So long as the Japanese BD has English subtitles, I have no problem importing then.

Since FF XIII is going back to its ATB roots I have high hopes this will be a return to form for the FF franchise. I don't mind skipping out on the demo though as long as the final game is good.

Just like Resident Evil 5's JAPAN ONLY demo?

...and next time I'll make sure to spell your name correctly. Whoops.

lets hope the Japanese AC blu ray has english subs!

Well fuck that noise.
I was waiting for Advent Children on bluray so I could get this demo, now I'm not even going to worry about it anymore.

My GF's sister version works just fine, and I got to make my own cd cover to boot!

i stopped giving a shit about FF after X. the whiny, boy-band dressed fag with the feathered hair and embarrassing dialogue was the last straw for me. i simply got fed up with Japanese developers trying to force their culture's gender-confusion problems on the rest of us.

FF7 still remains one of my favorite games of all time, hands down.

Fortunately FF 12 was financially and critically successful so I'm sure Square doesn't really care if you liked it or not. It's like me saying, "I was disappointed in Halo 3." or, "Wii Sports sucks!". No one cares.

"Fortunately FF 12 was financially and critically successful so I'm sure Square doesn't really care if you liked it or not."

It's a Square game. They can shit on a plate and move millions of copies. However, if they keep shitting, someone is going to notice. If they release a few more games of FF12 quality, they'll lose a lot of fans (myself and pretty much all my RPG-playing friends included!)

Regardless of the negativity in this thread, I am really anticipating both FFXIII games and will be buying both soon as they are released. I will admit though, that is a really stupid name for a girl protagonist.

I really hope FFXIII is a decent game. I was really disappointed by FFXII with the bland/confusing story and pointless game mechanics.

"Most people don't like FF12 because they aren't good enough at it.
I remember at US release that alot of people were complaining of the complexity of gambits. They're easy.
The Licence board is perfectly fine also. It was only useless if you were using it wrong."

This is absolutely not my problem with the game. If anything, the License board is far too simplistic. It's virtually impossible to AVOID making every character a jack-of-all-trades. There's no real tactics, no real specialization, and no long-term strategy. It's an incredibly boring experience largely due to its simplicity and easiness.

At least the traditional system requires some thought and input from time to time. FF12 manages to avoid the minor involvement forced by its predecessors AND the involvement forced by a more active system (such as Crisis Core, Star Ocean 1 and 2, the Tales series). Maybe you like walking around and waiting for your overpowered programs to destroy beasts (after all, where your character actually is seems to have no bearing in the vast majority of situations), but I prefer more interesting experiences.

Square Enix is just trampling all over my heart. Dia? Okay. Walruva? Be right back, rope and bleach...

"you sound like another pinhead that only played 5 hours and quit before there was any real challenge."

Try 90 hours. I've been such a big fan of the series for so long that I kept believing the game would start to click sooner or later. The fact that I LOVE FF Tactics (set in the same world) and that the plot superficially resembled FF Tactics' story of high politics exacerbated this unrewarded faith.

I made it to the last dungeon and just turned it off. I hated every moment I spent in that game, and I can't believe I was suckered into wasting my life with it. It's easily the second worst in the main series*, only bested (if that is the expression to be used..) by the original FF2 for the Famicom. Boy, did that game have some broken mechanics.

Oh, by the way, thanks for the name-calling. I understand that my opinion differs from yours, which instantly necessitates childish insults. Totally understandable.

*By main series, I refer to FF 1-10 and FF 12. I don't consider FF 11 a real entry in the series, and I consider FF X-2, Crisis Core, the few remakes, and other such games as side-stories.

Heheh, well this means I'm not going to have to pay to see those extra scenes. Piracy.

I..enjoyed FFXII. Everything except for the story. I remember turning to my friend who has been playing FF for 20 years like me, and saying "Does Vaan even have anything to do with what is going on? He's just kind of...there."

But I like the gambit system. It is super-simplified programming for basic reactions--a bunch of IF statements where you can plug in the target and it's subsequent requirements, then the action to take when the requirements are met.

As long as you didn't try to fight the license board, it gave you what you needed when you needed it normally.The problem with this is that you have to work a LOT harder if you want a character to use a weapon that they don't start with. It is a system that taunts you with customization and then makes you work so hard to get it you just let the characters stay the same.

I still hope for the best for Final Fantasy. I really liked FF 10 (despite the terrible voice acting and some annoying characters), and FF4-6 are still among my favorite games of all time (FF6 is the best RPG ever. Deal with it). And, of course, FF7 was great (although not the best RPG, not the best FF, and not even the best PSX RPG).

I just can't get over what a let down FF12 was... It's going to take a lot to convince me that FF13 is good.

"yeah we get it already, you like extremely repetitive turn based nonsense that 90% of the time is just jamming on the button to get through it. thats all almost all those random encounters are. you're forced to wait though that battle preloading crap just to easily defeat the enemy so you can move on.

what a joke."

First off, way to read my comments. I'm a big fan of battle systems that implement action and more controls into the process a la Tales, Star Ocean, and Crisis Core. I just like games that do it WELL.

Also, in response I offer, "yeah we get it already, you like extremely repetitive preprogrammed nonsense that 90% of the time is just running around to get through it. thats all almost all those ff12 battles are. you're forced to deal with this enemies just to easily and automatically defeat them so you can move on.

what a joke"

Welcome to the land of abstract hyperbole.

Japanese developers choosing names for their characters has always been a hit and miss problem. While Konami can do some cool MGS names, Square seem to shoot planes down with theirs sometimes. Its like they want to study english, but don't have the time. Thing is they should do their homework, because their characters are starting to sound cliched.


I hope FFXIII turns out to be a good game, but I totally agree that Square go over the top with all this pretentious gambit shit etc, over complicating what should be a simpler experience. When they started to introduce these extras in FFVIII (the dumb card game) I really hated it because it feels contrived, not to mention boring.

The social link system in Persona 3 is the opposite, because its simple and the results are expressed more through the characters. I have to admit, the last FF I purchased was FFX due to the overkill with the series.

Don't worry Colette, that's not her name, it's Dia Oerba and it's not Lightning's name, it's Vanille's. Even then, they may change it in the translation.