[FreakShiny]

Just got it for Christmas--any tips anyone can provide?

[Insane Drummer]

I think you put the disc in your CD drive...

[bobthecockroach]

And you should give people crazy names, like Dragon Slayer and Chuck.

[Dice]

Name the main character "Dude"

[FreakShiny]

I'm serious!

[Qingu]

Name the character ... oh wait, you can't name your characters.

Here are some actual tips:

• Be prepared to be poorer than you have ever been in a Final Fantasy game. You are going to need to steal all the time to afford the newest armor and weapons and spells, without which you will probably die.

• I think of gambits as simply a way to decrease the tedium of gameplay. In an FF game, you are always going to cure a character who is critical; you are always going to have your swordsman attack the nearest monster, so gambits just do automatically what you would do anyway. So use them! But don't rely on them, especially in boss battles. Sometimes it's necessary to input all the commands yourself, just like in the old FF games. And if the going gets too frantic, decrease the battle speed (or increase it if you're bored).

• Don't be afraid running away from monsters, especially if they look scary. No one is going to call you a wuss if your level 10 party runs away from a level 60 giant glowing ball of fire. Be prepared to run away a lot.

• Speaking of which, either use the technick Libra or have a character equip a bangle which gives you the ability Libra. That lets you see how powerful monsters are.

• You can easily get away with only building up 3 characters. There are advantages and disadvantages to building up all 6 characters evenly, and I think it's easier and less annoying to just concentrate on 3. It's a matter of personal preference though.

• I would say about half of the content of the game is optional. That includes all of the monster hunts (except the first one). If you want to get lost in the sidequests, feel free, but sometimes the tangible rewards are iffy.

• Don't expect much in the way of story. The game's story is about as fleshed out as the story in Final Fantasy 2. The Japanese FF2.

[Dice]

Originally Posted by Qingu

Name the character ... oh wait, you can't name your characters.

!!!!

[FreakShiny]

Thanks for the tips, Qingu...

I sat down and was finally able to play it for a bit last night--not sure if I like the new combat system or not but it's growing on me.

Fun game thus far!

[bobthecockroach]

Originally Posted by Qingu

Name the character ... oh wait, you can't name your characters.

Well that basically rules out any possibility of me ever playing it.

[RubberChipmunk]

I personally don't know why Square didn't jump on this battle system a long time ago... Its just... amazing. I can just imagine FFVII with a battle system like this. That would be amusing. The only thing I'd change about it is the number of party members usable in battle. I never quite understood why you'd have like six or seven party members travelling with you, but only three or four of them could fight at any given time...

[Peatrical]

The best thing to do is pawn ff xii and buy tales of the abyss Suikoden 5 or Wild Arms 4. Two great rpgs with both characterization and cohesion to their storylines. oh and symbolism abound! FFXII made me think we were still playing games in the nes days where rich stories were non existent.....

Don't expect much in the way of story. The game's story is about as fleshed out as the story in Final Fantasy 2. The Japanese FF2.

Not everygame can be tales of the abyss.

[Moon Boots]

I play Final Fantasy for the storylines, if I wanted fun battles I'd play Halo.

I played Final Fantasy 12 for about ten hours in total, and never felt connected or interested in any of the characters. I haven't played it since. Heck, I found it almost as plastic as FFX-2.