FFXII: What would you change?

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I'm pretty sure many people have lots to say about this game. What would you want to see changed?

I personally find FFXII a good game, though not quite as good as the older FFs.

Here's my list (the ones I can remember anyway).
-Design the game so that grinding for money is not necessary. At almost every town I find myself having to grind for loots just to get those expensive armors and weapons... This really destroys the experience of the game to me. The duration of grinding makes the story feel disconnected.
-Exclude Vaan and Penelo. OR make Penelo possess some secret magical power. e.g. she's the last of an ancient race who can control the magicites or something like that.
-Make stats more varied. The characters are almost identical in terms of gameplay.
-It would have been amazing if each region is single-loading area like archylte steppe. I think this will create an illusion of a truly seamless open, huge world.
-Make Espers more useful, and allow each Esper to be accessible to all characters.
-I'm not a fan of the 'sell-random-loot-to-get-bazaar-items' system.



Some great changes were made in the international version of this game. Though I wish I could play it.
 
I would have had a few changes in storyline because the rest of the game was pretty spot on for me. Vaan needed more of a role to be the lead character. Either have Balthier as the lead character or have some sort of reason for Vaan to be there. Maybe a love triangle between Penelo, Ashe and Vaan? The first time I played I was sure something like that would develop but nothing ever did. The story was all just a bit too political and detached, at least some romance and bonding within the team would add some personal touch to it.

Also, my only gripe about the licensing system (because I generally think it's great) is that you should have been able to see what you were doing, that way you could chose roles for your characters and know how to licence them appropriately instead of having to guess.

Can't think of anything else, will add more when I do :)

Xx..xX
 
I loved the gameplay of this game, I wouldn't change a thing because it was the most fun of any FF game I have played. I loved the gambits which I know a lot of people hate :(

Things I would change have more to do with characters and story I guess:
1. Get rid of Vaan. What a useless little shit. OR
2. Give Vaan a real part in the story.
3. I love Penelo coz she is cute but give her more of a role in the story as well so she doesn't feel so useless.
4. Change the story completely. I am not interested in politics. It's boring. I like me some corny romance in my FF games :( Gimme summa dat.

This is all.
 
I loved the gameplay of this game, I wouldn't change a thing because it was the most fun of any FF game I have played. I loved the gambits which I know a lot of people hate :(

4. Change the story completely. I am not interested in politics. It's boring. I like me some corny romance in my FF games :( Gimme summa dat.

I agree...I loved the battle system, I thought it was fun since turn based can get really boring; this was more involved. Aaaaand I also like when there are some really corny romance haha. Balthier and Fran did not count :mokken: The story got hard to follow and I felt myself dazing in and out of boring political dialogue...
Sheechiibii said:
The story was all just a bit too political and detached, at least some romance and bonding within the team would add some personal touch to it.

I also agree with this, since it gave Penelo and Vaan no real involvement. If they did add something to bond them then they would have more of a role and there would be less griping against Vaan.

Also, they should fix Vaan's abs so that they don't look like his ribs. It made him look boney and starving :(

Espers were complete shit :hmph: I never used them; I think maybe I did once towards the beginning with that fire dude bear thing. Also, make them have actual FF names :hmph: It's not Mateus, it's Shiva. And it's not the bearfire dude it's Ifrit. :hmph:
 
I prefer being able to control all the characters, rather than have a party leader and the rest of the group is controlled by AI/Gambit system. So I would personally change that....but that's just me. I prefer controlling the entire party like FF1-X-2. Whether it be turned based, Active Time, or Conditional Turn base. I prefer those systems better.

I would also change the dialogue. It was just way too dull for me. And the story for that matter. This is one of the few FF's where I really could care less what was going on. I began skipping the cut scenes because the story held absolutely no interest for me. Along the lines of changing the story, I would probably also get rid of Vaan and Penelo and make Balthier the beginning lead character with Ashe also taking the lead when her story starts to really evolve. Similar to X where Tidus is technically the main character, but at the end of the day the story is truly about Yuna.

The Espers should become more useful. I honestly don't remember summoning them all that often. I don't even remember what they were, what their names where, etc. I like the concept of the 12 zodiac signs, but without some of our favorite summons like Ifrit, Bahamut, Shiva, Leviathan, Odin, Carbuncle, Alexander, Phoenix, etc. they were kind of.....boring. Call me old school, but I would have liked at least ONE of the reoccurring summons rather than them being the names of sky fortresses.

And I agree that the grinding for money was very annoying.
 
I really liked majority of the game when I first got it. I used to think it was beautiful and simply amazing. Key word used to.

Looking now there were so many flaws it was unrealistic.

The leveling system was horrid. You had little incentive to go after difficult monsters (aside from the EXP) because every monster gave LP. You could sit in the desert and farm for all the LP you'll ever need (which I did) and then sell the loot you get for all the spells you need (which I did as well). Half of the characters are useless. I never even knew there was a storyline to this game either.

I'm sad to say it but this was my least favorite final fantasy game ):
 
I'm still playing through FFXII currently, so I don't have a completed perspective, but from what I've done thus far, my only real complaints center around the license board.

For one, it's extremely intimidating to new players for the series.
FFXII was actually the first FF I ever played, and it all seemed so complicated--mostly because of the license board--that I gave up a couple hours in and didn't come back for several more months until I was convinced by someone on YouTube to try FFX, which has a much more standard FF system that I was able to catch on to. However, after playing several other games in the series I felt comfortable enough with the system to try FFXII again, and now I'm absolutely loving it. The Gambit system went kind of the same way for me; initially it was very intimidating, and now I don't know what I'd do without it. I guess the solution here would be better in-game explanations of all the systems and make them appear right from the get-go so new players aren't left in the dark about what 90% of the menu they're supposed to use even does.

For another thing, the license board is not unique per character.
Whether you had the ability to choose your own jobs or were just stuck with assigned jobs, every other FF game I know of uses some sort of job system where different characters perform different tasks and improve upon those tasks above all others. The license board permits every character to perform exactly the same, even in ways that wouldn't make any logical sense at all (for example, Penelo, a teenage girl, could very well run around with an axe and heavy armor while a seasoned soldier like Basch spends his time casting White Magic). It would have been better, I think, if the board was somewhat different for each person, allowing them to branch out but also naturally limit them to a job that makes sense.

One final but minor thing would be change Vaan's role in the game.
He worked fine as a starting out character, but that's all he should be treated as, then. Making Vaan the default character for towns and such doesn't even make sense after a while. It would have been better for Vaan to act as a sort of secondary tutorial character after Reks that then gets replaced by Ashe, since the story definitely shifts the focus onto her a few hours in. This too I mostly don't really notice any more though, because it's easy to set Ashe as party leader and get this effect for nearly all practical purposes.
 
I love this game overall. The only thing that bothered me is that some areas are so big that you start forgetting about the storyline but even so in the end it was a pretty satisfying experience.
Only 2 things I would change
-Change the main character but still keep vaan and penelo .. I dont mind them at all.
-NO GRINDING! Please!
-Make it harder.. The only challenging boss to me were the mandragoras
 
Everything you said, plus character design.

What in fresh hell happened to it? They had so many lines and wrinkles everywhere, and in the FMVs, they looked like clay. Their hair looked like they had dreads, instead of seeing each hair flow soothingly in the wind~ like Yuna's hair, for example.

I don't know, it kinda confused me that X and X-2 had better FMV than the next installment.
 
I couldn't help but notice that the concept of the Occuria and their string-pulling crashed the storyline. As a whole, the existence and role of the Occuria make perfect sense, particularly when you examine the motivations of the villains, but the execution was somewhat mishandled. There was no proper narrative buildup to them and they seem a little bit random to the first-time player. Likewise, I wish we learn a little more about Venat: what exactly motivated Venat to defect from its brethren, how the first meeting between Dr. Cid and Venat occured, how this partnership formed, and perhaps more of this "friendship" between Vayne and Dr. Cid.

I am disappointed by the roles of one or two judges - namely Drace. She and Zargabaath certainly stick around long enough onscreen for the player to solidly identify their individual characterisations, but it irks me that the one female Judge - and one of the most honourable and benevolent of the quintuplet - is almost as quickly killed off as we the player see her for the entirety of the game. While I've long denied that FFXII was that incomplete, I can acknowledge that perhaps some plot points went nowhere, as potentially intriguing as they could have been. Take Balthier's revelatory story that he was once offered to be a Judge by his father. Where did that really go? Nowhere. It was more or less just a "by the way, Ashe, on the topic of our respective fathers, did you know this?" while the party was traipsing through the Phon Coast. And the quick exoneration of Basch? A bit too quick for me, not helped by the somewhat irksome and overly convenient "oh hey, my evil twin brother did it. Yup, that is exactly what happened!" trope. Sure, it was a clever gambit by Vayne to use a twin brother to frame the other, but still...

Miscellaneous other things? Well, everyone's already picked on Vaan and perhaps Penelo to an extent. The pair of them could stay, though I really wish they weren't so vanilla. It's Vaan as our supposed player avatar and protagonist that was a stupid decision and I don't care how many Japanese Famitsu readers wanted one of those kind of main characters. Oh well, I don't really care that much. I still see Ashe as being the true protagonist, with Vaan being the placeholder standing in for her until her proper debut.

Other little nags include: Espers. They're epic when you fight them, as torturous as the road to Zodiark is. If so, then why are they so pathetic when you summon them to a fight? It pains me to admit that I found more reasons to use FFXIII's Eidolons in that game than the Espers here. Random treasure? No thanks. This isn't some pure dungeon crawler and part of the reasons why a player explores every nook and cranny in an RPG is to possibly find some sweet loot stashed away in a nicely hidden corner somewhere. It devalues it when you can simply just pick up something crummy like a Knot of Rust when you were expecting some fantastic new sword. And the licence board is a bit daft. I agree with the people who ridicule the homogeny of the boards, so that even Penelo is as able with a sword as an experienced warrior like Basch. And the fact you need a licence to use a fucking hat.

If Square is in any way capable enough of pushing out that FFX HD release they said they were doing before civilisation dies and foliage grow on our rotting city carcasses, they should push out FFXII HD as well. With the Zodiac Job System goodness. THEN we can get some Licence board differentiations and the ability to tweak around and play as our guest characters. And I don't even know if I can muster enough faith in Square-Enix to do even that nowadays, but it would be bloody awesome if they could. I don't care if FFXII is universally less popular than FFX either. I can live without the soppy romantic stuff that - guess what? - aren't even that fantastically written, or at least done in a way that doesn't turn me off. I don't care if the substantially less anime-ish and political intrigue turn people off. I think it was absolutely refreshing to see FFXII do its own thing and with the style of dialogue that the dub used. It really fit the style of a very large, bustling JRPG world. It's what an in-game JRPG world should be and why I vastly prefer it to something like Spira.

P.S. Whose idea was it for the obtaining of the Zodiac Spear to be that retarded? Seriously, whose was it? How the flying fuck would the player know how to get it without a meticulous guide to tell them? And I would also change that whole Yiazmat fight for any prospective HD release. Nothing that ridiculous in HP that the player has to leave and re-enter the fight several times to win. Make it ONE big challenging fight. Make it a PROPER superboss. Kthxbai.
 
I want to first say that I LOVED FFXII. I thought it was a unique game and the first Numbered FF game (other than XI because LBH who counts the online only ones?) To stray away from turn based combat. But there are some things that could have changed...

1. Vaan

2. The ENTIRE esper system

3. Item spawn and creature spawn percentage. (Seriously what the fuck? Some items are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get without killing certain enemies half a billion times to get an item it only drops a certain percentage of the time. There's an enemy that only spawns like 1 in a thousand some times that you enter the area, and if THAT'S not bad enough, there's only 1 in a ten thousand some chance that it drops the item you were farming them for... Again... What the fuck?)

4. The short ass story. (The story really isn't THAT long... it's the side-quests that make the game big...)

I think that's it for now... I'll come back if I think of anything else.
 
Loved the game as a whole but there are a few things I'd change.

1. Hate Penelo, period.
2. Hate Ashe, period.
3. Don't like how none of the characters have different set of statistics. I blame FFVI for ruining the character statistical growth and actually giving characters stats that make a difference. FFIV was the last to do so.
4. Expand the idea of the license board to focus each character on a certain set of options (classes or jobs if you will).
5. Hate Garamsythe Waterway, period.
6. Too much of the flow of the game is ruined by Teleport Stones--thus making side quests and hunts too distracting to continue the main storyline.
7. Tone down the physical attack power of the characters and all weapons past the first set you can buy.
8. Magic takes a back seat it seems to melee.
9. More monster arrangements on some maps would be nice. Seeing the same-ass monsters on every map of the region gets old.
10. Gambits rock but only once you reach the two thirds point through the storyline. I might hack this game to give you more Gambits earlier.
 
2. Hate Ashe, period.

Penelo, I get. She's useless, along with Vaan - but Ashe? Come on. What would you change about her? She's a headstrong hero who is guided by her determination to achieve liberty. She has strong will, is selfless, very loyal and fiercely independent. She's a breath of fresh air in terms of female characters. Her costume screams fanservice, yes, but even her body shape is a relief - broad hips, an ass and tiny boobs? Variety in a female is always a hell fucking yes.

I can't understand the hate she gets. I'd like to know though. Not to rag on you, but I just don't get it. I'd like to discuss what you would change about her.
 
I would put more story in the story, and then put even more story. Not about nethicite either. More about the characters and a war.

That's it really. That games battle system and gambit/license board was flawless IMO.

Graphically wise it was damn good for ps2 once again IMO.

:)

Ooo get rid of Fran too. I wouldn't have used her if not for the backup party. She was very annoying to me.
 
I would change the fact that over half, if not all, of the secret shit you score requires some kind of guide to get to. There is no way someone would be able to figure that crap out for themselves. Acquiring the Fomalhaut is a prime example; the weapon is only obtained from randomly spawning treasure chests in specific areas.

Good luck wild guessing that one.
 
Penelo, I get. She's useless, along with Vaan - but Ashe? Come on. What would you change about her? She's a headstrong hero who is guided by her determination to achieve liberty. She has strong will, is selfless, very loyal and fiercely independent. She's a breath of fresh air in terms of female characters. Her costume screams fanservice, yes, but even her body shape is a relief - broad hips, an ass and tiny boobs? Variety in a female is always a hell fucking yes.

I can't understand the hate she gets. I'd like to know though. Not to rag on you, but I just don't get it. I'd like to discuss what you would change about her.

I can explain my opinion about her but obviously it wouldn't suit the other people's opinions. :)

1. I hate her English voice. And I do mean hate it, granted this is down to the voice actor. But the voice actor is a part of the character so I hate the character for it.
2. I hate hate HATE H A T E her constant sighing, again down to the dialogue and the voice actor. My next play-through I will jot down how many damn times she sighs in the game. Her and Penelo both...
3. Her dialogue seems accidental to me, no consistent flow. I understand the developers were trying to write her this way but that's still crappy. At least with Tina/Terra from FF6 she had meaningful dialogue that didn't see like she stumbled upon her lines and or role.
4. I'm not a fan of how she looks either, granted this is just superficial but it is my opinion. Just don't like the outfit they chose for her.
5. Don't like what her Mist's look like.
6. No real value to have in my party. Considering all the above and the sheer hatred of her overall character I never purposely put her in my party unless my 3 party members and Balthier die first. Funny thing is I rarely if ever equip her with equipment beyond what she may have had already equipped. Haha.
 
I can explain my opinion about her but obviously it wouldn't suit the other people's opinions. :)

1. I hate her English voice. And I do mean hate it, granted this is down to the voice actor. But the voice actor is a part of the character so I hate the character for it.
2. I hate hate HATE H A T E her constant sighing, again down to the dialogue and the voice actor. My next play-through I will jot down how many damn times she sighs in the game. Her and Penelo both...
3. Her dialogue seems accidental to me, no consistent flow. I understand the developers were trying to write her this way but that's still crappy. At least with Tina/Terra from FF6 she had meaningful dialogue that didn't see like she stumbled upon her lines and or role.
4. I'm not a fan of how she looks either, granted this is just superficial but it is my opinion. Just don't like the outfit they chose for her.
5. Don't like what her Mist's look like.
6. No real value to have in my party. Considering all the above and the sheer hatred of her overall character I never purposely put her in my party unless my 3 party members and Balthier die first. Funny thing is I rarely if ever equip her with equipment beyond what she may have had already equipped. Haha.

Oh, so all shallow reasons then. That's pretty fair though. I was just curious, because so many people seem to hate her.

I do agree with the sighing though. Good lord, would I ever change that.
 
First off, I liked the Gambits, were it not for this fact I would count this game as a colossal waste. Any time saved on my part while level-grinding is welcome :)

Generally:
1. I hated that if I left a character behind (obviously Penelo) she'd be like "Vaan, hey, wait up" in that whiny voice, then I'd have to stop moving until she caught up. (sometimes I get dangerously impatient)
2. Being part of Montblanc's Clan and those hunts didn't feel exclusive enough. There should've been a momentous trial or a tournament to decide if you were up to snuff.
3. Hated how I had to sell stuff for cash. Show me the money!!!

Character-wise: Besides the fact that everyone looked like they'd just rolled out of bed...
4. I hated Vaan's lack of personality "Come on, grow some backbone. What are you DOING? I'm waiting for you to make this story YOURS!"
5. Hated Balthier. He was a smug, suave, show-off. (I'm not too fond of the 'Bond' types) If he was supposed to be the 'leading man' as he claimed, why wasn't he the main character? (because I would've completely hated the game, duh)
6. Hated Penelo. Too little sisterly/tag-along next-door-girl-ish type (In a boring way)

Story-wise:
7. I waited fruitlessly for some ultimate reason for Vaan's part in the adventure. Does he fall in love with Ashe and become king? Was his brother killed for a cool reason or did he amazingly survive and turn to the dark side leading to a wrenching face-off at the end? Will he avenge his death or what? Come on, gimme SOMETHING!!
 
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Yeah, that. :omg:

I also loathed the music. Especially the tinkering tune of the Rabanastre slums.
And what was with that vaguely Indian theme? The accent of the narrator and Vaan's clothing, for instance...
 
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