This game completely blew me away. I had never heard anything about it beforehand, so I had no real expectations going into it, but wow, this game is nothing short of a masterpiece. In this review, I’m going to give my thoughts on why I believe this.

First up, I want to talk about the highlight of this game, which would definitely be the world. Ff12 is set in Ivalice, and this country/nation or whatever you want to call it is nothing short of breathtaking. The area design in this game is truly impressive, and the art style complements these designs perfectly, making this entire game gorgeous, especially considering this was originally a PS2 game. Nearly every area is a treat to look at, and I get excited whenever I arrive at a new location. Not only is the world beautiful, but it also feels HUGE. I’ll be bringing this up a lot, but the fact that this was all on the PS2 astonishes me because some of these areas are just massive in size, and it really makes you feel like you’re on an adventure and aren’t just going through virtual rooms. I also find it extremely cool that if you want to go from one side of the map to another, you can totally do that because every single thing is connected in this game, making it feel so much more alive. Ff12 has such an expansive and beautiful world that’s so easy to fall in love with.

As for the plot, I think it is VERY strong, especially in the first half. I think the political aspects of this game are done very well, and while not as unique or innovative as some of the other Final Fantasy plots, I think it is a much neater and tighter story than what you’ll see in Ff7, for example. While that may not be for everyone, I thought it was a very nice change of pace for once. I absolutely love this narrative; the characters and plot are always moving forward, and it just really helps you feel a sense of adventure and urgency as well. This story also deals with some pretty deep themes, like loss and revenge, which I think are handled pretty well in this game.

Moving on to the characters, I’m slightly mixed on them because while I think they’re all very enjoyable characters who all get their moments to shine, I did feel as if they were a little underutilized throughout the game. Compared to games like Ff9, for example, it didn’t really feel as if the cast is really present outside of cutscenes, which kinda sucks because in cutscenes they are extremely entertaining, and honestly, I wish we just got more of them. Ashe, Balthier, Vaan, and Fran are all extremely likable, and the fact that my only big complaint is that I didn’t get enough of them is a pretty good thing, I’d say.

Next, I want to talk about the level design and the actual combat in the game because, unlike previous turn-based Ff games, Ff12 changes things up and transitions into a more active turn-based, NPC-controlling system. I’m not gonna get into specifics about how this works exactly. If you want to know, play the game, but all you need to know is that this system is a blast. The combat is so satisfying and rewarding, and it also requires skill, proper planning, and sometimes even quick reactions to win some of the more difficult fights in-game. There’s also this board thing, which basically lets you pick out the different abilities, stats, and weapons you get in-game, and I absolutely love this. It’s so much fun filling out my character’s boards and altering what and what not I want them to learn. Apparently, some people preferred the OG version where you can give any character any board they want, but I honestly prefer this version where you only get two boards for each character. This makes it so that I have to be more careful and calculating with what I want my characters to learn. As for the level design, well, it’s not that great. A lot of the levels can just essentially be big themed rooms with no puzzles or anything, and even when there are puzzles, they’re not necessarily all that special. I do, however, believe the gameplay and pretty areas make up for the lack in actual level design.

Finally, I want to talk about some of the more technical stuff, i.e., the music, voice acting, the FMVs, and any other things like that. First up, I’m gonna cover the music, and god, this OST is incredible. I don’t know much about music, but from what I hear, this OST has tons of woodwind instruments, which gives the entire game such a joyful and cheery atmosphere while being extremely atmospheric if it has to be. I absolutely adore this soundtrack, with some of my favorites being Respite, Discarded Power, and Cerobi Steppe. Now let me talk about the English voice acting real quick, and omg, people weren’t kidding when they said this is one of the greatest localizations in JRPG history because holy shit, this voice cast gives it their 100%. If this game’s beautiful world didn’t immerse me, I’m sure the voice acting would because it’s just that good, and I say that as someone who plays the vast majority of his JRPGs in Japanese, including Persona. I almost fprgot this but I wanted to give quick mention to the speed up options in this game which makes breezing through monsters and areas you’ve already gone through so much more manageable. Also, final little bit, but the FMVs are as sick as ever. I won’t spoil anything, but the last hour of the game is FMV heaven, holy shit.

All in all, Ff12 is one of the greatest games I’ve ever played, and it is now my favorite Final Fantasy game, surpassing 7. I will be buying the game off Amazon, and I intend to replay it on my PS2 since it’s literally leaving PS+ the day I’m writing this review.

This is my favorite game of all time. Not necessarily due to the story or the combat, and not even the characters (even though I love them) the reason this is my favorite game is simply because at the time I had never experienced anything like it.

I was 14 and at the time and really wanted to play a game that was mainly a Slice of Life but was an ACTUAL game and not a Vn. After a bit of searching I found Persona 5 but at the time I only had a pc which 5 wasn’t on in 2021 so I settled for P4. And after booting it up It didn’t even take an hour until I was completely hooked by the game and fell in love with this series.

From its art style and music to the social elements, it was like the game was specifically made for me. It took me a whole year to finish P4 so in a way I quite literally grew up with the characters over a year of their and my life and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to match that experience again with a game.

And of course when my long journey came to an end the conclusion absolutely destroyed me and I was bawling in my room like my dog had died, just for the true ending to have me smiling like an idiot not even two hours later. Easily my GOAT.

I just finished, so I'm going to review this really quickly. First up, the gameplay, and CC is decent at best when it comes to this. The level design is nonexistent, and its best levels are barely on par with the worst KH2 levels, which says a lot. The combat is fun but doesn't feel very cohesive to me, especially when it comes to the bosses, in my opinion. Finally, the game is very repetitive. This all sounds very negative, but I can’t say I necessarily hate the gameplay because I don’t. If this were stretched out over 20-30 hours, I might have had a problem, but CC is REALLY short, so it never got too frustrating, even with the repetitive gameplay.

Speaking of its length, I don’t have any problem with it. I like short games and think it was well worth my $40 bucks. Now for the visuals, it looks great nd that’s all I can really say nothing looked bad but nothing exactly blew me away. The story in this game is also a thing, and personally, I don’t like it. The original FF7 was very weird, yes, but for some reason, it felt a little more grounded. CC, on the other hand, is just really weird, and I don’t really like it. I’m just gonna pretend like this story doesn’t exist and keep some of the characters and moments in mind.

Which leads me to my next point, characters! Everybody loves the FF7 characters, and yeah, they’re great in this game. Zack is awesome; I absolutely love him. Aerith is as cute as ever in this game, and her relationship with Zack was just as sweet as I imagined. Sephiroth is also really good in this game, nice to see him not being all evil. Cloud is also in this game and while he’s kinda a bitch (until he fucking murders Sephiroth) it’s nice to see his beginnings as a grunt. Finally, I’ll talk about some of the new characters. Angela is great; I like how it gives origin to the Buster sword, even if I don’t like his arc that much. And Genesis; well, he completely sucks, one of the worst antagonists I’ve ever seen, but we move.

Now, before I get to the end of this review, I’ll mention the music and voice acting real quick. The music is solid for the most part; the FF7 songs are always great. However, the new additions to the OST were nothing memorable, in my opinion. As for the voice acting… It’s great. I played in Japanese because nobody likes the voice acting in this game, and it seems like that was a good decision because everyone gives their 100% in this game. I don’t necessarily think Cloud VA matches him, but the VA still did a good job regardless of feelings.

Now let’s finish this by talking about that ending… kill me. In all seriousness though, that was a beautiful ending and is honestly the only reason I’m giving this game 3.5 stars instead of a flat 3. I didn’t cry, but I came close multiple times; the end credit was also dope. Overall, I’d say this is a good game, not great, but by no means do I think it’s bad. I'd recommend it for FF7 fans, though, for context on some things and the ending alone.

This game was really ahead of its time which I’m sure is said to death but some of these set pieces and boss fights are just insane for the Ps2. The story while not as simple and clean (💀) as the first game is still solid for the most part, and makes up for its flaws in the incredible emotional payoffs it gives the player for sticking with this 4 game saga. The entire ending itself is also amazing and honestly is great stopping point if you’re not too interested in the other games because Kh2 really does wrap everything up perfectly. Of course I’d recommend the other games though, I love BBS!