Post by Bytor on May 4, 2010 23:57:17 GMT -5
-Visuals- 9.6/10
As in FF-X I am forced to wonder why all PS2 games can't look this good. The attention to detail and the shear presentation , especially in the cities, is almost overwhelming. The overall rendition of the various enemies as well as the NPC's and your allies is also extremely well done. However, there are a few issues I feel I must mention. While the cities and the various temples/dungeons/ruins are all awesome the presentation in the jungles and deserts is, in my opinion, no where near as well done. There is some clipping and the occasional flicker does occur, having said that it is still much better than almost every PS2 release to date. Unfortunately to me it does not quite live up to what I saw in character depictions and cut scenes in FF-X, better in backgrounds, especially the cities, but still just a touch inferior.
-Sound- 9.8/10
The voice acting in this game is probably the best I have ever heard, I simply love Fran, Balthier, Ashe and even Penelo, not to mention your main character. The Judges are all great, Cid was fantastic and even the various characters you meet throughout the game were not only wonderfully acting, but more importantly fit the characters actions and personalities wonderfully! The only reasdon I don't go higher is the soundtrack itself is somewhat weak compared to other's in the series and actually can, and does, become a tad repetitious after awhile.
-Gameplay- 9.0/10
OK....hmmm...as you can see I'm having some issues with this. One the one hand it is set up like most RPG's in the sense that you have to upgrade and customize you and your allies using, what is termed here, LP (License Points), these points are used to learn new techniques, new magic and the ability to wear and use new armor and weapons. What is different from most games is you still have to buy the abilities to perform the various magics and techniques. For instance, your character may be able to use Holy but you still have to purchase the spell at a Magick Shop. Weapons and armor are much more straightforward although there are also accessories which can have added elemental bonues and/or added defenses which can, and are, vital to various battles both in protection/attacks as well as treasure gathering and/or leveling up. My biggest complaint with this system is that you don't get the strongest/best stuff until the very last part of the game. Now I know all games are like this but it is a tad silly to fight a level 5 enemy whose weakness is Holy when you cannot even get the holy spell until after Pharos and by then you will certainly be at least level 50, and probably 60. The game is, also not a typical turn based RPG, instead you attack as fast as your "attack meter" recharges, which can be sped up (or even slowed down by your enemies) and while at times this can become a tad confusing, especially in the beginning, once you have played for awhile it will become second nature to watch each of your allies actions and decide what to do. This can be made easier by the use of the Gambit System. basically this is a system where you set up before hand what exactly you want your allies to do based upon different scenarios, for instance you could decide to have Fran automatically heal any ally below 20% HP or use an Ether to give make MP on any ally <20% or even us Fire based attacks on any enemy with a weakness to the Fire element, and this could go on and on and on, but anyhow, I imagine you get the picture, the only issue I had was I'd rather control them. Controlling directly my allies I feel it gave me a better chance of winning battles, for instance, an enemy might be near death but all of your allies Gambits are set to heal, and the enemy attacks, kills you all while they are attempting to heal you, However,one of the best aspects of the fighting is the usage of Epers, they are powerful spirits which, once defeated will become your allies and can be summoned in and used to fight for you, although you cannot control their actions so yo have to make sure you don't summon Belias if the enemy is resistant to fire attacks, i did, however, love the animations as the various Espers enter the game and attack. Now, on to one of the most, at least to me annoying aspects of the special attacks (SB knows what I am speaking of) the Quickenings, these are combo attacks based on special skills leaned in the LP system. The issuee I had was that it is pretty much impossible to determine exactly how many hits the attack will land and how much damage it will inflict, certainly you can get an idea based on the Quickenings used but it is still a real bummer to use all of your MP's and only inflict what is not really representative of the magic used. To be honest, I found enhanced (Bravery, Haste and Faith spells) attacks to be much more beneficial, especially simply physical attacks using great weapons, the above mentioned spells and Berserk! The Marks system (optional hunts) and the optional quests are all tons of fun, although I must admit there is soooo much backtracking that at times, especially later in the game it's simply not worth it, plus, to add to the annoyance of walking (you will have a airship later in the game, the Strahl) you will have to fight (or flee, more on that in a second) enemies way, way, way beneath your level, and it's simply not worth the time it takes, although thus admitted it's only going to take 30 seconds at best to defeat level 5 Hyenas when you are level 50. Now, as mentioned you can flee, but more often than not this is simply annoying, as almost every monster will chase you seemingly for miles, or at least until you get to the next area. The camera angles take a bit to get used to as well, they are fully controllable, but once mastered I loved the freedom I had to view from different angles. Overall, as with the rest of the game the gameplay is superb but it does have a few issues. And here is the biggest...go into a boss battle leveled up and prepared and it's a joke, go into it likewise not ready and I doubt you will survive, for instance, I fought Hashmal , a level 50 boss with 115,000 hit points and I didn't prep, I still almost beat him but I did use up all my allies, I instantly re-started, used appropriate spells (haste, protect, bubble, bravery, fatih etc) and destroyed him in less that 10 minutes, this game is the ultimate in leveling up and being ready for the big battles, not necessarily a bad thing but still...
-Story- 9.6/10
A world torn apart by ambitions, conquest, betrayals and politics. A much more "adult" game than previous versions in the series. Here you play as Vann, a young "thief" who quickly becomes involde in an attempt to free Dalmasca and destroy the Archadian Empire. Along the way you will discover interesting and disturbing things about what you thought you believed and what you believed your allies thought as well as how history has distorted the truth and distorted the world you live in.
-Overall- 9.510
A great game...with this exception....I spent a little over 100 hours and I didn't finish probably 20% of the side quests...the game, I feel, is almost most, not quite, but almost too much...expect to be fully immersed in this game, and honestly, if you don't you will certainly rate it lower than I did, if you really want to totally get everything, then I imagine you'd rate it at least a 9.9, and possibly a 10, yes it's that good....but also, yes..it's that complex!