09 November 2019

Clearing the Backlog #3 Final Fantasy 12 Remastered

Here we go again. Must have played it two or three times on the PlayStation 2 not too many years ago. I always liked this game but it felt like it was missing something. Still one of the best buut how does the remaster stack up?


One of the best menu theme musics. 10 and I believe 13 were also excellent.




He's so fecking dead.


Love me some maps. 8 and 9 have a bit of politics and whatnot too.



Show don't tell? The other games didn't need this kind of help BUT it is nice.


I've never played any MMOs other than my very brief foray into Guild Wars WAY back on a computer that could barely run it so... I like this combat system.






Though they were also somewhat fond of crysts and materia and the like things like this dominate until long after FF13 released all its extra games.



Its a fine opening sequence in all. Not quite as bombastic as 8 or 9. Not quite as deep as 7 and 10. But good.




Lol. Basch and Balthier are great. Vaan kind of blows.



The Empire did all the bad stuff. Not Basch!


The Hunts are the best part of the game. All of the FFs that I have played have great mini games and side quests that really, really aid in the main playthrough. Keeping up with all the Hunts really helps you get the best equipment and more.



To an extent all six of the main party characters remain relevant until the end of the game. None of them fade into the background while one or two hog all the screentime.



Ugh. You just want the game to open up. Linearity is JRPG standard but things are still pretty restriced in this game.


I liked the bonus characters that assist you from time to time. I have a soft spot for Larsa x Penelo.




Softest arrest ever. FF7 Tifa got almost got EXECUTED. Live on TV.




It's a ridiculously good looking game. Then and now.




Fuck yeah limit breaky nonsence. Mist charges freshened things up.




Always kill both Demon Walls. Only this time, there is no Death Sword exploit. Damn!


I continue my tradition of NEVER using Guardian Forces or Espers or whatever.


HADOKEN




Some of the hunts are ridiculously hard.



The Empire will fuck all your shit up.


This guy was way easier to see and catch on PC then on the old Ps2 version.



The Death Esper had nothing on me.




They could have at least given this guy a voice considering the screentime he got.


The Evil Cid.



Is this Star Wars?


One of the best Hunts.


So awkward to find but worth it for the achievement.




The only time I summoned an Esper... wait that's not true. See later.





After much level grinding and auto level grinding, main plot bosses became a joke.


3deep5me





I never bother to get some of these Espers before.


I did more of the levelling up myself this time.



Behemoth King was tough. But there were tougher.




One of the longest dungeons. Less painful with the quadruple speed.









Cid deserved better.



This asshat gave me a run for my money. Like many of the later hunts, you have to change up your strategy often.







Ths guy legit took about 2 hours.




Nabbed Zodiark for the first time ever. They would be very useful.





The route to Level 99. I have a a little bit of a life I can't spend it grinding for levels.






The biggest Hunt of them all!






Vaan or Basch up front. Balthier or Fran providing supporting fire, preferably Balthier's Dark Shot Fomalhaut gun. Took 2 or 3 attempts but eventually got the rhythm down. Vaan also had incredible Evasion while being in the frontline while the other two were at the bottom of the stairs for the most part.


Damn right. The main plot is as nothing now, but there is one more challenge...









Trial Mode. I loved it. 100 levels of enemies, round of 10 apiece followed by a rest and save. Great prizes to be had. Even better if you take the time to steal and whatnot.





I did it. It took 2-3 attempts. The main difficulty was I would have one near death then the other would throw infinite elixirs and bring them both back to full health. The trick was wiping out 3 of the 5 Judges with two Zodiark summons, then whaling on the last two until they died. Eventually managed to wrangle a sequence where they were both too injured to survive a chained Mist attack and separated from each other to use items. The other guy died easily with all my people beating on him.





The final battle, all in all, is pretty cool.





Brother versus brother... the ultimate fight... oh wait ye guys are level 99? Fuck it.







Emperor Vayne. We hardly knew ye. Badass final battle music.





Peace at last!





Fin.


FFXII1st2nd
VaanShikariFoebreaker
BalthierUhlanMachinist
FranArcherRed Mage
BaschKnightBushi
AsheBlack MageMonk
PeneloWhiteTime

I like any game that makes me think and plan outside of playing it. FF12 got me thinking about how to set up the various classes. Having only played it on PS2, I never experienced the job system before, where each character gets to pick 2 classes each of 12. Once you pick a job for a character, it's locked out for the other 5 characters. The above was my early plan I made and I made each class green when I picked them.


VaanBalthierFranBaschAshePenelo
ShikariUhlanArcherKnightBlack MageMonkWhite MageTime Mage
Zeromusmage lore 4hand bomb 4channelingmage lore 2heavy 9sight unseeing270hpaddle/shear
Hashmalbonecrusher, swiftnessbonecrusherstealwhite 8/9handbonb4white 4channeling
Ultimaphoenix lore 2, swfitnessmage lore x 3 exposeinfuse/1000need, great 1/2telekinesis/blore, stamptelekinesisswiftness x 2sword 7/8
Exodusmage lore x 4, stampgreen 1heavy 8/9/10350hp, 500hpheavy 8souleatbattle lorebattle lore
Famfritmage loretime 8/9/10, potion 3
390/435hp, blore x 2
190/310/230hpwhite 10daggers 5battle lore
Zodiark390hpinfuse/1000need, great 4
heavy 9/10/11, great 4
white 13greatsword 1swords 9
VaanBalthierFranBaschAshePenelo
ShikariUhlanArcherKnightBlack MageMonkWhite MageTime Mage

Some lategame 'trying to figure out who gets what'.

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So all in all one of my fave games, at least in the second highest tier. While this playthrough allowed me to experience almost everything except the fishing minigame, it hadn't my opinion of the game much - very good, not quite great.

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