Impressions...

[DragonHeart]

Ok, so I just got this game yesterday. I'm not big on tactical type combat systems so it never really appealed to me, but the price has come down enough where I decided to assuage my curiosity. I don't wish I hadn't bought it but I am very glad I didn't pay full price (is it just me or are SE DS games way overpriced to begin with?).

I will be honest, the opening FMV, I didn't even recognize Penelo at first. She looks...weird. I wasn't overly impressed with the graphics as I expected it to look more like III or IV. Just didn't seem up to standard.

Then I saw the in-game sprites...what the--? They look terrible to my eyes. Someone was really lazy or something. The old skool sprites look so much better; I don't understand why these ones look so awful.

Graphics don't make the game though, so I'm not totally turned off yet.

The combat system...ugh. Way too cumbersome and inefficient. I'm not good at unit-based combat to begin with, but add in the horrible controls and it's just asking for trouble. It's fine when I was just controlling the main characters but once the espers came into play the shortcomings of the system were painfully apparent.

Selecting units was a pain and I often found myself accidentally pulling the tabs at the top down by accident if I tried selecting anyone near the top of the screen. I eventually learned to just go from the bottom up, but still. Even just using the tabs to select and move groups became frustrating after awhile. It was worse in combat when I'd select a group to attack something and just ended up moving them instead when another character got in the way. Makes the rock-paper-scissors target thing useless; I end up just attacking all in one mob and replacing espers as they die. (Yes, missions without summon gates are very difficult for me lol.)

I had the same problem with abilities; while useful, it's so hard to pull them off in the midst of a big brawl that it's not even worth trying after awhile. The AoE ones tend to work best so Kytes' -agas and Lluyd's Jump are really the only ones I get any use out of.

The music isn't bad but it's all recycled from the main game. They could have at least come up with a different score for the aegyl. Seriously. Plus it's really weird hearing Lowtown music on a floating continent. Not bad just...it doesn't quite fit.

For all that ragging there are a few good points. The missions, while repetitive, are mostly short so it's easy to do a few then take a break and do something else when you get tired of it. The foraging/scavenging points add some interest to the battlefields, which for the most part look good and have some variation to them. The notice board / melee battles add some replay value once you'd done the missions for an area. It's also a nice way to level up between story missions so it's easier to take on the bosses.

I only just unlocked it but I'm hoping the crafting gets some use as I do like things like that. There are some nice details as well, like the history/lore entries for characters and the journal is fun to read through. It reminds me of the FFVIII journal, especially with some of the back-and-forths between characters.

So in closing, it has a lot of faults but it's not a total loss. I'm hoping as I progress I'll find more to like.

Any comments or (*crosses fingers*) tips for making the battles go smoother? I don't plan on giving up just yet but it's really hard getting used to the combat system and if the difficulty ramps up later on I am going to have some problems.

~DragonHeart~

[Dodie16]

I bought this game when it was still brand-spanking new. I loved FFXII, and I was excited to see a continuation in the story.

I had never played a tactical combat game before, so I really didn't know what to expect. It's not terrible, but it's just not a system I'm used to playing. My first thoughts were this: I didn't like the fact that my characters were already pre-determined what function they would play in battle (examples: Penelo the healer, Kytes the black mage, etc.). After playing FFXII, and having the ability to augment the characters to my preferences, this came as quite the let-down.

I also will comment on the graphics. The FMV in the game make the characters look rather toy-like. I don't think it's terrible, but they don't look right, either.

Yes, the missions are really fun and a great way to level up your characters. However, in the middle of the game there are some missions and quest that seem downright unfair. For example, there is a mission where you cannot summon espers, and you rely on only a select few of your party members to complete it. I had to do this particular mission like three times before I finally got past it. Also, if I recall correctly, there is a mission near the beginning of the game, where you only have Vaan. So you must pace yourself in order to ensure Vaan's survival.

As for helpful tips, I have this to say. Don't spread your party out too far. I keep them in a tight-knit group. It may be a bit slower winning battles, but at least you won't have to go all around the map to tell your troops what to do. I know that seems a little like the "Duh, I already knew that" tip. lol

Also, here's a tip for when you finally reach Mydia and have to fight her. Let none of your ground troops near her. Summon a lot of flyers and have them do your attacking. Mydia will not counter-attack flyers. I believe this battle takes place in the Mission 8 area, so you may have a while before you have to worry about it.

[Yuna]

I will never buy a game like this, just because I don't like FF XII brand...yes, maybe I'm too prejudiced, but characters and the entire story is not for me...

What about this chapter ? What is happened to Vaan and Penelo ? Is there Ashe too ?

[Kilala]

I bought this game - quite amused at the though of having a 'portable' spin-off of a Final Fantasy game. With an honest opinion I can say the game was 'decent'. I was entertained for a bit, but then I thought it became a tad repetitive and well... dull. As mentioned before the FMV's in the game were a tad odd - however I did like the fact that they were included. In all honesty I have never been a huge FFXII fan... perhaps if I had been more enthusiastic about the original I would have thought differently about this game.

[Zidane77]

Didn't really like this game, never liked the tactics system (except the first time i tried it in Advance version (the first version of Ivalice), which was okay for me for a few days until it became too repetative and boring.
Playing alot of games like that does not get me interested at all.

I've never been a specific fan of FFXII but i've played the first game alot though (mainly because of the battle system), you take that out and the game doesn't have much left..
Doesn't have too many cut-scenes or story either.

[klublife]

i'd say it did pretty well for a starcraft like tactical game. the tabs were an issue, but i had some good amount of fun playing it. it's funny though, i played this before i played the ps2 game. espers and quickinings were fine in what they did, and the controls were good enough when you took it slowly. the game never forced me into a "rushed" feeling, witch i thought was, in my case, a good thing. since i played this before the first game, i had thought the game's music was good.
i liked how it brought in the other charecters, and i almost always set my team for ashe, balthier, kytes or basch. i liked having a good all-around team.

[.ethereal.]

I just started playing this a few days ago actually and while it does have a few things that do get on my nerves, overall I like it ok. It's nice and casual so I pick it up once or twice in the day and do a couple of missions and go back to doing whatever I was doing. I like RTSs, so the transition to that style wasn't too horrible for me and I even found some of the elements interesting; capturing summoning gates, gathering materials etc. They way the combat is set up it does kind of make it hard to click on individual units when you have a bunch of characters on screen which does get a bit frustrating. I too end up just attacking with all my characters rather than trying to over-think the strategy. It's working so far but I'm only about 20% through the missions, including the side missions up to the point where I'm at, so when it stops working I'll adjust accordingly Lol. Not the best most awesome FF ever, but it entertains me.

[lady ashe]

i dont actually mind the game, i prefer the original yeah... im just happy i finnaly get to play kytes and filo

[Lily]

I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this game.. once I got past the first few areas or whatever, when I couldnt work out what I was doing...

It was fun, and I even enjoyed the story, went back to 100% it and realised my pillock of a DS deleted my save file, so i havent actually looked at it since haha