FFXII too short/limited replay?

[Mysterio]

This is not an anti-FF emo thread or anything, just looking for input.

I found this game to be quit short, and excessively easy. To the point of ridiculous.

I think this is all in part to previously playing FF11.

The fact my characters being almost constantly DOUBLE the level of all enemies and bosses I encountered throughout the game would be due to the FF11 background.

I don't remember any real "grinding" sessions, basically farming enough gil to outfit everyone with the best gear, and bingo all of my guys are way overlevelled.

Think the real-time combat sped the fighting up too much in this regard?

I know dropping 200 hours on a gamefile only feels like level 1-50 tops in comparison to final fantasy 11, so I feel kind of incomplete..

don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game, but it feels short/incomplete lol

any similar cases?

[izembo]

nope. not at all.

[Quicklet]

Well, I actually felt it was pretty long for an FF game. I think one of the best parts of the game is how you can scale the difficulty based on what kind of a run you want to do. If you want the storyline to be more difficult you can pass on some of the optional gear / not farm for as much stuff. Obviously if you get Zodiac Spear / Masamune it's going to make the storyline content a lot easier. Also, not using Quickenings makes it a lot more fun too. Without having the crazy gear that you need for taking on the last optional content, the storyline bosses are at least somewhat challenging.

The storyline makes it feel short, but the optional content and amount of area you can explore really gives the game a lot of depth compared to previous FFs. Hell, the amount of areas you can explore in FF12 is probably more than what's in FF11 right now.

Basically, you can play the game however you like, because there are probably a dozen different ways you can play the game if you really want to go through it again. If you really dropped 200 hours onto your gamefile though, I think that's pretty complete for a console game these days.

[Jimmayus]

I have 140 logged hours and still haven't finished the fishing game. There is so much optional content its rediculous, especially if you try to finish the bestiary. Sure the story is easy but if you're challenged by story bosses I think you're an idiot

[gandorf]

You could prob go play another game for awhile then come back later after you miss the game an play again. I do that sometimes an sometimes when i play a game i set up a goal like not die on a lv or only use one kind of weapon.

You got 200hr on FF12? thats alot im on 27hr an close to end of story.

[½pint]

My fully complete save files are as follows:
FF8 - 79 hours (all characters lv. 100/99 whatever, and all GF's)
FF7 - 60 hours (level 80 ish)
FF9 - 40 hours (level 80 ish again)
FF10 - 90 hours (killed all dark aeons, completed sphere grids etc.)

So yeah, 200 hours of gameplay makes it really short compared to the other FF's!

[Kaylia]

Felt like the longest FF game, but at the same time, I think a lot of it was caused by mindless farming task. This game imo is missing 2 or 3 fun minigame to feel complete.


That said, it's probably my favorite FF up to date, evne if I liked all of them.

[Jacen]

I think playing FFXI for 3 years skewed my perspective a little bit, making XII seem short even if it wasn't.

What the OP said about combat speed is valid though - not having to input commands for every character, every round of combat with every enemy cuts a lot of time out of the game IMO. But I love the Gambit system and wouldn't take it out just for the sake of adding tedious hours to my gameplay.

[Sagacious Sundi]

I think it was just too easy. I only had 3-4 gambit slots for all of my characters (except for 1 character who is still level 20) and used mostly the default gambits up to the Sochen Cave Palace (where I finally took the time to make Cura and Curaga gambits). Also, I never took the time to buy new equipment or sell stuff until Archades. Also, the fact that the story never really builds up or has any major twists makes it seem short (however, I love the backstory stuff found in the bestiary). I'd also imagine that if you use mainly Mist combos the game feels easier/shorter (I remember using that against Judge Bergan...most anti-climatic battle ever).

That said, I love FFXII and it is up there with my favorite FFs.

[Siniroth]

well I hadn't played ffxi for a while before getting this game... but now that I think about it, yes, similar case here

[Lbelle]

I thought it was short, and that the main storyline could have been part of a much bigger picture.

I beat storyline and then did a lot of marks, but found that it was pointless to do them so I stopped, and getting the espers was also just not beneficial since they didnt seem to do very much damage like in other FFs. Also, the game was retardedly easy after a certain point, so I agree.

[Haiko]

that's the thing the main story was way too short and I can pretty much summarize the whole story in 1 paragraph but too lazy to do so

[Mysterio]

I think its just because I am so used to FF11

[StaplerGuy]

Yeah, if we weren't all used to FFXI 12 would seem a lot longer.

As is, 100 hours and I've done everything except complete bestiary, get all mist concurrences, and finish the plot. Yiazmat was nice, at least.

[Tilo]

I have like 52 hours in the game and I'm not even done yet (just beat Cid). Mainly stopping and farming for equipment, magicks, techiniks, etc and doing hunts. I can farm for 2 hrs and still not have enough money to get everything up to date. I have to be choosy.

[Exoduso]

If you want to do EVERYTHING... and that is absolutely everything the game has, you will probably clock at around 150+ hours... so it's by no meaning a "short" game... and probably the longest FF game at that.

If you're still on your first playthrough, I suggest going after the main story, and then for a 2nd run through the game you can kill all the hunts (and Yiazmat...), do all the sidequests, finish the rare game hunts.

You could easily have a nice replay value that will last a long time.

[Vinen]

Felt like the longest FF game, but at the same time, I think a lot of it was caused by mindless farming task. This game imo is missing 2 or 3 fun minigame to feel complete.


That said, it's probably my favorite FF up to date, evne if I liked all of them.

I beat this game again [Imported from Japan Orig]... and I have to say... zzz screw mindless farming tasks... ignoring all the extra useless content that doesn't advance the story..

The game was boring as shit and too easy. It ranks just above FF8 and below FF2 on my scale.

FF8 < FF12 < FF2 < FF7 < FF10 < FF10 < FF1 < FF9 < FF3 < FF6 < FF5 < FF4

Then again, I tend to play RPGs more like people read a story... if the plot is good and I have fun along the main storypath then its good. I often or not ignore any non-plot advancing content and tend to rush through games. My first completion of Final Fantasy 7 was in just over 28 hours.

[Exoduso]

Then again, I tend to play RPGs more like people read a story... if the plot is good and I have fun along the main storypath then its good.

And FF9 is so low on your list?

[Vinen]

Then again, I tend to play RPGs more like people read a story... if the plot is good and I have fun along the main storypath then its good.

And FF9 is so low on your list?

It's actually pretty high... your reading my List backwards most likely

Left to Right
Least Favorite to most Favorite

[Exoduso]

Then again, I tend to play RPGs more like people read a story... if the plot is good and I have fun along the main storypath then its good.

And FF9 is so low on your list?

It's actually pretty high... your reading my List backwards most likely

Left to Right
Least Favorite to most Favorite

Oh yeah, sorry... it's kind of late heh.

But wow, you didn't like FF8 then.