FF XII Battle System Question

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acsguitar Posted: 11-01-2009 8:52 PM

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I'm thinking of getting FFXII. I hear the battle system is more ARPG then Turn based. I'm not a turn based RPG fan at all. Would this be the version to get?

Also is it worth 400 points to get the Collectors edition compared to 150 for the regular?

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mrkekeru replied on 11-01-2009 9:05 PM

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First of all the collector's edition is just a metal case with a crappy documentary DVD about the series made by Square Enix USA, most people who have seen it say it is terrible and not worth it.

The battle system is not at all turn based, but it is not real time either. You give some rudimentary instructions to each playable character which they follow automatically. Like if HP > 80% use potion and such. So the degree of involvement the player actually has is limited to walking around until you find a random encounter to kill then occasionally stepping in to use a potion as your characters auto-grind.  And you have to buy/find these instructions mostly. And then to use the items or spells you have to buy the ability to use them which involves grinding. Then you have to actually have to buy the items or spells themselves. The whole game is nothing but grinding. It's extremely slow-paced too, even on max speed, like they took the worst aspects of real-time and turn-based combat and combined them to make the worst battle system ever.

Also, the storyline sucks. At least half the cast is dead weight, everything that happens is completely predictable, and there is a really stupid plot twist.

Don't get the game.

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acsguitar replied on 11-01-2009 9:12 PM

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mrkekeru:

First of all the collector's edition is just a metal case with a crappy documentary DVD about the series made by Square Enix USA, most people who have seen it say it is terrible and not worth it.

The battle system is not at all turn based, but it is not real time either. You give some rudimentary instructions to each playable character which they follow automatically. Like if HP > 80% use potion and such. So the degree of involvement the player actually has is limited to walking around until you find a random encounter to kill then occasionally stepping in to use a potion as your characters auto-grind.  And you have to buy/find these instructions mostly. And then to use the items or spells you have to buy the ability to use them which involves grinding. Then you have to actually have to buy the items or spells themselves. The whole game is nothing but grinding. It's extremely slow-paced too, even on max speed, like they took the worst aspects of real-time and turn-based combat and combined them to make the worst battle system ever.

Also, the storyline sucks. At least half the cast is dead weight, everything that happens is completely predictable, and there is a really stupid plot twist.

Don't get the game.

LOL is there a better one I should get that isn't totally turn based boredom

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madfigs replied on 11-01-2009 9:19 PM

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If you don't like turn-based RPGs, Final Fantasy is probably not the best series for you...

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acsguitar replied on 11-01-2009 9:26 PM

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madfigs:

If you don't like turn-based RPGs, Final Fantasy is probably not the best series for you...

thats why i figured i'd try 12. As someone who doesn't Give a poo about FF is it worth trying since it's not the standard Turn based?

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Maskim replied on 11-01-2009 9:33 PM

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I enjoyed the story to 12, even though it blatantly borrows from star wars, heavily.  For the battle system, imagine an mmorpg, but with no one else playing, and you set up command scripts for the npcs in your party.  If hp = less than 50%, do this.  If mp = less than 50%, stop doing this.

It's not a bad game, but it isn't their finest hour, either.

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Catastrophic replied on 11-01-2009 9:33 PM

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madfigs:

If you don't like turn-based RPGs, Final Fantasy is probably not the best series for you...

Agreed, and I agree somewhat with mrkekeru about FF XII. It was a pretty weak game compared to others in the series.

If you don't like Turn-Based (you bastard!) and I assume you're looking for PS2 games then you should go with Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria and Odin Sphere. Pretty good games.

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acsguitar replied on 11-01-2009 9:51 PM

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Catastrophic:

madfigs:

If you don't like turn-based RPGs, Final Fantasy is probably not the best series for you...

 

Agreed, and I agree somewhat with mrkekeru about FF XII. It was a pretty weak game compared to others in the series.

If you don't like Turn-Based (you bastard!) and I assume you're looking for PS2 games then you should go with Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria and Odin Sphere. Pretty good games.

Rogue galaxy is on it's way maybe I'll stick with that for a while. im also currently playing baldurs gate DA so I think I'll have had enough RPGS for a while

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Catastrophic replied on 11-01-2009 9:57 PM

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acsguitar:

Rogue galaxy is on it's way maybe I'll stick with that for a while. im also currently playing baldurs gate DA so I think I'll have had enough RPGS for a while

Rogue Galaxy is another good game, you'll enjoy that one. If you like hack n' slashers and you haven't played em, Everquest: Champions of Norrath and Return to Arms are both excellent, but my partiality to Everquest may totally be swaying my judgement.

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acsguitar replied on 11-01-2009 9:59 PM

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Catastrophic:

acsguitar:

Rogue galaxy is on it's way maybe I'll stick with that for a while. im also currently playing baldurs gate DA so I think I'll have had enough RPGS for a while

Rogue Galaxy is another good game, you'll enjoy that one. If you like hack n' slashers and you haven't played em, Everquest: Champions of Norrath and Return to Arms are both excellent, but my partiality to Everquest may totally be swaying my judgement.

I have Everquest: CoN and RtA on hold because there is a decent wait for each game (or at least for CoN)

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HighWindXIX replied on 11-01-2009 11:01 PM

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For what its worth, I throughly enjoyed pretty much every aspect of FFXII and I'd have to rank it in my top RPGs. The battle system is so very flexible that you can pretty much play it however you'd like to. Its not full on action since there is a wait while a little gauge fills up before you can act again and such but you can set it so that it all happens in real time. The story isn't anything ground breaking but I did enjoy it. What it really comes down to, as far as I can tell, FFXII is really a love it or hate it kind of game and for 150 points I'd say you should at least give it a try . . . 

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acsguitar replied on 11-01-2009 11:08 PM

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HighWindXIX:

For what its worth, I throughly enjoyed pretty much every aspect of FFXII and I'd have to rank it in my top RPGs. The battle system is so very flexible that you can pretty much play it however you'd like to. Its not full on action since there is a wait while a little gauge fills up before you can act again and such but you can set it so that it all happens in real time. The story isn't anything ground breaking but I did enjoy it. What it really comes down to, as far as I can tell, FFXII is really a love it or hate it kind of game and for 150 points I'd say you should at least give it a try . . . 

Nice thanks for the heads up

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Rampant replied on 11-02-2009 12:44 AM

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I agree, FFXII is a love it or hate it. If you don't like other Final Fantasy games, you might like this one. The story could be better, but the voice acting is good and you can pretty much customize the characters to be whatever you want. You can also choose whether or not you want to micromanage your party, or sit back and let them follow instructions. I have the Collector's Edition and it's not worth it. But for 150 points I'd say buy it. I also happen to think it's better than Baldur's Gate DA.

I played a bit of Radiata Stories recently. It's not turn-based and the bit I played was fun. I don't like the controls of VP2, but it's good as well.

If you ever change your mind about turn-based, try the Suikoden series.

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DaLastDon25 replied on 11-02-2009 12:47 AM

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I love Final Fantasy XII but it's hard to get into the story.

If you're looking for some non turn-based action, look into Tales of the Abyss. 

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mafafu replied on 11-02-2009 7:03 AM

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HighWindXIX:

For what its worth, I throughly enjoyed pretty much every aspect of FFXII and I'd have to rank it in my top RPGs. The battle system is so very flexible that you can pretty much play it however you'd like to. Its not full on action since there is a wait while a little gauge fills up before you can act again and such but you can set it so that it all happens in real time. The story isn't anything ground breaking but I did enjoy it. What it really comes down to, as far as I can tell, FFXII is really a love it or hate it kind of game and for 150 points I'd say you should at least give it a try . . . 

I loved it and especially enjoyed the battle/gambit system.