The Great Crystal is the worst part of the game.

[Honorable_D]

The maze section. Yes, long have RPGs have the obligatory maze section and while I've always disliked them, I have mostly tolerated them. But something about FF12's maze section just puts it at a level of horrible well beyond other games.

Perhaps it is due to the fact that the entire section is basically the same exact looking zone repeated dozens of times? Only minor changes to allow for different paths in/out and lighting tweaks.

Perhaps it's the damned timed gates that seem to exist purely to annoy?

Perhaps it's the highly annoying enemies that seem to spawn endlessly in certain parts? (Looking at you Forbiddens and Necrophobes).

Perhaps it's because the place is littered with treasures (some of them very good such as spells) that all but force you to 100% the damn place?

It all combos together to make the Great Crystal just one giant crap pile and something I dread slogging through each playthrough. Which is really a shame cause a GIGANTIC FLOATING CRYSTAL IN AN ANCIENT FORGOTTEN CITY could have turned out way, waaaay cooler.

[arenaynieve]

I hate the great crystal as well xD. But since we all hate it ... doesnt that mean its perfectly designed to produce great amounts of cringe. Right :P?

[The Guy]

The only actual issue you listed is how visually similar the whole place looks. I agree that this is very poor on the part of the developers.
Otherwise, it's actually very linear and not at all confusing if you skip the super boss. The timed gates imo are too generous, and a lot of the treasures are not absolutely insane additions to a player's kit. I can see the endless enemies as a problem if the player is under-leveled, though if you have Scathe the place just becomes easy grinding.

[Honorable_D]

If they had just allowed you a proper map the whole thing would have been way less of a hellhole.

The two spells in there are Shellga and Hastega. Sure, you could probs do w/o Shellga but Hastega is a pretty damn big deal. Hastega of course requiring you to basically clear the entire place to get to it...

[The Guy]

Originally posted by Honorable_D:

If they had just allowed you a proper map the whole thing would have been way less of a hellhole.

Absolutely agreed.

[Honorable_D]

That'd certainly make getting around the crystal significantly faster and easier.

Just a real shame the place has such a bland design and obnoxious layout.

[it's a gabe]

After my first playthrough ever, I always have a map for this section. There are some pretty good maps of the crystal online, the problem being keeping up with them as you move around. Takes some getting used to.

But yes, definitely annoying as hell. And I quite like FFXII's overall map design, but I can't defend the crystal. I think many of its maps are just brilliant considering where the industry leaned toward with very bland map layouts as time went by. I find DQ11 quite uninspiring, for instance.

That reminds me, I never defeated the superbosses (safe a handful) in my first playthrough. Wish me luck going through that blasted place...

[Casurin]

First playthrough - entered the crystal - got confused, left again and grabbed a piece of paper. After that - no problem.
The area is not complicated by many small rooms are a pain to deal with.

[ハナ]

i actually really like it, because its fun finding the paths, just use paper and draw the map yourself, my 14 years-old self did that, and its just fine