Final Fantasy XIII Might be the last Final Fantasy?

[SephYuyX]

Clearly FF12 was his first game ever.

[Yuri-G]

FFXII's battle system was phenomenal, though it was a matter of preference. I myself liked having characters who were smart enough to attack without being told to every single time.

[Elcura]

LO is an amazing game, so it's worth playing. And the encounter rate generally is a LOT better than most random encounter based games, especially from the SNES/PS1 days. There's only 1 area where the fights got on my nerves, and it was a secret/optional dungeon type thing. Most of the time the rate was acceptable and I don't remember there being any 2-step bullshit going on. But if you didn't want to fight in an area, running away without abilities was a bitch.

Overall, I could do without random encounters just fine, but a lower rate is better than higher rate since those who want to grind for abilities (me) can do so. The battle system on the other hand, isn't great. The ring thing is nice and is the one part of combat that managed to keep me interested enough in the battle system to feel like something epic was going on. If it wasn't for that one piece of interactivity, I would hate LO's battle system completely. Otherwise, it's pretty average. Once you get a range of good abilities and enough slots to use them all, the game becomes super easy. 3 cut, speeda, powerus, dead. Your mage can then play with themselves while Kaim and Seth destroy everything.

[Atreides]

or spam 1mp divide/whatever with turncast and all the other broken endgame mage abilities (particularly from the DLC dungeon). I loved LO as well, although I think my biggest complaint was the relative lack of endgame/post-game content.

I thought the ring system did a good job of keeping turn-based combat interesting, while still allowing the game to remain very traditional. Pretty sure that idea came from the former Sacnoth employees (from shadow hearts) who went over to Mistwalker. Anyway, story is where LO really shines, even though it's got more than a few cliches.

[miokomioko]

Preference?! Wait, some people prefer things that others do not? This is fucking crazy talk.

[BRP]

FFXII's battle system was phenomenal

Perhaps when only comparing to the battle systems of other Final Fantasys and that whole JRPG kin.

[Despain]

Only the intro and parts of the middle were light-hearted and... well, retarded. The end-game parts were pretty serious and the whole thing got a lot better. Not enough to excuse the first half mind you.

Via Infinito is no fucking joke (if you've never played FFX-2, think Nyzul Isle taken to a very, VERY difficult level). Trema wasn't the hard part... the hard part was going from floor 80+ having to deal with monsters basically from FFX's monster arena fucking one-shotting all your characters at the start of a fight. Also, dying when you're ALMOST at Floor 100 sucked balls.

FFX-2 is a great game if you enjoyed FFX. If you're starting out on FFX-2 (don't see why you'd do that), then you won't enjoy it. Also you have to think, the people in the FFX realm are trying to enjoy themselves now that Sin was finally destroyed, for good... considering it was only 2 years after :/.

EDIT: In terms of battle systems, FFXII wins. Gambit System is so broken, its entertaining.

EDIT 2: Doubt XIII's gonna be the last Final Fantasy.

[Draylo]

I never minded random battle encounters (unless they were ridiculous like ff4) and the ATB waiting and all that. I liked games that had traditional jRPG things going on and I still play my old PS1 games. I think they are trying too hard when they try to incorporate all this mainstream junk and I hope they stop doing that. What is going to be left for people who like these type of games?

[Despain]

I never minded random battle encounters (unless they were ridiculous like ff4) and the ATB waiting and all that. I liked games that had traditional jRPG things going on and I still play my old PS1 games. I think they are trying too hard when they try to incorporate all this mainstream junk and I hope they stop doing that. What is going to be left for people who like these type of games?

imo, random encounters in FFrigins was fucking retarded, especially FF1.

Also I agree with you on the bolded part. D:

[Elcura]

Yeah, cause who wants game design to move forward. We should all be playing pong with amazing graphics.

[Qalbert]

Yeah, cause who wants game design to move forward. We should all be playing pong with amazing graphics.

because it is impossible to have both kinds of games

[Elcura]

because it is impossible to have both kinds of games

Apparently it is.

[miokomioko]

With all the new games worth getting a boner over lately, why bitch about the Final Fantasy franchise sticking to what has worked absurdly well for them and has made millions of people consistantly happy?

[Kyo]

With all the new games worth getting a boner over lately, why bitch about the Final Fantasy franchise sticking to what has worked absurdly well for them and has made millions of people consistantly happy?

If you have taken the time to read previous final fantasty threads of any kind, you should know by now that the fanboys nitpick every fucking thing and are constantly bitching about every little thing.

[Spira]

those are the retard fanboys..
there are decently intelligent fanboys as well. We tend to like everything though, so maybe we don't seem like we have real opinions..

FFXII was a good game. I didn't really like the battle system. Gambits were a good idea but the implementation could have been much better, like instead of buying gambits they should probably have been unlocked naturally as the game progressed (and sooner than later). It also wasn't that balanced since by the end of the game you'd only be using melee attacks instead of magick other than green, and summons are never used.
But beyond that, battles played out really smoothly and I enjoyed the challenge.

Anyway, the point is that it's nice that things are different. In FF, everything has always been different, even though they do retain some similarity. No two battle systems are the same, and I like how recent FFs have tried to differentiate this further than in the past, leading to different battles and different playstyles.

The way the battle system works influences the feel of the battles entirely, and the mood of the game. with CTB in FFX, you'd never really feel in a hurry during fast paced battles cos you have the luxury of time to wait... XII, everything plays out for you, so if your gambits are good you can relax, but if not you're in for a lot to do...

X-2 was awesome gameplay-wise too. Lightning-fast battles took a lot of getting used to. And Via Infinito was pretty challenging. The real challenge being avoiding like the Mega Tonberries past lv80 and so on...

I like Elmer's take on the franchise.. i suppose they will be focusing on FNC and XIV in the years to come.
If 2010 is the start of the FNC / XIV franchise decade, it will likely last for at least 5-7 years.
FNC has Versus and Agito which will likely be delivered within the next 3 years.
XIV is an MMORPG which will last pretty long, not to mention the expansions to be released in the years to come.
XI will still be around, even if it may be gradually waning, 5-10 years down the road. It'll probably be truly stagnant by then unless SE makes the effort to put out content, but it'd still be here.. and would still be a cash cow.
CoFF7 is supposedly done. The core projects from CoFF7 have all been completed, apart from a remake of FF7 itself, which might be an eventuality since there won't be any new flagship FFs on the horizon.
The main FF lineage in general will probably also see more remakes... III and IV could be remastered on the PSP, V and VI still could use a remake.. VII, VIII, IX.. could all be remade too.. X.. so needs a remake too. I'd love if they actually made XII:RW in 3D and smooth gameplay too.

really, there are so many ways to move the FF franchise forward without actually having to create a new FF.. XIV may be the last big new project for FF (though I doubt it), but I dont see FF ending any time soon.

[Nevex]

Gambits are nowhere as perfect as people say in FFXII... you still need to micromanage in a lot of fights, such as espers and strongest marks. They will just not let you win with gambits alone unless you're at a ridicolously high level.

Gambits' purpose is avoiding to have to constantly press X against every single mob you encounter, and even then you need to watch out for the more dangerous ones (Ridorana Subterra and Great Crystal come to mind).

Magic is very powerful too when played right, watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkkKHGqvCCc

Now tell me if it wouldn't have been really boring if you had to input "Thundaga" every second, this is where the gambit system really shines. Also note that the guy in that video micromanages as well, it's not just about "game playing itself".

The only flaw I see in FFXII's battle system is espers, and not the fact that they don't deal high damage - because they do. Ultima and Zodiark are guaranteed 9999 damage every 2 seconds or so without any buff - but because of their low survability. If it wasn't for their low HP they would be on par with FFX's.
International version fixed that issue (since you get to control espers in that version instead of relying on their crappy A.I.), I'm quite sure there was a video on youtube about Zodiark soloing Behemoth King just to mention something.

[Charismatic]

I am pretty sure that you're supposed to have to micromanage even with gambits. The game isn't supposed to play itself.

Anyway, in my recent playthrough of FFXII International: ZJS I have found magic to be absolutely amazing (they don't have the 9999 damage cap in this version) and I only use gambits for the tedious actions. Being able to control espers is a godsend, especially since I am doing a 122333 run.

The original FFXII version has a lot more flaws in it than this version does. Honestly, the IZJS version of the game really shines. FFXII was already my favorite, gameplaywise partially due to the fact that position truly matters in this combat system as well as the fact that active mode is really fluid (aside from moments when a spell or ability with a long animation is used, I wish they'd have fixed that up in international but they didn't Q_Q) and now with this rerelease, I have fallen in love.

The game is worth it. FF12 was good on its own. The ZJS version is even better. It's not just a matter of 12 different "jobs" (which makes the replay value much better) but also controlling guests and summons (their gambits and partially equipment), no damage limits, some new items, different treasures and monsters respawn, turbo mode, finding "magick" as treasures, changes in magic's effects (and range), different look of some menus, magic in different categories and many, many more small changes that make the gameplay much better (different shop inventories, etc.).

[Spira]

i suppose the IZJS version is more balanced than the original.. but as good as magick is for specific fights (reflect + ga trick, which was also how i leveled all characters to 99), it simply isnt quite as efficient as just chopping up your enemy, even at pretty low levels.
do you HAVE to use the zodiac job boards in IZJS though?

XII is really good on its own though.. slight gameplay flaws aside, i thoroughly enjoyed it and the only thing i ever found lacking was the quality of sound effects, which seemed a little compressed...
even now when I play it on my ps3 on a full hd screen, the graphics look awesome.. much better than x. I think its got to do with the way polygons were applied. XII had lower polygon count but relied a lot more on high quality texture skins, which look good even on a big screen. high polygon count works fine on smaller screens but the bigger they go the uglier they get.

I never realized it at first too, but FFX actually makes use of a lot of pre-rendered backgrounds... which still look good but are kinda obvious and make for pretty dull environments since most of the stuff do not move, and you cannot pan the camera. Even thoug it was a marvel of its time, it's really beginning to show its age. The graphic whore within me implores SE to sufficiently future-proof the graphics of all its remakes of the series.. FF1 and 2 do an excellent job already.

[Hyan]

If only the game was translated to English, International my ass =/.

[Charismatic]

Yes, you have to use the zodiac job boards.