Final Fantasy XII for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

Here's what I liked about FF12. First, the new battle system. There are no more random encounters, enemies roam freely on the world map and you can fight or fly at your leisure. Second, the Gambit System. Basically it allows your characters to do different commands like attack, heal, use an item, etc. automatically. Third, the cinematics. Like any Final Fantasy game, the cinematics are a thing to behold.

Here's what I didn't like. FF12 is too repetitive. Though the new battle system is a breath of fresh air, all you will be doing in this game is fighting non-stop. You can also ride a chocobo and that's about it. In previous installments, like FF7 there were the chocobo races and the motorcycle chase sequence to change up the gameplay. In FF10 there was the blitzball games. FF12 has non of that.

FF12 has this new thing called the Lisence Board. You can't equip a new weapon right away. You have to build up enough lisence points, and then buy the lisense on the board. Sometimes it became a real chore to build up points just to use a slightly better weapon.

The story is subpar. FF12 starts out with this huge LOTR-esque battle and the first 1/2 of the game is really engaging. By halfway through the game, the story becomes convoluted and just boring. Most of the cinematics in the game are just characters droning on and on.

The characters in FF12 are either very well developed or cliche cardboard cutouts. The main villain, Vayne, is the typical power hungry bad guy who wants to be a god. Some of the main characters have interesting backstories, but the main character Vaan is completely forgettable. He just has this been there done that feel to him, like we've played this main character countless times.

I've played far worse games. FF12 had a lot of good ideas, but the boring second half, weak characters, and repetitive gameplay make this far from good.