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People who say that Final Fantasy XII has no right to be called "Final Fantasy" or that it shames the name of the Final Fantasy franchise probably never finished the game. Admitted, it was an INSANELY long game (compared to what I normally play) and there were a lot of empty holes in the plot where all you could do was run around and try not to die, but overall, I think that is within the top three of all the Square Enix games I have (barely) played.
The best thing about the game was the fact that the scenery was just gorgeous. Playing that game, I must have put on about two hours on the timer just rotating my camera and staring at the scenery. Giruvegan was absolutely beautiful, and so was the Cerobi Steppe with its lovely autumn colours. I wish I could find the concept art. T_T The graphics were beautiful as well. I actually preferred the in-game graphics to the movie modes, sometimes. XD The only problem was that more or less every single one of them had vaguely funny noses. o__o
The characters were all pretty good, Penelo being on the bottom of the list, but even she wasn't that bad. The only reason that I disliked her as much as I did was because her voice actor was a little too rigid, I think, compared to the others. The voice acting was sixteen thousand times better than the one in Final Fantasy X, though. Larsa was definitely my favourite throughout the entire game, though he was barely there, unfortunately. Vaan started out extremely irritating, but he gradually got A LOT better and much more adorable and he's probably my second favourite, followed probably by Basch or Balthier. The dialogue was cute, and you often felt that there weren't enough cutscenes, which there weren't. T_T I find that I only feel like this when I don't feel like slapping someone who sounds like an asthmatic. The characters were really well thought out, and more or less every single villain had depth to them. Dr. Cid and Vayne both had reasons to want to destroy the world that you could relate to.
Another thing that was really admirable was the soundtrack. While it didn't really have tunes that stuck in your head like FFX had, it wasn't done in that crappy, tinny midi sound that you so often find. It sounded like an actual orchestra and an actual soundtrack that had been done with care. The bestiary was also really well done. Most of the time, you either don't get a bestiary at all, or they just show you pictures of the monsters. For this game, they actually made a complete background for every single monster. You got to know the origin, and some of them had great stories behind them too. The espers' backgrounds were a little too much like the rebellion against Heaven by Lucifer for me to enjoy them without being a little uncomfortable, but they were still great to read.
The horrible thing about the game was the long-windedness. You were constantly running back and forth, trying to get rid of hunts. And the only reason you took those hunts was either a) you were poor as hell and needed the loot (happened waaaay too often. >_>) or b) there was just nothing else to do and you were fricking bored. One thing I will say about the FFXII world was that they actually made it seem like countries, rather than hopping from one location to another without any reason. But it was REAAAAALLLLYYY annoying because they often wanted you to trek across half the entire map to get to one place, and you couldn't take your bloody airship because "it's broken! Oh noes!" or "the Archadians will see us!" T____T The lengths they went to to prevent you from using your airship were actually quite funny.
Most of the dungeons they had, I wouldn't go to again unless I absolutely had to. As it is, I wouldn't go through the Pharos lighthouse again if you paid me. That place was sheer hell. Though, I did find the idea of having to give up something quite original. The idea was that you chose whether you wanted to give up the use of items, magic, attacking or the mini-map on your screen before you went into the place. You wouldn't have access to the things you gave up until after you came out from the second floor. It was terrible. The only thing I was willing to give up was my mini-map, and it was pretty hard going around. I was also often ambushed by monsters. -____-
Some characters could have done with a little bit more development, like Al-Cid and Marquis Ondore, particularly the former. He was brilliant, wore sunglasses and had a Russian-esque accent. I wish I had had him as a guest in my party. -___- There was a lot of potential for backstory for the both of them, but I guess they didn't have time to put it all in. The "mini-games" were a little ridiculous and not that fun at all. XD And the chocobos looked like they could easily kick your ass. Then you found out they actually could, and you never trusted those damned birds again.
And that fucking Zodiac Spear. I'm a chest-maniac. D: You can't expect me not to open them! This is the person who immediately sits up straighter when she sees one. -____-
Overall, despite its length, I liked this one a lot more than FFX. There was a lot to keep you going, if you didn't mind the monotony of the first half. I'm glad I didn't haul it into EB Games to try to trade it for Chain of Memories. >_> Chances of me replaying it are really slim because the game is just too long. An average game takes me about 30-60 hours to finish completely, but this one took a whopping grand total of about 120 hours. That's twice the average time. T_T
The best thing about the game was the fact that the scenery was just gorgeous. Playing that game, I must have put on about two hours on the timer just rotating my camera and staring at the scenery. Giruvegan was absolutely beautiful, and so was the Cerobi Steppe with its lovely autumn colours. I wish I could find the concept art. T_T The graphics were beautiful as well. I actually preferred the in-game graphics to the movie modes, sometimes. XD The only problem was that more or less every single one of them had vaguely funny noses. o__o
The characters were all pretty good, Penelo being on the bottom of the list, but even she wasn't that bad. The only reason that I disliked her as much as I did was because her voice actor was a little too rigid, I think, compared to the others. The voice acting was sixteen thousand times better than the one in Final Fantasy X, though. Larsa was definitely my favourite throughout the entire game, though he was barely there, unfortunately. Vaan started out extremely irritating, but he gradually got A LOT better and much more adorable and he's probably my second favourite, followed probably by Basch or Balthier. The dialogue was cute, and you often felt that there weren't enough cutscenes, which there weren't. T_T I find that I only feel like this when I don't feel like slapping someone who sounds like an asthmatic. The characters were really well thought out, and more or less every single villain had depth to them. Dr. Cid and Vayne both had reasons to want to destroy the world that you could relate to.
Another thing that was really admirable was the soundtrack. While it didn't really have tunes that stuck in your head like FFX had, it wasn't done in that crappy, tinny midi sound that you so often find. It sounded like an actual orchestra and an actual soundtrack that had been done with care. The bestiary was also really well done. Most of the time, you either don't get a bestiary at all, or they just show you pictures of the monsters. For this game, they actually made a complete background for every single monster. You got to know the origin, and some of them had great stories behind them too. The espers' backgrounds were a little too much like the rebellion against Heaven by Lucifer for me to enjoy them without being a little uncomfortable, but they were still great to read.
The horrible thing about the game was the long-windedness. You were constantly running back and forth, trying to get rid of hunts. And the only reason you took those hunts was either a) you were poor as hell and needed the loot (happened waaaay too often. >_>) or b) there was just nothing else to do and you were fricking bored. One thing I will say about the FFXII world was that they actually made it seem like countries, rather than hopping from one location to another without any reason. But it was REAAAAALLLLYYY annoying because they often wanted you to trek across half the entire map to get to one place, and you couldn't take your bloody airship because "it's broken! Oh noes!" or "the Archadians will see us!" T____T The lengths they went to to prevent you from using your airship were actually quite funny.
Most of the dungeons they had, I wouldn't go to again unless I absolutely had to. As it is, I wouldn't go through the Pharos lighthouse again if you paid me. That place was sheer hell. Though, I did find the idea of having to give up something quite original. The idea was that you chose whether you wanted to give up the use of items, magic, attacking or the mini-map on your screen before you went into the place. You wouldn't have access to the things you gave up until after you came out from the second floor. It was terrible. The only thing I was willing to give up was my mini-map, and it was pretty hard going around. I was also often ambushed by monsters. -____-
Some characters could have done with a little bit more development, like Al-Cid and Marquis Ondore, particularly the former. He was brilliant, wore sunglasses and had a Russian-esque accent. I wish I had had him as a guest in my party. -___- There was a lot of potential for backstory for the both of them, but I guess they didn't have time to put it all in. The "mini-games" were a little ridiculous and not that fun at all. XD And the chocobos looked like they could easily kick your ass. Then you found out they actually could, and you never trusted those damned birds again.
And that fucking Zodiac Spear. I'm a chest-maniac. D: You can't expect me not to open them! This is the person who immediately sits up straighter when she sees one. -____-
Overall, despite its length, I liked this one a lot more than FFX. There was a lot to keep you going, if you didn't mind the monotony of the first half. I'm glad I didn't haul it into EB Games to try to trade it for Chain of Memories. >_> Chances of me replaying it are really slim because the game is just too long. An average game takes me about 30-60 hours to finish completely, but this one took a whopping grand total of about 120 hours. That's twice the average time. T_T