Final Fantasy XII

[Darwock]

I reckon I'll pick up the international version pretty soon; coming from a long term FFXI background I thought the original license board was way too unfocused.. I found myself trying to set up characters for particular tasks but the board wouldn't really allow it.. or I'd have to waste LP giving characters access to weapons they would never use just so I could cross a section of the board.

In a way I wish they had dropped the english voices for international though and given us subtitles. Then it would have felt a lot less like "Final Fantasy 90210: The OC system". Never seen a main character I wanted to punch as much as that Vaan pr$*k. In fact I disliked him so much I gave him sole responsibility for white mage duties at the earliest opportunity. W@nker.

[Sane]

If the text's all JP I don't think I'll get it, it'll just be too much work .

[MartyG]

I agree that the licence board lacked focus, but it was flexible. The trouble is for ages you feel like you're not really levelling and growing your characters anywhere. I ended up getting the full licence board for all characters, so I'll be interested to see this new system.

I can't say I had a problem with the voice acting though, I thought it was extremely well done, without any of the "comedy" accents you often get with RPG translations, which totally would not have fitted with the story in XII.

PA sent the game out with two hours of ordering yesterday, so I'll get some impressions up in a few days time.

[wazy15]

Anyone been playing this on their PS3, it looks rubbish on it! PS3's software emulation is poor on certain games and this one included, looks like a time to buy a slimline PSTwo.

[MartyG]

No, and my International Version would run on my HK PS3. Hmm - I did say I'd get some impressions up, but sadly I found the JP menus too much work to really play through the game again, so it's not something I'd recommend unless you're a serious collector ( or speaker ).

The art work that came with the IV was really smart though.

[dogen]

Anyone been playing this on their PS3, it looks rubbish on it! PS3's software emulation is poor on certain games and this one included, looks like a time to buy a slimline PSTwo.

Generally it looked a bit pixelated, but once upscaled I thought it cleaned the image up a good bit. I thought it looked pretty decent.

The only game I've tried upscaled that didn't impress was Tomb Raider Anniversary. I just couldn't see a difference.

[Daragon]

Every PS2 game I've had through my PS3 has given off a noticeable improvement on visuals - I was really impressed with how it handled Bully. There was a bit of a frame rate dip, but I guess that was to be expected.

As for this, again a decent improvement over my NTSC collector's edition I had running on my chipped slimline PS2.

[danholo]

As if it being the collector's edition would make any difference? (I mean, was there any difference except the packaging?)

I really did forget about this game. After beating it, I never went back. Why did I lose interest? I usually play these games to death... after returning to them several months afterwards...

For people having difficulty with Japanese... Would knowledge of kanas be of any help at all? Usually menus are a breeze if you know at least that much... Aren't people used to kana here?! Well, such sophisticated games as Final Fantasy have tonnes of kanji in them though, except for the Battle commands.

They should make international versions in the US with Japanese voice acting. Now that would be something... You'd get an improved game with the original, and better, voices. Well, FFXII acting wasn't that bad. I thought it was quite good, honestly, and even Vaan grew on you. (English voice acting in Games has imroved over the years though... or it might depend on the quality and budget of the game.)

[Hohum]

Bought this game when it was released, still yet to play it beyond the first hour or so. I just can't bring myself to attempt it as it reminds me too much of FFXI, which I had played far too much. Similar graphics, controls, battles, and storytelling (as in loads of character names you won't remember, and loads of complex-verging-on-uninteresting plot that you just end up glossing over, which results in you having no idea what's going on anymore). Tempted to just sell the game on, lol.

[danholo]

Well, you're really not missing out. The story was kind of "meh" in the end. I kind of lost the track of it and what the entire point was... I don't even know who the main character was... Ashe? I guess there was some point but lost interest.

[Daragon]

As if it being the collector's edition would make any difference? (I mean, was there any difference except the packaging?)

I really did forget about this game. After beating it, I never went back. Why did I lose interest? I usually play these games to death... after returning to them several months afterwards...

For people having difficulty with Japanese... Would knowledge of kanas be of any help at all? Usually menus are a breeze if you know at least that much... Aren't people used to kana here?! Well, such sophisticated games as Final Fantasy have tonnes of kanji in them though, except for the Battle commands.

They should make international versions in the US with Japanese voice acting. Now that would be something... You'd get an improved game with the original, and better, voices. Well, FFXII acting wasn't that bad. I thought it was quite good, honestly, and even Vaan grew on you. (English voice acting in Games has imroved over the years though... or it might depend on the quality and budget of the game.)

I was refering to the fact that it being the US version of the game as opposed to the PAL one that it would play in 60hz with progressive scan (on the PS2)

[Eight Rooks]

Still the only genuinely good game in the main franchise. God, it was so nice having a (relatively) literary plot with some intelligence for once, one that didn't revolve around pathetically obvious juvenile soap opera and/or hideously unlikeable main characters that grated on my nerves inside of fifteen minutes. Still too linear, far too much padding and prone to all the pitfalls of the genre (as with any JRPG, as soon as you've maxed out your supply of the most powerful healing item(s) in the game you've effectively won by default) but for once it didn't patronise or talk down to me and managed to be genuinely emotional, even a little thought-provoking in places. I must pick up the International edition some time, see if I can struggle through endless menus I can't actually read.

[wazy15]

Generally it looked a bit pixelated, but once upscaled I thought it cleaned the image up a good bit. I thought it looked pretty decent.

The only game I've tried upscaled that didn't impress was Tomb Raider Anniversary. I just couldn't see a difference.

I found it was best at 720p/1080i but I left the screen on normal not full as it didn't look good along with smoothing on. When I put it on full screen just looked hideous! I kept it at 4:3 aspect too and close up looks good but when you zoom out the game looked very jaggy. Also noticed the FMVs aren't very smooth too. Can't be bothered getting a PS2 for it as I am over 5 hours in, just hope Metal Gear Solid: Subsistance looks better!

[reektan]

So is this playable enough on a PAL ps3 - i got a few hours into it on my US PS2 which i've now sold so been thinking about picking up a PAL copy as it's so cheap now.

[wazy15]

It is playable mate, but I think after being used to HD goodness it looks very dated. Stick to the settings I set above as that gives good results. I must say though, it is the only game I have played over the last few months which hasn't bored me even after several hours! It can be purchased in the Game sale for about £12 instore, or a couple of quick used on Ebay.