Ok, I had a good feeling about this game since I got the soundtrack a couple months back. (The soundtrack reminded me a bit of John William's Star Wars stuff)

Anywho, now I have the game and am about 9 hours in (with hardly any leveling, which I need to do so I don't get my ass handed to me), but so far I've already gotten more plot than all of FFX. Though the funny thing is that now that I'm playing the game, the fact that the music has a slight Star Wars feel makes a lot of sense. The game (so far) is basically Star Wars (both trilogies), but take all of the bullshit and Jarjar out and throw some FF stuff in and bam! You have FFXII. The game is quite full of awesome.

So FF12 is like Starwars? I saw a commercial, review, and a load of friends've been telling me that it's like a better FFTactics. Is it more like Starwars or more like Tactics. XD And stop that, I wanna dl the music now. XP

=D I'm so getting the game for my b-day.

Didn't play FFTactics (someone borrowed my copy and never gave it back), so I wouldn't know.

Oh... Asking cause I didn't like Tactics all that much. The music I did hear of FF12 so far (reviews, commercial, and stuff) sounded a bit like FFT. What I hated about tactics is that you hired NPC's to fight on your team for the soul purpose of killing them so you could take their powers. It ruined the purpose of 'fighting with main characters so you could learn more about them' since most the charries you fought with were jobbers (people you that kill). Seriously hope FF12 isn't like that.

It's nothing like that. o_O I've heard it's like tactics in the way the world is set up. There are Judges, but they don't tell you you can't do this or that, they're basically the generals of the Empire.

OMG!! i FORGOT it came OUT!! and i have had it pre-ordered for 6 months now. * Rushes out the door*

FF12 is great so far!! It's way different than what I expected, but that's a good thing. I didnt play 11 so I wasnt used to the ADB battle system at first, but I quickly adapted, and it's fun! The Star Wars-esque story line is kinda odd, but refreshing in it's own right. I'm about 10 hours into the game, and i'm at the westersand where you go to the tomb.

LOL I'm 30 hours in, and just now going to the tomb! Then again, I've spent a lot of time leveling, and License leveling, and making beaucoup bucks. It's nice having the money to pretty much buy out every store. Of course, downside to that is, I spend ALL my gil that way.. Oh well. Sad thing is I want to level up more. Most of the characters are only a few levels above the monsters we're fighting (Minus Vaan, he's like 5 levels up). Although, I must say, I had the first judge beat in about 2 mins. Did double mist attacks, let the two fight it out until they were dead, bring in the next two to finish off the job.

The story does feel a bit Star Wars-ish to me, but so less annoying than having to sit through Eps 1-3. I can play the game without thinking "God, this character whines a lot!"

Anyway, so far I love this game... and I'm sad that I have to wait to use the TV again...

Whoa, 30 hours and just NOW going to the tomb?! :o That's insane. You might be able to kill the first Demon Wall in the tomb, he's a pain! I plan to stay in the Raithwall tomb a while, i'm level 18 with my party, but I dont feel it's enough for me, I want more. Good thing the zombie's here, drop flesh's and bone fragments, they fetch for a good amount. The main boss in the tomb is pretty powerful.

Most of the group is around 18-19... Vaan is close to lvl 21 now. I'd like the rest to be a bit higher though..

I spent a good few hours back in Rabanastre killing everything (minus that one lizard thing) in the Eastersand building up my LP. Doesn't do much for actual levels, but handy for building LP, since just about everything is one hit kills.

That's a good idea, I should go back to Rabanastre to do that strategy. I really need to beef up my skill licenses, since the upcoming battles are gonna be tough. I recommend leveling up in the tomb, since there is a save crystal right outside, and the monsters inside all yield at least 90 exp. Most i've gotten out of one is 163 I think.

Cool. That sounds like a good place to level up. As soon as I get to the tomb, I'll do that (Haven't been able to play, roommates won't give up the TV).

I've been playing this, I like it. Reminds me alot of a single player FFXI. So far the only thing thats really grilled me bad was that Elder Wyrm boss battle. Bloody HELL, that ******in' Sporefall ability was just cruel. Took me at least 5 hours just to take that bratchnie down.

Right now I'm keeping a fairly balanced party, with every one of my characters around level 24. I dont like to power level, I think its a bit more fun taking on big bosses when you're under-leveled.

Except for that Elder Wyrm. I power leveled a bit after he mopped the floors with me. Good ******in' damnit did I hate that boss.

Wow... sensing some anger from that post... That boss must've really been a pain! Note to self... be higher than lvl 24 when going up against that boss....

I actually like to power level, I prefer to spend a good amount of time in one area to level up a good amount to then breeze through a few areas. Really hate it when I just squeak by a few areas, like I did in the sandsea. Barely made it alive, especially when I ran into an elemental, which nearly handed me my ass.

Yeah, I took the Elder Wyrm at about level 26-27, it was a bitch, but that's how almost all boss fights are for me since I barely keep above the exp mob levels.

So.. um.. for those of you playing it like it's made of... playful.. things... Do you think I HAVE to get it for my b-day or saturnalia? Do you think this is one of the best FF's of all time? Come on, Feeeedbaaaack!

Eh, its alright. Its nowhere near the "OMFG GO BUY IT NOW OR ELSE YOUR LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE!" good for me. Right now I'm just playing it via rental, which is what I'll probably be doing for this game. Its good, but not anywhere near a vital-must-have-best-game-of-all-time level. The innovation in the battle system is a refreshing change, but right now the storyline is just seeming way too generic for me. Big bad evil Empire harnessing big power to try to conquer a small little kingdom....the only hope lying in the hands of just another orphaned thief-kid who gets involved with Sky Pirates and royalty and all this other crazy shit.

It does have some interesting twists though, and I feel like I can't rate the storyline completely until I finish it to the end. Sorta like how you can't give a movie a rating mid-movie, ya know?

Right now my standing would be somewhere between 8 / 10. Its innovative and fresh, with absolutely gorgeous cinematics. The story just sorta lacks that killer "hook" for me, and so far I haven't really found myself absorped in it. Besides, the aspect of having toc constantly grind just to get through some areas grills me bad. I like RPGs where battles are decided by skill and management, rather than just your level and gear.

Running around an area for a few hours killing the same monsters over and over and over again just isn't fun for me. Probably why I quit WoW and FFXI when I did.

Who knows, though? There could be a interesting plot twist up ahead that'll totally get me hooked, and it might have one of those really touching endings that'll stick in my memory for all time. My suggestion is to rent it out to experience for yourself, because there really isn't too much I can say without ruining something .

As it stands though, all my money is saved up for November 19th, for the Nintendo Wii. Hence why I'm just renting this game instead of shelling out $50 to buy it.

*Cries* I want the Wii!! But my roommates are all extremely underimpressed, and only want the 360. I never played the XBox... Never really cared to. Nothing really piques my interest for the 360. The Wii looks like Soooo much fun! If I had a job, I'd save up for it myself...

I played about an hour of this game with my brother. It's OK, but not great. It really reminds me of FFXI meets Knights of the old republic I guess. I think I'm starting to loss intrest in RPGs, mainly because of level grinding and such.

I'm about to go tackle the Elder Wyrm, but before I do so, i'm gonna be killing off Panthers and gaining chain levels so they drop a ton of stuff at once. Just killing those off alone, I made over 20k gil in loot. I have just about every single spell bought up to that point.

I just beat the game, and I have to say that....it was a terribly disappointing ending in my opinion. It was very short, and it leaves you with no satisfaction of a good ending. I wont give out the details of the ending, but if you want to know PM me. All I can say is, it left me with a bitter taste of having grinded out over 100 hours of gameplay to get such a mediocre ending. Vayne Solidor wasnt even a challenge.

Husband just finished the game this morning (at 7am. He took over my game...), and I have to agree with BlackDragonKing. Sure, the rendering in the final movie is gorgeous, but why does Penelo get to do the final narration? The ending doesn't exactly give you any new details that you didn't already know. It's like "Okay... yea, we kind of figured that was gonna happen... duh... Could you give me a little more, please?"

All and all, the ending is rather disappointing, and yea, if you bothered leveling up, the final boss isn't much of a challenge. Some of the Espers, and hunts were much more challenging. So, if you can do the hunts, and kick some Esper derierre, you can kill Vayne no problemo.

Yeah, that was also something that puzzled me....why Penelo? She was probably the most un-important character in the whole game. With the exception of probably just a few points in the early parts of the game, she does absolutely nothing to impact the story. I mean Vaan did take a back seat near the end, since it was pretty much Ashe's story, but he did make a good impact, but I do agree that the ending just basically reinforced what you already know. It's possible that Vayne was easy because my main three were levels 89,88, and 79 respectively.

At least with FF X's ending there were some surprises at the end like Tidus being just a figment of a dream, Auron was dead all along, and Yuna having to kill off all the summons. That was a good ending with a surprise at the end.

I dont know if i'll still pursue the hunts and the rest of the espers ( I already have 2 optional ones under my belt. ). I may just give the game a rest for a while.