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Whatever that may be, Saithan my friend, I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of it!Saithan said:
Anyhow, I've continued to play Final Fantasy XII and all. I have to clarify that just because it's not exactly my favorite title in the series doesn't mean I think it's bad.
Although, for 40 hours straight, it *did* seem like it was, more or less. However, I've finally got the knack for how you're supposed to play, and have found it to be much more enjoyable.
See, one of the biggest problems with the game is the scarcity of cash. Simply put, enemies do *not* drop enough money (technically they drop items which you sell for money, but that's just a silly technicality - for all intents and purposes, they drop money). Play the game like you would any regular RPG and you'll find yourself in dire straits when shopping. You'll have enough cash for one or two pieces of equipment, while each character may have up to five. You have six characters. The math will point out you may need up to thirty.
Ouch.
The problem's compounded by the fact that treasure chests with actual equipment items (versus, say, potions, phoenix downs, etc.) are extremely rare. You'll find one maybe every ten hours or so, and no, I'm not exagerating. So what are you supposed to do? I read one review on the net which suggested you steal from EVERY SINGLE ENEMY you encountered.
This is a bitch. My method is much better.
See, you need to rack up chains. "Chain" is the effect that comes into play when you kill monsters of the same type in succession. As you get bigger and bigger chains, enemies start dropping more and more valuable items. Killing a single monster of a different type breaks the chain and you have to start all over again.
I've known this since the beginning of the game. However, the game design does not encourage you to exploit the chain system because each area is rife with monsters of different types. You'll encounter three wolves, then two birds, a dragon, two malboros, and so forth. Play the game as you would any other regular RPG and the most you'll normally get is 8 kill chains. In order to get the most out of the chain system, you need to rack up chains of 35+ kills on a regular basis. Only *then* will enemies begin "handing over the goods."
There is another way in which the game design may hamper your chaining efforts: unbeknowst to me for the majority of the game thus far, touching save points wipes your chain slate clean, even if you don't actually save. There is a bit of logic to it, as simply touching save crystals (yeah, they're crystals) restores your HP and MP, and also eliminates any and all status ailments your characters may have. Even if you're focusing on creating chains, if you insist on getting your status replenished at every save point (something which would otherwise be advisable), your chains will be interrupted before your know it.
So now, when I'm killing enemies on the field map, I simply don't touch save crystals and I focus on killing the same type of enemy over and over. It may be difficult to do in a cramped dungeon, but it's surprisingly easy to do in the open field. If you chance upon a monster from a different type, you run like hell. The pursuing foe will eventually desist, and you can get back to killing wolves =P.
With this method, I've found you'll make, on average, four to six times the amount of cash you'd otherwise make in the same time period. It also makes the game a lot more amusing as getting chased by persistent monsters can be, ahem, smashing good fun!
So now that I can actually afford to try out different weapons and armor I've been able to see what I should have been able to see earlier: that your core character "class" is in no way determined by the abilities you've acquired, but by the armor you equip. It's your armor that determines how your core attributes change - otherwise, all characters have basically the same attributes. Of course, weapons also have to do with it, but armor is a lot more decisive.
Want a Knight? Equip heavy mail. Want a *power* knight? Equip the Heavy mail and a two handed sword. Want a Magic Knight? Equip a shield, a regular sword, a piece of heavy mail and a magic hat. Want a Wizard? Equip a magic coat and a staff. Want a Ninja? Equip ninja clothing and a Katana.
This is something I hadn't been able to fully appreciate before partly because I didn't have enough money to buy enough equipment to play around with, but also because, when buying items, only two attributes are displayed on screen: magic defense and physical defense. This means that you can't see how armor affects other important atributes - those that actually correspond to your character class - until you've purchased it. At least, if there's a button that'll show you that, I've yet to find it.
When using the "equip most powerful" option from the equipment menu, the system menu will always suggest the big, bulky armor. When your characters have predetermined classes, "equip most powerful" is usually a good indicator of which armor you should equip - but in Final Fantasy XII, it's the worst if what you're looking into is making the most out of your character, because - if you play your cards right - your characters will soon be able to equip armor of all sorts.
Anyhow, now I can finally focus on "building" my characters as I play, something which I couldn't do before. The License System still sucks in two other, crucial regards, but I can overlook that now.
Still, the storyline *has* degenerated into a wild goose chase for the Fabled McGuffins with player characters hardly interacting with the villains at all. It's also been REAL predictable for the past 50 hours or so (I'm currently at 65, though I haven't been advancing particularly quickly), to the point it now elicits little more than yawns and groans on my part.
Hopefully I'll finish the game soon enough and be able to finish my in-depth review.
It's 