72 out of 87(83%)reviewers recommend this product.
Product Reviews
Overall rating
4/ 5
Gameplay
5/ 5
Graphics
4/ 5
Sound
5/ 5
Lasting Appeal
5/ 5
ILikeIt
This game is perfect for:casual gamers
If they would only make more FF like this
PostedNovember 6, 2012
I was giving up on the FF series - while the game play mechanics of many of the earlier games in the series aren't too bad, the stories continued to remain corny and weak. Super drippy love stories or angsty thin politcal situations that seem to have been written by a third grader with an emo haircut, plastic cardboard characters that are cookie cut from a coloring book and plots that could be rehashed from any bad TV drama. FF VII a good story? Maybe if I'm seven years old...
Then FF XII was released and the story pulled me in. Not a great story, but interesting, and it kept me watching and playing.
I won't list spoilers, but the events and motivations in this story are believable - what might happen if an outside invader rules over your kingdom? how might the subjugated feel? Might this be a strong motivation for a protagonist to act? There is good story telling here, interesting characters, lots of side quests that add more play value and a battle system that is pretty good once you get used to it.
Because of this game, I continue to play FF, including the new releases. Sadly, the new releases' stories are dissapointing but the game mechanics are pretty good. Just hope the FF series eventually produces another game like FF XII.
Overall rating
5/ 5
Gameplay
5/ 5
Graphics
4/ 5
Sound
4/ 5
Lasting Appeal
5/ 5
HollowSunsets
fromSeattle, WA
This game is perfect for:casual gamers
When you compare it to FFXIII....
PostedOctober 29, 2012
It's much better than its successor, Playing FF13 really made me appreciate its better parts. The dialogue, for one thing, isn't quite as cringe worthy. So much that I've actually played it 3 or 4 times. It gets a little bland at the end, but I do enjoy re-playing the game.
Overall rating
4/ 5
Gameplay
3/ 5
Graphics
5/ 5
Sound
4/ 5
Lasting Appeal
5/ 5
Anonymous
fromGeorgia
This game is perfect for:hardcore gamers
Good game for diehard Final Fantasy fans
PostedAugust 15, 2012
Me i buy every FF game i can find on all platforms up til PS2 so i consider myself somewhat a ff expert., an as an expert i highly recommend you buy FF12 if you're a fan of the series. The storyline is pretty weak but the free gameplay , battle system, awesome graphics and extras more than make up for it . You'll probably enjoy the extras and battles more than the story of the game, but this game is definitely a good buy.
I'm a fan of old-school RPGs..... I like big World Maps where I can pick where I want to go.... I like having the option to wander off to places where I'm drastically under-leveled and try to snag a treasure chest with some weapon or armor that I'm not supposed to really have for 20 more hours. I like having options and character customization and open-endlessness. There are lots of good, modern RPGs that have all of these traits but there are also quite a few that don't... and that is where I fear the trend may be heading.... FFX was pretty much walking in a straight line and FFXIII WAS walking in a straight line.... FFXII is more of a throwback and has more in common with FF7, 8, and 9 than linear, hand-holding experiences that were FFX and XIII. FFXII is a VERY long game with lots of optional sidequests and customization. Each character has their own identical giant grid and you earn points (separate from experience and money) to unlock spots of the grid in any fashion you see fit. Thus you can decide to make a character a high-HP White Mage who uses firearms and maces..... or a quick, agile ninja skilled with small blades and support/buffing magic. There are many, many combinations and with the decent number of party members you acquire you can mix and match your customized characters to your hearts desire. The story is pretty good and remains interesting throughout. You don't really have to grind too much (wandering around fighting monsters for the sole purpose of making yourself stronger) if you so choose..... but there are many neat skills, spells, and items that you'd need to fight a few extra monsters to earn money for.... you don't earn money from fighting per se, but rather they drop items that only exist to be sold. The game world isn't the most massive in the RPG realm but there is a lot of depth in most locations and reasons to revisit towns you've already been to...... store inventories update to carry weapons that are actually useful and new quests open up. The big side-quest in the game is bounty hunting certain monsters..... you earn some amazing rewards for beating these sometimes impossibly (almost) enemies and at certain milestones you get additional neat and rare items. The graphics are AMAZING considering this is on the PS2... the sound is up to the typical Square-Enix standard. The gameplay itself is a bit different but very cool when you get used to it. Battles happen in real-time (but you CAN pause to set up commands) but you still have your "Fight - Magic - Item" menu and it essentially works the same. You can set up "gambits" that are kind of a programming "If-Then" for a given situation..... example: Your main fighter would attack by default, but you can set it up to where if he gets under 50% HP he'll stop attacking and heal himself, or if a teammate goes under 30% MP he'll give them an ether potion. It sounds confusing but works wonderfully and still has the classic old-school RPG feel once you have the hang of it. FFXII was a game I didn't pick up for a LONG time after it came out..... I was disenchanted with FFX (a decent stand-alone game but NOT what I expected from a Final Fantasy title) and feared they were dumbing down the series to "appeal to the idiot masses." FFXII surprised me with it's depth and freedom..... I wasn't limited to being forced from one place to another with no time for side-trips and back-tracking. For old-school RPG fans this will most likely satisfy and for all RPG fans i'd say to at least give it a try..... it's certainly come down in price enough to where it wouldn't be an enormous risk. ****For the record I'd probably give this game closer to a 9.5-9.7 but they still don't let me put fractional scores.****
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