Final Fantasy XII

[Fargo]

Anyone know if the pal version supports progressive scan?

[NekoFever]

Extremely doubtful considering that the Japanese and US versions don't. It still looked very nice on my LCD, though.

[lostn]

Pretty certain it won't.

I have yet to see a game that uses 576p.

[Shoju]

Is the combat now real time? I can move around and attack and use skills freely like in Diablo?

[NekoFever]

It's not real-time in the sense that you're not running around hitting the attack button to swing your sword. But you do have free movement and the ability to cast spells at will without pausing and going into menus. If you've played an MMORPG it's pretty much exactly like that, with the added ability to control your allies if you want to. I've not played much Diablo but I guess it's quite similar.

[fishbowlhead]

the combat is the same as kights of the old repblic.

[MartyG]

It's similar, it's not the same.

There are far too many options in FFXII combat to make it work as it does in KotOR ( where things are far less complex ), and it means you end up just using melee combat a lot of the time where-as in previous FF games you'd have considered all attack and magic options because there was not an additional effort attached to it.

The combat in FFXII is both its strength and weakness depending on which side of the fence you sit on.

[sj33]

I'll agree with that, though I did find myself using Green/Time magic in this game, which is something I never really touched in previous FF games.

tbh I think the bottom line here is that with FFXII, and now FFXIII, Square seem to be open to experimenting with the formula, and giving something new a try, and Kudos for that imo.
Really don't understand the negative attitude towards FFXIII.

[Daragon]

Probably because its a break from tradition - most people probably never experienced FFXI because of its additional fees so this is the first game they'll have played in the series that isn't turn based.

[sj33]

Well, I was referencingh FFXIII (as in, 13 :P ).

[MartyG]

Square seem to be open to experimenting with the formula, and giving something new a try, and Kudos for that imo.

It's fine to experiment so long as it doesn't end up breaking the game

I sometimes find that there too much menu navigation and it interupts the flow a bit, if you choose to go digging for magic - and I can't set up the gambits to adequately give me what I had in previous FF games in this regard because it's a bit too limited.

Perhaps if I could say in the gambits under this condition and this condition but not under this condition, it would help ( did that make sense? ). The way commands get precedented I find can also be a problem sometimes, and I end up swapping gambits all over the place and still remain a little unsatisfied.

[lostn]

Probably because its a break from tradition - most people probably never experienced FFXI because of its additional fees so this is the first game they'll have played in the series that isn't turn based.

It still is turn based mate. Just disguised so as not to look like it. Ditto Kotor.

[C']

Finally finished this at 1am this morning. Really sad that it is over. In the end my characters ranged from 46-52 for the final boss and very nearly lost at the final hurdle.

Dealt the with the initial forms of the boss easily with my initial 3 party and was coping with the final form (thanks to the use of Bubble and Curaja) however as he got weaker towards the end he appeared to use Enrage and Bravery upping his damage output quite considerably and my characters were falling repeatedly. Couldn't get them Raised and Protected quickly enough and was about to give up but switched to the remaing 3 (lower level) characters just to see what happened.

With seemingly nothing to lose I entered the Mist menu and thought I'd give Quickenings another try and it just seemed to click with me. Use of Shuffle and Mist Charges meant I was able to chain together 10 hits and created a magnificent Cataclysym chain dealing the final 20000 damage I needed to finish him.

Right down to the wire

Definately one of my favourite Final fantasies. Everything about it seems to have been created to make it the PS2 RPG swansong. The characters are genuinely likeable and a lot of the series' cliches seem to have been avoided.

I did struggle with the story somewhat. Lots of confusing and similar names (for both characters and kingdoms) baffled me slightly but I do intend to play through from the beginning in a few months time so will hopefully understand further the second time.

Also, I defintely have a lot of extras I missed out on. Think I got around 50% of the hunts plus I received a number of key items for which I found no use indicating side quests. Tempted to simply reload my save and go exploring again.

Top stuff. Highly recommended.

[Shozuki]

nice, I still havent started this game yet (im finally finishing FF7!) but im a little worried that story takes a backseat in this game is that so then?

[lostn]

How does the story compare to previous installments like FF10 and FF7? From everything I've gathered, the story is far below FF standards. It's supposed to focus more on politics this time around, than exciting things like character development?

Is the focus on gameplay instead of story? Because I haven't played an FF game for its gameplay since FF7.