Western RPGs dying out?

[Ekkest]

its chucobo..

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Those things scare me.

[Darque]

Are you all talking about Chocobos?

[Ekkest]

Yes.

[Darque]

Then why not call 'em that darnit

[Darque]

[Gabrielle]

Waiting on that translation.

[Diamond]

Chocobos are coprophagic.

Eh? I haven't seen any chocobo eating poop yet.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

The armoured Chocobo's in FFXII look pretty evil.

[Atreides]

^Pics pls. And info on the game.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

^Pics pls.  And info on the game.

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I'll see if I can find a pic (My Avatar is a moogle, although it looks more like a rabbit if you ask me).

 

Blurb from Gameplay.

 

The story of FINAL FANTASY XII takes place in a world called "Ivalice," in an age when magic was commonplace and airships plied the skies, crowding out the heavens. A world of many races, the humes, bangaa, viera and, of course, moogles, all call Ivalice home.

 

War was on the horizon. Seeking to strengthen its base of power, the great Archadian Empire had been invading and subjugating its neighboring kingdoms one by one. The small Kingdom of Dalmasca was one such kingdom.

 

When the occupying Archadian forces established a new consul in Dalmasca's Royal City of Rabanastre, it caught the attention of Vaan, an urchin living on the streets. To Vaan, the Empire was a hated enemy who had taken the life of his brother his last surviving family member. Vaan hatched a plan to sneak into the castle housing the new consul and unburden him of one or two of his treasures. But before he would have the chance, Vaan got far more than he bargained for; a resistance movement of former Dalmascan soldiers rising up against the Archadian Empire was launching an assault! Amid the ensuing confusion that engulfed the castle, Vaan saw something he could scarcely believe. There, among the members of the resistance, was the figure of the sole remaining heir to the Dalmascan throne, the Princess Ashe, who'd been given up for missing...

 

Our story follows Vaan, Ashe, Vaan's friend Penelo, the sky pirate Balthier, his partner Fran and many more on an adventure through Ivalice that traces the mysteries behind the Archadian Empire's invasion. Since 1987, the FINAL FANTASY series has sold over 80 million units. FINAL FANTASY XII carries on the proud tradition, bringing new ideas to the series and innovation to the RPG genre.

 

Features:

 

Every aspect of the graphics brings color to the world of Ivalice blues and oranges reminiscent of the Mediterranean evoke a landscape alive with a mix of European and Arabian imagery.

 

 

Airships feature prominently in FINAL FANTASY XII. They come in all shapes and sizes - the main airship in this story is a medium-sized craft that measures over 1,000 feet from bow to stern. Airships are used for everything from the trading of goods to the waging of war.

 

 

The story isn't all that's new experience an evolved battle system with numerous features never before seen in the FINAL FANTASY series.

1. ADB - Active Dimension Battle is a shift from ATB (Active Time Battle), lending more realism to the battle by allowing seamless switching between the field and the battle scene.

2. Load time between the field and the battle scene that is unrelated to actual gameplay has been eliminated, ensuring smoother gaming.

3. Besides time elements, such as the attack timing, the player can fully utilize the field geography in terms of differences in ground level, intricate terrain, places with low visibility and the like.

4. Enemy monsters can also take advantage of the varied tactics that ADB offers, possessing sophisticated AI to ambush parties, back up their comrades and restore HP.

 

Ivalice sounds better, too, with in-game events and movie scenes presented in Dolby Pro Logic II.

 

Not exactly cute is it :D

 

Almost forgot, if you buy Dragon Warriors VIII there is an FFXII playable "demo" in there too.

Edited November 8, 2005 by ShadowPaladin V1.0

[Darque]

I want one

[CoM_Solaufein]

Neat and stuff like that.

[Judge Hades]

I think it should also be clarified what definition of RPG is being used. To me, an RPG is any game that lets you change the game world and interact with the inhabitants in a meaningful way.  By that definition, there are plenty of RPG's being made, both in the Western World as well as in Japan and Korea.

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I like to be more concised. A RPG is a game that uses a clearly defined rules system in which a player creates a character within it. The player uses the character to interact with the game world, using the skills and abilities of his character as defined by the rules system and not by his own ability. Such interactions with the world and its inhabitants must be interacted with in a meaningful way that allows the story to progress.

[Nartwak]

God, please help us sinful children of Ivalice.

[Musopticon?]

Hah, FFXII's story is such a rehash. :D Resistance? Blonde kid with a dream? Heiress? Pffft.

Edited November 8, 2005 by Musopticon?

[Judge Hades]

Isn't all the FF games rehashes of the previous games. Seen one spikey hair boy with an oversized sword you have basically seen them all.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

Hah, FFXII's story is such a rehash. :D Resistance? Blonde kid with a dream? Heiress? Pffft.

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Most stories are. It's how they are told that makes them good or not.

[Judge Hades]

After 10 it just gets tiresome.

[Musopticon?]

No, not all FF stories are the same. Just the more recent ones. WHich is a pity.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

Isn't all the FF games rehashes of the previous games.  Seen one spikey hair boy with an oversized sword you have basically seen them all.

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No , they do tend to have a common bestiary though which you can trace back to FFI. It's a bit like the D&D monster manual, each game has it's own "expansion monsters" but you still get the core monsters in each game too.

 

Cloud is the only spikey haired boy with an oversized sword.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

No, not all FF stories are the same. Just the more recent ones. WHich is a pity.

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Define recent ?

 

FFX is my favourite story of all time. FFX-2 , really a continuation of that so not suprising they would have a lot in common.

 

I think one of the key elements since IX has been it dosnt matter where you come from. It's what you do that defines you as a "person".

[Judge Hades]

Thing is the games are so freaking linear you are already predefined.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

Thing is the games are so freaking linear you are already predefined.

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Another big misconception.

 

There isnt that much linearity in any of them. FFX-2 always stuck me as odd. It's non linear, but if you play it that way the story suffers (which happens with all non linear stories). Played in a linear fashion the story holds together really well.

 

Irony here is that FFX is supposed to be linear, but you can jet off the main story path and not have too much impact on the story.

 

As a rule once you get your "airship" in FF the world becomes totally open and you can go anywhere you like (and find all those secrets).

 

The line of predefined isnt as clear as it once was. FFX-2 has several endings depending on your actions during the game.

[Musopticon?]

No, not all FF stories are the same. Just the more recent ones. WHich is a pity.

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Define recent ?

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Ummm, VI, VII, X and XII.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

Ummm, VI, VII, X and XII.

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Sorry, not seeing it. Care to go into detail ?