How good/bad is this game?

[Achi]

Been getting mixed reviews of this game, some people like it others not so much. What do you think? How good is the story and characters of this game?

[Rhyagelle]

It is one of the best Final Fantasy games out there. The story is great and focuses primarily on the story, the setting and primarily three characters. I honestly think the game is amazing.

[Hinnyuu]

It's the last great FF. A bit of a different formula with a very open world and tons of non-linear optional content, but still a very good game.

[Soulmancer]

I've played most in the series and it was one of my favorites... though the final act was pretty lack luster/anti-climactic compared to most in the series and there was more redundant busy work then the other games... plus the tedious RNG to find much of the upper tier loot sucks ass. but the story, characters, game play, class system - character customization, dungeons and boss fights I really enjoted.

[tanman500]

Final Fantasy 12 Summary:
Combat: 10/10 Tons of customization, real time, program your ai, can control all your partymembers
Music 10/10 One of the best sound tracks in all the ff games. My personal favorite besides ff7.
Story 7/10 The story is pretty bland. Save the princess, take revenge against the imperials, the typical star wars story. Although some dialog bits I really did enjoy, the music makes the story much more impactful due to it's emotional melodies.
Voice Acting: 6.5/10 This game is really out of date in terms of voice acting. Aside from Balthier, Gilgamesh and Migelo, the English cast is quite terrible. Play in Japanese recommended.
Graphics: 2/10 The game looks way better on pc than it ever did on ps2, but don't be fooled because this game's graphics look BLAND :(. Please make a graphics overhaul mod, needs better textures, lighting, etc.

Ff12 is one of my fav ff due to the combat being so original. Also I really like the world of ivalice.

[Vayne]

Originally posted by Hinnyuu:

It's the last great FF. A bit of a different formula with a very open world and tons of non-linear optional content, but still a very good game.

Subjective.

I still enjoy FF13 and FF13-2 more than FF12. And Im hyped for FF15

But FF12 is still pretty good.

[Kaldaien]

It's not as good as 10 or 9, but better than 8 and 13.

The unique thing about it for its time was the non-turn-based combat and full voiceover. This was the first FF game that wasnt turn based, so they have an AI system based on rules that you setup. I like that and wish more games had it, but we're all about mashing buttons now :P

As for the voiceover, its quality is so-so. The recording quality has always sounded like everyone was speaking in a tin can 20,000 leagues under the sea, even for characters that aren't wearing tin cans on their heads :P

[Crovii]

This game is different compared to other mainline FF games.
It's semi open world, with a bigger focus on exploration than linear story progression.
Optional stuff like Hunts and Espers make up a large part of the game.
Due to that, story scenes sometimes feel few and far between, which can give the impression that the story is not as good as that of other games in the series.
The story is pretty good though, like it was written by a Star Wars inspired japanese Shakespeare impersonator.

Gameplay wise it's very fluid, you have full control over AI behavior.
Random loot chests are a pain though and it's near impossible to find everything the game has to offer without a guide.

Graphics are dated, but the game makes up for it by great character and monster design.

It's one of my favorite games in the series, with FF 9 being my personal no 1.

[Space]

The plotline is more political than any other game in the series but I love the Action Time Combat system. You gotta figure it out for yourself. Just demo the ancient game version with PS2 emulator. But as always you will have to go through quite a bit of story at the start of the game before you can enjoy all the freedoms