How long is this game in comparison to previous FFs?

[RagnaToad]

I'm thinking of buying this one (cause since FF X doesn't look like something I'd enjoy that much I might as well skip it). I want to know how "big" FF XII is, since I'm really used to not being done with a game too fast. Like in FF IX, in which you can spend well over 100 hours of playtime even after the story is at its end.

So how many hours does it take to finish the story at a beginner's pace, and how many hours of "sidequesting" is there?

peace out, Rags

[Treize]

I've never finished the game, but it took me probably 50 hours to get about half way through. I spent a lot of time getting all of the licenses on the license board. I think that this is the longest Final Fantasy game that I've played. If you do all the sidequests and such, I'm sure this game could take well over one hundred hours. If you're comparing it to Final Fantasy IX, I think it is much longer.

[Darkwave]

I haven't finish it either but i been doing the side quest.

[Ralz]

Oh, you could easily spend over a 100 hours trying to get all the sidequests done. Actually, hundreds of hours. My full completion file clocks in at 405 hours(devotion!)That time went to getting everyone to Level 99, getting all the weapons and stuff, and hunting all the marks. This is by far the LONGEST Final Fantasy to complete.

[Kilala]

It's not a short one... I didn't even finish it yet and I've clocked up LOADS of hours.
Sadly I left it so long I've forgotten half the stuff so I'm going to restart it xD You should seriously buy it though, for it is an FF and they're all worth it. In any shape and form <3.

[kajarxxx]

Tbh the game has only 30-40h story..And leveling like 50 or more.
Most of the hours goes to leveling cuz theres though bosses that needs to be lvling..+ u can do hunting there that takes most of the gameplay too.

[Meier Link]

Main story wise I think roughly 20-30 hours to beat the game, about 8 of that will be level crunching. Really it depends on your gaming style. Could possibly take 40. This doesn't include any side quests or mark hunts. That is just strictly playing from point a to b.

As for side quest there are many hours of side quests, I think I had about 100 clocked when I restarted.

Story wise it is one of the shorter ones of the series, but like all FF's you can make the game as long as you want it to be.

[Walter Sobchak]

Most people have it right. Not too long of a storyline, and most of that is training, but the sidequest world is where it happens. There are 45 hunts, 8 optional Espers, 80 rare monsters, four other sidebosses, many unexplored lands, ultimate weapons and armor, and fishing.

[RagnaToad]

It really sounds like my game, hehe.

The most complete save file of FF IX I have has a woppin' 140 hours of gameplay on it. All sidequests including Ozma, Beach healing, 4 Protect Rings etc. Though I don't have max Beak Lvl on my Chocobo I think.
BUT, I still don't have all cards and Eiko, Dagger and Vivi are totally not finished yet, though I don't use them anyway. (And I believe Quina is still only 93.) It would probably take like 170 hours to get a perfect-perfect file. Like max Gil, all Characters maxed, Max Chocobo points (if possible, lol) and all cards. So I probably won't touch that file anymore

I might actually buy FF XII.

One question though: Do you have to save right before a certain point (like the Disc 3 save in FF VIII)? Or can you just save right before the final boss, and after you beat him, reload and go explore the rest? (Or is there New Game+ option?)

[Fate]

One question though: Do you have to save right before a certain point (like the Disc 3 save in FF VIII)? Or can you just save right before the final boss, and after you beat him, reload and go explore the rest? (Or is there New Game+ option?)

There are save crystals scattered throughout the game. And there is one before each boss. There are blue ones and orange ones. Blue ones just recover all HP and MP, and you can save normally using them. These are plentiful in the game. However, the orange ones are much more unique. They provide the same things as a blue save crystal, but they have a Teleport option. If you have a Teleport Stone, yu can go from one orange crystal to another instantly. There are not that many in the game, maybe one for every important part.

And sadly, no, there is no New game+.

[RagnaToad]

What I meant was if you can still return and explore the rest of the world right before defeating the final boss? Like in most FFs, beating the game doesn't necessarily mean getting everything, but FF VIII was just sad. You ended up on disc 4, only to find out that you were presumptious with your thinking "Well, I can get Bahamut after I tried to kill the final boss". But no . Start over gain. Such a pain.

I think I'll buy FF XII after the exams.

[Fate]

What I meant was if you can still return and explore the rest of the world right before defeating the final boss? Like in most FFs, beating the game doesn't necessarily mean getting everything, but FF VIII was just sad. You ended up on disc 4, only to find out that you were presumptious with your thinking "Well, I can get Bahamut after I tried to kill the final boss". But no . Start over gain. Such a pain.

I think I'll buy FF XII after the exams.

Sadly, after beating the final boss, there are only credits. And you have to save before the whole final dungeon itself, because there aren't any save crystals in there. Once you beat the game, you can only continue where you left off before you entered the final dungeon.

But the game itself doesn't require you to beat the game in order to get all sidequests and ultimate weapons, I don't think.

[RagnaToad]

But the game itself doesn't require you to beat the game in order to get all sidequests and ultimate weapons, I don't think.

That was not what I asked ^_^

I just wanted to know if there was a "point of no return", which if you reach and save at, cannot leave.

Did you play FF VIII?
I mean like disc 4 in FF VIII

[Fate]

Well, you can save anywhere throughout Ivalice before entering the final dungeon, really. Because after you do enter the Bahamut, you can't leave. And there are no save crystals there. So after you beat the game, you have to load from the last save crystal that you were at before entering the Bahamut. The game's even nice enough to ask whether you want to go there or not. So, say that you last saved at the crystal in Rabanastre, and you finished five hunts. Then, you go to the Bahamut without saving again beforehand. If you complete the game, you'd have to load the game at the point where you saved in Rabanastre, meaning you'd have to do all five hunts again. So, I think there really is no point of no return.

[RagnaToad]

Still not what I meant ^^

But I know what I wanted to know by now.

I meant with "point of no return", that if you save somewhere, that savedata can only be used to kill the final boss.

Like in FF VIII. You get on Disc 4, you save, but you can't go back... So you have to have an extra save on Disc 3 if you haven't done all sidequests yet before you go to disc four to kill the final boss.

So I don't have to worry about that when I save at some point? I can always go to the open world from every save point?

[Fate]

Oh, okay, now I get what you meant!^^ Like in Star Ocean: First Departure, how if you save on Fargett, you can't ever go back to the real world. So you have to save before going there. Now I get it!^^

So, no, there is no point of no return in this game. You can save anywhere you'd like, and still have access to everything and every place in the game. Except the ones that blow up!

[RagnaToad]

You spoily bastard, there are places that blow up?!

Hehe, no prob, there's always a place destroyed by war or some meteor/absorbing planet thing in almost every FF.

And I assume you haven't played FF VIII then? Cause if you had, you'd know about the dirty Disc 4 save

[Fate]

I haven't played FFVIII.

But this game is far better than what most people make it out to be. I think they just don't like the battle system... But it was the only one to receive a 40/40 rating on Famitsu!

[RagnaToad]

We're getting somewhat off-topic, but I'd just like to add, that if you haven't played the previous ones, namely FF VII, VIII and IX (and X), your judgement is somehow distorted compared to the general TFF opinion. Most people on here "judge" a new FF in a relative way, i.e. by (consciously or not) comparing to previous FFs.

Just saying, they were really great games, hehe.

Just for the sake of staying on-topic: I guess this FF is as long as it should be, and I'm seriously considering buying it.

peace out

[Fate]

I can't seem to find th game in stores anymore. I mean, I was lucky when I saw one in GameStop two years ago, really, but now, it's like the game expired. I'd say you need to order the game online! It's like Valkyrie Profile; Lenneth. it was released a couple years ago, but i never even saw it in store. I had to buy one online.

[Treize]

I can't seem to find th game in stores anymore. I mean, I was lucky when I saw one in GameStop two years ago, really, but now, it's like the game expired. I'd say you need to order the game online! It's like Valkyrie Profile; Lenneth. it was released a couple years ago, but i never even saw it in store. I had to buy one online.

This is completely off topic, but if you can buy the games online, they are easy to find and pretty cheap. I just took a quick look at amazon and you can find Final Fantasy VIII-X new for under $20 each. Your only problem would be Final Fantasy VII.

But this game is far better than what most people make it out to be. I think they just don't like the battle system... But it was the only one to receive a 40/40 rating on Famitsu!

If you haven't played the previous Final Fantasy games, then your prospective would be a lot different. In my opinion, the four games before it are much better. Also, it wasn't the battle system that I didn't like. I didn't really like the story too much.

Yeah, I wouldn't have too much anticipation, because I don't think it is as good as some of its predecessors, but it is a game worth playing and is plenty long.

[RagnaToad]

This is completely off topic, but if you can buy the games online, they are easy to find and pretty cheap. I just took a quick look at amazon and you can find Final Fantasy VIII-X new for under $20 each. Your only problem would be Final Fantasy VII.

He was actually talking about FF XII.

I PM'd Fate about where to find an FF VIII copy and he responded that he meant FF XII, so his post wasn't off-topic, even though it really seemed.

And from what I've seen FF XII is just really different from the previous ones, but I think I'll like it nontheless. And I like to play a game for the game itself, not because it is the best in some series. FF IX is like THE Final Fantasy underdog, but is a favourite of mine. So I'll just play FF XII and make it MINE.

yeah...

[IceColdPillow]

Ah, what a coincidence I just bought ffXII about 5 hours ago, haha it was used for 10 bucks perfect condition, but i was desperate for this one since its one of few i havent played.buy this game, the world seems massive and i'm already digging the story, you won't be disapointed!! BUt ive only clocked in a few hours thus far so idk

[RagnaToad]

Yeah, I think I'm going to order it some time this week.
So I get it when exams are over.

For now, focus on Linguistics of English. Bleh...

[Izariael]

I don't think either of you will be disappointed by the purchase.

Personally, I will admit that I like FF VII the best, but the graphics and gameplay of FF XII were much more user-friendly to me...

Not to mention the game is so vast! Like IceColdPillow has pointed out already, the world of Ivalice is MASSIVE! Even more so considering that many areas are not explored in the playthrough, and are instead "bonus" areas.

[HUNK]

In length I believe that it all depends on what you are doing, Completing or Beating.

To reach the end of the game and be done with it. In this I would think that its not any longer than any other FF game out there...but that would also be cruel and you would miss out on may of the great things that the game has to offer.(Example: Mark Hunting)

To complete the game at 100%.

Now this is a very tedious and long process...I only say this because I still have not completed this game, it has many weapons and armor that I must acquire, it has many monsters to kill...its just an overall long game.

In the end it all depends on what type of gamer you are.

[loaf]

By the time I completed the game. (All my characters were around 65). I had maybe 60% of the hunts finished and everyone had the top License Board completed. I have about 85 hours clocked in it. I remember clocking in 75 hours in on FFVIII and I completed the whole game with every side quest done and all weapons and what not. That was the second longest one I have played. FFXII is awesome though, putting in all the extra things to do just made the whole experience better.

[RagnaToad]

Hm. You guys are really making me warm for this one. I can't wait till I get it. Might have to order it though.

I currently have a savefile on FF IX of about 120 hours, I have all sidequests done (and I mean all), but I only have 5 out of 8 characters all Abilities learned and Lvl 99.

@ H.U.N.K.: I meant completing. What's the fun in "beating" a Final Fantasy and not exploring the rest. Sure, if you've played it several times, you want to get through the story again and beat it without training and stuff, but I'm not nearly at that point, considering I haven't bought this one yet, hehe.

peace out

[scifi1980]

The main story is average length I think. It's the hunts and side quests that eat up time and I think they are really neccessary to get the full appreciation of the game as the main story is mediocre IMHO. I think it took me something like 72 hours to do everything.


The only thing I didn't finish was beat Omega. I tried a walkthrough to find him in that maze but even though I followed the guide step by step, I kept getting lost. So I said screwed it lets finish this.


The hunts are the best thing about this game I think.

[Yesha]

It took me.. 103 hours.. to do everything.. the story is not that Long.. so the ones that took me aLot of time.. are the hunt missions, gathering (defeating) espers, aLL the sidequest.. etc. and of course.. LeveLing them up!