Crosmando: It annoys me that Final Fantasy still sells despite how gutwrenchingly awful it's been since pretty much the PS2-era. Atlas do JRPG a thousand times better than Squeenix in their Shin Megami Tensei games, yet people still slurp up FF shit because brand name.

Crosmando: I'm not a fan of the Persona games, but I thought Strange Journey was a really good game, getting back to what the original SNES SMT's were about.

Antimateria: Was there any Personas in PS2?

overread: Most other complaints are that its a JRPG Final Fantasy game and not the next edition of Baldur's Gate.

Crosmando: 3 and 4?

solzariv: You forgot to mention boring dungeons.

Boring dungeons are the cardinal sin of RPGs.

Elmofongo: I am sorry but nothing can replace Tidus as worst FF protaginist.

solzariv: Boring dungeons are the cardinal sin of RPGs.

Crosmando: It annoys me that Final Fantasy still sells despite how gutwrenchingly awful it's been since pretty much the PS2-era. Atlas do JRPG a thousand times better than Squeenix in their Shin Megami Tensei games, yet people still slurp up FF shit because brand name.

AlexY: XII is an unfinished game, even with the polishing done in International Zodiac Job System. It was meant to have airship battles, a strategic (RTS) element to it, slight non-linearity like faction choices (a remnant of this system are the Hunts, including hidden hunts and NPC quests), a story that centered on Basch and Asche rather than the Occuria and Nethicite...

DRM_free_fan: I don't. :)

Then again I've only played a few minutes into it (I like to complete the FF games in order these days - and yes I know there is no need to as FF is not a proper series - anyway I need to finish X & X-2 first before I can really start XII)

But IMO it looks like one of the best FFs. The graphics look nice + I prefer the "traditional" RPG FFs over the "futuristic" RPG FFs + the gameplay sounds quite interesting (judging from the manual+box).

What I would like to know is why FF IX is under-appreciated by FF fans?
DRM_free_fan: I haven't got far in X. Is Tidus worse than Cloud?

AlexY: People don't like XII because it's a Matsuno game, and Sakaguchi left for Mistwalker. It had high goals that it failed to achieve because of Wada, the scourge of Square Enix that doomed the series to a gurging repetition of Lightning Waifu Fanfiction to maximize profits without effort.

XII is an unfinished game, even with the polishing done in International Zodiac Job System. It was meant to have airship battles, a strategic (RTS) element to it, slight non-linearity like faction choices (a remnant of this system are the Hunts, including hidden hunts and NPC quests), a story that centered on Basch and Asche rather than the Occuria and Nethicite...

Essentially, XII was made in the wrong time. Matsuno did not want to compromise his vision, but Wada rushed the game to get extra funding for the abomination that is XIV and the letdown that is Toriyama's XIII. Matsuno left halfway through development due to "health reasons" which IMO is a load of bull. The rest of the team molded the game to Wada's demands, which includes Vaan, Penelo and a tie-in DS sequel nobody cared about.

It's a miracle that even in its unfinished state XII remains the objectively best Final Fantasy game. Huge areas, tons of hidden stuff, challenging hunts, extremely flexible combat system, great script and VA, very servicable plot and amazing atmosphere.