Final Fantasy XII (The Most Misunderstood One) - ProJared
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- čas přidán 5. 08. 2022
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A review of FINAL FANTASY XII, the last Final Fantasy game on the PlayStation 2! This one takes place in the world of Ivaliace, the same as Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant story, giving it a rich world to exist in. It's also the most misunderstood one. People didn't like the story, people didn't like Vaan, and everyone compared the battle system to be too similar to an MMORPG.
I want to challenge a lot of these thoughts and opinions. Are they accurate and hold merit? Or is Final Fantasy XII just ahead of its time?
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Thank you for providing our Final Fantasy
This is it Jareeeeeeed~ 13 is next Jareeeeeeeeeeeeeeed~ You cant escape it any longeeeeeeeeeeeeer~!
the biggest issue with FFXII... ITS TO DAMN LONG!!!!! ITS LIKE 92 HOURS LONG
The zodiac version isn't just in the HD re-release btw. It came out only about a year later in Japan.
Wait, now I realize that game is next. Poor PJ.
I love the world in FFXII so much. Definitely gotten some major FFXII vibes from the Xenoblade games too. It was ahead of its time in many ways.
Hi Tim!
Hello Tim
Oh shit, NCS! I remember learning what Ocarina of Time was because of you.
Same here. It was my first Final Fantasy. I have so many fond memories of watching my mom play this while I was laying on her lap as a kid.
Yeah the xenoblade games are the successors of ff12, they are really great.
"Aesthetically, this is my favorite look of any Final Fantasy game." Cheers to that! I adore XII so much.
Yeah running around in a boring desert is so great
I love how he puts Balthier on the screen right as he says that!🥰❤️
@@sausage141 what does that have to do with the OP comment? Lol
You'd like XIV. XIV is basically, for the most part, a love letter to XII's aesthetics and art direction
@@Luzz4136 I finally started playing it a year back or so, and ARR was a grueling pain. I finished it, but needed to take a long break after that haha. This year I plan to hop back in. Thanks!
The world in ff12 is unbelievably detailed and beautiful. I loved this and FF9 the most.
FFXII has my favorite format of a game world. The segmented but massive and explorable maps are PERFECT. I love 12 so so much. The art is fantastic.
You would probably enjoy Xenoblade a lot.
Gideon Emery did such a good job voicing Balthier. Some of the finest VA work in the business.
He also did the voice for Urianger in FF14 in A Realm Reborn, one of the few actually good performances before they switched to a UK based recording studio
He really makes up for the rather lackluster characterization and script writing for the rest of the cast. But Nicole Fantl's voicework as Fran is sublime.
@@FF-tp7qs started FFXIV this year and was so happy to hear him voice Urianger then I finished ARR and the voice actors switched and was thrown so off guard
Also the voice of Fenris from Dragon Age 2, pretty similar to Balthier. Angrier though.
I swear when i first hear the voice of Ignis from FF15 i immediately says "hey... isn't that Balthier?"
Ah! My first Final Fantasy. I still remember laying on my mom’s lap when I was a kid, watching her play this game before I got to play it myself. My fave character was Ashe.
Jesus Christ, I feel so old reading this.
@@FlameJackstar That very particular profile pic is apt for what kind of devestating blow was done to my sanity in this very instant.
Fuck I'm old
I find this really wholesome
@@FlameJackstar It’s ok, I understand how you feel. I was only 5-6 years old when I watched my mom play this game. Now I’m about to go through my last year of college.
I love FFXII. The soundtracks, the atmosphere, and even the story. I spent hours and hours on that game and frankly always loved it.
Don't want to argue. But, want to learn.
Do you listen to the ost outside playing?
Do you not get annoyed some of it?
Because i usually have to lower audio, and listen to something else.
Great game though
I never finished it back in the day, but the zodiac age remaster fixed a lot of issues with the game. I absolutely loved revisiting it a few years ago
Same. As a kid i liked it because "Oh a new FF" as an adult i love how in depth EVERYTHING in the game is.
Remaster made it worse to me
@@I_Am_The_Social_Reject then play the original on an emulator in 4k
I'm just finishing up the game name after not having played it since 2006/2007. I really enjoyed it. My biggest gripe is just how you can have the most powerful items in the game be completely RNG on chests even appearing. Unless if you looked at a guide you'd never know that you completely missed things.
I really enjoy everything else about the game though. The license and gambit systems are great.
@@I_Am_The_Social_Reject Dude i totally agree. Maybe this has to do with the ages I played the game versions. I had 100 hours back in the day on PS2, but playing Zodiac Age changes everyones job stylings and license board feel to different linear options. The original settings made me feel like I could customize each character into a powerhouse equally. I mean i know technically it adds more variety this way, but it feels like it neuters the cast just for the sake of “shaking things up.” Like someone said “nah you can’t break this anymore like you could.” (Even though apparently you still can.) Many people say the zodiac gimmick adds depth and fixes the tedium of licenses. It just feels like a tacked on after thought that forces something unnecessary. When I played 12 ZA, no matter how much I loved the atmosphere and world, it felt so empty and more like an MMO with no else online, rather than a single player experience in a world with the scope of an MMO. (Like i remember feeling in the 2000’s.) Xenoblade is a better execution of this type of JRPG in every way, but I understand this was first by a large margin. Its sad because I agree with the notion of unrealized potential. If they had the balls to make Ashe the protag, removed Vaan and Penelo, and fixed the heavy handed dialogue, this game may be as beloved as 10.
Personally, I never felt like Venat was controlling anyone. Venat merely looked for humans that had the ambition and drive that aligned with it's own goals. It's said several times in the game that Vayne and Cid's relationship with Venat is that they see it as a friend.
Think so too honestly, else if he controlled them, he'd be worse than the ones he's going against. As proof that they're friends, Venat had no reason to be in the Bahamut as his goal of destroying the Sun-Cryst had been accomplished.
Yeah I tilted my head at that part. It's still humanity vs humanity. Venat chose a side and gave what they could to the people that like OP said, had the drive and ambition to do what they all wanted. I don't get the feeling Vayne or Cid needed convincing that the occuria didn't deserve to dictate the way the people should be. Ultimately, it's still Vayne that needs to be stopped and not some secret villain you didn't know about. I'd also say that the occuria don't really come out of nowhere, but that's just me.
Venat is supposed to be female I think. The Japanese name is straight up “Venus” but I guess the localization team thought that would be too cheesy.
@@deathseraph3 the purpose of the Occuria was to solve a certain continuity issue between FF12 and FFT. Namely, why the world ended up going through an apocalypse and getting sent into the dark ages. The Occuria’s story ties into the story of your summons in FF12 which are subsequently the villains of FFT.
Venat did nothing wrong
I wish we saw more of the judges. We are only told what they are but we never really experience their reach and capabilities in the way that you would expect from the most elite knights order.
Judges didn’t get the development they deserved, unlike Beatrix in FF9. The player experienced the power of Beatrix and saw the way she carried out her duties in line with the legends of her fierceness.
Also about Rozaria empire, only one messenger/vassal from that empire arrived but we never ever have the chance to explore or have anything about them
I played this game more than 300 hours , finished it 3 times, completing it 100% , what a good memory and peace time it was back then
Respect! 😄
Jared's abridged dialogue scene was amazing. I'd pay for a whole transcript!
same! i need more of it!!
My dude, you may be outta jail, but you ain't free.
Favorite quote. Lol
Hell yeah, lol
Instead of Sonic Live Dubs, Final Fantasy Subtext Dubs would be amazing
I came here to say the same thing.
I'm so glad to hear Jared has such a high opinion of 12. It's honestly my favorite. Also, I always saw the battle system more akin to KotoR's
Reminds me of White Knight Chronicles too, especially with the flexible job system.
Now you've said that. Yes, it really does, just with alot more polish
@@chrisdaughen5257 that's a hidden gem of an rpg
Yeah, ahead of its time in case of being totally crap !! Only good is the graphics and the story a bit. Thats it !!
You do not fight yourself, everything is gambits and auto attacks . You only walk and dish once a while a manual command to someone else.
Battle system is too convoluted and those dumb lines who indicate who attacks who. I know you can get rid of em in settings BUT
that they thought it will be needed shows what kind of idiots worked at that game. They ruined it, if this would have been round based,
it could have been the best FF, with great monsters to summon etc. Those live action battles dont work. It becomes a shit product !!
@@Preceyese-Seyeght Hooboy. Gambits just reveal that most of JRPG combat is just pressing X in proper order and gambits are made to override that aspect. They are optional game mechanic and most likely people had done same actions with just more tedium. It is more of the problem of JRPG (turn based) systems than gambits itself. If anything gambits should be must to any game which has AI-controlled allies. Old school turn based combat was mostly tedious and was made because of the technical limitations.
And battle system honestly wasn't that much different from regular JRPG combat. It uses same ATB system as previous ones and technically this game still works in turn based mode. Lines can be set off so... what's the point? Calling it convoluted is overstatement as best. Summons were unnecessary at worst.
So FF13 been that bad its been a year since the last video.
At one point, he made a short video showing that a lot of the gameplay footage kept getting corrupted. So that would definitely delay things. Not made any easier that it meant he would have to play a large chunk of a very unfun game all over again
I held out on playing it because Jared described it as final hallway and made the review WAY back then, and starting now, it's great and actually LESS linear than 4. First time FF learned that enemies need to be on map and characters and enemies moving in battle should affect attack timings and counters, it took Square only 15 years or so but they got to gameplay standards of Grandia 1 or Tales of Symphonia lol.
@AnriChar-vl7yp less linear? It didn't even pretend to not look like a hallway. And this videoceven states 12 was the first one to understand enemies needed to be on the map
@@meapickle Yet less linear than IV, as the game actually opens up when you get to Gran Pulse, and you can change your party instead of running with Porom and Palom. Playing SNES FF4, I quit halfway through because it was like watching a movie, nothing you did changed anything... trying to finish it now on PC.
But good luck kicking out those annoying twins and running with best characters Kain, Rydia and Yang... no, you're stuck with what game gives you. For most of 13 too, but not ALL of it like IV!
I like FF4, but it's as linear as it gets, you literally cannot change anything, not even spell learning order, weapons or classes! That stuff is customizable in 13, not in 4. The only customization in which are augments in 3D remake.
And yeah FF12 had enemies on map yeah, but it didn't have separate battle scenes, and IIRC you couldn't backstab them to make strikes and distance didn't matter (see Fang shooting point blank with a bow in this video). The fact it took Square so long to get features Grandia 1 and Tales of Symphonia had way back is embarrassing - and I like their games!
@@AnriChar-vl7yp IV and XII were fun. XIII isn't
I loved how much control Gambits gave you over your teams actions. I never felt like I had party members not doing enough or not making the right choices. I really liked it alot.
Imo it was the perfect compromise between being in control and automation. Sadly, most players were too dumb to set up a list of basic if->then instructions with top to bottom priority. I would have loved to see the FF series move forward with this, but their combat systems only went downhill from there.
@@WannaComment2 think about what you wrote here.
its a different way, not your way. doesnt mean its downhill. just as you dont respect what other people like, you condemn them for not liking what you like.
@@WannaComment2 while I do hate the fact that FF is going into an action RPG route, I do believe that it could work in the long run. FF15 combat sucks, but FF7 remake shows that they can makes it fun. With FF16 being produced by Yoshi-P, I can see the combat being much better in the future for the series.
I agree with you on most players are dumb with if - then command. I've been trying to find a good blind let's play for Zodiac Age and most of them can't even grasp how the system works for some reason.
@@WannaComment2*wave* Hey, no need for negative assumptions!
Some people just want to actually play the game and not set it to an autoplay mode.
I mean, you call them stupid but could they not just call you lazy?
Gambit system drove me away, not here to program for a dev team too lazy to program the AI in the computer game for me
This entire series has been a joy to follow, ever since you covered the first Final Fantasy game. Your reviews are funny, yet so well researched and respectful, even when you're talking about entries that you dislike.
That said.
I'm most excited for the next one.
Don't. Hold. Back.
One day...
Wait is this where he ends off these reviews?
Dang. It is. Only played final fantasy x and x2 so I wanted to go through the entire series to get the gist of the gameplay and stories and such of all the others.
I think the Shakespearean metaphor you made is very apt. FF12's story feels like a compelling play written by an excellent playwright who got bored of writing half way through and just wanted to wrap it up and move on.
Story of my life
A shame really, it could've been the next FF tactics story-wise.
as if a mere writer would have any saying in how long the game should end up being
Just like Game Of Thrones 😂😂
People shit on this story and not FF8, 9 and 10? Lmao, like Final Fantasy is always some golden standard of excellence in storytelling and FF12 is the "ugly duckling"? FF storytelling has always been janky and full of awkardness and pretentiousness, but thats part of the charm with it, its so unapolagetically over the top and trying its hardest to be epic. In pure world atmosphere, lore and fun gameplay FF12 is one of the strongest FF outings
Penelo's arc being a dot made me laugh a lot more than it should've
Lol. Yup
Nah RABTOON's joke about Penelo being a literal cardboard cutout was the best.
She's just there to be Vaan's girlfriend.
@@ZoobiethePopplioRevenant Wings fixes that.
The problem with FF12 is it lacks the element that most FF games typically nail and make them so great. And that is character development and interplay between characters that shows their bond growing and adheres you to them. This game hardly gives any time to develop any of its characters besides their initial introduction. It's villains suffer the same fate, everyone gushes about how cool Gabranth is but in the whole game he gets like 5 minutes of screen time before his boss fight. This is made worse by the fact that all the villains wear their helmets most of the time and on your first playthrough it is difficult to even tell them apart because the helmets are so similar. in the whole 40-50 hour main story there is like two or three scenes where any of the party members actually do or say something that shows they care for another party member and most of the time its Balthier... Funny how Balthier seems to be most peoples favorite character... wonder why that is.
Those "Redundant" gambits are for adjusting your timing, you might probably find like healing at 50% is cool against all world map monsters but you find dying a lot against bosses if you heal at that margin of HP and need heal at around 70 to 80%.
Same. I'd had some use for say 70% healing before. It can overpopulate the lists yes but they're not redundant exactly.
Truth be told it seems like the better way to do it would have been to have a 100 percent to 1 percent, and you put in gambits where you want, so you have a heal option, and it's set exactly where you want
I am *_just currently_* replaying Final Fantasy XII after _many_ years... and discovering that I like it _even more_ now than when I was younger! How the gameplay is unafraid to be its own "party programming" kinda thing, the really mature writing and format of a political drama, the absolutely _classy_ and amazing soundtrack, how the world and all its locations feel so incredibly dense and _alive_ - I'm enjoying it _so darn much._ And that is why I shall delay watching this video! Will be here the moment I finish it! : )
The same exact thing happened with me where I hated this game back then and love it now. It's all thanks to the Zodiac version giving the game so much new life. I love how you can fast forward battles or overworld traveling up to 4x speed. The job system is way better. The reorchestrated music is fantastic compared to the original. It's a huge step up.
@@MattAkiyama1 I did actually like the original a lot when I was younger, but I could actually see now that the lack of the fast-forward might make it more exhausting to play for me; seemingly nothing that bothered me when I was younger, but I think it might now. It being an actual game feature pairs very well with how this game actually functions (to where it's not so much about thrilling combat, but the satisfaction of character builds and smart gambit programming; fast-forward feels fitting here for the same reason it does in some strategy or management games).
oh man , enjoy! :D
The gambit system really runs this game for me. I love a lot about it but, that's my favorite part
@@MattAkiyama1 I always liked how the original didn't have a strict job system so you could go a certain way and max them the way that you see fit without any limitations it felt satisfying to try and fill the whole grid then but in zodiac age it didn't really give an option of which we would like to use sadly.
The world building, the characters, the music, the enemies, the visuals, the adventure…
This will forever remain my favorite FF game
Same here, it’s so alive and rich!
Outside ff7, 12 was my next most played for sure. It was a great world and I still have the original ps2 steelbook version
Yeah, ahead of its time in case of being totally crap !! Only good is the graphics and the story a bit. Thats it !!
You do not fight yourself, everything is gambits and auto attacks . You only walk and dish once a while a manual command to someone else.
Battle system is too convoluted and those dumb lines who indicate who attacks who. I know you can get rid of em in settings BUT
that they thought it will be needed shows what kind of idiots worked at that game. They ruined it, if this would have been round based,
it could have been the best FF, with great monsters to summon etc. Those live action battles dont work. It becomes a shit product !!
@@Preceyese-Seyeght the Gambit system is only as involved as you set it up to be.
You can make the combat just as involved as every Final Fantasy since Final Fantasy 4 (the one that created the active time battles), the only difference is there is some movement involved too.
@@umokwhy2830 The friggin gambit system is an essential part of this crap game, NO it is not like all the other FF titles. FF12 FF13 and FF9 are awful, the worst not only compared in the same frenchise, compared to lot of other jrpg's too....
22:44 There's 4 variations of Boss Battle Music
1. Miniboss, which plays during smaller bosses like King Bomb.
2. Story Boss, which plays for Storyline bosses such as Firemane
3. Difficult Boss, which plays for more endgame bosses that have good lore behind them.
4. Espers. Which plays when you fight espers.
I love this game. The music , characters , bosses , monster hunts, making fun of van, Balthier is one of the coolest dudes, fast forward, gambits, the challenging encounters, sexy bunny people. Great stuff.
Yeah them stripper bunnies!
It's a masterpiece.
Can I also say this game looks sooooo good. If you said this was a ps3 game I would’ve believed you.
The game was at late ps2 era. It pushed graphics to limits
I still find Vahn's abs distracting. They look so.... off.
It does indeed look good on PS2, but I think the version used here is the Zodiac Age one.
@@80sForever29 Indeed it is, the original PS2 version was more blurry, the scenes that Jared used are for sure enhanced graphics from Zodiac Age.
Yeah, he played the Zodiac Age
Gone through 12 like three times. Great game.
I remember lining up at GameStop at midnight for the ps2 release. Someone was blasting final fantasy 7 soundtrack from their car in the parking lot. Good times.
Fuckin’ nerds…
Damn, that sounds like cool shit. Would've loved to have such an experience as a kid!
I remember renting it as a teen. Before that I would listen to the soundtrack all the time. I would imagine what the game would look like. Finally got my mom to rent it. Man what an experience. I wish I could experience it again for the first time.
It's not my favorite but I've spent the most time on this game due to its grindy nature.
Someone is always blaring Final Fantasy VII music at every release. It's a tradition.
You know which Final Fantasy you got to talk about next, Projared...
YOU CAN'T RUN FROM IT FOREVER, JARED!
FFXI?
@@Soniti1324 He already did that.
I always felt like Final Fantasy 12 inspired the gameplay of the Xenoblade franchise.
Same.
"This is a Final Fantasy free from the hallway or a straight line to progress."
This has to be foreshadowing.
Or a reference to 10 which is just as bad as 13
I loved how every minimap he shared during those clips were thin pathways... Games full of hallways, they're all hallways.
@@MrPsyren99 I hate how many people conveniently overlook this fact
also free from the normal battle system, free from the world map, free from insteresting story or characters, and free from "it feels like a final fantasy".
it should have been called something else.
@@morgenes7765 Except that you guys are fooling yourselves? 10 has not only more branching paths and open areas than 13, but it also has way more options even when the environments are corridors. You can fight more battles and aren't level-capped, you have NPCs to talk to, minigames, optional areas, optional enemies, can choose your party members, can buy and use different equipment, use chocobos, ... need I go on? The linearity critique of FF13 isn't just about the environment, it's everywhere in the gameplay.
XII has such a unique vibe to its world, I can't describe it
Just an added bit of info, the Original Star Wars drew a large majority of it's plot from Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress", and, honestly, i feel Final Fantasy XII drew alot of it's story beats from the same source, not necessarily from Star Wars itself.
Seriously. The art style, the music, the theme, the voice acting. It feels like Star wars meets...Well, Final Fantasy. I believe it deserves more praise.
The only problem I had with 12 was that how each character was virtually the same. The zodiac age with it's job system and quality of life updates has made this a must play for me.
This so much for me.
Intro music being the Vana’Diel March - beautiful done projared!
I don't really agree with this though . While yes , every character is the same , that still applies to Zodiac Age. Not only that , but there's still is a clear optimized way of playing the game , due to some weapons still having clear advantages over large portions of the game. it didn't fix the issues with it , just made everything more restrictive.
@@berserkerf0x574 not really once you start using jobs plus certain characters animations make using certain weapons more advantageous. With the original if you wanted to, every character could learn every skill and use every magic and technique. Now your a bit more pigeon holed into what you want to do and it makes each job more unique compared to let's grind JP and just do everything.
@@michaeljaubert1325 well , it is a personal feeling of mine , but I feel like having everyone have every option available since the start is a lot more free than chopping the License board into pieces and separate into 12 Jobs . I feel like my opinion would be different if every job were it's own FULL license board with a lot more effects and gear . But I think Iternational Version came out a year after so maybe they didn't have time or money for it .
Alright, now I just want some videos of Jared dubbing over complicated, subtextual dialogue with his own interpretations, because that shit was hilarious.
I love how large the gameworld was. So many areas you could ONLY find when you go out exploring and not even part of the main story path. I love the hidden summon boss fights, and the chain attacks in the combat system. Not to mention the whole storyline and how amazing the characters are. Vayne is one of the most multi-layered villains in the series. I loved grinding for hours and how much FUN it is due to the gambit system, and I loved beefing up m party and getting the latest spells and weapons. And the soundtrack...just wow.
I was one of the people calling this a single player mmorpg when it came out. I was around 12 and got the original non ZAge version. I was too poor to ever afford playing an mmorpg and saved forever to get ff12 on my barely working Ps2. I never played an mmorpg but I heard what they were like, and the party traveling a vast world doing quests or hunts and every now and then maybe a friendly NPC with a green life bar would join and fight alongside you was what I believed mmo’s were, so I freely called it that.
Also English isn’t my main language. I played the game start to finish without understanding a lick of the plot lol. That progression marker CARRIED me. I AM playing the Zodiac Age version now finally understanding the plot (after years of doing theater I ADORE the “flowery” language) and I’m loving it. The job system makes the gameplay 20 times better regardless of how… flat some characters feel, I can’t agree enough.
I love how FFXII does something I wish the other games did. If your current team dies but still have other characters who are alive, you can swap to those to continue the fight and/or revive the knocked out ones.
You can do that in FFX where you cycle to all your party members.
@@silenthero2795 While you can switch party members during combat in 10, a party wipe is still a party wipe. If all active characters fall it’s game over. In 12, if all active characters fall you are simply forced to bring out the reserves.
13 where the party leader only dies and gives you a game over is the worst.
Yeah, the final battle in FF6 let's you replace each character that dies and you can choose what order they come in at. Wish that mechanic was utilized more throughout the series
Yep
I never realized that the Gambit system was exactly what I wanted in seven remake, the combat just seems so hack and slash and a gambit system would make it so much more controllable
If they ever bring back the gambit system, I wish they give us more complex conditionals. Hopefully, an if-then-else logical format.
I liked the 7 remake combat but the enemy ALWAYS target the player and can be infuriating at times when playing Aerith and constantly getting interrupted while casting.
@@bukojoetheslapsoils8273 Dragon Age did this pretty well, at least to the point where you could set up decent scripts for your tank and healer.
@@bukojoetheslapsoils8273 im not accusing you of this by any means, but a lot of people missed a lot of gambits themselves (i did on my first couple playthroughs) i remember wishing there were specific commands i didnt have and in the end found that they were somewhere in the game, purchasable i just never found them.
Jared" Pretty much exactly the same as what's in ff7R"
Random viewer:"I never realized this system is what i wanted tin FF7R"
Even if Final Fantasy XII were Star Wars, never forget that Star Wars is The Hidden Fortress.
This series needs to be finished cause it’s so damn good. I barely watch Projared anymore but I always check back for these to see if he uploaded a video on the next game 😢
I'm a little sad you didn't mention my favorite scene in the game. The conversation on the Leviathan's bridge after Vossler's betrayal. That is the perfect example of the how well executed the writing style can get. From Balthier verbally cutting right through Ghis' bullshit, to Ghis telling his staff to test the Dawn Shard despite their orders, to seeing how deeply hurt Vossler is when Ashe says, "who are you Vossler, to talk of trust?" The whole scene is just amazing
A son of Dalmasca
What about vaan asking frans age does me all the time
@@harrywizard7375 I completely forgot that scene existed. What's Fran's response?
@@8-bitsarda747 She doesn't even answer and just turn away, with the rest of the party (except Basch oddly) basically calling Vaan out.
Whoa, I bet there would be a lot of people willing to watch the _entire_ game with your "translation" - that was flippin fantastic. I keep rewatching that part.
Not to mention that I've always liked your voice acting in your playthroughs, too.
Would be nice a stream with it
That city theme you call catchy, hearing just a little bit of it made me want to return to the game again
I was always under the impression that it was specifically the gambit system, not just the auto attack atb correlation, that made people draw comparisons to 12 being an "offline mmo," because you could automate the other 2 characters and then manually play the one you wanted. Thus, making it feel like being in a party in an mmorpg.
I love the gambit system. I remember as a teenager I spent so much time playing with it and learning all sorts of enemy behaviors to make the perfect strategies. On day after a long swim workout during summer I was so tired that I fell asleep on the couch right after booting up the game, and when I woke up several hours later I had gained like five levels from all the stuff my party had been killing for me because I had programmed them well enough to be totally self sufficient in the area I was in.
Only good is the graphics and the story a bit. Thats it !!
You do not fight yourself, everything is gambits and auto attacks . You only walk and dish once a while a manual command to someone else.
Battle system is too convoluted and those dumb lines who indicate who attacks who. I know you can get rid of em in settings BUT
that they thought it will be needed shows what kind of idiots worked at that game. They ruined it, if this would have been round based,
it could have been the best FF, with great monsters to summon etc. Those live action battles dont work. It becomes a shit product !!
@@Preceyese-Seyeght Oh. Well I disagree.
@@Evan.13239 Totally stupid game for naiv minded it seems.. Your avatar tells me that i am right in case of your persona.. have a nice one..!!
That's really cool I'm glad you were able to have that experience (pun intended
22:37 You're somehow forgetting the Esper boss theme music. Aside from the final boss theme music, Esper theme is easily the most memorable music from FF12.
I'd say the most memorable was the Empire theme.
The Esper battle theme is downright one of my favorite Final Fantasy themes in general, it captures the feeling of fighting some ancient and renowned being that can and will fuck you up so well. And the brass and drums in it (the original version at least) are just so very, very good.
And the Esper summon theme itself is an amazing piece, too, it seems... holy, in a way.
The Espers were easily one of my most favorite things about 12, a shame they're a bit lackluster once summoned in terms of damage; at least their final attack animations rock.
I really like the fantasy and sci-fi balance of this one. I feel like no other final fantasy game comes close to getting this balance right.
I barely used the gambit system cause like you said i liked having control, and that's what's great about this game, it's fully playable even without reyling on it, sure you pause the game a lot of time, but it works! I used gambit mostly for normal battle where you didn't had to think much and was fairly easy, but with bosses, it was full control time!
The game can be played Like all the other FF. Just open the menu and select attacks, the game even pauses to let you do it.
Wow, it must've taken you hundreds of hours without gambit system.
Gambits are great for post-fight clean up. Esuna and Regen refreshed? Off we go.
@@mmert138 hmm, I didn't really use the gambits much either, and now that you've said it... yeah, that's probably why it took me so long, lol. 😂
@@mmert138 Gambit system is trash, so i respect him doing it like me. Not here to program the AI doe devs too lazy to do their own programming
7:10 You clearing up what the battle system was supposed to be convinced me to finally give this game a shot!
You're gonna love it it really is super fun and replayable so many job combos you can do and the gambit system just makes it so smooth and just being in Ivalice is a treat in its own have fun.
Same here. Being able to pretty much program your party's AI with the Gambit system sounds like it'd be right up my alley. I love that sort of thing.
The battle system is very similar to Dragon Age, and even Gambits are pretty much the same thing as Tactics from DA. The thing is, FF12 first came out in 2006 and DA: Origins was in 2009. I remember not liking FF12 when it first came out, but loving Origins. Having played the remaster of FF12 and loving it, I can say that the battle system in FF12 was very much ahead of its time.
It's just a shame he lied about the whole fucking thing.
@@CHamlin86 It's probably because DA:O cleaned it up, and didn't hide half of it behind stores to increase padding even further.
That translated part of the story where you interpreted the words for the chads was freaking hilarious. I loved the review also Jared and really think you struck into the heart of why so many people find this entry into the series to be a little irrelevant when it came out at the very end of the PS2 lifecycle. Also watching you play this on stream each night was seriously entertaining.
I was expecting him to interpret the meaning behind the dialogue rather than just rephrase it using contemporary lingo. I really hope no one actually had problems understanding that quasi-archaic English though. I got it fine as a teenager using English as a second language.
I also adore this game. weirdly either not for everyone or not the most playable today, perhaps bc the combat is a weird hybrid, as well as the unfamiliar tropes or aesthetics, but as a complete package there's just so much to love.
it is nice to mention that between ff12 original japanese release and the western release in 2007, there was a special edition (international zodiac job system) released in japan which has the job refinement present in zodiac age, some extra features, and as a testament to how insane good the localized voice acting is, it also included the option of english voices, i remember it was crazy to see japanese playthrough videos on niconico where japanese people would most likely play the game with english voices than japanese.
I’m going to ‘slightly’ disagree with you about the Star Wars comparison. I at the very least feel like it was inspired by Star Wars. I do agree that a lot of haters of the game just use it as an excuse to write it off entirely which is extremely frustrating but for me that was a huge plus.
The first FF I ever played was 10 and the Star Wars movies were a HUGE part of my childhood. So when 12 came out it felt like the perfect mixture of 2 things I absolutely loved. To me FF12 felt like it took a similar concept to SW but went an entirely different direction with it.
Thing is, a lot of Final Fantasy games took inspiration from Star Wars. FF4's villain, Golbez, was designed after Darth Vader. FF2 and FF6's plots are much stronger examples of "Empire vs. rebels" by comparison. That, to me, just makes it all the weirder for this game to be the one that people look at as being a copy-paste of Star Wars. Even if there are some loose comparisons, how is that a problem? The creators of the Final Fantasy were fans of Star Wars, and a lot of stories tend to borrow elements from other stories. But it's definitely not a copy-paste like so many people claim.
Final Fantasy XII is one of my favorites personally. It’s a shame that it ended up being so overlooked. Even fans tend to ignore it in my experience. Glad it got a solid HD port a few years back with the zodiac age.
Just started the vid and I’ll comment now, this game needs so much more love than what it got, I almost never hear it mentioned as much as it should be, absolutely beautiful
When I saw that scene that Jared gave his own interpretation of, I actually got the exact same. Difference is I was playing it when it was new back in the day. I was and still am a poetry nerd, even having part of my degree comprised of it, but I am aware that many would be like '...........what?'
The best review of FF12 ever. It's one of my favorites. The world building, characters, monster designs, music. It's so fun. One of my favorite Final Fantasies.
I loved games with the "Ivalice" aesthetic. Grimoire of the Rift for the DS is still one of my favorite FFT games.
OMG RIGHT!!!! That game was sooooo good and I never hear anyone talk about it! Think I put about 120 hours into the game
Hell in FF14 there more armor from this game than tactics in the Ivalice raids.
Grimoire of the Rift is crazy good. Also a big fucking game. What game has 20 story missions and 280 side quests?
What I also like about this game is that exploration is REALLY rewarding. I feel like most games nowadays barely reward you for side content and it feels totally pointless.
I cant wait for you to do 13 cause honestly I really enjoy it sure it is linear but it's still enjoyable to me I even gave it a replay a week ago
I honestly prefer a linear style
I liked the game play? Not overly.... but I liked it.... the story though... that was a backwards convoluted ass mess
@@mittens1509 well it's easier if you read the database but granted most players don't want to read a entire book basically to understand the story
I appreciate how he STARTED with the Star Wars joke.
I remember reading that Basch was supposed to be the main character and Vaan and Penelo were added very late into the production. That explains their lack of character development and resolution a bit, Basch was trimmed to be able to tack on Vaan and Penelo.
this is true, they focus tested the game and people didn't seem to want to play a middle aged main character, so they inserted a young pretty boy at the last minute. this was easily the most boring final fantasy game. from what i understand the producer/director left the project halfway through because the executives kept putting their thumb on him to make the game more appealing to young teens. so the dev team who was in full swing had to kinda wing the last half which is why the games story seems to fall off a cliff and gets real "point a to point b" to the very end. when i got to the last boss and literally beat it without even having to try because my gambits put the game on autopilot, i was like "who even was that, what the fuck was the story again?"
2023 and my second time playing, the various job assignments, story and things to do are my favorite reasons to re-play this game! Switching job assignments for each character and esper assigning to see a possible different battle outcome... The game book (official one) is perhaps the most expensive gaming book in the universe! I have one myself! Thanks for the positive review! Yes, one can change job assignments just not the espers granted to them. Thanks again!
ALLL DAY! This is actually my FAVORITE of the series.
FFXII's plot and focus on the political intrigue of the different nations gave it a really distinct vibe in terms of scale. FF games were always epics, but this one really puts emphasis on the details that were only glimpsed at in previous games narratively and I like it for that. Plus Ivalice is one of my favorite settings in the series
Also Star Wars joke is fitting because the story is basically a Star Wars prequel but good
Thats basically its downfall. Its too complicated. Its not an epic adventure, its a real politics sim.
@@livinlicious It's the other way around. It is way too simple. It would had been great if it was actually that, a politics sim, with all the sides of the conflict well showed, explained and developed. Instead you have a whole faction represented by a single guy who you see like 4 times in the entire game and that's it. You hear and see the struggle of power in the Empire and even the Kings assassination, but after that? nothing. Next time you ever see the empire, aside from as enemies on the field, is in the final battle. The game barely even shows you the politic side of Dalmasca, only tiny bits from Ashe and Basch.
This is why I love this game, honestly.
Every other FF game (Barring the Tactics franchise, which I think served to only bolster the politics as this is the same setting which makes an excellent lore base to build off of) to this point has been more or less "THIS ONE THING/PERSON IS THE SOURCE OF ALL OF OUR WOES! AGHAST AND ALACK, SAVE US HEROES!" followed by " WE'RE SAVED FOREVER THANK YOU SO MUCH!" once you beat the big bad and recover the Gilded McMuffin of Glory.
We're always big heroes that saved the world in FF but most games ignore the politics of it all; it's a massive hole in a world-spanning epic with multiple factions/tensions.
No, the Star Wars Prequels were way better
FF12 is even more about politics than you think. The main plot of the game doesn’t matter as much as the world building and it’s connection to Final Fantasy Tactics. If you know the complete lore of FFT then FF12 makes a lot more sense because it’s supposed to depict the world that was FFT’s past. FFTA2 actually drives this point further home. FFTA2 takes place roughly 2 years after FF12 but in the portion of the world that would become the setting for FFT. FFTA2 has almost no main story, there is one but it’s so irrelevant that I don’t even remember it, the game is about doing sidequests that flesh out the world, your main character is really irrelevant. Possibly more irrelevant than Vaan or Pénelo.
The OST being so atmospheric to me is exactly a part of why I find it so memorable. It's always present, it's always good. It might even be my favorite FF OST.
Right? 12 and 8 are my favorites due to their atmosphere, art style of characters and architecture of the world
I'm on my first playthrough now, and 8 has my favorite music, but I love the feywoods music and the Gilgamesh battle music in this game a lot!
I think the atmospheric themes prevent them from getting old fast. With Rabanastre being your hub you could get tired of the music right quick if it was some catchy humable tune.
FFT music is very similar, done by the same person. Has the same impact on me.
I absolutely LOVE XII and it's brilliant battle system.
The comparison to VII Remake is pretty poor though. They share only the automatically attacking party members and being able to pause to give orders/choose abilities. But they work differently really far beyond VII Remake being "flashy and actiony".
I have watched this video 4 times in the last two days. It's been over a decade since I played this game and I cannot wait to buy Zodiac Age on steam as soon as it goes on sale to get back in it. What a magical game this is. The music, characters and combat system were so good. I was convinced X was the pinnacle of combat and looks until I played this one. I don't think Square will ever make a better game than this one.
The lack of combat music makes a lot of sense when you imagine how it would completely break the environment music by constant swapping, as there is really next to no downtime in combat (to the point the Gambit system actually starts making sense). The soundtrack is also quite amazing, I always compare it to Nobuo Uematsu's by saying that Nobuo is a great composer for events (fighting Sephiroth, exploring a cave in look of treasure, climbing a tower of mad wizards, running from a time bomb, etc etc.) while this game the compositions are NOT related to the events ongoing at the time, but actually related directly to the environments you are exploring (just listen to the Sochen Cave Palace or Rabanastre music and tell me you couldn't imagine EXACTLY those same places when closing your eyes).
Yeah, Uematsu is a maestro at set pieces, while Sakimoto's more atmospheric style works well with XII's semi-open world design.
Then how, pray tell, did XI manage it? Or even XIV?
Nah, there's no reason for not combat music. Other games with similar overworld style of combat do it, for example xenoblade chronicles. It's not hard and it works well.
@@RiskOfBaer you forget that this game is from 2006 originally while what you mention come years after this. They havent used to the semi open world yet
@@shutup1037 Well, they had released both Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 by the time FF XII came out, and those games did it really well as well. I can't say I complain about it, though, I absolutely love the FF XII music.
I love the gambit system except for its implementation of stealing. There's no good way to avoid having your character stealing over and over from an enemy that's already been plucked bare. You can use the "enemy 100% HP" gambit, but that still doesn't help if your other characters are busy with another enemy and haven't gotten around to hitting it.
Fortunately if you have the PC version you can mod it so the steal gambit only targets enemies that actually have something to steal. Makes it a lot less aggravating to play.
where can you get this mod?
@@miciceeff6464 I got it from Nexusmods, it's called The Insurgent's Manifesto (it has a few other small features too).
Ok thanks
Try "enemy HP < 90% -> Attack" and below that "enemy HP = 100% -> Steal" This way if you finish steal, your other party members will have attacked your target in the meantime and thus your HP < 90% will trigger and you will help the rest of the party to finish it off and then go to the next target
People: complain about just hitting x to action: ugh, gross, having to hit buttons
People: when presented with a brilliant system that lets you plan out all activites: ugh, I hate this, I wanna press buttons
FF12 is ATB just like the rest the series. The only difference is you can move around. Ppl just like to complain.
I'm 50 hours into my second playthrough (touched it as a kid and hated it!) But I'm loving it now, gathering the secret espers. Balthier / Ashe / Fran are top tier characters. 😍 One thing I loved were the side quests you sort of picked up from random conversations - the Earth Tyrant quest, the sickness quest and the cockatrice quest. It doesn't feel like a fetch quest or out of place in the world.
Someone may have said this already but I found that if you set a character to attack a target that's the furthest away from them, they will actually back away and keep their distance if there's just one target
FF12 music was actually so good the decided to reuse pretty much any track in 14.
Pretty understandable, given how much overall incluence it had - garlemand, names, story beats, entire Stormblood. And heck, even shakespearean dialogues.
The fact Takashi Yamazaki was also the VFX supervisor made it even better seeing him up there holding the Oscar
So much love for this game, I played it when it first came out on ps2 and I'm replaying now on the switch, the remaster looks gorgeous. The most underrated FF in my opinion
9:04 I was so sure you were going to bring up Dragon Age: Origins because people love that game's playstyle and many don't know FF12 actually plays surprisingly similar
P.S. Loved the video, glad to see the Zodiac Age version getting more good press, it's an overlooked gem
This. It even does gambits.
But that wouldn't be a good enough lie. Considering FF7R's combat is nothing alike.
Not really. DAO is closer to BG2 RTWP system. You still have babysit and manually reposition the characters for best strategic effect.
Same
@@TheDapperDragon ff7r combat is very similar
"for the first time, the voice actors have a background in theater"
this reminds me that, save for celebrity voices, this is... basically a requirement for pt-br voice actors.
probably one of the reasons almost everyone loves them so much here, and why celebrity voices are a bit feared unless they already did some voice sneakily before.
Ptbr? Peanut butter
@@anegwa brazilian portuguese, the version of portuguese (pt) we speak in brazil (br)
@@masteryoraerasante ahhh never heard the acronym before. Thank you
FF14 opted for British voice actors with more theater experience after ARR, replacing the older voice actors (American anime voices).
Probably one of the smartest decisions made.
I really enjoyed this detailed video. Deep dives into older games usually have rose tinted glasses and never take the time to also address the shortcomings/problems that can also co-exist with all the qualities the game also has.
Even with the problems the story has, it still seems to me like one of the better Final fantasy storylines. At least there wasn't any chosen ones on a quest to collect 4 crystals of the elements
Matsuno is fantastic at writing setups, intrigue, tension, stakes... Then throw it all away with some godlike enemy for the player to overcome. You can really tell he fumbled at the goal line with games like FFT and XII, but they're still generally enjoyable. The most impressive thing to me is that XIV is clearly heavily inspired by his writing style, and on that game they also suddenly pivoted to godlike beings manipulating things from the shadows, hell they even reused lots of nomeclature from XII like Venat being the one that went against their original design. And yet, in that game it works way better, the story in XIV is of course much, much more lengthy than any other Final Fantasy with updates still added. But it goes to show that Matsuno was this close to knock it out of the park every time.
Indeed -- With that, I would argue that one thing FFT did better than XII was that it had numerous stand-alone emotional climaxes during throughout the journey. Like, Teta's portion of the story is intensely tragic, and it concludes with the first Chapter. The most emotional beats of FFT aren't related to the main villain or the struggle against him, so when his portion emotionally falls flat, it's not as big of a problem as it was with 12. At least I'd argue so.
Lol what plot twist and tension were from ff12? I play original and zodiac so yeah i know what im talking about... All so obvious nothing so wow
Gameplay instead was awesome.
At least this time the "Kill God" bit makes sense and has proper setup.
Yeah, ahead of its time in case of being totally crap !! Only good is the graphics and the story a bit. Thats it !!
You do not fight yourself, everything is gambits and auto attacks . You only walk and dish once a while a manual command to someone else.
Battle system is too convoluted and those dumb lines who indicate who attacks who. I know you can get rid of em in settings BUT
that they thought it will be needed shows what kind of idiots worked at that game. They ruined it, if this would have been round based,
it could have been the best FF, with great monsters to summon etc. Those live action battles dont work. It becomes a shit product !!
One thing to keep in mind with FF12 is Matsuno didn't actually finish it. He famously had a mental breakdown halfway through development and resigned from Square Enix, and Akitosha Kawazu, the SaGa guy, was put in charge of finishing 12.
I know Tactics also went from political intrigue to fighting the supernatural, but I still wonder how much of 12's lost potential was because of the change in leadership.
I had a wonderful time with this game when it came out. I was in college, locked in my bedroom of my apartment and playing it on a 720p projector. Loved the gambit system, the characters were awesome, and as a Tactics fan, it was fun exploring the world. It's up there for me.
I remember I had come home from college at the end of the semester. I played it for most of the time I was there and was constantly being told I needed to come out and play with my sister since I never saw her often since going to college (she was around 8 at the time). So instead I grabbed her, sat her down next to me and she told me what to do and where to go quite often. We grabbed snacks, drinks and locked the door with a "Nobody Allowed" sign on the door to fight Yiazmat for like seven hours. Nostalgia.
@@Goldenkitten1 Hahah that's awesome!
What a great video. Perfectly done imo. I loved the gambit system and the world. Every design in this game was amazing.
Honorable mention: the way the lines are written and spoken and left to modern interpretation is definitely my favorite part. It is why I loved the tactic series and lore.
When you first started describing the license board I started losing my mind because I thought there had been this whole game system I had somehow missed when I played the game when it originally released. I had no idea Zodiac Age retooled it so massively, I might pick it up.
Man I remember fighting gilgamesh in xii was one of the hypest moments in final fantasy for me, especially with that badass music. I even made a seperate save before the fight just so I can fight him again lol
This game is weird, in that I don't think I've ever enjoyed a game so much that I had so many complaints about. I could go on and on about all the things about the game that annoy me and I think are bad design, and yet I enjoy it so much I've played through it several times. I think the world design, aesthetic and music are just so good that it keeps me coming back. Plus, the combat's pretty fun.
Seeing that memory card slot in the game case really blew me away with nostalgia lol this was the perfect blend of single player gameplay with MMO streamlining. I'll still always find it humorous to have to buy a license to wear a hat.
i feel like ff12 respected my time with no random encounters and the gambit system. i loved it. my GOAT ff game
Your last long stream of XII was great and I learned a number of things I didn't know even after playing the game for like 15 years now.
This was my first exposure to FF, I still have fond memories of me watching my dad play it on ps2 with a Logitech controller, I loved experiencing the through bits and pieces with him, I loved reading the enormous ebgames book, I loved watching him hunt marks, I loved going through the bestiary (which gave me a bias towards games that have one) we were both excited when The Zodiac Age was announced and released, I still have very vivid memories of what the game look and sounds like.
I absolutely love the gambit system and to me, it works because at higher levels of the game, you'll get absolutely wrecked if you let automation take over. Turning off gambits is also an option all together. Instead of pigeonholing you into a playstyle, they designers said- eh... just play how you want- a commodity in a lot of games but more so in rpgs these days.
I hate coding so I hate the gambit system.
I think it appeals to one specific person type
This FF plays like any other. You can literally stop the action and select from a menu or go live. Ppl are either stupid or just like to complain.
Bro I'm glad you made it through the cancel period they tried to push on you a few years back. You have one of the most dedicated gaming analysis channels and are one of those golden channels we had in the old days, also millenial here so it's good to see earlier youtubers still pushing on the platform. Old school but gold school!
Final Fantasy XII is my favorite game of all time period. I played it when I was at what I consider to be my lowest point in my life. This game allowed me some reprieve during that time, and changed my life. It was also the first Final Fantasy game I ever finished. It just clicked with me.
I actually found the compressed voice files to be pretty cool in its own way. The way the voice actors deliver their lines combined with the low quality somehow made it seem like I was listening to an old timey record or something. Very charming imo
Weird thing is, the Japanese voices don't have this issue. It's like a sound engineer screwed up REAL bad. And yes I mean on actual PS2 as I did import a copy back in the day.
I agree with this. If they had put a sepia filter over the top with a few film artifacts the pop up every now and then it would be perfect.
35:18 I want a modded Final Fantasy 12 where ProJared voices all dialogue but in his simplified language. That was the best thing ever!
I quite liked the gods/spirits in the plot. The main antagonist wasn't really controlled by the "traitor" god, they just had aligning interests. The traitor god saw the men he supported as more of equals and valued their own convictions, which is why it wanted men to rule over themselves. It was the kingdom that aligned with the traitor god that used it's power to fuel their kingdom's growth as well as wanting to decide their own destiny apart from the gods. Even in the final fight as the traitor god's goal is already achieved and it doesn't need humans for anything anymore, he gives the main antagonist a part of his power at the end of his human life out of compassion for those who struggled with him, letting the human main antagonist fight in a final blaze of glory to the bitter end.
All parties, including the gods, have their own interests and reasoning behind their decisions. No one is inherently bad, they just have different visions of how the world should be. And I felt that the traitor god going against the other gods worked well into that and I remember a "...holy shit they have that thing on their side as well?!" -moment. The other gods barely gave a crap about humanity and only gave out orders from afar, but the traitor god actually came down to fight his fights. All while the other gods saw them as higher beings watching the human ants struggle and occasionally going "Hey, stop that. You, one human, take a piece of god-power and put everyone in their place 'coz we said so".
I can see the macguffin argument though, but I played shortly after it's release so I don't remember the details about that so well.
I'm so glad to see this! I love this game. A little harsh on vaans VA but ive developed a knee jerk reaction to protect my boy from undue slander. But yeah, I think he's voiced just fine. Just outshined by such a stellar cast around him
Your boy?
Its hard when you have the leading man, Ffamran Bunansa in your team. Balthier has the best voice acting of all Final Fantasy
This game is cemented in my heart as a safe refuge for me to go whenever I play it. It might not be the best game in the world but man it's just such an important reason for my love of JRPGs and RPGs in general.
The city atmosphere and voice acting is the best from all FF games I played!!