FFXII Ending

[Lbelle]

I loooooooooooooved CC. I thought Kidd was so great, and I really loved just everything about it until Serge and Lynx switched.

[Quicklet]

The part that I didn't like about CC was the whole "go fight 6 bosses with very small areas and no real story advancement" thing. I just felt like I was being shuffled from place to place for the last part of the game. Also, while the music for beating the last boss the "correct" way owns, the last boss itself is kind of boring. Not even any music...

[Lbelle]

Gosh I don't even remember most of CC since I played it such a long time ago. I just remember being disappointed after Serge/Lynx transformation hehe.

[layoneil]

and that there's some possibility of Ashe and Basch hooking up in some way (I think that's what was hinted at there?).

where?

[Lbelle]

and that there's some possibility of Ashe and Basch hooking up in some way (I think that's what was hinted at there?).

where?

maybe he thought that because Basch works in her palace as her bodyguard they're hooking up. I think it's a boss/employee relationship only though.

[miokomioko]

and that there's some possibility of Ashe and Basch hooking up in some way (I think that's what was hinted at there?).

where?

maybe he thought that because Basch works in her palace as her bodyguard they're hooking up. I think it's a boss/employee relationship only though.

Buuuut, didn't Basch take his brother's place as Judge Magister for Larsa in Archades..?

[gandorf]

Yea he does. At the end it says ashe still misses him could that be balthier or the prince ? If they make another sequel to FFX II not the ds one but for a platform i think they would do very well if it is just like this one. I think only reason ppl did not like this one was because there little minds could not get around what they were talking about.

[Stilgar]

and that there's some possibility of Ashe and Basch hooking up in some way (I think that's what was hinted at there?).

where?

Basch is working as a guard for Larsa in Archades, and a letter comes to Larsa. I thought it was from Ashe saying she missed Basch, or something. I only saw the ending once so far, so I could be misunderstanding things. I know there were a few letters, and I didn't think they were all from Balthier.

[layoneil]

Basch is working as a guard for Larsa in Archades, and a letter comes to Larsa. I thought it was from Ashe saying she missed Basch, or something. I only saw the ending once so far, so I could be misunderstanding things. I know there were a few letters, and I didn't think they were all from Balthier.

Basch isn't a guard, Basch is Judge Gabranth.

There's a note from Balthier, left in place of the Strahl, which was found by Vaan and Penelo. Inside was also one of two wedding rings (there are two, one Ashe gave to Rasler, one Rasler gave to Ashe). After Leviathan and before Jahara, Balthier took one as payment for his services and he's returning it. Before Vaan and Penelo leaves Rabanastre they give the ring and note to Ashe.

The entire second half of the ending is a narration by Penelo of a letter she wrote to Larsa, summarizing what is happening in Rabanastre, this summary includes Balthier's note and ring. and it does say that Ashe misses Basch but there's nothing that really shows romance.

I think only reason ppl did not like this one was because there little minds could not get around what they were talking about.

give that up, the story in this game isn't really anymore complicated than the whole Sin deal in FFX, the whole time travel bit in VIII or the Sephiroth/Jenova mess in VII.

it has nothing to do with little minds, it has to do with presentation and not giving enough screen time to a lot of people. as i've said before most of the judges were only shown in one or two scenes and that's not enough for most people to care about them. the same goes for the Senate and Larsa's father. while it would've done the game a lot of good for the players to care about those people before they died.

i think the complaints about character development on the 6 main characters are a bit exaggerated. there's very little game time dedicated to their backgrounds but mostly that has to do with those characters having relatively simple backgrounds.

it would've done the game well to have FMVs of Balthier and Reddas in their judge outfits. show Balthier in a flashback taking it off and casting it aside, stealing the Strahl and flying out of Archades. show Reddas in his judge outfit watching Nabudis get obliterated by the Midnight Shard. those scenes would've had huge impact, the way it's presented in the game now it gets lost as passing text.

Basch and Gabranth could've had some flashback scenes together in their home nation before while it was invaded.

Vaan, Penelo and Ashe though are all relatively simple, the intro of the game shows everything about their past that you really need to know or see besides that they were just kids. not everybody has to be messed up like Cloude, Squall and Tidus to be involved in something epic.

[Stilgar]

I agree, Sendoh, those would be awesome CS to have had in the game. One thing I never really got was the judge's job in times of peace. Are they judges in the court judicial sense, or do they have a larger hand in politics? There's some info in the bestiary, but it's not really that explicit as I recall.

That's one reason I stated Basch was guarding Larsa; that's the duty he took on when his brother died at Noal's request (I think it was Noal; Gabranth anyway). I'm not sure what a judge's role normally is anyway, even less so in an Archades at peace.

[Lbelle]

I thought a judge's job was like a police officer or a judicial higher-up in times of peace. They guard the streets of the city, guard the royalty and the wealthy, and when a trial comes up they're the ones that carry out the sentence, or even come up with it.

Law enforcement basically lol.

[Epical]

Damn Sendoh, you're hardcore into FFXII. =P

[Stilgar]

I thought a judge's job was like a police officer or a judicial higher-up in times of peace. They guard the streets of the city, guard the royalty and the wealthy, and when a trial comes up they're the ones that carry out the sentence, or even come up with it.

Law enforcement basically lol.

That's pretty much it.

I checked the bestiary tonight, it seems the judges were originally set up as a way to project Archadian rule of law to the frontiers of the empire, basically a one man judge, jury, and executioner.

[layoneil]

Damn Sendoh, you're hardcore into FFXII. =P

not really, i've only played it once and will only play it once, i don't have Danjuro, Yagyu Darkblade or Tournesoul, i don't have all the Espers, i haven't done any of the hunts that opened up after Pharos and i didn't do the Hunt Club or Fish at all.

FFXI doesn't give me enough time to be hardcore into XII. i'll probably go back to some of that extra stuff between Faf windows if i run out of anime to watch (unlikely).

[Stilgar]

Damn Sendoh, you're hardcore into FFXII. =P

not really, i've only played it once and will only play it once, i don't have Danjuro, Yagyu Darkblade or Tournesoul, i don't have all the Espers, i haven't done any of the hunts that opened up after Pharos and i didn't do the Hunt Club or Fish at all.

FFXI doesn't give me enough time to be hardcore into XII. i'll probably go back to some of that extra stuff between Faf windows if i run out of anime to watch (unlikely).

I had to quit FFXI in order to properly enjoy XII (and a lot of other things...).

[Aerin]

FFXII felt short to me, but i begin to wonder if that's only because I've played FFXI which as we know can take years upon years.

To me -

Good:
- Balthier was without a doubt awesome

- Graphics and cutscenes were amazing, a ton of detail

- Magic's were sweet, and Gambit system very well done

- Battle system was interesting, more fast paced compared to the old turn style.

Bad:
- I didn't like the "Main" character Vaan at all. The guy looked weird to me, almost like a pig face. Penelo was just annoying.

- I was dissapointed you never got to go over to the other nation too.

- I never felt the need for any of the techniques in the main storyline

- It would have been nice to learn more of the Espers and the other race, forget what they were called, the one that was with Cid. With the Espers it felt like "Oh shit there's another big thing i have to kill" which led to you getting to control it for some reason.

- I understand that summoning an Esper uses up MP, but 3 whole bars for Ultima and Zodiark suck ass, and you only get to control it and the character who summon'd it. I felt more limited with the Esper out.

[chesh]

- Battle system was interesting, more fast paced compared to the old turn style.

I've always found that interesting. There was a time when I just hung out with other FF dorks like myself, so we of course all liked the battle system. Then I met people who don't like FF games just on the basis of them being turn based. I never really understood why, having started with FF6 and always playing in active mode with the battle speed maxed - which is basically like FF12's system, except without the basic attacking automated and having to control all characters. Then I started playing the older games as they were released on GBA, and realized how drudgingly boring combat in a truly turn based FF can be.

- I didn't like the "Main" character Vaan at all. The guy looked weird to me, almost like a pig face. Penelo was just annoying.

I am of the opinion that the main character of FFXII is whoever you want it to be. Obviously, Ashe is central to the storyline, but I barely used her. My main character was Balthier, because he is awesome. Vaan, imo, simply exists to provide a point of view for the player - he's not particularly special, though he does have slightly more connection to the events in the war than the average Rabanastran, he just happened to be in the right place at the right time to get swept up in the events of the game. Penelo was an utterly forgettable character, but I kept her as my party lead most of the time because I like her character design and she has a great ass >.>

- I never felt the need for any of the techniques in the main storyline

Yeah, seriously, what was the point beyond Steal?

- It would have been nice to learn more of the Espers and the other race, forget what they were called, the one that was with Cid. With the Espers it felt like "Oh shit there's another big thing i have to kill" which led to you getting to control it for some reason.

The teasers in the Esper's bestiary entries really annoyed me. Clearly, at least the beginnings of a fairly rich and detailed mythology were invented; it would have been great to see more. And yeah, they were pretty much useless, though fun to play with occasionally for a change of pace and some neat music.

[Stilgar]

Most of the teks are worthless, but if you haven't been, try using Expose on bosses and marks. It lands on pretty much everything for a nice defense down effect.

I use Libra, Steal, Expose... and Telekinesis or just magic for flying stuff.

[Quicklet]

The teasers in the Esper's bestiary entries really annoyed me. Clearly, at least the beginnings of a fairly rich and detailed mythology were invented; it would have been great to see more. And yeah, they were pretty much useless, though fun to play with occasionally for a change of pace and some neat music.

$20 says one of their FF12 spinoffs is a "prequel" that involves the espers and Occurio as a larger part of the main storyline.

[chesh]

The teasers in the Esper's bestiary entries really annoyed me. Clearly, at least the beginnings of a fairly rich and detailed mythology were invented; it would have been great to see more. And yeah, they were pretty much useless, though fun to play with occasionally for a change of pace and some neat music.

$20 says one of their FF12 spinoffs is a "prequel" that involves the espers and Occurio as a larger part of the main storyline.

I certainly hope so.