I just played the FFXII demo, and wow, it was pretty good. I hesitate to say really good because I’m still not a huge fan of the FFXI style of play on which this battle system is based. You get to run around in a free environment, no random encounters where all the enemies are on the map. Engaging them is actively done, there’s no separate combat screen to go to. The controls are intuitive, the camera is adjustable however you like, and gameplay is fairly fast paced and lots of fun. The demo is separated into two missions, both where you had to kill a certain/number of monsters and then a boss monster. Vaan/Penelo/Basch weren’t too impressive, but their surroundings, a tropical beach, were pretty. Conversely, the Ashe/Balthier/Fran team kicked several levels of ass, but ran through a standard dungeon setting. I was quite happy with Ashe being a melee character (she carries a large two handed sword!), but I guess that stems from the fact that I thought Ashe was going to be another white mage type caster. The demo didn’t take too long to beat (less than an hour), but it left a very positive lasting impression. It also carries with it the full trailer, and an additional trailer (that I haven’t seen before) after you’ve beaten both missions. Honestly, I hadn’t been looking forward to this game (just because I hadn’t been hyping myself), but this demo has made its case for me to go buy the game when it comes out next year. I don’t have any screenshots to provide you guys, so you’ll have to check out GameSpot’s screen archive.

8 Comments

  1. Hey I must say i’m really pleased with this demo. I really like how they are making a change in Final Fantasy I admit I didnt get into the series untill FFVII but i’ve played everyone *even XI* since then. I can honestly say that I am impressed with the battle system. C’mon now its way more realistic then walking around a map and like the world really shatters and monsters appear. And in all reality , a monster will not sit and wait for you to decide your command. And also so un realistic how 3 or 4 people stand ina row taking turns attacking or casting magic on a boss. I like Final Fantasy 12 and how you can actually see where the monsters are in the world and you can actually move while fighting. It seems less fake and less unrealistic. I like the change. I mean c’mon now its the 12th installment its time for a little change.

    Matt
  2. I don’t think so, that’s just the opposite. If it gets to 12th installment. It really doesn’t need so huge a change to be a success.
    I know every FF changes a little from the predecessor, it’s okay changing a LITTLE. But to make it like FFXI is a very bad thing. For a start, FFXI could not be named Final Fantasy. I’m not saying it was a bad game, but it doesn’t have anything to do with Final Fantasy, that’s all.
    If you don’t agree, just look at the Shining Force NEO forum at gamespot.com, and you’ll see how fans react to completely changing the game(strategy to action).
    Again, I’ll say, the problem is not about the game being bad or not, I’m not discussing this. I’m saying it has nothing to do with Final Fantasy.

    KoboldSlayer
  3. Dude, the only continuity in ANY of the FF games are the character names “biggs, wedge, cid” maybe some summons, and the to fall in love with the characters of the game. As far as we know, this newest installment could have ALL of these things — but you know what, that doesn’t matter anyway.

    To say that FFXII has “nothing to do with Final Fantasy” is simply ignorant. None of the final fantasies have “anything to do with Final Fantasy”! There is no “final fantasy” to which you can compare all of the future installments, because 90% of them have nothing to do with each other in the first place.

    J-Wag

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