So glad this game is being appreciated more now that The Zodiac Age is out and new fans are discovering it. I only ever met one other person who actually liked it back then, it felt like everyone thought it was the worst FF game mostly because the battle system was so different than previous entries (and also cuz of Vaan lol)
Not my least favorite FF, but I dislike FF12 not because of the battle system or even Vaan (though he sucks), it's because the story just loses steam halfway through. A third of the way in, half your cast is irrelevant, and once you're tasked to going to Archades you're just going on long walks to nowhere in spaces that all look the same but with a different color palette. Had great ideas but implemented poorly.
I think 12 is where the combat systems went downhill tbh. Everything before felt like final fantasy, since 12 they diverdged and have been trying to please everyone, instead of the actual die hard fans of the series. They went to hard on the action aspect, every new game getting more and more action-ee, and less final fantasy...ee. Not saying ff12 was action combat, but it was the turning point at the very least.
I remember when Zodiac came out and all these articles came out saying "12 was ahead of its time" I mean they were right but having to defend this game for a decade was rough.
Big same. I remember getting scoffed at by other FF fans whenever I told then 12 was my favorite back in the day. It was kind of exhausting. I am glad the game has gotten better reception as time as gone on for sure though.
@@talemsplash Yeah, what was up with that? I get that the gameplay wasn't exactly the same, but it was obvious it was suppose to be an evolution of the ATB system. It reminded me of FF8 or 10-2 with the difference being you could walk around during combat.
@@talemsplash I agree, my friend didn't like it, but it was because he didn't know how to take advantage of the gambit system. after he learned it, become a rabid fan like me.
@@noyoucantnoicantnowecantsostop back in the day a large portion of FF fans considered 12 to be the worst game in the franchise. That's probably why they're referring to it as underrated
Here's one fact that gets overlooked. A question first though, what is the biggest issue with any game that has a party system where your companions are AI controlled? It's that they AI is usually dumb as a rock and at best is OK, right? The overlooked fact is FF12 solved this problem, solved it so well that it became a criticism, because with the gambit system you can program the AI to play better than you can and can just let the AI fight a lot of the battles on auto pilot. But really think about that, the gambit system works so well that you can program it to be better than you for %90 of time. Think about how good this would've worked in other games, no more cursing your dumb AI teammate for not healing at the obvious time, for not using an antidote when poisoned or not doing their super attacks for no good reason. This system should've been used in every game with AI controlled companions/party members.
People get annoyed that the game "plays itself" but you can just turn the gambits off. However, why is it a bad thing that your party actually helps you in battle instead of running off doing whatever the heck they want? You can set them up in a way that fits your playstyle, or uses different strategies depending on the boss fight. I'm often switching them around mid-battle. It's such a great tool, and would be useful in other games as you said.
The gambit is a good feature with this kind of battle system. It distracts from the fact that the battle system no longer sticks to the classic ff turn-based system.
One notable thing about XII is that, when you step back and see everyone's plans and plots, none of them are really the "enemy" of the game. Unlike the previous ones (Sin, Kuja, Ultimecia etc.) the enemies of the party of six all had their own agendas, most of which were self-serving and were only really villains in what they did. The real enemy was the Occuria, who were trying to manipulate the entirety of Ivalice and the one who went rogue, Venat, managed to manipulate events to destroy the items the other Occuria would use to control the people of Ivalice. (That's a bit of a mouthful)
Even they weren't villains. They only thought of themselves as gods because of all their power. But in the end the actions that took place showed that they were not as omnipotent as they thought.
Well, the Occuria were just inhuman forces that thought what they were doing was just and justifiable, but Vayne was undeniably doing everything he did for his own aspirations of power. Ultimately, FFXII is a story about being used. Everyone was being used by someone else, sometimes to each other. But being manipulated into doing something bad doesn’t necessarily exonerate you from doing the bad thing.
@@wohdinhel They perceived their sole purpose to be shepherds of civilization, and that means to either control the strongest power of that civilization by gifting him items to maintain that hold, or to wipe out the top of the civilization if it grew too strong, like with the angels from ff12 revenant wings They probably see the end outcome of an uncontrolled society and civilization as self destructive and result in the deaths of all life and the world.
What do you do to hit that many hours lol? I got all weapons and items in the game, all level 99, all quests and bosses, everything but shy of getting the quickening trophy because I suck at it and still only hit
I'm not sure how much bvb time i put into this.....a lot. A whole lot. Then zodiac age for the switch i just had fun with and didn't try to 100 percent.
Absolutely phenomenal voice work and translation. The archaic manner of speaking really ups the fantasy vibe. I could listen to Ondore speak all night and day. The various turns of phrase that are utilized are utterly sublime. That feeling is so woefully missing in Final **Fantasy** games - or fantasy adventures in general - these days.
One of the reason I got really into to this game! It's so immersive because of that degree of attention to detail that every region have an accent. That's why I see XIII and XV voice acting so behind. XII best final fantasy ever.
Ivalice Alliance in general is goated Glad 12 got to introduce the beautiful world of Ivalice to the mainline series Pretty much all its aspects were incredible Also that incredible localization Reads like literal Shakespeare...
@@ademasdanjuro I think one of the nations in Ivalice is mentioned by name Could be just a Easter egg though Most likely will be it's own world and fan opinion is rather divided on the matter
@@Dzzy123 Oh well I mean 14's director is on board and he's worked with Matsuno before. As long as he remains on board I have some faith from 16 Regardless of the games final quality it'll at the bare minimum have incredible music
The localization team did an incredible job. The homogeneous aspect of the Japanese version does make it much more dry in comparison with the diversity added into the localized English version. If only we had more people willing to go that deep with localizations these days. The FFXIV team actually does an amazing incredible job as well.
@Daniel Long Nope, it's just logical to have different accent in a JRPG with a big world (with different countries, race, culture, etc) like FFXII. It's boring to have always the same USA English accent. It's illogical that this person from this country have the same accent than the other person from not the same country. Dragon Quest XI localization team have done the same thing, and it's so good.
for me the best thing about this FF is that the bosses can actually be inflicted with debuff. yes it can make a boss fight become easier but i like the fact that when a bosses can be debuff means a wide array of strategies can be employed instead of just brute forcing our way or over levelling
@@johnnyshins511 i remember 13. one of female character skills has increased % for instant kill per different debuff applied on enemies but its kinda sad that the best part of 13 came so late
@@izzuddinyusof1093 yeah, that was a hidden effect of debuffs is that the more there are on an enemy, the higher likelihood that subsequent ones would succeed. Vanille's Death spell is technically a debuff so...
My fav. FF! The open world concept and that sense of freedom in a living breathing world was so new for FF at that time and it still holds up to this day. The world building, races, classes, languages, etc. It was such a deep lore heavy world, and always felt so unique. The music of course is the driving reason behind why I return to this title so often.
Agreeed! Compared to 15's open world which just felt stale and boring to me imo. Perhaps the setting was too modern or not enough going on in the environments or perhaps 12 just spoiled us
I agree that the world of ff12 feels alive too. It just has many distinctive cultures and designs in different areas and of races with lores and stuff that give them existential depths. The wild monsters areas also have a sort of ecosystem feels if you know what I mean. I still remember seeing a high level dinosaur chasing a wolf or something in the first desert area and I was like omg I gotta avoid that dinosaur. Then there are many special marks unique monsters and the variety is great too. I've always thought FF12 is kind of underrated compared to other FF. My only problem with it was only the story and the personality of the main cast, the story is just not interesting or emotionally impactful/resonant enough for me, whereas other than Balthier the cast is either solemn mature stressed (Ashe Basch Fran) or playful carefree irrelevant (Vaan Panelo). I hope there'll be a new Ivalice main FF series game with improvements on the aspects of story and characters, but keep the depth of world settings and lores, and the dialogue design/direction and voice acting style. The dialogues and VA are very impressive although it can be difficult for me to understand sometime because English is not my first language but it gives a fuller immersive "Old English" experience, if you get what I'm saying.
The "Ashe meets the Occuria" scene is the epitome of the legendary script localization for this game! Top tier in this title! 👌 "The humes ever skew hist'ry's weave. With haste they move through too short lives. Driven to err by base desires, t'ward waste, and wasting on they run. Undying, we Occuria light the path for wayward sons of man. Oft did we pass judgement on them so that Ivalice might endure. Eternal, we are hist'ry's stewards, to set the course and keep it true. The chosen is our hand, our fist, to let live some and crush the rest."
I’m replaying it for the first time since release. What is very striking to me is how good the camera work is during the cutscenes. Very cinematic. Many modern games still struggle with this.
Just recently played through and beat FF12 Truly underrated, I loved it all the way through I would totally recommend FF12 The Zodiac Age, and to get past the odd yet unique fighting system. A beautiful story, beautiful world, beautiful characters, all accompanied by beautiful music.
Hopefully you tried to complete all the side quests (including espers) and getting the rare/ultimate items/equips. It's so much fun and so much lore to dive into. Ivalice FF games are always has a wide and deep lore in them.
@@plipplop728 Admittedly I didn't nab all the espers or sidequests because I'm a busy guy (and also have a lineup of games to play), but I did as much side content as I could throughout the game!
@@decaf9150 yeah, it's a pretty long game, I managed to 100% the game last year when the lockdown happened, and damn it was worth every minute of it, especially Gilgamesh, Yiazmat quests and Zodiark and Ultima espers.
@@plipplop728 love the game but completing the almanic is such a bitch, i rembember hours and hours of scrolling through the wiki finding that one passive bunny i didn't kill lol
This was the first FF I played, the thing I love the most about it is the huge open environments. Just so much exploration/hunts/side quests, the world just feels so huge. This and FFVII are my favourites of the series
I wish we could get a dedicated “Ivalice” division at SE. Then give us a proper XII-2, and possibly a storyline that goes into the fall of the airships, into a FF Tactics Remaster/Remake. Also, get Vagrant Story remastered.
Well, XII-2 was released on the DS for some reason and was quite a radical change from the original... They would have to do like FF7 and flat out remake the game.
Unfortunately the SE gave up on supporting visionaries like Yasumi Matsuno. FFXII himself suffered because of the stupidity of that company at the time, which ended with his leaving in the middle of the project. Another giant that was thrown out was Tetsuya Takahashi (creator of the Xeno games) who could have created exceptional games with the support and experience of that team. High-level arrogance nearly wiped out this company at the time.
That Rabanastre theme on strings was so good that I forgot I've listened to that tune until it haunts me. Imo one of the best stories in a game despite all the hulabaloo with the development.
I only beat it for the first time last year. It’s better than I remembered when it first came out, but certainly not my favorite. Also certainly not the worst lands right in the middle for me 😂
Still hoping for that remaster of the XIII Trilogy smh. XII is in my top 5 mainly the Zodiac age. It was a breath of fresh air, evolution and still held to the series roots.
XIII trilogy looks great still doesnt really need a remaster its still new enough. I don't even like the games but they still look amazing. I think it would be cool if they remake the rest of the psx games or try making more new main line series or sequels like X-3.
@@joshpaw9606 A remaster of the XIII trilogy would be great for fixing some of the issues the first game had. Square could allow us to pick our party leads from the start, no longer have game overs whenever the lead dies in battle, allow for changing the player lead mid-battle; and they could even add a 'wait' feature for those who really crave traditional ATB. They could essentially re-balance XIII. Maybe they could even add a hard mode where your party members could be staggered by enemies if you're not careful.
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716 People say it was 13, but I remember it was divided, not all agreed it was trash. 12 was at first called trash, then became a cult classic. Hell people still think Nomura wrote FFXIII, and he never did. He was just the character designer.
I really love FFXII it have just a big world to explore, a lot of side quests, it have a lot of things to do, a lot of content; maybe i will get the hate, but i like it more than FFX.
This game was probably my most clocked hours in an FF game (no MMOs yet) and that was directly tied to the difficulty. Some parts of the (vanilla PS2) game were so tough for my personal habits....that I had to super grind and learn about gear locations, etc. to the point where I just decided to do all the hunts/espers and side quests to make my dedication worth it. But then the super bosses were a whole other boat to sink, especially with ridiculous prep like farming Yagyu Darkblades from a 3% Bombshell drop in the mines lol
yea it was hunting down the trophy rare game for me, on ps2 i just remember oh yay thanks for these underleveled weapons game lol (fourtunatly it was changed in zodiac)
I remember being a kid Playing it on PS2 and being like "Gambits wtf is this?" Too much work to think about trying to set up a good system but being older and playing Zodiac age I wish I had more Gambit Slots they help out so much I was a fool of a child 😂
Same. I couldn't wrap my head around it and just played without them. Now I feel like a fool for ignoring them; they'd made the game so much fun and simpler.
Basch being sidelined for Vaan is a classic example of "well we tried something one time and people didn't buy it, so it MUST be because of that decision and not for any other reason"
You forgot about FF11 launched before 12 on PS2. FF11 & FF12 are the same engine too. It also has way more text for translation than 12 & multiple dialects per region, race, and their class in society. So if those 2 did it, it 12 would of been less work not more
Ivalice is one of my favorite worlds within final fantasy the second being Gaia. Another note I’ve always seen Ashe as the main character over Vaan it made sense to me.
Okay so just in case you’re still stuck blind and berserk them then use ice magic that’ll stop them from using curse. Also you can zone out to heal then go back in
I passed over Final Fantasy XII when it first came out and only played the beginning. I seriously regret that because after playing The Zodiac Age it has become one of my favourites in the entire series! It's an incredibly underrated game
I love this game. Got everything on the PS2 version and then replayed it on the PS4. If you haven’t fought the Yiazmat, then you’re definitely missing out on a great challenge.
Love this game to date. Loved since the first release back in 2006. Best battle system ever created which suited this game really well. Definitely the most underrated FF and without a reason most hated FF game. It makes me happy to see how many people nowadays are appreciating it still and there are still new people coming.
Honestly it’s one of the very best Final Fantasy games. It’s one I can go back to again and again. It has some of the best music and voice acting in any Final Fantasy in my opinion. The breadth and scope of the world and enemies still amazes me today. And you get the feeling there’s so much more to discover.
Easily in my top 3 favorite Final Fantasy games. I remember passing afternoon after high school day, just having fun to read all the hidden lore in the bestiary menu.
In my opinon FFXII & FFIX are the best games in the franchise and get overshadowed by other titles in the series due to being over hyped. I'ts alway's great to see appreciation givin to this masterpiece, awesome video!
I played every FF game except this one for the longest time...idk why I put it off for so long. But when Zodiac age came out on PS4, I thought I'd give it a shot...and I loved it. Truly in my top 4 Final Fantasy games with 6, 8, and 9.
My favorite final fantasy, nobody talks about it, maybe because it takes 200 hours to finish it, It took 500 hours for me to fully finish it and never killed yiazmat
My favorite FF game hands down! On my third playthrough right now, first time playing zodiac age. The game holds up very well, I've always loved the music, the world, the hunts, the looting, and the combat works great.
Always has been my favorite final fantasy especially the base version without the job system. i just loved the battle system and the gambits, it felt so rewarding having a good tactic that made grinding so fluent and the open world without annoying loading times between battles
I love how they localize this game, giving more effort to not just translate them, but actually giving live to the game. When the Occurias spoke to Ashe in Giruvegan was mind blowing, the way they speak made me thought that it was how "Gods" actually speaks.
I just absolutely love FF XII. I remember getting this only 1 week before the PS3 launched beating it then getting my PS3 and then beating it again. I loved Ivalice, the characters, the music. It was a really good swan song for PS2 and they really pushed the limits. I replay this game and least every couple years, it just calls to me.
I have long wanted SE to make an MMO named "Ivalice Online" I've even came up with some ideas for it: - instead of just creating a standard character you create a Clan and then create the members in it via the different tactics/XII races, each race can only be certain jobs but when you want to change jobs you go back to your clan hall and swap members all while staying logged in. - bring in all 56 jobs from FFTA2 but have a lot of them basically be the same job but played differently depending on your race (kind of like WoW specs) where for example Beastmaster and Animaler are echoes of each other, warrior/beserker/revenger, templar/paladin, agent/flintlock/cannoneer etc
@@shadenox8164 Now that you've reminded me of this 3 year old comment, I find it funny that WoW's war-bands are basically the idea I listed here for Klans.
Just started this not too long ago on PS4. Getting a lot of Star Wars vibes from the music and how some of the scenes are choreographed. Liking it so far!
The gambit system was pure genuis. I mean, there's a trick in the Stillshrine of Miriam to get that one rare monster to come out which spawns other monsters, and you can literally just leave the controller there for a few hours and your characters will do all the work, thanks to the right gambits.
This is my favorite PS2 FF title! Once you understood how the License Board and Gambit System work, the gameplay becomes fun. I owned the game before the Zodiac Age came out, so I was already creating jobs for different characters, and I used graph paper to think up of each job and what to unlock. I avoided unlocking things that "shouldn't" for that class, and unlocked different things according to level. It added more strategy to the game and having the characters taking on jobs, rather than unlocking everything, made the battles WAY more easy! I wish they implemented this system for FF13, rather than the boring mess that it released with. I mean, hitting one button repeatedly while the characters did their own thing? At least with FF12, you could choose the Gambits to tell your characters how to act when they're not the active character!
@@kingofthesharks At that point, they really knew how to handle the graphics. Each of those three games chose an art style that just stole the show and worked perfectly on the system.
My favorite game in the series, gonna sit back and enjoy this Edit: had no idea it was the localization team that added the flowery language into the game…can’t believe Square approved it smh
The part about FFXII UE3 tech-demo is really fascinating, I had never heard about that before. I hope footage of that gets released or leaks some day. Would love to see it! Also, I just want to point out that FFTA wasn't directed by Matsuno himself, he only came up with the story concept and served as the producer. It was directed by Yuichi Murasawa and developed largely by the same team that had just previously made Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis for GBA at Quest Corp (the same company Matsuno, Yoshida, Minagawa et al. had worked at before joining Square.) I believe the whole FFTA project got started in the first place because Quest approached Square, wanting to do a collaboration. Ultimately it lead to Square just outright buying Quest and putting the team to work on FFTA and XII.
1000 times this. There's only one glaring flaw in this game and its the shoehorned in white-Aladdin who really has nothing to do with anything going on in the game on any real, meaningful level.
Can't agree more. Not making Basch the lead, I can agree with as he's rather aged and quite serious, Balthier was basically the perfect lead. His connection to the story, coupled with his charm and personality, made him the best character in my opinion.
@@Neverfate You're insulting Aladdin by comparing him to Vaan. Vaan has only his Ivalice-style cosplay, AND NOTHING ELSE! He's basically the underage party member of the group like Relm, Yuffie, Selphie etc, except he has nothing to redeem himself.
@@AbRas644 Balthier, is the leading man xD. But really, making vaan the main character makes sense, besides he lack of charisma, his story is the one wich link the stories of the other characters Ps: Balthier is my favorite
Vaan was never the main character, FF12 has an ensemble cast but the story is told through Vaan's perspective since he's pretty much as clueless to what's going on in the world as the players are in the beginning. Plus he played an important role in Ashe's character development.
will forever be my favorite FF ❤️ i remember talking about it to a friend that did not play FF at all a couple of years back before zodiac age was even announced, and told him, i wish i could play it again, only to find a trailer 1 month after i told him that about it being remastered, it was the best news i had received in so long and im so glad that i was able to play it again after so long 😁❤️
1- great video 2- matsuno and Ito were a dream team. The storytelling method of the first was unique within Square and it makes FFT and vagrant stroy my favourites. To me 12´s story doesnt work and i just wish matsuno could have stayed until the conclusion of the game. 3- the localizationof games such as FF is often the diference between failure and sucess. how a big company like square gives the job to just two guys is beyond me. 4- Matsuno more mature stories are a good fit for strong MC. The decison to make Vann such an important thing doomed 12 to it´s destiny. The part were you mention that vagrant story sales were bad makes me think of what japanese developers often say, that they make their games( or movies) for to domestic market, with oversee sucess being a bonus. Also, the sales of VG were defined by being released so late in the PS1 lifecycle and all the world, specially Japan, directing their atention to the new console generation. 5- 17:03 fits perfectely with what the FF13 gameplay would be. Ito is second only to Sakaguci in the influence had on the franshise.
ffxvi is probably the biggest final fantasy to date with no dev hell for the modern final fantasies, it was announced last year, finished this year, and probably releasing sometime at the end of the year...maybe
Can we talk about how underrated 12 is, yeah the combat is definitely a love or hate kinda deal, but I don’t know if it’s just me but feel it story and characters can easily stand on there own along side other games like 14, 8 and maybe even 7 and 10.
My favorite main title (fight me), i love everything about it especially the world building, like the video said the world of Ivalice is just too amazing to explore, hunting for specific monsters, completing secret quest and reading hours upon hours into the bestiary, the Ivalice world is just have too much potential!
My all time favorite final fantasy game. I love the art, design, story, characters, enemies, bestiary. Loved the judge magistrates designs and wish you fought the other 2 in story then in the 99 floor trials. Zargabath is my favorite design wise of the 5 and wish he had more info. So much to love with the game and I'm a happy owner of both ps 2 and 4 versions. I can't ever stop gushing about this game.
@@thomasmartin1514 yea I heard. I meant in game outside of the trials I got to like floor 80 or something I think got spammed with disease and other stuff by some of the headless enemies and a diabolos. I'm not looking forward to any of the other fights of the last 20 floors especially the judge fight lol
One of the reason I got really into to this game! It's so immersive because of that degree of attention to detail that every region have an accent. That's why I see XIII and XV still voice acting so behind. XII best final fantasy ever.
FFXII is my favorite game with my favorite battle system. 1 fact I would have loved to learn about is the story team's response to the idea that they just retold star wars.
I remember playing this game when I was in middle school and just couldn't understand the politics of the game: I remember calling this game "beautifully boring" back then. but nowadays, I deeply miss the game's story and theme.
Ugh, same, especially since english isn't my mother tongue.. That's why I bought The Zodiac Age on PC, and goddamn I fell in love with the lore/story/politics of this game.
Final Fantasy XII in my opinion has such an amazing and rich lore. Even with the faults that is Vann's character, it still excels in its story. I feel that they need to make more Final Fantasy in this style and setting. I had not felt this kind of experience of Final Fantasy since FFIX. I love this game!
It’s quite sad that this game is often misunderstood. I played it when I was young like 10-12 and although I didn’t understand the politics in it combined with my limited understanding of english language but I love the overall battle system as well as Ivalice. It ought to be my favorite ff universe (the lore and different locations) and surely I have no issue with any of the characters. Idk I mean probably because I was a kid, I didn’t find Vaan and Penelo as obnoxious or unnecessary but I do understand where the criticisms come from.
@@lolaz.3485 actually i had a similar story. When i was 11 years old my older brother download Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories for the PS2 (that game doesn't came to Europe until 2013 and it was 2012 and i didn't know about the 1.5 HD Remix). The thing is that game it was in English not in Spanish (my first language). I learned English because of that game, yes, maybe i have a lot of mistakes but i'm proud of myself because of what i did almost 9 years ago (and that happens too when i played Final Fantasy II PSP Anniversary a few years later)
@@La-hora-del-terror Hey it’s fine to make mistakes after all. It seems like we both found our ways to learn a foreign language through games. I think it’s quite an experience because a child me may not be able to make a good decision or whatsoever but now after they released zodiac age, it’s kinda refreshing knowing that I can finally understand what’s going on in any of the games. What’s more that my mother tongue language never made it to options to change any languages, so yeah gaming can be quite an obstacle for people like me ;)
@@lolaz.3485 the best part is both games are from Square Enix. Well some games like Kingdom Hearts 3D for the 3DS was in English on my country (i don't know why). I thought the games in your country at least are translated, it looks like if you aren't Japanese or American/Canadian you can't enjoy at 100% the videogames.
Even though the battle system was different it was still amazing because of how they were trying to make it open world and make the players explore the game. It only looked different because it was out of its time or something but still is a pretty good game.
i remember seeing this game on release, but never really thought about it, having only played it recently, i realize how much i missed out on! the game is AMAZING
I still play this original game on PS2 till this very day. It is unlike any other. Truth be told, 'immersive' is the best way to describe the sublime experience.
WTF Omega's health was over 10 million? Damn what torture. The boss was basically a formula you had to figure out with Reverse status, but you still had to stay awake to keep tabs on your party. Doing that for any longer than 2 million HP would've broken my patience haha which is likely why Yiazmat was my personal toughest fight.
those armor designs on those knights and the Viera use to blow my mind.. amazing design and art.. is there an Easy Mode in FF12 remake?? i'd like to try it again
@@바보Queen Yeah they made the bosses easier due to the necessity of rebalancing the game because you have completely different stats by using the zodiac job system in comparison to the vanilla one. It really was way easier than the OG FFXII.
FFXII remains one of my favorites. The gambit system was brilliant and I loved that you could swap out party members in battles. Even KO'd ones. You could also turn off the gambits and play it like the more traditional ATB system if you wanted. I've always wondered how we went from the brilliance of this game to the weirdly limited approach in XIII.
In my opinion one of the top 5 games in the franchise, and one of the best in the genre overall. It has its flaws, as does everything, but it's so unique, fleshed out and gorgeous that it makes up for its flaws and more. Very underrated ost as well. That music is beautiful and so few people talk about it.
So glad this game is being appreciated more now that The Zodiac Age is out and new fans are discovering it. I only ever met one other person who actually liked it back then, it felt like everyone thought it was the worst FF game mostly because the battle system was so different than previous entries (and also cuz of Vaan lol)
Not my least favorite FF, but I dislike FF12 not because of the battle system or even Vaan (though he sucks), it's because the story just loses steam halfway through. A third of the way in, half your cast is irrelevant, and once you're tasked to going to Archades you're just going on long walks to nowhere in spaces that all look the same but with a different color palette. Had great ideas but implemented poorly.
I love this game largely because of the battle system. I'd love another entry in the series have the real-time battles with gambit system.
Yes! It has been my favorite game since 2008 and nobody liked it. But today there are way more people that like it!
This game was my intro to the series! I went crazy and put 3000 hrs to pass all content
I think 12 is where the combat systems went downhill tbh. Everything before felt like final fantasy, since 12 they diverdged and have been trying to please everyone, instead of the actual die hard fans of the series. They went to hard on the action aspect, every new game getting more and more action-ee, and less final fantasy...ee. Not saying ff12 was action combat, but it was the turning point at the very least.
I remember when Zodiac came out and all these articles came out saying "12 was ahead of its time" I mean they were right but having to defend this game for a decade was rough.
Big same. I remember getting scoffed at by other FF fans whenever I told then 12 was my favorite back in the day. It was kind of exhausting. I am glad the game has gotten better reception as time as gone on for sure though.
@@talemsplash Yeah, what was up with that? I get that the gameplay wasn't exactly the same, but it was obvious it was suppose to be an evolution of the ATB system. It reminded me of FF8 or 10-2 with the difference being you could walk around during combat.
Same here. FF12 was my favorite FF since it came out. Everyone thought I was crazy.
@@talemsplash I agree, my friend didn't like it, but it was because he didn't know how to take advantage of the gambit system. after he learned it, become a rabid fan like me.
Ikr!
One of my favorite Final Fantasy games. Very underrated.
The whole"mark hunting" is my favorite part of any final fantasy game leading all the way to the final mark
12 is already a timesless masterpiece ... just like every other game taking place in Ivalice lol ❤
@@akiinmoonlight79 there's something about the atmosphere of the areas you go to. It really is one of my favorite games possibly ever
I don't think you know what underrated means.
@@noyoucantnoicantnowecantsostop back in the day a large portion of FF fans considered 12 to be the worst game in the franchise. That's probably why they're referring to it as underrated
Here's one fact that gets overlooked. A question first though, what is the biggest issue with any game that has a party system where your companions are AI controlled? It's that they AI is usually dumb as a rock and at best is OK, right? The overlooked fact is FF12 solved this problem, solved it so well that it became a criticism, because with the gambit system you can program the AI to play better than you can and can just let the AI fight a lot of the battles on auto pilot. But really think about that, the gambit system works so well that you can program it to be better than you for %90 of time. Think about how good this would've worked in other games, no more cursing your dumb AI teammate for not healing at the obvious time, for not using an antidote when poisoned or not doing their super attacks for no good reason. This system should've been used in every game with AI controlled companions/party members.
People get annoyed that the game "plays itself" but you can just turn the gambits off.
However, why is it a bad thing that your party actually helps you in battle instead of running off doing whatever the heck they want? You can set them up in a way that fits your playstyle, or uses different strategies depending on the boss fight. I'm often switching them around mid-battle. It's such a great tool, and would be useful in other games as you said.
Here here!!!!!
It is a shame that gambit is not in more SE games. It is such a polish system that way ahead of it time.
The gambit is a good feature with this kind of battle system. It distracts from the fact that the battle system no longer sticks to the classic ff turn-based system.
It's so ahead of its time. Really surprised me that they didn't implement it in 7remake and especially 15 since you can't control your partner
One notable thing about XII is that, when you step back and see everyone's plans and plots, none of them are really the "enemy" of the game. Unlike the previous ones (Sin, Kuja, Ultimecia etc.) the enemies of the party of six all had their own agendas, most of which were self-serving and were only really villains in what they did.
The real enemy was the Occuria, who were trying to manipulate the entirety of Ivalice and the one who went rogue, Venat, managed to manipulate events to destroy the items the other Occuria would use to control the people of Ivalice. (That's a bit of a mouthful)
no black or white, that’s true
Even they weren't villains. They only thought of themselves as gods because of all their power. But in the end the actions that took place showed that they were not as omnipotent as they thought.
Well, the Occuria were just inhuman forces that thought what they were doing was just and justifiable, but Vayne was undeniably doing everything he did for his own aspirations of power. Ultimately, FFXII is a story about being used. Everyone was being used by someone else, sometimes to each other. But being manipulated into doing something bad doesn’t necessarily exonerate you from doing the bad thing.
@@wohdinhel They perceived their sole purpose to be shepherds of civilization, and that means to either control the strongest power of that civilization by gifting him items to maintain that hold, or to wipe out the top of the civilization if it grew too strong, like with the angels from ff12 revenant wings
They probably see the end outcome of an uncontrolled society and civilization as self destructive and result in the deaths of all life and the world.
The Empire were bad. They were the aggressor in power seeking wars and even used WMDs and committed genocide. Bad clear as day
Most hours spent in a FF title. 300 on PS2 and 400 on PS4. Not a lot for many people but for me it's a long time on a single player game.
I hit 600 on my ps2 cause I explored every single square inch lol
What do you do to hit that many hours lol? I got all weapons and items in the game, all level 99, all quests and bosses, everything but shy of getting the quickening trophy because I suck at it and still only hit
2 years of playtime...
I've never played any RPG for that long...
I'm not sure how much bvb time i put into this.....a lot. A whole lot. Then zodiac age for the switch i just had fun with and didn't try to 100 percent.
@@MrRandomGuy1231 Do all of that without a guide. The ps2 version never had the speed up function, which made playtime significantly longer
FFXII has the best voice direction of almost any game. I'd love to see this team have another go at a world as large as FFXII's Ivalice again.
16 seems to be heading that way voice wise
Absolutely phenomenal voice work and translation. The archaic manner of speaking really ups the fantasy vibe. I could listen to Ondore speak all night and day. The various turns of phrase that are utilized are utterly sublime. That feeling is so woefully missing in Final **Fantasy** games - or fantasy adventures in general - these days.
One of the reason I got really into to this game! It's so immersive because of that degree of attention to detail that every region have an accent. That's why I see XIII and XV voice acting so behind.
XII best final fantasy ever.
Na that'd be mgs
Ivalice Alliance in general is goated
Glad 12 got to introduce the beautiful world of Ivalice to the mainline series
Pretty much all its aspects were incredible
Also that incredible localization
Reads like literal Shakespeare...
The Victorianesque localization is the seasoning that truly finishes the fine dining that is Ivalice
I hope final fantasy 16 have a similar setting
@@ademasdanjuro I think one of the nations in Ivalice is mentioned by name
Could be just a Easter egg though
Most likely will be it's own world and fan opinion is rather divided on the matter
@@ilikestuff9250 Yeah, Clive is from Rossaria which was mentioned in XII. It likely means nothing, though.
@@Dzzy123 Oh well
I mean 14's director is on board and he's worked with Matsuno before.
As long as he remains on board I have some faith from 16
Regardless of the games final quality it'll at the bare minimum have incredible music
The localization team did an incredible job. The homogeneous aspect of the Japanese version does make it much more dry in comparison with the diversity added into the localized English version. If only we had more people willing to go that deep with localizations these days. The FFXIV team actually does an amazing incredible job as well.
Alexander O. Smith and company did a great job on the localization. I think it's a top 5 localization too.
@Daniel Long Nope, it's just logical to have different accent in a JRPG with a big world (with different countries, race, culture, etc) like FFXII. It's boring to have always the same USA English accent. It's illogical that this person from this country have the same accent than the other person from not the same country. Dragon Quest XI localization team have done the same thing, and it's so good.
for me the best thing about this FF is that the bosses can actually be inflicted with debuff. yes it can make a boss fight become easier but i like the fact that when a bosses can be debuff means a wide array of strategies can be employed instead of just brute forcing our way or over levelling
13 done the same thing and it was wonderful being able to debuff the boss and shred through it once you had gotten ready
@@johnnyshins511 i remember 13. one of female character skills has increased % for instant kill per different debuff applied on enemies but its kinda sad that the best part of 13 came so late
@@izzuddinyusof1093 yeah, that was a hidden effect of debuffs is that the more there are on an enemy, the higher likelihood that subsequent ones would succeed. Vanille's Death spell is technically a debuff so...
Just the fact that there is a purpose to the whole green magic section instead of being gimmicky shit you never have reason to use.
Nihopaloa made me smile.
My fav. FF!
The open world concept and that sense of freedom in a living breathing world was so new for FF at that time and it still holds up to this day. The world building, races, classes, languages, etc. It was such a deep lore heavy world, and always felt so unique. The music of course is the driving reason behind why I return to this title so often.
Agreeed! Compared to 15's open world which just felt stale and boring to me imo. Perhaps the setting was too modern or not enough going on in the environments or perhaps 12 just spoiled us
I agree that the world of ff12 feels alive too. It just has many distinctive cultures and designs in different areas and of races with lores and stuff that give them existential depths. The wild monsters areas also have a sort of ecosystem feels if you know what I mean. I still remember seeing a high level dinosaur chasing a wolf or something in the first desert area and I was like omg I gotta avoid that dinosaur. Then there are many special marks unique monsters and the variety is great too.
I've always thought FF12 is kind of underrated compared to other FF. My only problem with it was only the story and the personality of the main cast, the story is just not interesting or emotionally impactful/resonant enough for me, whereas other than Balthier the cast is either solemn mature stressed (Ashe Basch Fran) or playful carefree irrelevant (Vaan Panelo). I hope there'll be a new Ivalice main FF series game with improvements on the aspects of story and characters, but keep the depth of world settings and lores, and the dialogue design/direction and voice acting style. The dialogues and VA are very impressive although it can be difficult for me to understand sometime because English is not my first language but it gives a fuller immersive "Old English" experience, if you get what I'm saying.
The "Ashe meets the Occuria" scene is the epitome of the legendary script localization for this game! Top tier in this title! 👌
"The humes ever skew hist'ry's weave. With haste they move through too short lives. Driven to err by base desires, t'ward waste, and wasting on they run. Undying, we Occuria light the path for wayward sons of man. Oft did we pass judgement on them so that Ivalice might endure.
Eternal, we are hist'ry's stewards, to set the course and keep it true. The chosen is our hand, our fist, to let live some and crush the rest."
I’m replaying it for the first time since release. What is very striking to me is how good the camera work is during the cutscenes. Very cinematic. Many modern games still struggle with this.
Just recently played through and beat FF12
Truly underrated, I loved it all the way through
I would totally recommend FF12 The Zodiac Age, and to get past the odd yet unique fighting system.
A beautiful story, beautiful world, beautiful characters, all accompanied by beautiful music.
its awesome. climbed high on my list, and on top 10 games ever.
Hopefully you tried to complete all the side quests (including espers) and getting the rare/ultimate items/equips. It's so much fun and so much lore to dive into. Ivalice FF games are always has a wide and deep lore in them.
@@plipplop728 Admittedly I didn't nab all the espers or sidequests because I'm a busy guy (and also have a lineup of games to play), but I did as much side content as I could throughout the game!
@@decaf9150 yeah, it's a pretty long game, I managed to 100% the game last year when the lockdown happened, and damn it was worth every minute of it, especially Gilgamesh, Yiazmat quests and Zodiark and Ultima espers.
@@plipplop728 love the game but completing the almanic is such a bitch, i rembember hours and hours of scrolling through the wiki finding that one passive bunny i didn't kill lol
This was the first FF I played, the thing I love the most about it is the huge open environments. Just so much exploration/hunts/side quests, the world just feels so huge. This and FFVII are my favourites of the series
I wish we could get a dedicated “Ivalice” division at SE. Then give us a proper XII-2, and possibly a storyline that goes into the fall of the airships, into a FF Tactics Remaster/Remake. Also, get Vagrant Story remastered.
Hell yeah
Well, XII-2 was released on the DS for some reason and was quite a radical change from the original...
They would have to do like FF7 and flat out remake the game.
Multiplayer's all the rage these days. I say remaster XII, add co-op options, and at least put a warning sign in front of that accursed chest.
Unfortunately the SE gave up on supporting visionaries like Yasumi Matsuno. FFXII himself suffered because of the stupidity of that company at the time, which ended with his leaving in the middle of the project. Another giant that was thrown out was Tetsuya Takahashi (creator of the Xeno games) who could have created exceptional games with the support and experience of that team. High-level arrogance nearly wiped out this company at the time.
@@AlexanderPR2 well we got Yoshi-P he’s been hanging out with Yasumi these days so who’s knows what the future holds
That Rabanastre theme on strings was so good that I forgot I've listened to that tune until it haunts me. Imo one of the best stories in a game despite all the hulabaloo with the development.
hulabaloo...that's a good word
best storie really you thought the storie was good
Ugh such an underrated game in the Final Fantasy franchise. Easily one of my top favorites
Same
Same I really don't understand why it got so much hate
I only beat it for the first time last year. It’s better than I remembered when it first came out, but certainly not my favorite. Also certainly not the worst lands right in the middle for me 😂
Amazing world, depth to the characters and good story, this one is in my top 5
My favourite along with ff9!
The battle system was ahead of it's time, so much so that it was underappreciated
Probably my favorite ff.
The localization did an amazing job! One of my fave FF games ❤️
Still hoping for that remaster of the XIII Trilogy smh. XII is in my top 5 mainly the Zodiac age. It was a breath of fresh air, evolution and still held to the series roots.
XIII trilogy looks great still doesnt really need a remaster its still new enough. I don't even like the games but they still look amazing. I think it would be cool if they remake the rest of the psx games or try making more new main line series or sequels like X-3.
@@joshpaw9606 What it needs just needs to be played on Ps4. A re-release will be helpful, a remaster will only be the first one if anything.
@@joshpaw9606 A remaster of the XIII trilogy would be great for fixing some of the issues the first game had. Square could allow us to pick our party leads from the start, no longer have game overs whenever the lead dies in battle, allow for changing the player lead mid-battle; and they could even add a 'wait' feature for those who really crave traditional ATB. They could essentially re-balance XIII. Maybe they could even add a hard mode where your party members could be staggered by enemies if you're not careful.
13 nearly killed the franchise
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716
People say it was 13, but I remember it was divided, not all agreed it was trash. 12 was at first called trash, then became a cult classic. Hell people still think Nomura wrote FFXIII, and he never did. He was just the character designer.
I really love FFXII it have just a big world to explore, a lot of side quests, it have a lot of things to do, a lot of content; maybe i will get the hate, but i like it more than FFX.
THANK YOU
You get my feelings
It is leagues above Final Cringe X.
It´s like comparing one of the better Scorceses with one of the weaker Marvel films.
This game was probably my most clocked hours in an FF game (no MMOs yet) and that was directly tied to the difficulty. Some parts of the (vanilla PS2) game were so tough for my personal habits....that I had to super grind and learn about gear locations, etc. to the point where I just decided to do all the hunts/espers and side quests to make my dedication worth it. But then the super bosses were a whole other boat to sink, especially with ridiculous prep like farming Yagyu Darkblades from a 3% Bombshell drop in the mines lol
Shudder... I remember that weapon.
yea it was hunting down the trophy rare game for me, on ps2 i just remember oh yay thanks for these underleveled weapons game lol (fourtunatly it was changed in zodiac)
I remember being a kid Playing it on PS2 and being like "Gambits wtf is this?" Too much work to think about trying to set up a good system but being older and playing Zodiac age I wish I had more Gambit Slots they help out so much I was a fool of a child 😂
I can relate to this so much 😂
Same. I couldn't wrap my head around it and just played without them. Now I feel like a fool for ignoring them; they'd made the game so much fun and simpler.
Basch being sidelined for Vaan is a classic example of "well we tried something one time and people didn't buy it, so it MUST be because of that decision and not for any other reason"
You forgot about FF11 launched before 12 on PS2. FF11 & FF12 are the same engine too. It also has way more text for translation than 12 & multiple dialects per region, race, and their class in society.
So if those 2 did it, it 12 would of been less work not more
Ivalice is one of my favorite worlds within final fantasy the second being Gaia. Another note I’ve always seen Ashe as the main character over Vaan it made sense to me.
I really liked this game a lot. One of the few games I went out of my way to get the Platinum trophy for.
The most extreme change was Archaeoaevis, i came out of Yiazmat's boss room to be destroyed by that "common mob" while farming for Order of Ambrosia
Ah yes...I just wanted the belt.
"PTSD"
Okay so just in case you’re still stuck blind and berserk them then use ice magic that’ll stop them from using curse. Also you can zone out to heal then go back in
@@burntgrahamcracker2866 i just brute forced three ribbons, lvl 99 and amazing weapons and it does work (i needed that damn beastiary entry ahahaha)
@@thomasmartin1514 ah well I was at level 40ish and didn’t have any ribbons so I had to stick with the above. Still had to use a lot of Phoenix downs
Yiazmat is in the Pharos. Archaeoaevis is in the Zertinan Caverns. How did you run into them after Yiazmat?
FFXII is such a misunderstood and underrated gem. It’s a masterpiece in every way and it’s a shame that it doesn’t get the love it deserves
It was great
Perfect middle ground between the hack and slash style and Turn based battle system
Would have been better if Japan didn't have their teenage femboy fetish and made Basch the main protagonist.
@@ilikestuff9250 Wasn't really a hack n slash, I'd say you're describing 13-3.
@@wiseguy240Winston I said its the middle ground
You can still move in combat
But attacks are based on a turn system which depends on the atb gauge
A game like FFXII was ahead of its time , one of the best FF games made !!
No surprise that Vaam n Penelo were the last Characters made. I would've loved if templar Basch was the MC.
I absolutely fell in love with this FF, played the shit outta it & still will to this day. Easily my favorite but up there with 13
I passed over Final Fantasy XII when it first came out and only played the beginning. I seriously regret that because after playing The Zodiac Age it has become one of my favourites in the entire series! It's an incredibly underrated game
Perfect that this video came out after I beat the game for the first time
Same here!
not until you killed Yiazmat
@@feinchan Yiazmat, Omega, and collected ALL the espers (those Zodiark and Ultima battles, hmm yummy).
I love this game. Got everything on the PS2 version and then replayed it on the PS4. If you haven’t fought the Yiazmat, then you’re definitely missing out on a great challenge.
Love this game to date. Loved since the first release back in 2006. Best battle system ever created which suited this game really well. Definitely the most underrated FF and without a reason most hated FF game. It makes me happy to see how many people nowadays are appreciating it still and there are still new people coming.
Having watched an in-depth 3-part doc on the development of this game, I really wasn't expecting any/much new info but most of it was! Great vid :)
Honestly it’s one of the very best Final Fantasy games. It’s one I can go back to again and again. It has some of the best music and voice acting in any Final Fantasy in my opinion. The breadth and scope of the world and enemies still amazes me today. And you get the feeling there’s so much more to discover.
other than the two cardboard cutout characters (Vaan and Penelo) the other characters are just so entertaining especially the leading man
The first FF game I've played. And made me fall in love for RPG. Amazing gameplay and history.
Easily in my top 3 favorite Final Fantasy games. I remember passing afternoon after high school day, just having fun to read all the hidden lore in the bestiary menu.
Awesome! This is one of my favorite games and I learned a lot.
In my opinon FFXII & FFIX are the best games in the franchise and get overshadowed by other titles in the series due to being over hyped. I'ts alway's great to see appreciation givin to this masterpiece, awesome video!
8 is better than both of them story wise and summon wise no question ask and i like turnbased gameplay more
I’m still playing this amazing FFXII as we speak :)
Same Here :) Even on the ps2 to feel the difference, its waaaay harder, no free gil or lp through the trial Mode
@@oswald42069 I feel ya this game is so underrated surprisingly compared to other FF.
I played every FF game except this one for the longest time...idk why I put it off for so long. But when Zodiac age came out on PS4, I thought I'd give it a shot...and I loved it. Truly in my top 4 Final Fantasy games with 6, 8, and 9.
Thanks for this! This is my favorite game and this was seriously an amazing video!
By far the best FF. Great video!
My favorite final fantasy, nobody talks about it, maybe because it takes 200 hours to finish it, It took 500 hours for me to fully finish it and never killed yiazmat
The Gambit System being inspired by the NFL was a fascinating little nugget of info. I mean, all of this was but that in particular made me smile 😊
My favorite FF game hands down! On my third playthrough right now, first time playing zodiac age. The game holds up very well, I've always loved the music, the world, the hunts, the looting, and the combat works great.
are you planning on getting platinium? If so get ready for the rare game grind haahhaha
@@thomasmartin1514 The new fast forward options are a life saver
Always has been my favorite final fantasy especially the base version without the job system. i just loved the battle system and the gambits, it felt so rewarding having a good tactic that made grinding so fluent and the open world without annoying loading times between battles
I loved the airships
I love how they localize this game, giving more effort to not just translate them, but actually giving live to the game.
When the Occurias spoke to Ashe in Giruvegan was mind blowing, the way they speak made me thought that it was how "Gods" actually speaks.
I love FFXII, and I'd love a new game with the very same gameplay elements
the gambit system is underrated
@@ademasdanjuro definitely!!
Love the gameplay, disappointed with the story
I always thought a remake of the original Final Fantasy but in the style of FF12 would be a great concept.
Exactly!!
I just absolutely love FF XII. I remember getting this only 1 week before the PS3 launched beating it then getting my PS3 and then beating it again. I loved Ivalice, the characters, the music. It was a really good swan song for PS2 and they really pushed the limits. I replay this game and least every couple years, it just calls to me.
Played all final fantasy from 1 through 12 except 11 😅 it's my childhood 🥺
The first FF I fell in love with. The poetry like monologues and political story makes it my all time fav entry in the series.
I love ff12. It has a big open world feel, the AI works well, and the art work and animation are beautiful.
I have long wanted SE to make an MMO named "Ivalice Online" I've even came up with some ideas for it:
- instead of just creating a standard character you create a Clan and then create the members in it via the different tactics/XII races, each race can only be certain jobs but when you want to change jobs you go back to your clan hall and swap members all while staying logged in.
- bring in all 56 jobs from FFTA2 but have a lot of them basically be the same job but played differently depending on your race (kind of like WoW specs) where for example Beastmaster and Animaler are echoes of each other, warrior/beserker/revenger, templar/paladin, agent/flintlock/cannoneer etc
That sounds like a lot of bloat just for the sake of having everything.
@@shadenox8164 Now that you've reminded me of this 3 year old comment, I find it funny that WoW's war-bands are basically the idea I listed here for Klans.
the guitar song you choose suits me so well
Just started this not too long ago on PS4. Getting a lot of Star Wars vibes from the music and how some of the scenes are choreographed. Liking it so far!
A video about FF12 in 2021? Damn I lm glad this game is still getting some love uo to this day. Best ff for me and will always be my favorite.
The gambit system was pure genuis. I mean, there's a trick in the Stillshrine of Miriam to get that one rare monster to come out which spawns other monsters, and you can literally just leave the controller there for a few hours and your characters will do all the work, thanks to the right gambits.
This is my favorite PS2 FF title! Once you understood how the License Board and Gambit System work, the gameplay becomes fun. I owned the game before the Zodiac Age came out, so I was already creating jobs for different characters, and I used graph paper to think up of each job and what to unlock. I avoided unlocking things that "shouldn't" for that class, and unlocked different things according to level. It added more strategy to the game and having the characters taking on jobs, rather than unlocking everything, made the battles WAY more easy! I wish they implemented this system for FF13, rather than the boring mess that it released with. I mean, hitting one button repeatedly while the characters did their own thing? At least with FF12, you could choose the Gambits to tell your characters how to act when they're not the active character!
The storyline, the graphics, the mini games, the rare hunting, the sounds... I could go on and on!
I was obsessed with poaching rare games to strengthen my weapons
I`m a FF player since FF6 in SNES , but I was too busy in the PS2 era and missed almost the entire generation...but played FF12 and loved .
I would give every single customer the hard sell for this game while working at gamestop when it came out. Absolute favorite FF
One thing I couldn't not be distracted by was every time you called Basche "Bash". They even say it in game... awe and ah xD
Note: FF12 is a favorite of mine, and HIGHLY underrated
The 8th fact is that this is the best looking game in the ps2
FF12, KH2, and Okami all came out around the same time and were probably the 3 best looking titles on the console, right as the generation was ending.
@@kingofthesharks At that point, they really knew how to handle the graphics. Each of those three games chose an art style that just stole the show and worked perfectly on the system.
MGS 3 looks way better
*Grandia 3 would like word with you....
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716 oh boy Snake Eater is still *cheff kiss*
My favorite game in the series, gonna sit back and enjoy this
Edit: had no idea it was the localization team that added the flowery language into the game…can’t believe Square approved it smh
The part about FFXII UE3 tech-demo is really fascinating, I had never heard about that before. I hope footage of that gets released or leaks some day. Would love to see it!
Also, I just want to point out that FFTA wasn't directed by Matsuno himself, he only came up with the story concept and served as the producer. It was directed by Yuichi Murasawa and developed largely by the same team that had just previously made Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis for GBA at Quest Corp (the same company Matsuno, Yoshida, Minagawa et al. had worked at before joining Square.) I believe the whole FFTA project got started in the first place because Quest approached Square, wanting to do a collaboration. Ultimately it lead to Square just outright buying Quest and putting the team to work on FFTA and XII.
I still think making Vahn the main character was a mistake.
1000 times this. There's only one glaring flaw in this game and its the shoehorned in white-Aladdin who really has nothing to do with anything going on in the game on any real, meaningful level.
Can't agree more. Not making Basch the lead, I can agree with as he's rather aged and quite serious, Balthier was basically the perfect lead. His connection to the story, coupled with his charm and personality, made him the best character in my opinion.
@@Neverfate You're insulting Aladdin by comparing him to Vaan. Vaan has only his Ivalice-style cosplay, AND NOTHING ELSE! He's basically the underage party member of the group like Relm, Yuffie, Selphie etc, except he has nothing to redeem himself.
@@AbRas644 Balthier, is the leading man xD. But really, making vaan the main character makes sense, besides he lack of charisma, his story is the one wich link the stories of the other characters
Ps: Balthier is my favorite
Vaan was never the main character, FF12 has an ensemble cast but the story is told through Vaan's perspective since he's pretty much as clueless to what's going on in the world as the players are in the beginning. Plus he played an important role in Ashe's character development.
will forever be my favorite FF ❤️ i remember talking about it to a friend that did not play FF at all a couple of years back before zodiac age was even announced, and told him, i wish i could play it again, only to find a trailer 1 month after i told him that about it being remastered, it was the best news i had received in so long and im so glad that i was able to play it again after so long 😁❤️
I literally finished a playthrough on my old ps2, then my dad bought me the game on PS4 and then i proceded to finish the game 100%....again
1- great video
2- matsuno and Ito were a dream team. The storytelling method of the first was unique within Square and it makes FFT and vagrant stroy my favourites. To me 12´s story doesnt work and i just wish matsuno could have stayed until the conclusion of the game.
3- the localizationof games such as FF is often the diference between failure and sucess. how a big company like square gives the job to just two guys is beyond me.
4- Matsuno more mature stories are a good fit for strong MC. The decison to make Vann such an important thing doomed 12 to it´s destiny. The part were you mention that vagrant story sales were bad makes me think of what japanese developers often say, that they make their games( or movies) for to domestic market, with oversee sucess being a bonus. Also, the sales of VG were defined by being released so late in the PS1 lifecycle and all the world, specially Japan, directing their atention to the new console generation.
5- 17:03 fits perfectely with what the FF13 gameplay would be. Ito is second only to Sakaguci in the influence had on the franshise.
ffxvi is probably the biggest final fantasy to date with no dev hell for the modern final fantasies, it was announced last year, finished this year, and probably releasing sometime at the end of the year...maybe
Right, that’s why I fear it won’t be that good. We’ll just have to wait and see.
@@zeitlichkeit5094 square used to put out 1 ff every 2 years and they were all mostly great
Can we talk about how underrated 12 is, yeah the combat is definitely a love or hate kinda deal, but I don’t know if it’s just me but feel it story and characters can easily stand on there own along side other games like 14, 8 and maybe even 7 and 10.
This calmed me down. Thank you.
My favorite main title (fight me), i love everything about it especially the world building, like the video said the world of Ivalice is just too amazing to explore, hunting for specific monsters, completing secret quest and reading hours upon hours into the bestiary, the Ivalice world is just have too much potential!
Currently on my first play through of this game!
My all time favorite final fantasy game. I love the art, design, story, characters, enemies, bestiary. Loved the judge magistrates designs and wish you fought the other 2 in story then in the 99 floor trials. Zargabath is my favorite design wise of the 5 and wish he had more info. So much to love with the game and I'm a happy owner of both ps 2 and 4 versions. I can't ever stop gushing about this game.
dude have you fought zargabath in trial 100? you'll regret saying you want to fight him lol that goddamn elixir spam ahaha
@@thomasmartin1514 yea I heard. I meant in game outside of the trials I got to like floor 80 or something I think got spammed with disease and other stuff by some of the headless enemies and a diabolos. I'm not looking forward to any of the other fights of the last 20 floors especially the judge fight lol
'Ogre Battle' and 'March of the Black Queen' - must be big Queen fans lol
Yup! Look up the Ogre Battle series, they make a lot of queen references in the titles.
Matsuno loves to drop references to Queen in anything he works on
One of the reason I got really into to this game! It's so immersive because of that degree of attention to detail that every region have an accent. That's why I see XIII and XV still voice acting so behind.
XII best final fantasy ever.
Honestly, this is my fav FF
FFXII is my favorite game with my favorite battle system. 1 fact I would have loved to learn about is the story team's response to the idea that they just retold star wars.
I remember playing this game when I was in middle school and just couldn't understand the politics of the game: I remember calling this game "beautifully boring" back then. but nowadays, I deeply miss the game's story and theme.
Ugh, same, especially since english isn't my mother tongue.. That's why I bought The Zodiac Age on PC, and goddamn I fell in love with the lore/story/politics of this game.
being able to actually sit through the narrator sequences was just a blessing (i was 8 when i played on ps2)
Final Fantasy XII in my opinion has such an amazing and rich lore. Even with the faults that is Vann's character, it still excels in its story. I feel that they need to make more Final Fantasy in this style and setting. I had not felt this kind of experience of Final Fantasy since FFIX. I love this game!
It’s quite sad that this game is often misunderstood. I played it when I was young like 10-12 and although I didn’t understand the politics in it combined with my limited understanding of english language but I love the overall battle system as well as Ivalice. It ought to be my favorite ff universe (the lore and different locations) and surely I have no issue with any of the characters. Idk I mean probably because I was a kid, I didn’t find Vaan and Penelo as obnoxious or unnecessary but I do understand where the criticisms come from.
Which is your first language?
@@La-hora-del-terror it’s Malaysian language actually lol
@@lolaz.3485 actually i had a similar story. When i was 11 years old my older brother download Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories for the PS2 (that game doesn't came to Europe until 2013 and it was 2012 and i didn't know about the 1.5 HD Remix).
The thing is that game it was in English not in Spanish (my first language). I learned English because of that game, yes, maybe i have a lot of mistakes but i'm proud of myself because of what i did almost 9 years ago (and that happens too when i played Final Fantasy II PSP Anniversary a few years later)
@@La-hora-del-terror Hey it’s fine to make mistakes after all. It seems like we both found our ways to learn a foreign language through games. I think it’s quite an experience because a child me may not be able to make a good decision or whatsoever but now after they released zodiac age, it’s kinda refreshing knowing that I can finally understand what’s going on in any of the games. What’s more that my mother tongue language never made it to options to change any languages, so yeah gaming can be quite an obstacle for people like me ;)
@@lolaz.3485 the best part is both games are from Square Enix.
Well some games like Kingdom Hearts 3D for the 3DS was in English on my country (i don't know why). I thought the games in your country at least are translated, it looks like if you aren't Japanese or American/Canadian you can't enjoy at 100% the videogames.
thank you for this. Eleven, and 12, my 2 most favorite FF of the series.
Even though the battle system was different it was still amazing because of how they were trying to make it open world and make the players explore the game. It only looked different because it was out of its time or something but still is a pretty good game.
i remember seeing this game on release, but never really thought about it, having only played it recently, i realize how much i missed out on! the game is AMAZING
I still play this original game on PS2 till this very day. It is unlike any other. Truth be told, 'immersive' is the best way to describe the sublime experience.
WTF Omega's health was over 10 million? Damn what torture. The boss was basically a formula you had to figure out with Reverse status, but you still had to stay awake to keep tabs on your party. Doing that for any longer than 2 million HP would've broken my patience haha which is likely why Yiazmat was my personal toughest fight.
those armor designs on those knights and the Viera use to blow my mind.. amazing design and art.. is there an Easy Mode in FF12 remake?? i'd like to try it again
There isn´t a remake. If you mean the Zodiac age: This is the easy mode basically.
@@FelixS. what do you mean? they made it easier in zodiac?
@@바보Queen Yeah they made the bosses easier due to the necessity of rebalancing the game because you have completely different stats by using the zodiac job system in comparison to the vanilla one.
It really was way easier than the OG FFXII.
FFXII remains one of my favorites. The gambit system was brilliant and I loved that you could swap out party members in battles. Even KO'd ones. You could also turn off the gambits and play it like the more traditional ATB system if you wanted. I've always wondered how we went from the brilliance of this game to the weirdly limited approach in XIII.
Would love to see a video talking about the possible story behind the Pitioss Ruins!
the rabanastre recreation in UE3 really surprised me. Now i want to see a video of it
Ff12 was the game that took me a very long time to finish and enjoyed them. Thank you!
My most favourite FF after 7, probably the best
In my opinion one of the top 5 games in the franchise, and one of the best in the genre overall. It has its flaws, as does everything, but it's so unique, fleshed out and gorgeous that it makes up for its flaws and more. Very underrated ost as well. That music is beautiful and so few people talk about it.