Yeah, so I’m giving initial thoughts on a game that’s 10 years old. I spend my time very wisely.
Anyways, I’ve put a few hours in, and while there’s a whole lot more game to get to, I have some words.
- I love the political intrigue. Some might find all the exposition tiring, but it’s well-presented and makes sense. Not all Final Fantasy plots achieve that, so I’ll take a barrage of words if it’s effective.
- The license system feels like the Sphere Grid from FF10, except a big more digestable. This is a good thing.
- Combat is actually pretty solid so far. It was a brave decision to move away from the tried and true “noise, flash, battle screen” format, but the seamless action is welcome and well-executed. We’ll see if it holds up as things get more complicated (more characters/abilities/etc).
- Vaan is pretty much anime Aladdin, though a bit less interesting on first blush. I think I may find him irritating. Though he can’t be worse than Tidus, right? Right?
- The game is very pretty, even at 10 years old. This should come as no surprise considering Square Enix’s regular commitment to graphics, but it’s worth mentioning that 12 is specifically gorgeous, more so than any other FF. That is high praise.
- I adore the sountrack, which makes sense. It is not done by series stalwart Nobuo Uematsu, but it was done by Final Fantasy Tactics composer Hitoshi Sakimoto. His style is evident, and is wonderful.
- One major gripe: the right analog stick is used to look around, and it uses a “flipped” scheme for both directions. It’s not awkward holding up to look down or down to look up, but holding right to look left and vice versa is awkward. And you can’t change it. Normally this is the kind of bullshit that I will simply stop playing a game over, but I’m going to push through because otherwise I’m having a pretty good time.
I probably won’t have any more thoughts until I either finish or stop playing the game. So far I would bet on me finishing it though, but I wouldn’t underestimate the possibility for bullshit midway through a FF game. We’ll see.
THIS SITE IS ABOUT WORDS. 
I like ff12 too. Mostly I like the plot for being pretty engaging, even if it does pretty much emulate star wars at times. I really like the political unrest at Archades. I would say the plot makes you take huge detours for no reason though, which extends the game play artificially. The license system eventually leads to each character becoming a carbon copy of each other, and the quickenings are like a necessary evil if you want to beat bosses without grinding I feel. I could just be bad at the game though. I also like how Balthier is Han Solo and Fran is sexy Chewy.
Anyway, have fun playing Chris.