Alexander_Abrams
4 reviews liked by Alexander_Abrams
This review contains spoilers
This is a weird game. A lot of the time I feel very strong or very weak, but I finally had an in-between. The good definitely outweighs the bad, but I will list them as normal.
(Negatives)
This game is definitely more story driven than character driven, which is fine, on paper. But the villains aren't on screen nearly long enough to get that point across. It's supposed to be this large scale political drama but it doesn't feel like Vayne himself does much. Cid carries the antagonist super hard.
This game's story feels like a zelda-game at certain points. Get item to help beat bad guys --> get new item to adjust to situation --> get new item to adjust adjust to situation --> finally fight bad guys. It leads to these deadzones in the story because the characters can't hold the story together because of lack of focus towards them.
Basch has a great foundation for a character but it doesn't feel like he gets to do anything until super late into the game. He barely even feels like Ashe's "Knight" because Vaan and Balthier do all the talking for him. Was pretty disappointed in him honestly.
Penelo and Larsa should certainly get more screentime together. They are definitely trying to show the gap between classes but there's only 1 main scene that shows this. I wish there was just something inbetween.
Vaan is alright, but I do agree with the majority, I have absolutely no clue why he is the vocal point of the story. They could of done it with Penelo. She narrates the ending, and builds a connection with a super major character in the story. He actually has enough for a supporting character. He feels quite contrived at times as they were trying to force a supporting character to be a main character. It feels very messy.
The traps are just irritating. I have no clue why this game has an obsession with them. They just make progression 10 times more annoying unless you consistantly float your party. Or remove all of the AIs to make sure you don't want into them.
The dungeons are pretty weak, especially Great Crystal, Pharos. Insanely tedious. Or just mazes.
There's a ton of walking because there isn't some teleport crystals in some points where there definitely should be.
And this is more personal but I think there is a little too much status spam, and bosses that just become immune to certain moves which slow certain battles to a crawl. Since this game doesn't have the Xenoblade mechanic of enemies ignoring you if you're higher leveled.
The chest system is really, really stupid. Along with the Bazaar system, I would put them in the same catagory. Very frustrating and grindy mechanics, that are basically impossible to utilize without a guide. There are some spells that are just completely luck-based, you really have no reason to collect most chest blind because 90% of them have basic potions that scale horribly, or like 10 gold. The Bazaar not holding the items you already sold is pretty damn baffling.
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Positives:
Balthier, Ashe, and I actually think Penelo are all pretty great. Penelo got sold completely to me by the ending but I think that alone justified her pretty meager role in the plot. Ashe and Balthier are actually just complete characters. They fit under the standard that I expect from this series.
The guest party members are fantastic. Hell, even better than most of your actual party members. Most of them have at least a few scenes that are genuinely impactful, and stay for quite a long time. I think being able to do side-content with them really adds to them feeling like main-stays. I would love to see more games experiment with guest party members like this.
The writing really gets it together in the last 2 dungeons. It feels like it regains the direction that it is periodically messing throughout the game. The definition of a slow-burn.
The ending sequence is fantastic.
The Gambit system and class system are both pretty incredible. I do have a few minor issues here and there, as I think the AI relies too much on gambits sometimes (They will just keep spamming shit if the enemy is immune to it or absorb it, and there's no real gambit around it unless you set a new guide in-battle.) But it's definitely a highlight of the game and you can be pretty exact about what you want the AI to do. It sets up for a ton of really good optimization and it's entertaining to watch builds (the building is super flexable) just absolutely desimate the main story as it is piss easy.
The music and world are both pretty damn solid.
The hunts can be pretty fun, and are a great challenge. I will note a lot of them have really annoying requirements and gimmicks in mid-game that are definitely not fun though. But the late-game and early game ones are pretty great.
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In-all, pretty good game, but it definitely can overstay it's welcome sometimes.
(I am sorry for my terrible formatting I just write what is in my brain oopsies)
(Negatives)
This game is definitely more story driven than character driven, which is fine, on paper. But the villains aren't on screen nearly long enough to get that point across. It's supposed to be this large scale political drama but it doesn't feel like Vayne himself does much. Cid carries the antagonist super hard.
This game's story feels like a zelda-game at certain points. Get item to help beat bad guys --> get new item to adjust to situation --> get new item to adjust adjust to situation --> finally fight bad guys. It leads to these deadzones in the story because the characters can't hold the story together because of lack of focus towards them.
Basch has a great foundation for a character but it doesn't feel like he gets to do anything until super late into the game. He barely even feels like Ashe's "Knight" because Vaan and Balthier do all the talking for him. Was pretty disappointed in him honestly.
Penelo and Larsa should certainly get more screentime together. They are definitely trying to show the gap between classes but there's only 1 main scene that shows this. I wish there was just something inbetween.
Vaan is alright, but I do agree with the majority, I have absolutely no clue why he is the vocal point of the story. They could of done it with Penelo. She narrates the ending, and builds a connection with a super major character in the story. He actually has enough for a supporting character. He feels quite contrived at times as they were trying to force a supporting character to be a main character. It feels very messy.
The traps are just irritating. I have no clue why this game has an obsession with them. They just make progression 10 times more annoying unless you consistantly float your party. Or remove all of the AIs to make sure you don't want into them.
The dungeons are pretty weak, especially Great Crystal, Pharos. Insanely tedious. Or just mazes.
There's a ton of walking because there isn't some teleport crystals in some points where there definitely should be.
And this is more personal but I think there is a little too much status spam, and bosses that just become immune to certain moves which slow certain battles to a crawl. Since this game doesn't have the Xenoblade mechanic of enemies ignoring you if you're higher leveled.
The chest system is really, really stupid. Along with the Bazaar system, I would put them in the same catagory. Very frustrating and grindy mechanics, that are basically impossible to utilize without a guide. There are some spells that are just completely luck-based, you really have no reason to collect most chest blind because 90% of them have basic potions that scale horribly, or like 10 gold. The Bazaar not holding the items you already sold is pretty damn baffling.
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Positives:
Balthier, Ashe, and I actually think Penelo are all pretty great. Penelo got sold completely to me by the ending but I think that alone justified her pretty meager role in the plot. Ashe and Balthier are actually just complete characters. They fit under the standard that I expect from this series.
The guest party members are fantastic. Hell, even better than most of your actual party members. Most of them have at least a few scenes that are genuinely impactful, and stay for quite a long time. I think being able to do side-content with them really adds to them feeling like main-stays. I would love to see more games experiment with guest party members like this.
The writing really gets it together in the last 2 dungeons. It feels like it regains the direction that it is periodically messing throughout the game. The definition of a slow-burn.
The ending sequence is fantastic.
The Gambit system and class system are both pretty incredible. I do have a few minor issues here and there, as I think the AI relies too much on gambits sometimes (They will just keep spamming shit if the enemy is immune to it or absorb it, and there's no real gambit around it unless you set a new guide in-battle.) But it's definitely a highlight of the game and you can be pretty exact about what you want the AI to do. It sets up for a ton of really good optimization and it's entertaining to watch builds (the building is super flexable) just absolutely desimate the main story as it is piss easy.
The music and world are both pretty damn solid.
The hunts can be pretty fun, and are a great challenge. I will note a lot of them have really annoying requirements and gimmicks in mid-game that are definitely not fun though. But the late-game and early game ones are pretty great.
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In-all, pretty good game, but it definitely can overstay it's welcome sometimes.
(I am sorry for my terrible formatting I just write what is in my brain oopsies)
A huge game that I’m not yet willing to put the full time into doing all the side activities as they’re pretty daunting. However, having completed the main story I very much enjoyed my time with FF12. The combat, whilst different, was personally enjoyable. Ashe, Balthier, Larsa, Cid and Fran were all really cool and interesting characters that I enjoyed learning more about. Basche’s story was also very touching, especially in the final act of the game.
I wish there were moments where the game took itself a bit less seriously (thank you Balthier for the levity you bring). Overall though, I felt the heart put into the game. As much as people might call it Star Wars, I think that’s just diminishing the effort that went into every aspect. I can’t deny similarities but by the end I was satisfied that this is its own story.
I feel similar towards this as I do to 5, and much like that game, I can see myself replaying this and trying something different.
I wish there were moments where the game took itself a bit less seriously (thank you Balthier for the levity you bring). Overall though, I felt the heart put into the game. As much as people might call it Star Wars, I think that’s just diminishing the effort that went into every aspect. I can’t deny similarities but by the end I was satisfied that this is its own story.
I feel similar towards this as I do to 5, and much like that game, I can see myself replaying this and trying something different.
i say "mastered" because the only trophy i'm missing is the goddamn trial mode one
see you in hell.
i still love this game tho
see you in hell.
i still love this game tho
Me cuesta realmente creer que este juego fuera tan extremadamente mal recibido cuando se publicó pues, es, definitivamente, un completo juegazo. Gráficamente está fácilmente en el top de la PS2 y musicalmente es bastante bueno, sus personajes son entrañables y en la conclusión, el grupo principal se siente realmente como un equipo esto se consigue gracias a la historia, que definitivamente es muy buena de inicio a fin y concluye de manera adecuada. Su jugabilidad es solida aunque avaces se puede volver tedioso la cantidad de estados alterados que te puede meter un enemigo o un grupo de enemigos, se puede sobrellevar y no mancha al completo el juego. Un absoluto clasico, quizá el mejor Final Fantasy que jugaré y definitivamente un recomendable absoluto.