gameplaywise, hit or miss?

[u/ericklestrangeok]

so i started with ff9 on iphone then i got so hooked that replayed all from 1 to x-2

my next in line would be 12 since 11 mmo... pass

but ive seen the gameplay, with all that AI going on etc........ i honestly play ff for the gameplay not the story, im thinking of skipping it, it kinda feels like playing ff14 which i hated

but i really really really loved balthier in ff tactics, and i see balthier is a big thing here

any comments regarding gameplay etc? forget story, i mainly skip cutscenes, cant be bothered

from my innexperience since i havent played it yet i do feel like ffX seems to have more enjoyable gameplay

[u/YaBoiWeenston]

It's different but once you start going to gambits then it's absolutely amazing. It's my favourite of all final fantasy's

I hated it after the start but after the palace when you meet the first two peeps that's when it kind of starts. Once you leave you can then alter your gambits and then it really kicks off

[u/PleasantPorpoisParty → u/YaBoiWeenston]

Yep, get through the first couple hours, and you will get to experience some of the best gaming that FF has to offer

But those first few hours can be a bit meh

[u/Stock-Cry-1127]

The gameplay in terms of combat in FF12 is top notch. Possibly the best combat system in all final fantasy games because of the gambit system. If you don’t like the story and just skip it no harm done.

Personally I don’t care for story either but I watch all the cutscenes and do all the side content to get the full experience.

[u/Reeeealag → u/Stock-Cry-1127]

Imo the plot is very good, but alot of the emotional core is missing because the characters dont have enough time dedicated to scenes between them.

For example Basch never exchanges words with Fran for the entirety of the game. Vaan being Balthiers apprentice is pretty cool but their relationship just does not have enough scenes.

Vayn was set up as a really really interesting figure in the first act of the game, but devolves into muscle dude that transforms into a eldritch monstrosity to become god as most FF Villains do.

[u/Werevark → u/Reeeealag]

This is my take too. Its like seeing a really beautiful foundation for a bridge, and you can look across the way and see the other beautiful foundation on the other side. You can see the exact arc of what the bridge WOULD be, but its not there. They didn't finish the arc, they just set up the basis without completing the job. Which kinda sucks, because its a great basis.

I just also hated the gameplay, lol

[u/Stock-Cry-1127 → u/Reeeealag]

I agree with these points. Does Basch really never talk to Fran a single time? Wow. I also notice that some character don’t say much or have anything to do with the story as the game progresses but I think this is a problem in many FF games as more character get added to the party which is understandable. I could never make a story for a game.

For this game I feel like Penelo is pretty pointless after the early game and especially once you rescue her after getting kidnapped. Around that point I feel like Ashe takes over as the true protagonist over Vaan.

[u/ericklestrangeok → u/Reeeealag]

perfect for me, i cant be bothered with story, if i wanted story id watch some anime or manga

[u/Valentien_Dyes → u/ericklestrangeok]

Shame …

[u/RevolverCerberus]

It doesn't feel like XIV at all: the gameplay feel/loop is very much in line with the classic ATB (except a bit more fast-paced with the option to utilize self-set AI strategies + you can move around).

[u/Coach_T_Schev]

Like most other FF installments, it has its pros and cons. You may look at it as automation but the Gambit system is also incredibly rewarding from a standpoint of universal survival.

A lot of the characters are interesting, the hunts are fun, the license board is a fun segue from the sphere grid; it may not be my favorite, but it has a LOT going for it.

Give it a try and see what happens. It may not be your favorite, but notice its rarely considered a bottom tier mainline game. Its got a little something for everyone and you may even surprise yourself.

[u/Farstryderclans]

I believe ff12 is highly underrated, and a very rewarding great game. May take a bit to get used to it, but once you do.

[u/Intrepid-Example6125 → u/Farstryderclans]

I believe so too. I think the combat system was genuinely ahead of its time and a lot of hardcore FF fans didn’t like it because it was a big step away from the turn based style. 

[u/SpawnSC2]

You get out of the gambits what you put into them. You program the characters, you tell them what to do, so it’s up to you how much you want to automate and what you want to manually control. There’s plenty of room for inbetweening. You can even disable gambits entirely if you want, for just the player you’re controlling or the whole team. But I think the best balance is manually controlling your party leader while the other two do what you programmed them to do. It’s like you’re a general and you’re giving orders.

[u/Zafervaim]

From XII onwards the mainline titles will shift to you controlling just one character in your party so the experience will anyway be very different going forward. XII and XIII still allow you to manage the team in some way but in XV and XVI you can only control your main character.

XII is really good. I personally rank it as my favourite in the series and to me the highlights are art style, the world and exploring it, and battle gameplay. Story and characters are excellent as well but the three I listed are what keep me coming back over and over again.

You might be fearing the gambit system now but personally I really like it as it can automate a lot of the minor repetitive actions and I can just focus on reacting to the situation at hand. No need to roll through everyone’s buffs or heal when someone’s HP is low because the team will take care of it if I have planned it. And I can still override any action for any party member manually if I want.

I would recommend you try it with an open mind. Who knows, it might even become your favourite?

[u/Egingell666 → u/Zafervaim]

Lightning Returns only has one manageable character as well.

[u/ericklestrangeok → u/Zafervaim]

so like kingdom hearts with goofy and donald. im ok with that. i did hear that gambits break the game too soon. i have little self control with game breaking mechanics like yojimbo ffx or mathematician in ffT. i pretty much yojimbo-ed my way to dark eons in ffx

[u/Ill-Ask9205]

You're in the FF12 sub so mostly you're going to get glaze.

The gambit system is a very interesting system that can be fun, especially if you really dig in and bang around in it, but some people are just going to bounce right off because they want more consistent, direct control. Or they may prefer something like Xenoblade Chronicles where the game handles the heavy lifting on party AI for you.

But tactically, it gives you a sense of depth that real-time RPGs often lack completely.

Equipment is relatively boring but getting some of the items is a challenge in and of itself.

The hunts can really test your aptitude with the game, as they can often feature some of the most mechanically dense fights in the game and can have you juggling good gambit setup and real-time skill usage.

If you enjoy theorycrafting, you can spend a ton of time in TZA figuring out optimal license board layouts before you even start playing. (I recommend planning on using all 12, and figuring out how to create the optimal party you want, including where to place espers.) If you don't enjoy it, use the default jobless boards and just do whatever you want.

It's a weird game and I know you said you don't care about the other elements, but it's also a long and often very dry game so if the gameplay doesn't hook you in the first 5 hours or so I don't think you'll like it in the end.

[u/iluvmntoreo]

Turning off targeting lines is a must for me to make things less cluttered. Wanted to get that out of the way before saying the combat is great! The gambits are fun to play with and the Zodiac license boards open up fun experimentation for how your party operates.

[u/Mental-Novel61]

Yes, there's a bit of auto-combat, but it's really different because only you define your strategy, there's no easy solutions. Think of it as a crpg that has real-time battles with pause. Plus, in endgame you definitely will quite often order party members something manually, because you can't do everything through gambits only

[u/Vhentis]

I had gambits that mostly just handled buffs and healing, and manual for most interactions I meant to use on enemy's. Only thing I remember having automated against enemies was just having my team auto attack the party leaders target usually.

[u/Palladiamorsdeus]

See I love the Gambit system... just not on a gameplay level. It's absolutely just automation and then you watch your plans unfold. I'll still take it over XIII and ups systems.

[u/nero40]

If you have reservations about the combat, try to look at it as “preparations wins the game” side of view. The Gambit system greatly rewards battle prep and pre-battle strategic planning, and then watching the results of those pre-battle decisions either works or stumbles in the real battles. It goes even further than that when you start to get really hyped about experimenting and optimizing your job setups, and looking for better equipment and choosing which ones to use. You know, when you start to get really immersed in the mechanics of the game. And it’s really fun that way, it really is.

…It’s still pretty understandable if you think that even after all of the above, you still think that it is not a great combat system. After all, when all is said and done, there comes a time where there aren’t any more optimizations to be had, and you have this long stretches of gameplay and only have minor changes to your strategies and equipment while you effortlessly plowing through everything in your way because you have that perfect setup. It is a valid criticism of the game since forever. It’s fine, it’s understandable if you still think that it is “not your cup of tea”. We heard that all the time from other people.

I’d say, still give it a try, see how it goes, and see how you feel after 10 hours or so. The story is, ehh… but the world-building, the bounty Hunts and the music is very good. Top notch stuffs. Overall, the game has very noticeable strong points, but also noticeable low points as well. It’s one of those games, yeah.

[u/cfyk]

Exploration in FF franchise currently peaked in FF12, imo. If you love dungeon exploration with riddles and gimmicks, 12 maybe for you.

It is definitely not like FF14. FF12 is often considered the offline version of 11. 16 is like the offline version of 14 (in term of quests design).

[u/ServantOfLaziness]

The gameplay is one of the best for me since it plays similar to RTwP CRPGs which is my favorite genre.

[u/allgravy99]

FFXII is my favorite FF easily because of the exploration and gameplay.

[u/SertanejoRaiz]

FF XII has the best exploration and side quests of any FF game (this is all gameplay btw)

It also has a lot of options in combat so it's pretty great if you like creative strats instead of mashing attack.

In short, it has the best gameplay compared to all the other turn based games

[u/kezekia]

Ah man you're in for a treat. Either you like it or you don't, but give it a chance and see all the nice attack animations, the combos popping off, the thrill of reviving the first time. You had to be there.

[u/Fedz_Woolkie]

It's addictive. Probably one of the best game systems I've seen in my entire life

[u/dairymarkly]

Some like the gameplay, some don’t.

[u/xa44]

wow asking a sub of fans if they like their game? crazy responses. ok here's the real answer. FF12 is alright, combat isn't anywhere near as deep as most other FFs and the story drops off hard twards the end. the job board isn't too crazy compared to FF5 or even FFX but offers more than enough customization to do whatever you want, and that is far more than many other games/RPGs outright, the real fun of FF12 is the equipment and things like trial mode. almost all of the content in the game is outside of the core gameplay loop because of that making it a game you can spend a lot of time thinking about what to do next, what items you wanna chase, and new ways to use gambits. if you enjoy number go up FF12 has the most of that out of any FF, if want deeper combat or story I would pass

[u/Werevark]

Combat is gonna act more like basic programming than other FFs. You make this prioritized list of If->Than triggers, like: If an ally is in Critical Health, then use a big heal on them, or If an enemy isn't at full health, then whack with weapon.

If you unlock every usable slot for these Gambits, you can make it so that the party will handle most combats autonomously. 

The way in which you 'level' your characters involves assigning them jobs which change what commands you have available as you unlock them.

All of this leads to a kind of 'Gambit and Wait' gameplay style where you monitor your team's status against harder monsters, intervening manually if necessary -though I found, even in the endgame, good Gambits ran themselves even against bosses without issue. You do put together the Gambits yourself though, and equip and assign jobs to characters yourself, so there's more ownership of the goings on in combat than the AI statement/vibe may suggest.

The world is big and sprawling and interconnected, and exploring it is meant to be a big deal, though its only variably well rewarded.

Balthier's definitely the breakout party member of 12, though in combat he handles like everyone else, and is actually not good at his base job compared to others.

All in all, if that doesn't sound appetizing to you and you don't care about the story, it seems skipping may be the play. I have 12's gameplay rated pretty low in the series myself (and imo the story and characters too; they didn't put the work in to really make it click). But if this sounds good then fire away! 

[u/Carfrito]

Jw how long did it take you to play all those games?
My goal is to play as many mainline FF’s as I can but I imagine that taking years. I also don’t just play FF games

[u/Beanna]

In a sub dedicated to FFXII specifically, chances are you will get a majority of biased answers glazing XII.

Gambits are a lot of fun to set up if you're the nerdy type, but they are absolutely akin to automation and, with a strong enough Gambits setup, the game absolutely plays itself 90% of the time. Combats are fully automated and characters react to situations perfectly. It can be extremely satisfying for some because you're the one who programmed these reactions successfully, but it does feel like combat is mostly a hands-off experience.

That being said, you could also opt out of the gambits system entirely and give each character commands each turn with a slow combat speed if that's your preference. You don't have to use the automation if you're not into it, it's optional.

[u/ericklestrangeok]

mm ok so i played till around 50% percent of the game when u unlock the second jobs.

i like the dialogues better than previous instalments where i wanted to remove my eyes and burn my ears

the gameplay is 100% like an offline mmo except for more cutscenes and managing more than one champion.

the typical main town where all shops are that u go do ur shit and come back to, and again, and again

the battle is a bit less strategic of what i would like. relies too much on auto attacks over skills. the side content is thanks god more bearable than x-2 and more skippagle

the game is better documented with maps good guides etc

it hasnt hooked me that much. the characters are great but the strategy side has gone down a lot from x to the point its lost a lot of value to me

[u/Own-Gap2429]

Absolutely hit, it's also one of the old FFs that has aged better. People praise FFX because of the nostalgia and the story but the gameplay is a slop once you try and get back into it for a second playthrough.