FFXII... why the hate?

[Zyxx]

I have no particular hate of XII. There are certainly parts of it that I don't like, but that's true of everything. In particular, I felt that the story wasn't very well-thought-out and the fake medieval dialect was just trying too hard. The gameplay was sort of interesting, and I actually sort of liked the license system (in the sense that I was disappointed when I ran out of licenses to get.)

And say what you like about the narrative mechanism of telling a story from the perspective of a completely irrelevant character, but it's certainly unique.

FFXII always have a special place in my heart, however, for being the first RPG that a certain friend of mine ever really completed. It was one of his first 100+ hour games. I was so, so proud.

 

[WorldCritic]

I liked it though I understood why so many others didn't.

 

[Daniel Cygnus]

Because it's a political drama. It's not quite my thing. The core game is great fun, but I honestly couldn't care less about the story.

 

[Lord_Jaroh]

I know that I like FFXII more than any other FF in the main series since FFVI (and I think I like it better than VI itself...). I just didn't really like the License Board itself really.

 

[Steven McDriverson]

The thing about XII that irked me was the fact that I am a sucker for "friendship and teamwork saving the day," and with XII it never felt like the party was actually a group. You had your Royalty and Guard party, who were legitimately traveling to rally support for the Insurg...Resistance. You had Han and Chewy who you later on find out actually have some reason for sticking around. Then finally you had "The kids" for no good reason. I don't mind that they used Vaan as an Ishmael narrator, but seriously after saving Penelo, was there any reason for him to continue sticking around. And aside from getting kidnapped, did Penelo contribute ANYTHING to the story?

I have a hard time remembering incidents of Ash talking to Penelo, Basch talking to Fran, or Fran talking to Vaan (aside from Vaan calling Fran old). Then in the end they "TRY" to have a "Go Team" moment and it falls flat on it's face with Vaan lying between his teeth that they're all friends.

Aside from my petty character issues, I still like and play the game.

 

[Chromanin]

The reason fans didn't like it is because there are two kinds of Final Fantasy fans: the kind who think think FFVI is greatest game ever and the kind who think FFVII is the greatest game ever. FFXII was not like either of those games. Therefore, it was bad.

 

[kurupt87]

Most of the fights in the game are finished in ten seconds, sometimes fifteen. Seriously.

If you're actively avoiding all fights in an RPG, then you're not going to progress and beat bosses.

I can counter an argument based on 'I tried, but it wasn't accessible' but honestly, in this situation you are truly the author of your own demise. The boss fights in FF12 weren't even hard.

While yes, avoiding battles is obviously the reason he had trouble with bosses, it wasn't the point he was making. His point was that he really didn't like the combat, and I agree with him. I did a similar thing in fact, avoiding most of the fights where I could because I couldn't bring myself to do them - I got more enjoyment and excitement from them chasing and trying to catch me than I ever did from the battles themselves anyway.

Now, you say that battles last very little time, and I'm sure you're right, but that doesn't change the fact that they weren't fun. Looking back on the game I don't know why I kept going through it and completed it, because I had the same problem this guy did, I hated the combat. I mean that too, actually hated it. Games are supposed to be fun, and FFXII just wasn't for me.

Of course, this is only my own opinion of the combat, different strokes for different folks and all that, but this was one of the games I've played through with the least amount of fun involved; it was a slog from start to finish.

 

[michiehoward]

I loved everything about this game and after the let down 13 was I would be playing 12 right now if my PS2 weren't broken, two thing that I didn't like were the dumbass treasure pots, their content usually mostly sucked and secondly the ending

 

[michiehoward]

I played FFXII for hundreds of hours. I loved it. I like the combat system, the setting and the story. Granted, some of the characters were atrocious, but when you're just roaming around leveling and exploring you don't notice. People hate it because it was different, that's all.

QFT

 

[kurupt87]

I actually don't mind that the main character isn't the most plot important character. I enjoy playing as part of the team as opposed to always being the most important person ever. It's not better or worse, just different.

Ok, we'll agree to disagree.

I do think I'd be able to cope with a protagonist being part of a team that's involved with a storyline though or that has decent reasons to be there, a side kick in other words. Vaan though, he just had no connect at all. He just wants to be a pirate -.-

 

[Steven McDriverson]

I'm a proud member of the IX minority *salute*

 

[Steven McDriverson]

I actually don't mind that the main character isn't the most plot important character. I enjoy playing as part of the team as opposed to always being the most important person ever. It's not better or worse, just different.

Ok, we'll agree to disagree.

I do think I'd be able to cope with a protagonist being part of a team that's involved with a storyline though or that has decent reasons to be there, a side kick in other words. Vaan though, he just had no connect at all. He just wants to be a pirate -.-

Again that doesn't bother me, just being along for the ride is probably the role I'd end up playing if I was ever put in a situation like that, so there's a certain degree of immersion and he's a bit more relate-able. Unfortunately that's the only thing I can relate to because he's an unrelenting twat. I agree he's like the worst protagonist ever but not because he's just in a support role, but because he's just so unlikeable.

Nail on the head, you two. I don't have an issue with Vaan being a side-line watcher. If I did, then I would be flooding the inter-webs with rage over Reks. He was a witness, too, but he didn't have the one-track mind of lobotomized goldfish.

 

[crazyjay321]

1. Feels too MMO-like; maybe .hack can get away with it, but Final Fantasy has no excuse.
2. Stupid licensing system
3. NO CLASSIC SUMMONS!

licensing system wasn't too bad, at least it meant I couldn't cheat unlike in FFVIII you could get the loin Heart on the first disk

Yeah but it still took a while to get it in the first disc.

People don't like FFXII because it has Terrible gameplay, Terrible combat, Terrible story, Terrible character's and mainly cause the game just sucks.

 

[Nfritzappa]

People don't like XII? I thought people didn't like XIII because it wasn't like XII.

That begs the question: What is a real final fantasy fan?

 

[Composer]

ahem
i will quote the first 2 hours i played
*gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* *gasp*


seriously their voiceacting pissed me off so bad i couldnt get through it...i demand an english sub!

 

[Steven McDriverson]

People don't like FFXII because it has Terrible gameplay, Terrible combat, Terrible story, Terrible character's and mainly cause the game just sucks.

Now now, the story was not bad, it was actually a refreshing change on the "stereotypical" FF plot-line. Rather than 6 teens SAVING THE WORLD! It was more about local resistance, and fighting back against a conquering empire... That is until the magicite comes into play >.>

 

[kurupt87]

Again that doesn't bother me, just being along for the ride is probably the role I'd end up playing if I was ever put in a situation like that, so there's a certain degree of immersion and he's a bit more relate-able.

I can appreciate that, I guess I just prefer to be more involved in the story.

Unfortunately that's the only thing I can relate to because he's an unrelenting twat. I agree he's like the worst protagonist ever but not because he's just in a support role, but because he's just so unlikeable.

He is a complete and utter moron, you're not wrong. I just didn't mention it because it's one of those things that's accepted; sun's hot, ground's hard, Vaan's a twat.

 

[ultimasupersaiyan]

I hated Final Fantasy XII for a number of reasons. The story wasn't very good, then again none of the Ivalice games were. The combat was modeled after Final Fantasy XI and they forgot to compensate for it properly because the partner AI is stupid. My biggest peevs are the fact that the characters were unrelatable and annoying, plus the main character is only the main character for a few hours before he gets pushed into the background for the other characters. The story wasn't interesting to me because it seemed to political and uninteresting and the characters were just as unintersting as well.

Did I repeat myself in this somewhere?

 

[Mr. Win]

What does everybody hate about Vaan? The terrible voice? Well, yeah, I can deal with that, I suppose. The outfit? A bit distracting and fruity, yeah. But ultimately, what was so bad about him? He wanted to become a sky pirate because that's all he had to hold on to. He needed to have some sense of fantasy within him because he'd been exposed to cruel reality when his family was taken from him. That's why he got so pissed at Basch when he met him, because he was a representative of everything that he hated. After learning the truth about his brother and meeting Larsa, Vaan is able to mature beyond his need for revenge. He still hates Gabranth and blames him for all of his troubles, but he knows that widescale destruction isn't the right thing to do (which is why he refuses to let Ashe use the Sun-cryst to craft Nethicite). In fact, one could argue that he isn't a terrible character in his own right!

 

[8-Bit Grin]

This was actually the first Final Fantasy I liked since Seven. I don't know why exactly, but the battle system really needed that slight change, and the fact that I wasn't exactly the main character in the story was quite interesting. Some people say you were just there for the ride, but I kind of liked it. The hunt's were just outstanding as well. I've never had so much fun grinding in order to kill something. I know alot of people hated it, but that's because some Final Fantasy fans are like Republicans. They're afraid of change. -F