Why Final Fantasy 12 sucks
I have anticipated this game for over two years now. Generally speaking when that happens with a game, I'm left feeling unfulfilled and generally dissatisfied. Final Fantasy XII is no exception. The one positive thing I can say about this game is that it is genuinely gorgeous. I never could have expected a game to push the PlayStation 2 to the limit as much as FF12 does. The character design is also one of the game's stronger points with beautiful designs by the ever talented Yoshitaka Amano. Aiding the fantastic cast of characters is the wonderful choice of voice actors and excellent script writing. I haven't had an instance of me cringing due to bad dubbed anime-style voice acting yet. Now that I've highlighted the good points of the game, let me move on to what I hate about it.
Although very innovative in terms of RPG fighting systems, the real-time battle system introduced in Final Fantasy 12 falls extremely short of being amazing. The player is finally given more control over the characters in the game, but at the cost of making every fight more tedious than almost any annoying boss fight I can think of (I'm talking M. Bison on level 8 in Street Fighter 2 Turbo or SF Alpha 3 annoying boss fight).
Instead of turn based action, all actions are performed in real time relying on a targeting system for all commands. Since Final Fantasy 12 is still a one player game, the player only controls one character at a time. Due to this dilemma, Square Enix implemented a system called the "Gambit" system. From the menu, the player selects a series of automated commands for the characters to perform while the player is not controlling that character. What this Gambit system breaks down to is a series of "if" statements. For example, if I want a character to attack a target on sight, I can assign that character to attack an enemy based on a series of criteria (closest enemy, enemy targeted by party leader etc). Here's where it gets more complicated and starts fucking up. Say I want to implement a means for characters to automatically heal themselves or other characters. I can set up a slot in the Gambit menu reading something like "if ally HP >=30% cast cure." Sounds simple, right? Well, let's say I want to implement an if statement for a character to cast a group healing spell at a certain point, I can set up a statement that reads something like "if ally HP = critical cast cure all." But now we run into the biggest problem with if statements in programming. The computer will read the commands from top to bottom. So let's say for instance that one of my character's Gambit menus is set up like the following:
If ally HP >= 30% cast cure
If ally HP = critical cast cure party
Attack closest enemy
Attack enemy targeted by party leader
To all those who aren't too familiar with programming, let me explain an If statement here. An if statement is a command the computer will execute under certain conditions. For example, in the first command, the condition is that if an ally's hit points are less than or equal to 30% of their total hit points the character will cast cure. Otherwise the computer will do nothing. So if the condition has not been met (or it is false), the computer moves on to the next command and if there's an instance where the condition is met (or is true) the computer will execute the command. I know this is a very long explanation of this problem, but the conclusion is coming up very soon, I promise.
Now let's look at the Gambit system I've created above. If an ally's HP is at or below 30% the character will automatically cast cure. But based on how this is set up, if a character falls to a critical HP level and cure party has already started being cast and another party member's HP drops to or below 30% that character will IMMEDIATELY halt casting cure all and start casting cure to fulfill the condition of the first statement.
While I'm on the topic of the battle system, let me move into the flaws in the targeting system during battles. For the first time ever in a Final Fantasy game, the player can finally get some insight into what the computer is about to do. In terms of attacking, you see a red line coming from the enemy and landing on the target the enemy has chosen (and I have to say, if it wasn't for that it would have been a lot harder for me to figure this out). However, it seems like Square has decided to dumb down the AI of the monsters a tremendous amount. Instead of picking a random target or however monsters chose the target for their attacks in past games, the monsters will 85-90% of the time ALL target the party leader (ie the player). Now, for a while I thought this to be a strategy until I realized this was just sloppy programming. In order for the characters the computer is playing as to target an enemy, the player must either dedicate a slot in that character's gambit menu to target the same enemy as the player or get close enough so that the character targets an enemy on their own. Once again due to sloppy programming, in most cases even the gambit slots do not cause computer controlled characters to go out on a limb and attack on their own, you have to manually lead them close enough to the target so that they actually sense the monster's presence. As a result of this targeting fiasco, the monsters will just run up against the player character and continue to target that character until either the character is dead, or the monster targeting that character is dead. There are some exceptions, but those exceptions are extremely rare.
Due to this extremely frustrating lack of foresight into the programming of this targeting system battles become extremely tedious because either one character is hit enough times to almost completely drain their HP leading other characters to stop their attacking and heal that character or the character is just killed outright because the monsters are too stupid to target any other characters.
But enough with the battle system, let's move on to the other "innovations" added in Final Fantasy XII. Because Square doesn't see it fit to stick with a tried and true system of buying new and better items as you come across them, they installed a system called the "License" system. This controls what your characters can (and for the most part) cannot do. So instead of just buying a new item and equipping it, a character must unlock the appropriate "license" slot prior to using the item. The same applies to magic, abilities and status upgrades. This leads to an extreme lack of progress with all characters. In order to make the characters better, the player must unlock a countless number of licenses to items and spells they think that particular character might need to use. Now, this doesn't seem to pose much of a problem in terms of acquiring goods and spells and such, it's even nostalgic to have to purchase spells again in shops (much like Final Fantasy games of yester-year). That's why Square decided to change another extremely basic, tried and true staple of almost all RPGs: the money system.
Because earning money for killing monsters was too easy, Square decided that killing monsters no longer earns you money. You either have to sell items that monsters drop (and a lot of the time they don't drop items) or find money in chests. Now, I had some money problems in Dragon Quest 8, but this is just plan ridiculous. I've gone through almost 8 hours of this game at this point, and I can hardly buy anything I need. My characters get their asses whopped constantly, and no matter how many monsters I fight, no matter how many items I get and sell for money, I never have enough money to even remotely equip my characters so that they'll be ready to handle new and difficult monsters. Sure I could just fight more, but the battle system annoys me so much that I feel like it's a chore to kill one monster, let alone the hundreds needed to earn enough money to buy the crap I need.
My final complaint (for now) about this game is the music. Of course I was sad to hear that the composer of all previous Final Fantasy games Nobuo Uematsu would not be composing the music for this game. However the choice made for the composer makes me cry. Hitoshi Sakimoto delivers a ho-hum, redundant, and boring soundtrack to accompany the gorgeous vibrant world that was created for the game. In that past, Final Fantasy games have always set a standard for quality of music in my opinion. With the score of this game, the quality of music in the Final Fantasy series has been pushed back to the 16 or even 8-bit days. It's to the point that I feel bored while playing because the music is just that damn boring.
Why is it that game companies these days think that good graphics will almost certainly make a game good? When did game developers stop caring about making their new and innovative systems for playing the game fun to use and not tedious and annoying? And why is it that the newest installment in one of the biggest game franchises EVER sucks more than a game series by the same company (Dragon Quest) that has scarsely come stateside? I'm so mad at this game, I'm almost ready to sell it back, something I've never done with any game I have ever bought.
Although very innovative in terms of RPG fighting systems, the real-time battle system introduced in Final Fantasy 12 falls extremely short of being amazing. The player is finally given more control over the characters in the game, but at the cost of making every fight more tedious than almost any annoying boss fight I can think of (I'm talking M. Bison on level 8 in Street Fighter 2 Turbo or SF Alpha 3 annoying boss fight).
Instead of turn based action, all actions are performed in real time relying on a targeting system for all commands. Since Final Fantasy 12 is still a one player game, the player only controls one character at a time. Due to this dilemma, Square Enix implemented a system called the "Gambit" system. From the menu, the player selects a series of automated commands for the characters to perform while the player is not controlling that character. What this Gambit system breaks down to is a series of "if" statements. For example, if I want a character to attack a target on sight, I can assign that character to attack an enemy based on a series of criteria (closest enemy, enemy targeted by party leader etc). Here's where it gets more complicated and starts fucking up. Say I want to implement a means for characters to automatically heal themselves or other characters. I can set up a slot in the Gambit menu reading something like "if ally HP >=30% cast cure." Sounds simple, right? Well, let's say I want to implement an if statement for a character to cast a group healing spell at a certain point, I can set up a statement that reads something like "if ally HP = critical cast cure all." But now we run into the biggest problem with if statements in programming. The computer will read the commands from top to bottom. So let's say for instance that one of my character's Gambit menus is set up like the following:
If ally HP >= 30% cast cure
If ally HP = critical cast cure party
Attack closest enemy
Attack enemy targeted by party leader
To all those who aren't too familiar with programming, let me explain an If statement here. An if statement is a command the computer will execute under certain conditions. For example, in the first command, the condition is that if an ally's hit points are less than or equal to 30% of their total hit points the character will cast cure. Otherwise the computer will do nothing. So if the condition has not been met (or it is false), the computer moves on to the next command and if there's an instance where the condition is met (or is true) the computer will execute the command. I know this is a very long explanation of this problem, but the conclusion is coming up very soon, I promise.
Now let's look at the Gambit system I've created above. If an ally's HP is at or below 30% the character will automatically cast cure. But based on how this is set up, if a character falls to a critical HP level and cure party has already started being cast and another party member's HP drops to or below 30% that character will IMMEDIATELY halt casting cure all and start casting cure to fulfill the condition of the first statement.
While I'm on the topic of the battle system, let me move into the flaws in the targeting system during battles. For the first time ever in a Final Fantasy game, the player can finally get some insight into what the computer is about to do. In terms of attacking, you see a red line coming from the enemy and landing on the target the enemy has chosen (and I have to say, if it wasn't for that it would have been a lot harder for me to figure this out). However, it seems like Square has decided to dumb down the AI of the monsters a tremendous amount. Instead of picking a random target or however monsters chose the target for their attacks in past games, the monsters will 85-90% of the time ALL target the party leader (ie the player). Now, for a while I thought this to be a strategy until I realized this was just sloppy programming. In order for the characters the computer is playing as to target an enemy, the player must either dedicate a slot in that character's gambit menu to target the same enemy as the player or get close enough so that the character targets an enemy on their own. Once again due to sloppy programming, in most cases even the gambit slots do not cause computer controlled characters to go out on a limb and attack on their own, you have to manually lead them close enough to the target so that they actually sense the monster's presence. As a result of this targeting fiasco, the monsters will just run up against the player character and continue to target that character until either the character is dead, or the monster targeting that character is dead. There are some exceptions, but those exceptions are extremely rare.
Due to this extremely frustrating lack of foresight into the programming of this targeting system battles become extremely tedious because either one character is hit enough times to almost completely drain their HP leading other characters to stop their attacking and heal that character or the character is just killed outright because the monsters are too stupid to target any other characters.
But enough with the battle system, let's move on to the other "innovations" added in Final Fantasy XII. Because Square doesn't see it fit to stick with a tried and true system of buying new and better items as you come across them, they installed a system called the "License" system. This controls what your characters can (and for the most part) cannot do. So instead of just buying a new item and equipping it, a character must unlock the appropriate "license" slot prior to using the item. The same applies to magic, abilities and status upgrades. This leads to an extreme lack of progress with all characters. In order to make the characters better, the player must unlock a countless number of licenses to items and spells they think that particular character might need to use. Now, this doesn't seem to pose much of a problem in terms of acquiring goods and spells and such, it's even nostalgic to have to purchase spells again in shops (much like Final Fantasy games of yester-year). That's why Square decided to change another extremely basic, tried and true staple of almost all RPGs: the money system.
Because earning money for killing monsters was too easy, Square decided that killing monsters no longer earns you money. You either have to sell items that monsters drop (and a lot of the time they don't drop items) or find money in chests. Now, I had some money problems in Dragon Quest 8, but this is just plan ridiculous. I've gone through almost 8 hours of this game at this point, and I can hardly buy anything I need. My characters get their asses whopped constantly, and no matter how many monsters I fight, no matter how many items I get and sell for money, I never have enough money to even remotely equip my characters so that they'll be ready to handle new and difficult monsters. Sure I could just fight more, but the battle system annoys me so much that I feel like it's a chore to kill one monster, let alone the hundreds needed to earn enough money to buy the crap I need.
My final complaint (for now) about this game is the music. Of course I was sad to hear that the composer of all previous Final Fantasy games Nobuo Uematsu would not be composing the music for this game. However the choice made for the composer makes me cry. Hitoshi Sakimoto delivers a ho-hum, redundant, and boring soundtrack to accompany the gorgeous vibrant world that was created for the game. In that past, Final Fantasy games have always set a standard for quality of music in my opinion. With the score of this game, the quality of music in the Final Fantasy series has been pushed back to the 16 or even 8-bit days. It's to the point that I feel bored while playing because the music is just that damn boring.
Why is it that game companies these days think that good graphics will almost certainly make a game good? When did game developers stop caring about making their new and innovative systems for playing the game fun to use and not tedious and annoying? And why is it that the newest installment in one of the biggest game franchises EVER sucks more than a game series by the same company (Dragon Quest) that has scarsely come stateside? I'm so mad at this game, I'm almost ready to sell it back, something I've never done with any game I have ever bought.