Shortly before the end.

[kageotogi]

So I think I might be almost done with Final Fantasy XII.

...probably about half of you, who know how long I've been playing this game, are rolling your eyes and going "FINALLY. God. I beat that a week after it came out, and you've been playing for, what, a year? Omfg. Net speak lol". And I don't blame you. But it's so pretty. ♥

In any case, I've been playing for 118 hours, I believe, though it doesn't feel that long at all (did I mention it was so pretty?), and I still have a mess of hunts to do and levels to earn and such, but so far as the actual game-plot is concerned? I feel like it's almost done. Not because I looked up the game timeline and was all "Oh-hoh, this next area will be the last one!" or anything (because I'm refusing to cheat at all, as much as I've been tempted to every now and then), but because I'm familiar with the Final Fantasy format and, hey, this is starting to feel like the end. The story is beginning to wind down. I'm learning more about the characters. Really, I just have to figure out why Vaan sometimes sees ghosts, why Ashe is such a tool, and why Balthier thinks he's going to be kicking it at some point (untoward? Balthier, I love you and you're absolutely lovely, but "untoward"? Really? I'm going to question your wordchoice on that one, love). Other than that, I think the story is almost done. I'm guessing I have maybe... Two more areas to go through after the Pharos. Maybe three.

I'm dying to learn how the game ends, but I also want to Do It Right. My characters are averaging around level 52, and I still have a whole list of hunts to finish (I keep putting them off because I don't like to use Teleport Stones and, well, there's not really any other way to get places except for walking, and that can take forever. Then again, I have the Strahl now. Maybe it won't be such a big deal after all). I know if I go ahead and play the end, just because, I won't go back and redo the things I neglected to do before. So the potential of finishing the game in an hour or two? Has just gone up to finishing in ten hours or so.

Maybe I need to reevaluate this whole "Doing It Right" thing.

Anyway, that's my video game rant of the moment. I hadn't done one in a while, so I figured I was due. Live with it.

Why don't I have any icons for Final Fantasy? The closest I have is Reno from Advent Children, and I'm not sure that counts. Clearly I need to reevaluate my icons, too. That'll be a project for another day. When I'm not supposed to be working. Maybe.

Comments

[parhelion-spark.livejournal.com]

I stopped following FF after FFX, admittedly, but what's this? You say..plot? I have no idea what anything in FFXII is about. NOT EVEN THE SYSTEM.
That said, would you say it's closer plot/characterization wise to, like, pre-FFX, or is it all about the pretties?
BASICALLY IS THERE ANY CHANCE I MIGHT LIKE THIS? And also, what system is it? XD

(It's been so long since I had a new rpg to love. I'M DESPERATE POSSIBLY. I can only replay classic FFs so many times before I can recite the damned dialogue alongside the characters. But modern games are all flash anymore! Flash and tits! And for all my love og breasteses they do not a good game make.)

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

FFXII was made for the PS2, so if you could play FFX, you can play FFXII. It does have plot -- moreso than FFX (which, in my remembrance, was mostly just "Run around and fight things so Yuna can kill a monster, lol", and that dream thing, which I still think is silly). It's not quite on par with classics like FFVI (my personal favorite), but I have to say it's more engaging than, say, FFVII or FFVIII. It reminds me more of FFIX than any of those, I think -- it's very pretty, but the characters are intriguing and (for the most part) fleshed out, and the story has a purpose.

The battle system is different. It's not like it was in any of the other games, and it's more like the systems in, say, Wild Arms, the FMA games, or Kingdom Hearts, if those ring a bell. But once you get used to it, it's actually great -- and makes a lot more sense than, say, hitting a monster and waiting your turn.

FFVI is still my favorite FF game, but I think FFXII is going to come as a close second, mostly because of the characters. (Balthier? Fran? God. Amazing. They alone make the game worth it.) I can't say if the plot itself is going to resolve well or anything like that, since I haven't finished the game and I know there are still several loose ends to be resolved before the final scene, but the characters are fantastic, the plot (thus far) makes sense, and there are plenty of side quests, which make everything pretty damn interesting.

One of my favorite points is that the main character (Vaan) gets a lot of shit from everybody. He's not stupid so much as he's clueless (he doesn't get out much), and everybody -- yes, everybody -- makes fun of him. It's great, and definitely a change from most of the FF games. It's an element I can appreciate. There's also very little lovey-dovey bull going on, which makes it different from most of the later FF games (like XI and X), and leaves the player more room to infer what he or she would like.

Um. In short? Try the game out. It may not meet your standards, but I like it a lot thus far. Give it a shot!

[parhelion-spark.livejournal.com]

FFIX IS MY FAVOURITE SO THAT ALONE JUST SOLD ME.
(mind, classic FFs are good too (and definitely trump 7/8 IMHO), but RUSTY! ZIDANE! I loved the characters of FFIX so so much.)

Yay! thanks for being so detailed too- now I'm all retardedly excited and stuff WHICH IS GOOD. I haven't felt this way about a game since Morrowind. XD

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

I hope it lives up to your hopes, then! ^__^ Like I said, this is all just my personal opinion, but I have yet to talk to someone who doesn't like the game (although I'm sure they exist), so I think maybe you'll be in luck.

(FFIX and FFVI are the best. Hands down. FFXII is worming its way up there, though, so yay!)

[parhelion-spark.livejournal.com]

I'm just so happy it's not like FFX! I mourned. I seriously did. When X-2 came out I thought I was swearing off the franchise forever.

Maybe the legion of FFVII fanboys wouldn't like it? IN WHICH CASE I HAH.

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

FFX wasn't bad... except for the plot being stupid, the characters being all hung up over nothing, and the motivations for their continuing their "quest" were very, very weak. And the dream thing. Good goodness, the dream thing. >_<

Oh, I'm sure the FFVII legion will like it anyway. They get their fair share of T&A, after all.

[parhelion-spark.livejournal.com]

My issue with FFX was all of that, but mostly.. NO OVERHEAD MAP! It just didn't feel right. UNLESS YOU CAN WALK EVERYWHERE A LA MORROWIND OR YOU CAN SEE AN OVERHEAD MAP, GTFO.

...apparently gaming makes me capslocky. :P

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha. XD Well, FFXII has an overhead map, so no worries there. ♥ In some places you have to find the map/create the map/walk the map, but that's really easy to do, so whatever.

[parhelion-spark.livejournal.com]

?
HOORAH RECREATIONAL TOPOGRAPHY.

It is an oft overlooked aspect of gaming.

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

I know. There's one area in the game where you have to give up one of your features -- your weapon, magic, items, or minimap -- and, thinking it wouldn't matter, I turned off the map. I nearly went crazy over the next hour and a half as I tried to find doors and stairwells and all of that. It was nuts.

Maps are vital. End of story.

[parhelion-spark.livejournal.com]

And awesome!

Really, come to think of it, it's kind of a pity there's no genre devoted to mapmaking. THERE IS AWESOME GAMING POTENTIAL HERE.

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

RPG-Maker might come close. *muse* I don't know; I never really got into that one, so I couldn't say for sure. But wasn't there a mapmaking function?

[parhelion-spark.livejournal.com]

I think so! I own that actually, but I got confused about triggers or something, so put it down, and then like, 3 months later I'd forgotten all about what the hell my plot was XD

Then I couldn't figure out another one, because I'm the only person in the whole of the interweb who doesn't even write crackfic. I AM SO ALONE IN MY LACK OF CREATIVITY. Sadness.

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha. ^__^ I think I had that same problem. And then I was very "Bah, screw this" and never picked it up again.

[zxora.livejournal.com]

Aw, yeah...when I was ten or eleven I could never put my Pokemon game down. I would rush through it and then struggle to defeat the trainers at the Elite Building or whatever with the single highest-level pokemon that I had; now I've picked up the game again, although I'm taking my time to make all of my pokemon equal in terms of levels. It's taking a lot of my patience, but I think it'll be worth it in the end...:-P. Isn't addiction great?

Ah, and I've been meaning to congratulate you on your success with this year's NaNoWriMo...:-D.

~*Kelsey*~

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

Gaming addictions are the best. If it's a good addiction, one game can last you for years, making it much more financially responsible than drugs and liquor~! Although gaming while drinking liquor is fun.

...don't drink or do drugs. ♥

Thank you~!

[zxora.livejournal.com]

Lol, of course I won't...;-).

~*Kelsey*~

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

Good girl.

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

...I bought it at Christmas 2006... and still haven't beat it :D

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. ^_^

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

It's because I want to have a shot getting all the espers though... or whatever they were called. At my level now, I'm breezing at the current story arc and one-hitting enemies :/

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

Cool. What's your current level? (I've only gotten the main espers thus far -- the ones you have to beat to progress with the game. At some point I'll have to go through and try and figure out where the rest of them are. Do you get something cool if you get all the espers, do you know?)

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

I think I'm around level 50... I can already fight the monsters at the Deadlands of Nabreus... I have this bad habit of seeing how far I can get without advancing the story... soo...

As for the espers, I have um... Andramelech, the flan you get at the sewers, Z-something - the death summon guy you find at the underground passage... well, those are the ones I have so far. 8D in addition to the main ones...

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

Flan? Z-something? *__* I have no idea what you're talking about. Clearly I need to do more exploring. Then again, I almost never use espers. So maybe it wouldn't be worth it... But I still plan to do it. Yikes!

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

I haven't assigned my espers as yet, I'm doing for the challenge. They can be pretty fun to fight with their big HP. It gets tougher later, I hear... I know, I think one of the espers has around a million HP...

Oh, I think it was Ultima? I'd like to take a shot fighting that 8D

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

Hee. That'll be my next move, I think. Espers.

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

...or the Marks :D! The Marks are fun too 8D!!

...not to mention the Elements... uh Entites! :D

[kageotogi.livejournal.com]

I haven't had any problem with the entites -- or haven't since I started kicking their butts with Quickenings. Marks and Espers, though? On the list. Then I'll go through and make sure my bestiary is complete. ^_^