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Friday 25 January, 2008
GAMEPLAY
As I played Final Fantasy XII, I noticed that the action bar is a good idea, but it was frustrating at the same time. At critical moments, I always wished that the time bar will go faster. It really depends on the speed of the character. I wasn't used to it too much because I was so used to the fact that characters cast spell or attack right after I issued the command. Also, it was annoying how the boss always get to attack numerous time before I pull off one attack. My strongest character, Balthier, wields a gun, but it took the action bar forever to fill up. It took even longer than casting a spell. That was frustrating. That, however, was part of the game, and I have come to accept it.
The story has stayed character driven throughout the time I played. One thing I noticed is that although it is an ensemble cast, where every character is important, Balthier seems to be the main character. Vaan was advertised as the main character, but, to me, Balthier is more important to the plot. The empire's intention plays heavily in the game as well, but Vayne, a potential successor to the empire's throne, was more important than the other villains. I especially enjoyed watching how Vayne was going to take the throne and destroy Ashe who is desperately trying to restore Damascus under her control.
My friend and I remained interesting in the story. This game is like a movie, and like a good movie, it sucked me in. The flow of the game was smooth. It made me want to know more and know everything about the story. The world of Ivalice is very suited for the story. The world of ivalice is similar to the world of star wars as in that many races interact and form a functional society. I like the world ivalice a lot.
DESIGN
The game world and how the battle system uses that world is amazing. There is no fast way to travel from one point to an untraveled land. Therefore, the player must travel the whole trip by foot. While traveling, the player will encounter all sorts of enemy and will be switched to combat mode. One thing I like about the encounter is that there is no more random encounter, and so I know exactly when and what I am encountering. The leveling system is subtle as in I don't know exactly when I level up, but it does happen. Leveling up happens really simply, and I like that because I don't like to distribute experience points and customize skills.
The space is further improved with the help of gambits. By setting the gambits, the characters controlled by the computer will be able to do what you order even before you actually issue the order. That way I did need to freak out every time I see an enemy. The gambits work by giving each character a parameter to follow, such as, attacking lowest HP, attack same as primary target. In the vast world, these gambits are a life saver because so many things happen at once that sometime I can't even cast the right magic or heal the right person. This battle system is innovative in a way, but I am sure that they can make it better by improving the system. I am hoping that in Final Fantasy XIII they would have it down.
Weilee Chen
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