Should Final Fantasy XII get a re-release?

[Maximum Bert]

I think its to soon but then again they re-released FFX which I also felt was to soon so I suppose they can if they wanted. Easily my least favourite FF game after FFII though I just found it weak in almost every regard.

The reason I like it more than FFII though is because II was broken by design more imo and XII had a great end game, actually X, XII and XIII all had great end games. I would not buy it if they re-released it once was more than enough for me and I still have my original copy and PS2 set up anyway. If they did re-release it they should release the zodiac edition.

 

[DemomanHusband]

No, it was a bad game. Probably the worst in the entire mothership franchise.

Definitely the worst.

*AHEM* I'm just going remind you of FF13.

And I will remind you, good sir, of X-2.

Unless you're not counting the direct sequels. Then I'd just have to point you in X's direction. At least XIII let me see Snow get punched in the face by Lightning; in X, Tidus doesn't even fucking stay dead.

BRO! BRO! You wanna play the sequel game bro?

Okay! I'll take you X-2 and I fucking raise your ass a 13-3 Lightning Returns! Check and MATE BRO!

Dude, Lightning Returns was waves better than XIII or XIII-2 for that matter. Also X-2 has the best combat in series history. Took everything good about ATB and made it better.

Can you send me some of whatever it is you're drinking?

Well, the drink is called 'good gameplay', so I'm sure he'd be happy to share! I mean c'mon, X-2 brought back the job system via Dresspheres, and the international (and now the western rerelease as well) had the fiend training tournaments! I find it hilarious when people say X-2 was one of the worst games in the series just because it looked 'too girly' on the surface or because it involved looking for the 'whiny asshole' Tidus. It's like they forget what character development is.

Lightning Returns was weird, though. It tried to pull an even more complex Job-esque system with one party member and lots of bits and baubles, but that just got... weird. Especially with some of the DLC. XIII-2 is where it's at, because that one had an almost interesting story alongside some rather fun time travel shenanigans!

Too bad Motomu 'Lightning is mai waifu' Toriyama insisted on Lightning have a final go at things. I thought Serah and Noel made a great duo. Caius had some real potential too, especially given the fact that he was a villain that actually had things go his way for once. I mean, his plan actually succeeded! Made for a cliffhanger ending, but I was hoping they'd go all FFVI on you and make the next game be a grand globetrotting journey through further broken bits of time with Serah, Noel, and whoever else they drag along.

Nope. Always Right-ning Returns.

 

[Foolery]

Hell to the yes, say what you want, but I thought Final Fantasy XII was a step in the right direction for the series and still feels like one of the most mature FF titles, next to Tactics and the non-FF game: Vagrant Story.

Despite it's shortcomings, the plot was intriguing enough, and the game rewarded you for exploring. I get that Vaan and Penelo suck, but Fran, Balthier, and Basch make up for it. Basch should have been the main character. The voice acting and script, was also quite decent, and not nearly as cringe-worthy as X or XIII.

X had a super solid voice cast all around. Sure, people like to post the laugh scene entirely out of context to hate on the game, but everyone did a decent job, and most did great jobs.

I do like X. Mostly for Auron. I even enjoyed the laughing scene, it's meant to mask the tragedy that is the death of the summoners like Yuna. But I don't think it's a stretch to say that XII had better voice acting, and a more natural sounding script.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Then again, the creators of XIII somehow thinks that people like Lightening, so I guess madness is a requirement to work on a FF game now.

I actually know a couple of people who like Lightning, as a character. And it is, quite frankly, bizarre. They always talk about how noble she is, and how cool, and how shes so driven and goes on such an emotional journey. And all I can do is sit there, slack jawed, wondering if I exist in the same universe as they do.

And the weird thing is that SE seems to know how badly Lightning is written and acted. In FF13: Lightning Returns, right after the introduction level, her and Hope have a 5 minutes discussion about how emotionally dead they both are. Seriously. It's a god damn plot point that the primary characters be completely without emotion or any defining characteristic besides 'hot' and 'cool looking.'

 

[CritialGaming]

No, it was a bad game. Probably the worst in the entire mothership franchise.

Definitely the worst.

*AHEM* I'm just going remind you of FF13.

And I will remind you, good sir, of X-2.

Unless you're not counting the direct sequels. Then I'd just have to point you in X's direction. At least XIII let me see Snow get punched in the face by Lightning; in X, Tidus doesn't even fucking stay dead.

BRO! BRO! You wanna play the sequel game bro?

Okay! I'll take you X-2 and I fucking raise your ass a 13-3 Lightning Returns! Check and MATE BRO!

Dude, Lightning Returns was waves better than XIII or XIII-2 for that matter. Also X-2 has the best combat in series history. Took everything good about ATB and made it better.

Can you send me some of whatever it is you're drinking?

Well, the drink is called 'good gameplay', so I'm sure he'd be happy to share! I mean c'mon, X-2 brought back the job system via Dresspheres, and the international (and now the western rerelease as well) had the fiend training tournaments! I find it hilarious when people say X-2 was one of the worst games in the series just because it looked 'too girly' on the surface or because it involved looking for the 'whiny asshole' Tidus. It's like they forget what character development is.

Lightning Returns was weird, though. It tried to pull an even more complex Job-esque system with one party member and lots of bits and baubles, but that just got... weird. Especially with some of the DLC. XIII-2 is where it's at, because that one had an almost interesting story alongside some rather fun time travel shenanigans!

Too bad Motomu 'Lightning is mai waifu' Toriyama insisted on Lightning have a final go at things. I thought Serah and Noel made a great duo. Caius had some real potential too, especially given the fact that he was a villain that actually had things go his way for once. I mean, his plan actually succeeded! Made for a cliffhanger ending, but I was hoping they'd go all FFVI on you and make the next game be a grand globetrotting journey through further broken bits of time with Serah, Noel, and whoever else they drag along.

Nope. Always Right-ning Returns.

By gameplay you mean the battle system. Which I can admit was decent. But, the whole spreading your time correctly amongst the saving people missions, just leaves a terrible taste in my mouth. I play RPG's to grind, to do ALL the sidequests, and XIII-3 actively punishes you for that. Not to mention the story of that whole series was a bit toss.

Now I will freely admit I liked XIII, I played the shit out of that game. But the sequels were garbage. Especially compared to ANY other game in the series. X-2 was awesome.

But hey you like it. God bless man.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

Then again, the creators of XIII somehow thinks that people like Lightening, so I guess madness is a requirement to work on a FF game now.

To be fair, I didn't dislike Lightning. After all, she did punch Snow in the face, and I hated him much, much more than anyone else in that game.

That being said, Lightning was a different kind of bad. She was bad because she was boring. However, in XIII, being boring automatically meant being better than the likes of Snow, Vanille, and fucking Hope.

 

[Kotaro]

I'd love to see the International Zodiac Job System version get a "Remaster" on the PS4.

As far as I know that version ironed out a lot of the more annoying things about XII, and it never had a European release. I'd definitely get it if it was available.

Yeah, I liked XII enough, but a re-release would be great just to give people outside Japan a chance to play the updated version.

 

[DeliveryGodNoah_v1legacy]

Ahh, FFXII...it was the first PS2 game I bought brand new, with the money I laboriously saved. I bought the tin collectors edition.
I was so psyched, so excited, I stared at the box the entire ride home.

FF7, FF8, and FFX were my favorite games at the time. I used to have messy, thick book binders full of notes for each of the games containing information on the best strategies, character builds, secrets, etc.

I got FFXII home, popped into my PS2, and was shortly thrown in the combat system. I. Was. Lost.

It wasn't terrible, but I couldn't wrap my head around it. The licence system was even more foreign to me.

Aside from that, I honestly can't remember much about the game. I think I traded it into Gamestop sometime in 2010 or so without realizing it. It didn't leave a lasting impression on me at all for some reason. I do remember it looking incredible on the PS2 though.

That all being said, I would love having it rereleased. Maybe a PC port? Or an remastered version. Or just give me a PS2 classic version with upscaled resolutions.

For some reason I feel like if I gave it a chance now, 10 years later, I might understand it way better and actually really enjoy it.

 

[Wrex Brogan]

I'd love to see the International Zodiac Job System version get a "Remaster" on the PS4.

As far as I know that version ironed out a lot of the more annoying things about XII, and it never had a European release. I'd definitely get it if it was available.

ehhhh, while I can get people wanting to play the IZJS version, I much preferred the original - most of the changes didn't quite stand out for me, and some of the jobs are horrendously balanced or completely unnecessary, which can fuck you over if you put someone down the wrong path (job choices are permanent too).

I'd be totally down with a re-release that had access to both versions though. I'm pretty sure the game is old enough that you could jam both of 'em onto one Blu-Ray anyway.

 

[Silvanus]

Surprised to see a few people being down on X. X is potentially my favourite one; solid battle system, gorgeous design, mostly good characters (the protagonist notwithstanding, but even his arc isn't bad). Love it to bits.


Anywho, given the raft of other FF remasters and re-releases, I don't see why not. I bought XII today to play via PCSX2 (and yes, I do still own a PS2, so it's all legit).

 

[babinro]

I put Final Fantasy 12 in my top 5 of the franchise (though I haven't played 9, FF4 expansion or Lightning Returns yet).

I'd definitely be on board for re-release on PC. My only major gripe with the game was that you had to unlock customized combat options such as doing an action at 20% health. I found myself really loving that automated macros system but having to unlock it throughout the game was arbitrary and restrictive in a way that didn't enhance the experience.

Personal Top 7 FF for the record:
1) FF 6
2) FF 4
3) FF 1
4) FF 12
5) FF 13
6) FF 10
7) FF 7

 

[Kina]

FF12 ended up becoming my favorite FF strangely enough, and I've been craving a HD remake with the Zodiac edition that was only released over in Japan as far as I'm aware. I played through half of it through.. questionable means (the Zodiac edition), and I'd love to have that game once more on my Vita.

Had a blast playing through X and X-2, now I'm jonesing for some XII. Desperately so.

 

[Danbo Jambo]

I loved various aspects about it, hated others and never finished it.

On one hand I really liked the tone of the game, and thought that the story - whilst a bit sluggish and dull in places - was still fresh in certain ways and had weight. The locations and atmosphere were right up my street; the combat I really, really enjoyed; and some of the characters were brilliant.

But the Star Wars similarities were quite cringeworthy; the plot did get a bit "meh"; and most of all the areas were just too big and tiresome. There was often very little reward for exploring, and it would take AGES to get through some areas. The crap nature of the summons put me off too.

There's a really great foundation in FF12, and a game I wanted to love. Sadly the amount of filler & recycled elements from Star Wars just make it fall short.

If they cut out the filler and tweaked the plot slightly it could be worth a re-release and a real classic.

 

[Lightspeaker]

No, it was a bad game. Probably the worst in the entire mothership franchise.

Definitely the worst.

*AHEM* I'm just going remind you of FF13.

I played FFXIII. I finished FFXIII.

FFXIII is superior in EVERY SINGLE WAY to FFXII. That isn't to say its particularly great, it was generally a very average game all round and the pace was absolutely glacial which put a lot of people off. But XII was an absolute train wreck and was the first clear indication that they'd totally lost the plot on Final Fantasy.

No, it was a bad game. Probably the worst in the entire mothership franchise.

Definitely the worst.

*AHEM* I'm just going remind you of FF13.

And I will remind you, good sir, of X-2.

Unless you're not counting the direct sequels. Then I'd just have to point you in X's direction. At least XIII let me see Snow get punched in the face by Lightning; in X, Tidus doesn't even fucking stay dead.

I will not see a bad word said about X. For all that Tidus was pretty annoying it had by far the best combat of any Final Fantasy game that has existed. By far.


As for the X-2 conversation. I kinda like X-2 but I've never been a huge fan of the job system. I'd say X-2 probably did it best though.


Best story is still IX though.

 

[someguy1231]

XII is the only Final Fantasy from the PS2 era I haven't played, but I've heard very good things about it. If it got an HD release on Steam, I'd snatch that up right away.

 

[Roxas1359]

I'd personally love a FF XII HD Remaster as long as it were the Zodiac Job Edition of the game as that fixed many of the major problems that the vanilla version of FF XII had. Breakable damage limit, new weapons, removing that stupid arbitration for the Zodiac Spear, controllable Espers and Guest Party Members, and finally the ability for Guest Party Members to level up.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

If every other FF has already gotten a re-release in the past few years, I definitely see Square giving in to the desire for easy money. Even IX is finally getting attention. (Finger's crossed IX does make it to Steam. I'd love to play one of the best FFs with smoothed out graphics, without having to play it on my phone.) They'll need something to pad things out between FFXV and the FFVII remake (and FFXVI about ten years down the road). It's only a matter of time.

XII might have been a polarizing game (and another example of Square changing things a little too much), but it was a good RPG in general. It even fixed the linearity FFX introduced to the franchise (one thing I don't like about X and despise with XIII). Some might be put off by the weird sudo-MMO system or the reliance on another bishonen pretty boy on the cover to sell extra copies, but it deserves another chance.

 

[Dalisclock]

Surprised to see a few people being down on X. X is potentially my favourite one; solid battle system, gorgeous design, mostly good characters (the protagonist notwithstanding, but even his arc isn't bad). Love it to bits.

I liked the battle system, was fine with most of the characters and the world was pretty.

Unfortunatly, the plot had terrible pacing(the emphasis on a game you've barely seen and not allowed to play for the first 7 hours totally didn't help) and felt like it didn't have nearly the impact it should have. The VA in some ways was pretty terrible(Tidus's speaking voice and Yuna's went back and forth a lot), which wasn't helped by the fact the dialogue was poorly written.

What really kept me from enjoying it(and believe me, I was really trying to like it, so much that I gave up on the game and finally picked it up after a month just to push through to the end) was that somewhere in there, there was an interesting world that's obsessed by death, dominated by religion and plagued by a lovecraftian space-whale that can never be killed for good. And yet somehow, very little of that is explored in any satisfying way. Sin is pushed out of the way for Seymour(who was annoying as hell, both as a character and as a series of boss encounters), the religion is barely talked about despite almost everyone being beholden to it and the world just kinda there. I keep hearing how much the world is obsessed with death but not really seeing it.

Such a shame, really. FFX should be one of my favorite game in the series and instead it felt like a huge disappointment.

 

[Tiamattt]

It seems to have enough fans to justify a re-release, I can't say I'm one of them since I didn't really enjoy the game but if it would make a bunch of people happy while giving SE a nice profit then sure why the heck not.

 

[monkeymangler]

Then again, the creators of XIII somehow thinks that people like Lightening, so I guess madness is a requirement to work on a FF game now.

I actually know a couple of people who like Lightning, as a character. And it is, quite frankly, bizarre. They always talk about how noble she is, and how cool, and how shes so driven and goes on such an emotional journey. And all I can do is sit there, slack jawed, wondering if I exist in the same universe as they do.

And the weird thing is that SE seems to know how badly Lightning is written and acted. In FF13: Lightning Returns, right after the introduction level, her and Hope have a 5 minutes discussion about how emotionally dead they both are. Seriously. It's a god damn plot point that the primary characters be completely without emotion or any defining characteristic besides 'hot' and 'cool looking.'

Um... there's a major plot reason why Hope and Lightning are emotionally dead in Lightning Returns

Spoiler

Bhunivelze stripped Lightning of her emotions and rational thought processes so that she never realizes she's being manipulated. Those emotions became Lumina. Hope is emotionless because it isn't Hope, it's Bhunivelze in disguise.

She is a cool character, and I would trust her to lead a team long before an emotionally unstable wreck (Terra, Cecil, Squall) or a complete goofnut (Tidus, Zidane, Vaan). Her major issue (and the thing people dislike most about her) is that she can't vocalize her issues and buries everything. Almost all of her personal problems would have been solved quickly with better communication skills. From what I have heard, it's a reflection of certain Japanese social problems.

That said, she's hot, she's a certified badass, and it isn't her fault XIII's story was bullshit and chips.