FF12 Grid System

I thought the graphics were amazing, and I liked that the battles weren't random. I didn't like that it was still turn based, waiting for your turn while you get pummeled by 3 or 4 enemies isn't a lot of fun. (Of course I liked the battle system in Secret of Mana a million years ago something like that would have been better)I really didn't like the gambit system, I couldn't ever get it to work the way I wanted it to. Then there were the quickenings, I never got those to work either, I just couldn't justify using all of my MP to use something that may or may not kill the enemy, it was just too risky. As far as the Grid system, by the time I beat the game at around 85 hours all of my characters had everything on the grid so I could make them into what I wanted, but mostly they all just had heavy armor with great swords because otherwise the monsters hit us too hard and none of the other weapons were strong enough to actually do enough damage to make it worthwhile. Even that wasn't too bad though, my biggest problem with the game was the battles with the bosses. I played it through on active mode, which means that when you are looking for a spell or item, you are still getting attacked and it made it almost impossible to beat some of them, especially when they got into the million hp range!! One last complaint about the game before I end my rant, the random treasure chests were absolutely ridiculous!! Once I got to where the Excalibur was, it took me several hours of walking back and forth between those 3 screens for the treasure chest to respawn, it was annoying beyond belief. If I go to the trouble of going all the way through the great crystal to get an item, I want it to be there when I get there!! Seriously, esp since the monsters in there weren't very easy to beat in the first place, but to be forced to fight them over and over again while waiting for that 2% chance that I will get what I came for, it was obnoxious!! I will stop my whining now, overall, the graphics in the game were breathtaking, I loved actually being able to explore a realistic world, especially one that was so beautifully rendered. The sprawling cities and the shear number of side-quests you can do made for a great gaming experience. Aside from its quirks, I think that Square made an impressive game. I hope that if they try a similar game in the future that they will build on the strengths of this game and pull from the strengths in some of the other games (storyline, music, etc) to make more amazing games.

Well i never really even bother to think bout it not until now that you mentioned it lol . The thing bout me is that im a FF fan as well since ff8. I enjoy watching the cut scenes and those eye popping special effects and stuff with the schematic scenes.Just love it, well the game and those extra stuff like customation i just payed attention to it after i finished the game itself. Now i stopped playing ff12 although i wish theres a better customization grid too just as you people mentioned its better if each character has their personal strengths instead of everybody else having the same features and abilities. Have a great day

I finished FF12, mostly running around with one just character to enhance that mmo feeling the game gave me. The stupid grid system made oodles more sense without the other characters. But yeah the license system sucked horribly. You can't put it better than that... you needed a license to use any given piece of equipment... stupid. The gambit system was almost worse though. You could start fighting the final boss and put the remote down and wander off, they'd do everything on their own. But on the flipside sometimes it was nice being able to learn whatever skills you wanted... sort of. Always nice when more than one person has esuna and cure and whatnot. But then ff12 was a let down in way too many ways. Characters... voices (surprisingly only one I *hated*) character costumes. I only liked one characters outfit and he wasn't even a playable character. -.-; He just followed you around for a while. I forget his name, he's your fourth character on that airship... wears a big suit of plate mail for the whole thing and then goes back to his retarded looking outfit.

I thought the grid system was an interesting new idea. It made adventuring very rewarding and it was like you were exploring your own characters development. I liked how you could specialize your characters of your own accord... however in the end everyone is essentially the same.