So...who here has actually completed Final Fantasy XII, the PS2 Version?

Completed mybweapon collection and went to fight the last story boss after farming that fucking cave for the zodiac spear.

I ended up so doing everyone away except for Bal and just beat everyone in solo vs fights.

There were some parts of the game that really drag but otherwise it's pretty enjoyable

PhazonBlonde said:

To this day it's the only FF I haven't finished. And ive finished dirge of fucking cerebrus. Got 2/3 through and decided I didn't want to keep playing an offline MMO with no story and the worst FF MC in history

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Saying it has no story is laughable. And Vaan isn't the main character in the same way that Terra isn't. It's an ensemble cast with equal exposure to the story.

SkyOdin said:

I'm not asking for a win button, nor did I compare it to FFX. For most situations, summoning an Esper in FFXII isn't necessarily that optimal, since it reduces you from three party members to two.

My main complaint is that you get most of the Espers super late into the game, and the optional ones require you to jump through some big hoops and then fight really high level opponents. By the time you actually grt more than two or three summons, you are already past the mid game where they are useful. Adrammalech in particular was also one of those fights marred by the aforementioned infinite army of undead.

I actually miss the days of FFV, where the summoner is a strong class that isn't overpowered.

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The final summons are really good though...And yeah Addrammelech is a challenging fight, that doesn't make it broken. I guess we just don't have the same definition of something being broken;

I barely even used the fast forward in the remaster

SoraanTribal said:

I kinda agree with this. The fact that people say a fast forward option helps the game just says to me there is something wrong with the base gameplay in general.

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It does honestly say a lot. The fact that many people find it to be an improvement of the game also says a lot.

Spazgadget said:

Finished (and loved) the PS4 Zodiac Age version, though never completing the PS2 version back in the day.

I honestly think the battle system was ahead of its time when the PS2 version was released, and for me, it wasn't till now that it really clicked. Was so happy to get another chance to play that game looking its best. XII is a treat.

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I think the Gambit System was ahead of its time, but the combat system itself? Nah. Without Gambits the combat system is plotting, boring, and slow.

AztecComplex said:

XIII is better than XII and XV is the best FF since the PS1 era, fight me.

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Alright, bud. Calm down there. That's a fine opinion to have.

Silvergun-Blue said:

Me, it's my favourite FF. It has it's problems and the reasons for them are well documented, but it just seems to scratch an itch for me.

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I wish I liked it as much as you. But I am glad people like it! I wouldn't want people to be miserable playing a game. Lol.

I will say, though, Balthier, Gabranth, and Basch are all fantastic characters and the plot should've revolved more around them.

Not with that camera.

I did. I remember only reaon I even looked at the screen during final boss was cuz I felt bad for letting gambits handle everything. You could get hella OP and hella optimized if you fiddle with those...

I did, but I think only because I ended up doing that auto-levelling trick at some point because I felt so under-leveled. Could just be I was horrible at the game, though.

I did, at least twice.

Fantastic game.

PshycoNinja said:

It does honestly say a lot. The fact that many people find it to be an improvement of the game also says a lot.

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Not the fact that this is a game they've already played ? Not the fact that we have less time towards game as we age and have responsibilities ? It has to be the game, huh ?

Ask any random dude on ERA and he'll tell you that every JRPG would be better by having a fast forward more often than not. This is not an FF12 thing.

Yep.

Wasn't hard to finish that game.

IDreamOfHime said:

Not with that camera.

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Oh my goodness, I played this just two days ago and I completely forgot about this. People complain about cameras in modern games but XII is just really bad with it. Even XIII's camera was better and that one isn't all that great either.

I wanted so badly to like XII but had to drop it after 15 hours or so, I just wasn't enjoying the gameplay. I'd probably enjoy watching someone else play through version if they just plowed through the main storyline quickly. That's coming from someone who doesn't watch people play games. I enjoyed some of the characters, the art, the world building and the music.

I love that game, completed it twice on PS2 (haven't done the remaster yet). the Lighthouse of Faros tho....I'm not sure which is a worse PS2 era dungeon between Kharma Temple and Lighthouse of Faros

I've done it several times and enjoyed it every time. Done the extra stuff too. Fast forward is a nice addition but not necessary for me.

So glad you enjoyed, OP! I finished it twice back on the PS2, with both fairly close to 100% runs (I didn't get every weapon, but all the summons, magic, optional bosses, etc).

I did appreciate the quality of life-improvements in TZA - I ended up using the fast-forward button as a run button, and also used it for grinding levels or item drops. I really enjoyed the job system in TZA, but it was also fun in the original to have a lot of freedom with the characters, so I wish the option to use either had been left in.

SoraanTribal said:

I kinda agree with this. The fact that people say a fast forward option helps the game just says to me there is something wrong with the base gameplay in general.

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For me, the problem in the original game was that the characters didn't run fast enough for how big the world is. (I feel like the run cycle is a very brisk jog at best!) I loved the level design, especially the variety in art direction between the locales, but, yeah. The characters needed to run faster.

Me. Loved it then, love it now. Beat Yiazmat and all that.

I devoured FF12 on PS2 and continued to play it for a little bit after beating the game.

Reluctantly, yes. I enjoyed many aspects of the game, but coming off the great pacing of FFX FFXII was a bit of a slog. It's not really due to any lack of mechanical refinements, though; I simply find the game's structure tedious.

Beat it 100%. Got the tournesol and completed the bestiary and everything.
Took 210 hours.

Did it again in TZA and it only took 120 hours lol. That's with the extra content, and I farmed the materials to get all the other ultimate weapons from the bazaar too instead of just the tournesol. X2 speed is a game changer. Don't know how I didn't lose my mind with those slow sword swings when I first played.

Finished both the regular and international versions.

One of the best games in the genre.

I beat it on a review copy before it even came out. Then I bought it on PS4 and didn't beat it.

PshycoNinja said:

Alright, bud. Calm down there. That's a fine opinion to have.

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Whatever, Ghandi....

Oh, I did, finished the main quest and returned to beat the alt bosses and espers, I never 100%'ed it, got like 120hours of pure fun with it.

I remember a boss that you had to kill in multiple sessions because he had an insane amount of HP, never tried.

I did. I loved it back then, but I also loved FF10. There are too many one or the other fans out there!

I actually put like 90 hours on the game back in the day. I'd never played an FF game at launch before that.

I did and finished in about 60-65 hours. Played another 40 ish and got to 100 plus hours. Did most of what was on offer in the game and loved it all.

That being said, I totally agree that the fast forward in Zodiac Age is fantastic and makes the game better. Not sure how I feel about the job system, but I didn't finish Zodiac Age, so who knows.

AztecComplex said:

Whatever, Ghandi....

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Haha. You got a good chuckle out of me.

Oh, I completed it. I spent about 225 hours getting all of the weapons, items, and buying all of the special shop items. It takes hours to obtain certain ultimately useless weapons like the Danjuro, but I still had to have it.

I did, I think I spent over 100 hours playing it.

Looking at this thread, there are two kinds of people.

1. I love this game, I played it for 200 hours fight me

2. Lol no

I did it and beat every side quest in the game plus collected all gear available in that version of the game. Loved it.

Kinda hate IZJS. Everything is in a different spot from where I knew it to be, I really disliked being limited on the board and the fast forward actually took me out of the game completely but I couldn't not use it since it was there. My team were all lv 99 but I just stopped around hunt 45 and never even started the coast hunts. Not sure I even bothered to beat Vayne.

Really I wish we had the option to choose between IZJS and the original with nothing but the upgraded visuals and audio.

I did

I finished both the US and the IZJS versions on PS2. IZJS was such a great game, especially all the side/end content.

I very rarely "100%" a game but yeah, I did it with FFXII on PS2.
I love the game but truth be told, I don't have that kind of time these days so the turbo mode is an absolute godsend.

I finished it - cant wait to play the remaster.

I sure did. I did everything short of beating Yiazmat, whom I just didn't have the stomach for to grind through all those HP bars.

Did back in 06/07. I did everything on the PS2 version except fight 3 espers - Chaos, Ultima and Zodiark (I think that's his name) and two hunts - Omega and Yiazmat

I was obsessed with PS2 jrpgs back when it released so I dumped a huge amount of time to complete it, 100+ hours

I did, twice. First with a US import and a year later with the EU release.

I'm almost 100% it.

I wasn't a FF fan when it first came out but years later I let a classmate borrow FFXIII and he let me borrow XII. I beat it and enjoyed it enough to buy it for myself afterwards.

I loved it then too but man, im still shook about that trip through the sandsea the first time. That shit felt like it took forever on the ps2. As did many areas. The ps4 version it was hardly a days work lol.

I'd kill for DQ8 to get this treatment now.

I played it originally didn't think too much of how far I got... I loaded that old save last year... I was 75% DONE with the game... I had no idea I played it that much. but no ... never beat it... bought the remaster and never got around to playing it.

Me. I cheesed the last boss cause I just didn't wanna deal with him, lol. Can't remember shit about the game cause I myself was 12, but I bought it for PC, I'll get to it after Monster Hunter.

I did and it's my favorite Final Fantasy game. I can't wait until I get around to playing it on the PC to check out the changes (maybe actually do the hunts and stuff this time around).

I did! Weirdly enough it was actually my very first Final Fantasy game. My then boyfriend (now husband) was a huge FF fan and bought it for himself back in 2006 but hated it because it wasn't turn based! I tried it and I think as I had zero preconceptions of what a FF game should be like, I thought the combat was kind of like the combat in KOTOR and I fell in love with the game and the hunts. I did absolutely everything and it was well over 150 hours I spent in total.

I didn't realise how slow you walked until I used the fast forward in Zodiac - did the whole thing at 2x speed (and some bits at 4x) and it made the original speed feel like slow motion by comparison! Crazy to appreciate how much time you save just by walking and fighting faster.

I beat it way back in college when it came out on my PS2 and tube TV

I bought it, but I couldn't stand it. It was "the end of Final Fantasy" for me. I'm still going to give Zodiac Age a shot though.