Bahamut + Ending

August 28, 2007, 6:34 AM

Do Not Read Unless You Want Spoilers

My apologies if there's a thread like this, but there shouldn't be since I did a search for one in the XII section. Now, onto my silly opinions that don't matter!

What I thought of the Bahamut: for an uber 1337 legendary sky fortress...it looked pretty unintimidating, and rather impractical as well.

What I thought of Gabranth: aside from Balthier and Fran, he was probably the most interesting character in the game. I liked him. Pretty weak for the head Judge though...

What I thought of Vayne: wow, totally forgot he even existed, you barely hear about him through the bulk of the story. At his first transformation I thought I was watching Dragon Ball Z. Then his fusion with Venat and the resulting metallic structure built around him reminded me of the infamous Japanese cyber punk movie Tetsuo the Iron Man.

What I thought of fighting Vayne and his attacks: he hit pretty weak, and also thanks to the Crystal and Aegis shields I was able to block half his attacks, both physical and magick. As for his uber attacks...I don't understand this game. Both your quickening attacks and Vayne's attacks look uber 1337 (especially Vayne's)...but they're all weak as hell. Powerful-looking attacks should be powerful, not leave you going "did that even do any damage?"

What I thought of the ending: I'm hugely disappointed by the ending. It was anticlimactic, involved too much talking and frankly, it was boring. Nobody grew any closer to each other during the game, I certainly didn't gain any attachment to the characters, and everyone pretty much goes their own way. The most I felt during the ending was "oh no, I hope Fran and Balthier don't die, they're the only ones I like..." I was hoping they'd at least throw in something cool for the secret ending...but much to my dismay, after sitting through the credits there was NO secret ending. At least Penelo got a new outfit..

I suppose in the end, the only feeling I'm left with is ripped off. All the work and time (127 hours) I put into this game and the ending leaves me feeling empty. And why is there a trend in FF games for the end boss to be weak? Sephiroth was weak, Kuja and Necron were weak, Yu Yevon was weak, Gabranth and Vayne were weak...I can't speak for VIII but it wouldn't surprise me if the end boss was weak too.

Blah. So what say you fine people? What thought all you of the ending?

August 28, 2007, 7:00 AM

I always thought Ghis was the head judge. I mean, he had the gold armor and all. But yes, I did love Gabranth. I thought he was a great character. Although I can't agree with you about Fran; I didn't find her interesting at all and didn't really care whether she lived or died.

The Bahamut just looked strange to me and Vayne was a pushover (all forms). His second form was the creepiest by far. I liked Vayne as a character though. I thought he was a good villain and I liked the relationship between him and Larsa.

I thought the scenes that were shown while the party is boarding/aboard the Bahamut were great though, mostly because they had a lot of Ondore in them.

I was pretty underwhelmed by the ending myself but I'm guessing they were really just setting up for the sequel. Although I did like the bit with Basch, Larsa and Gabranth.

And yes, Ultimecia (end boss from VIII) was weak too.

August 28, 2007, 7:28 AM

I didn't pay enough attention to know who the head judge was, i just assumed it was Gabranth since he's the most prominent.

The scenes were nice enough. I don't know why they didn't put more FMVs in this game though, or at least why they didn't make the existing ones LONGER...christ, there were ones that lasted for like 10 seconds. I agree with you though, i did like the relationship between Vayne and his sister *cough* oh wait, Larsa's a boy, i keep forgetting <.<

OH! Another thing i forgot to mention that really irked me was how at the Ridorana Cataract, then later again in Bahamut, Balthier is like "i'm the leading role" and stuff like that. WTF? It's like the characters actually realize they're in a game. And then Fran tells him on the Bahamut "you're more of a supporting role" so it's like the game is poking fun at itself. GAY.

August 28, 2007, 7:48 AM

I don't think it was ever clearly stated. I just saw the gold armor and figured Ghis was the top dog as far as judges go.

Balthier really irritated me with all that leading man crap. I mean, who walks around saying that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by VengefulRonin

I agree with you though, i did like the relationship between Vayne and his sister *cough* oh wait, Larsa's a boy, i keep forgetting <.<

Don't bash poor Larsa. It's not his fault the designers put him in heeled shoes and stockings and gave him a girly haircut.

I actually never mistook him for a girl though.

August 28, 2007, 11:15 PM

I liked the ending, although Ashe's sudden feelings for Balthier just appeared out of nowhere O_O i liked the narration and Penelos new outift+hair rocked. And i ADORE kiss me goodbye, it's a beautiful song

and for the record, i too always assumed Ghis was the Judges Leader, he is the most active one at the start of the game after all.

August 28, 2007, 11:18 PM

If you don't mind, I'm just going to hit the same points you did. I'll add a couple of my own, too.

What I Thought of Bahamut: I thought it looked wicked, but the way they were all talking about it, I was expecting a MONSTER. I guess they at least stayed consistant, with all the old monsters just being the names of ships. But still, they all acted like Bahamut was a living thing, not a sky fortress. As for the practicality of it? I guess given the melodramatic nature of the series, and the fact that Bahamut IS supposed to be the biggest, baddest whatever it's supposed to be, it fits that it was a huge f'n ship.

What I Thought of Gabranth: H'es introduced as a villian early in the game, then as a sympathetic character...which is confusing, and he doesn't actually do anything for most of the game. And his association with Basch is very limited considering the story. I don't know. Sometimes in this game, I found myself thinking they bit off far more than they could chew.

What I Thought of the Ending: Not a disappointment, really. Sort of par for the course as far as FF games go. It was sappy, kinda cheezy, and kinda cute all at the same time. I think it was very cool that Ashe doesn't end up being buddy-buddy with the crew. I mean, she is the queen, and they are commoners. I liked that once the whole thing was over, Balthier and Fran split, just like they would have if they were real sky pirates. I'm glad Bathlier gave the ring back, too.

I'm glad Basche is a Judge, but it sort of goes against what he had been doing for the whole game. I guess I felt a lot of the story was rushed.

What I Thought of Vayne: Vayne was a well-drawn character, who had logic behind a lot of his actions...for the most part. I like how he tries to protect Larsa for the bulk of the game because he really loves his brother, but then tries to kill him just the same later on.

And to see him just as another pawn for the rebel Occura was kinda cool on it's own, but very disappointing in the long run. I suppose, as the story plays out, it makes sense, but it just made me feel like I was fighting the underboss, and not the guy who I was told was the baddest man on the planet for 90 hours.

Overall: I'd have to say that I was at first very upset with the battle system, but warmed to it later. Then, in the final stages of the game, when I was at high-levels and very in-tune with how the gambit system worked and all that, the system made the game FAR too easy. What was a murderously hard game early on became a walk in the f'n park in the exact stages when it should be the hardest. If you level to 60 (I was 70) you literally don't have to touch a button in the last four fights.

My biggest complaint is that the story becomes 100% more complex in the last hour of the game. Rather than giving us a nice twist at the end, Square completely overhauled the storyline so close to the end of the game that it ended up being muddy and confusing rather than neat and satisfying.

Like, Reddas being introduced was obviously a big deal, but we find out he's Zecht...which is ALSO cool, but we never even SAW Zecht, and he only got a mention or two in the entire game!

I'd say it was really fun to play for 80% of the game, then really boring, and the story just jumbles at the end. Good effort, beautiful game, and mostly-fun battle system for the bulk of the game.

August 28, 2007, 11:25 PM

I pretty much agree with everything VR said. It's really incongruous that Vayne and the majority of the main party was not as interesting as Gabranth or even Dr. Cid.

August 29, 2007, 8:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDawg

What I Thought of Bahamut: I thought it looked wicked, but the way they were all talking about it, I was expecting a MONSTER. I guess they at least stayed consistant, with all the old monsters just being the names of ships. But still, they all acted like Bahamut was a living thing, not a sky fortress. As for the practicality of it? I guess given the melodramatic nature of the series, and the fact that Bahamut IS supposed to be the biggest, baddest whatever it's supposed to be, it fits that it was a huge f'n ship.

I thought the same exact thing too, even though i'd heard before that the Bahamut was a ship, they way they talked about made me think it just had to be a monster. But no...it was a giant floating screw

Quote:

What I Thought of Gabranth: H'es introduced as a villian early in the game, then as a sympathetic character...which is confusing, and he doesn't actually do anything for most of the game. And his association with Basch is very limited considering the story. I don't know. Sometimes in this game, I found myself thinking they bit off far more than they could chew.

I really like how he stuck by Larsa as a loyal protector and didn't challenge Vayne until he saw Larsa wounded (i could have sworn he was KILLED, it looked that way). They really could have done more with him being Basch's brother, though.

Quote:

What I Thought of Vayne: Vayne was a well-drawn character, who had logic behind a lot of his actions...for the most part. I like how he tries to protect Larsa for the bulk of the game because he really loves his brother, but then tries to kill him just the same later on.

And to see him just as another pawn for the rebel Occura was kinda cool on it's own, but very disappointing in the long run. I suppose, as the story plays out, it makes sense, but it just made me feel like I was fighting the underboss, and not the guy who I was told was the baddest man on the planet for 90 hours.

Him attacking Larsa just made no sense. He'd held Larsa in such high regard throughout the game, even though they didn't see eye to eye, and then he just turned on him. I guess they did that to get you pissed at him, since he doesn't do anything else in the game to make you hate him.

I really liked the Occuria subplot...but...i actually sympathized with Venat, Cid, and Vayne, and i'm not sure it's a good thing in games where you sympathize with the ones you're fighting.

Quote:

Overall: I'd have to say that I was at first very upset with the battle system, but warmed to it later. Then, in the final stages of the game, when I was at high-levels and very in-tune with how the gambit system worked and all that, the system made the game FAR too easy. What was a murderously hard game early on became a walk in the f'n park in the exact stages when it should be the hardest. If you level to 60 (I was 70) you literally don't have to touch a button in the last four fights.

My biggest complaint is that the story becomes 100% more complex in the last hour of the game. Rather than giving us a nice twist at the end, Square completely overhauled the storyline so close to the end of the game that it ended up being muddy and confusing rather than neat and satisfying.

Like, Reddas being introduced was obviously a big deal, but we find out he's Zecht...which is ALSO cool, but we never even SAW Zecht, and he only got a mention or two in the entire game!

I'd say it was really fun to play for 80% of the game, then really boring, and the story just jumbles at the end. Good effort, beautiful game, and mostly-fun battle system for the bulk of the game.

The last 4 bosses...well i touched the controller about half the time, and that's because that nasty gambit glitch kept popping up and people weren't doing what they should have, or i'd be switching out equipment on the fly.

The story picked up sooo much around the time you were introduced to Reddas, which only pissed me off further because they tried to jam so much into the very end. It was so unbalanced, i don't know why they couldn't have more evenly spread it out. I think that's part of what makes me so disappointed in the ending, by the time the story gets really interesting, it's over.