term has been translated differently in almost every FF game.) and go around, getting mega-experience. Since, when you've got only one character in your party, you get like 3x the experience.



NegaTiveXero said:


> Rabanstre, you were close I guess.



Sometimes it's interesting to see how they romanize the names. I mean, I do the same thing myself, but someone who isn't me who knows the Japanese version could never guess how I'd romanize something - or translate certain expressions.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 6, 2006)

Naren said:


> I thought they rocked old-school hardcore ghetto-style. I remember levelling up like crazy near the end of the game in that one field with the ruined castles outside that coastal city. I'd just summon my strongest "monster" (whatever you'd call the "shoukanjuu" in English. The term has been translated differently in almost every FF game.) and go around, getting mega-experience. Since, when you've got only one character in your party, you get like 3x the experience.



They're espers in this game. Yeah, the leveling trick rocks.



> Sometimes it's interesting to see how they romanize the names. I mean, I do the same thing myself, but someone who isn't me who knows the Japanese version could never guess how I'd romanize something - or translate certain expressions.



You know I've just started taking Japanese classes in college, hopefully I'll be able to get to Japan when I'm done and know what the fuck I'm doing.


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## Naren (Nov 6, 2006)

NegaTiveXero said:


> They're espers in this game. Yeah, the leveling trick rocks.



Yeah, they were "espers" in Final Fantasy VI as well. But, in that game, they actually weren't called "shoukanjuu" but were called "genjuu." 

In FF games, I've always had the habit of levelling 3 people like crazy (specifically one of those). So that, near the end of the game my main characters are around level 60 and the characters I don't use are around level 20. 



NegaTiveXero said:


> You know I've just started taking Japanese classes in college, hopefully I'll be able to get to Japan when I'm done and know what the fuck I'm doing.



What would you want to do in Japan? Most things you can do in Japan, you can do in the US anyway. Besides, I knew people who took 4 years of Japanese in college and still couldn't speak or read Japanese worth shit. In fact, over 80% of the Japanese I knew when I graduated from college with a "Japanese" major is stuff I didn't even learn at school (mainly learned for my personal studying).

If you want Japanese to the level where you can play video games in Japanese (with understanding, I mean), you'll have to study Japanese as hard as you can for at least 5 years or so (memorizing over 2500 kanji, over 80,000 vocab words, etc.). Starting it just out of a small interest just gets you some credits in school, but doesn't do anything useful for you.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 6, 2006)

Naren said:


> Yeah, they were "espers" in Final Fantasy VI as well. But, in that game, they actually weren't called "shoukanjuu" but were called "genjuu."
> 
> In FF games, I've always had the habit of levelling 3 people like crazy (specifically one of those). So that, near the end of the game my main characters are around level 60 and the characters I don't use are around level 20.
> 
> ...



Duh. I'm studying in school to have that extra help at first. I'm studying on my own time and I can say a a lot of word and write in hiragana and some katakana, I've been working on Kanji little by little, but I know to be literate in Japanese you need to know over 2,000 kanji. It's actually coming quite easy for me.

Anyway, I just want to go to Japan, not live there or anything.Trust me, anything is better than living where I live. Kentucky sucks balls, especially since I'm from New York, living in a small town with no people drives you fucking crazy.


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## Naren (Nov 6, 2006)

NegaTiveXero said:


> Duh. I'm studying in school to have that extra help at first. I'm studying on my own time and I can say a a lot of word and write in hiragana and some katakana, I've been working on Kanji little by little, but I know to be literate in Japanese you need to know over 2,000 kanji. It's actually coming quite easy for me.
> 
> Anyway, I just want to go to Japan, not live there or anything.Trust me, anything is better than living where I live. Kentucky sucks balls, especially since I'm from New York, living in a small town with no people drives you fucking crazy.



Never been to Kentucky before, but I've heard some nasty stuff about there.

The one thing I don't like about living in Japan is the band situation. In the US, even though I lived in an area of about 300,000 people, it was really easy to find skilled musicians who were making the same type of music I wanted to make. Now I live in Tokyo, a city of over 10 million and I CAN find skilled musicians who want to make similar kind of music to what I want to make, but it's a lot lot harder to find them and, even if I like what they're making, they might not want me to join their band because I'm a foreigner. So far, I've been in 3 bands here and played/met with another 6 or so bands other than that. Right now I'm trying to start/join a new band, but it's very annoying. There is one band that I might join just as a vocalist, but don't know about that yet. Guess we'll see.

If you just want to vacation in Japan, you don't really need any Japanese language abilities, though. How many years does your college require you to take in a foreign language, by the way?


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 6, 2006)

Naren said:


> How many years does your college require you to take in a foreign language, by the way?



None, I just want to take them to augment teaching myself.


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## Naren (Nov 6, 2006)

NegaTiveXero said:


> None, I just want to take them to augment teaching myself.



Nifty.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 6, 2006)

So, anyway, back on-topic.

FFXII fucking rules. I'd go as far as to say it quite possibly owns X, it definitely owns XI. I know I'll probably go play X and change my mind, but the story in XII kicks soooo much ass.


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## Naren (Nov 6, 2006)

Actually about an hour ago, I popped in my Final Fantasy XII disc and took a look at my last save game before beating the game. 60 hours of gameplay, around level 58 for my 3 main characters, level 20-22 for all the other characters. Ha ha ha. I started playing through and looked at all the magic and "summons" that I had for each character. I love the music for this game. When I was first playing the game, I didn't think much about the music, but playing just a little bit ago, I was thinking about how awesome the music is.

I think after I finish the other game I'm working on now, I'll go through and play through FF12 from beginning to end.

That reminds me, in front of the Yodobashi Camera store in Shinjuku, they have this PS3 display where it shows tons of PS3 game commercials all day long and the one for Final Fantasy XIII looks amazing. It has the best graphics out of any of the games on there, although "Sonic The Hedgehog" and "Enchant Arms" come close.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 6, 2006)

Naren said:


> That reminds me, in front of the Yodobashi Camera store in Shinjuku, they have this PS3 display where it shows tons of PS3 game commercials all day long and the one for Final Fantasy XIII looks amazing. It has the best graphics out of any of the games on there, although "Sonic The Hedgehog" and "Enchant Arms" come close.



Oh god, I cannot wait for FFXIII and Sonic, I'm going to die waiting. they look so awesome. i even played a demo on XBOX live of Sonic, it ruled.


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## Seedawakener (Nov 6, 2006)

how could I have missed this thread? FFXII is the biggest event of this year. I cant wait til its released here in sweden... probably january...

I forgot to say something I want to get out...
I hate that we have to fucking translate the games to french, spanish, German and portugues just because they cant understand english. I mean we have to wait half a year extra just because these countries believe they dont need to comunicate in english with world... It makes me SO mad. i could have beaten the game by now, in japan it was released like what, a year ago? AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH


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## JJ Rodriguez (Nov 6, 2006)

Seedawakener said:


> how could I have missed this thread? FFXII is the biggest event of this year. I cant wait til its released here in sweden... probably january...
> 
> I forgot to say something I want to get out...
> I hate that we have to fucking translate the games to french, spanish, German and portugues just because they cant understand english. I mean we have to wait half a year extra just because these countries believe they dont need to comunicate in english with world... It makes me SO mad. i could have beaten the game by now, in japan it was released like what, a year ago? AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH




Get a mod chip and download it.


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## This Dying Soul (Nov 6, 2006)

On the subject of the music. I absolutely LOVE the fact that the music has a FF Tactics flair to it. I was giggling like a nerdy schoolgirl when i heard tactics influences in the music. Just another one of those nerdy things I can notice and sit back in my chair and be like "yeeeeeah, thats hot".


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## Naren (Nov 6, 2006)

Seedawakener said:


> It makes me SO mad. i could have beaten the game by now, in japan it was released like what, a year ago? AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH



'Bout 8 months ago.


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## This Dying Soul (Nov 8, 2006)

I have a question. In the quest to get back into Barheim with the Barheim key (easily half of the good sidequests require this key) do you NEED the great serpentskin to give to Dantros wife? Or does that just give you a better reward in the end? Cuz if so im fucked cuz i just realized i sold it as loot like 12 saves ago.


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## Seedawakener (Nov 15, 2006)

Naren said:


> 'Bout 8 months ago.



Yes, and I wont be able to buy it until January... yippiiii... its been delayed so long also, I remember that I though it would come out before the summer and I had the money for it and everything.... Ill have to wait I guess.


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## Naren (Nov 15, 2006)

This Dying Soul said:


> I have a question. In the quest to get back into Barheim with the Barheim key (easily half of the good sidequests require this key) do you NEED the great serpentskin to give to Dantros wife? Or does that just give you a better reward in the end? Cuz if so im fucked cuz i just realized i sold it as loot like 12 saves ago.



I have no idea what the names are in English. Barheim, Dantros? What's that? 

I also don't remember the part in the story about the key or a serpentskin... mm... maybe if you were a little more detailed, I could help out. I'd probably remember.


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 15, 2006)

No, you don't need it, it just gets you a better reward in the end of it all.

Let's see, Barheim is the place you go through early in the game after escaping the prison and then it gets collapsed in. There is another entrance, but you have to do a side quest to get the key. You need to do this to get an esper and to complete some hunts.


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## Naren (Nov 16, 2006)

Ah, I remember that part now. I thought he was further into the game than there. So, that's called Barheim in the English one? Interestin'... I don't remember any side quests there...


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## NegaTiveXero (Nov 16, 2006)

Naren said:


> Ah, I remember that part now. I thought he was further into the game than there. So, that's called Barheim in the English one? Interestin'... I don't remember any side quests there...



Yeah, there's a few, if you count the side quest to get into Barheim again.


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## goth_fiend (Nov 16, 2006)

Im heading towards king raithwall's tomb right now, level 26 and about 27 hours in


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