EPTRecently there was a non-sc-related post about the Final Fantasy series on TL, and while the mood was generally positive and there was more than the healthy amount of fanboyism running rampant through the thread, I couldn't help but notice that a majority of the posters had bad things to say about FF12! That being said, I hadn't played the game, much less beaten it in almost 5 years so I decided to fire it up again to see if perhaps my younger self didn't have as much taste or class as I had previously given him credit for.
SO! As this is probably very-obviously leading itself into I have started a new file on my awesome (metal-cased, seriously) collector's edition copy of FF12 (my younger self would have paid 10 bucks extra for this, you see) and journeyed, for the first time in years, into the world of Ivalice.
I think the first thing that anyone could say about this game is even though it's a solid five years old almost to the day at this point, it's still a stunning game. It was released on the tail end of the lifespan of the PS2, and aside from the load times between screens and perhaps the lower number of active characters or NPCs on screen at a time it almost looks as if it could've been a non-HD ps3 release. The characters are vibrant as ever, their facial expressions change often and their mouths move as accurately as possible to the speech they produce (well, as good as a JRPG translation can be, I suppose) and their movements are fluid and realistic. The voice acting itself is just as good as any modern game, and certainly better than most translated ones (I think we can all just.. you know... not think about FF10's horrific voicework for just a moment, or forever) and it's non-repetitive.
The second thing that comes to mind is the story. Now, for those who aren't necessarily familiar with the Final Fantasy series you should probably know that the games have a reputation for having incredibly convoluted storylines with outrageous plotlines that oftentimes have holes in them or just don't make sense altogether. A lot of this can be attributed to the fact that they're translated games that frequently have story arcs that are rooted from japanese lore, and that's okay; this sort of thing is forgivable when you're ready for it and have experience wading around in the JRPG pond. Some of the games, the early ones in particular, didn't have incredibly complex plots (Get these crystals! Kill that one guy!) so this didn't have to be criticized but in the modern age of technology it has become possible to tell an epic tale and if it's not delicately handled, you end up with (by the way, the games I'm about to list I still enjoyed thoroughly, I've never met a FF from the main series that I didn't like) Final Fantasy VIII's evil, non-corporeal sorceress from the future, or Final Fantasy X's angry father trapped in a giant fish-monster trapped in a world that doesn't actually exist but oh wait actually it does but really doesn't, or Final Fantasy's XIII where, well, I'm not sure that anyone really knows what exactly happens in that game... L'cie? I mean, Really?
*Phwew*.
What I'm trying to get at here in so few words is that XII's plot wasn't necessarily the BEST but it was tangible. And good. A political tale about a neutral nation that was annexed, on the surface by war, but underneath, by deception and murder. It shows you this right off the bat and builds on it. You've got characters that are believable enough (barring Fran's bunny ears of course), an evil empire that is slowly eating the whole world, and a MASSIVE world to explore and take it all in at the same time.
Anyway, that's enough for now. I'm going to explain more about this as time goes on and I play through a bit more but I'm only about 6 hours in and I have class shortly. In the next post, I'll talk about the controversial battle system, the quality of the progression of FF12 and the evolution of how Square has handled the overworld in the final fantasy series.
Cheers!
-Chris
