Final Fantasy XII Gambit system and License
 

Okay so my buddy lent me his ps2 and FF XII. I've played it for a little while now and am honestly impressed with the new gambit system.

I've played Wild Arms, Tales of Symphonia, .Hack, and Grandia.

When I first looked at this game I asked my friends about it. They said it was pretty boring, that the fights play out like you're watching a movie and just walking the character back and forth.

After playing it, I actually really love the gambit system. Not having to tell individual characters what to do every five seconds helps a whole lot. If all I want is for them to sit in the background and attack at range, I don't want to have to tell them over and over.

I also like the ability to have multiple commands in a priority list. I have my Viera healing when hp drops low, and otherwise she's coordinating attacks with me. My gunboy snipes whomever is weakest and generally helps with finishing off smaller critters. My other swordsman I switch off my gunboy with coordinates with whatever I am attacking to allow for some nice offensive hittage.

Having them go "oh. he's hurt. Here's a heal. Okay. Back to attack", without selecting a bajillion things is awesome. The only thing I didn't like was having to find gambit options, but they are being fairly easy enough to find. I've already got all the ones I want and I'm not far in the game yet.

The other cool thing is the license system. I find that to be the most intuitive "leveling up system" i've found so far. You gain levels naturally, that affect your HP/MP and Stat values. But you also gain "LP", License Points, which are used to edit what kind of equipment you are able to use. This allows to truly customize everyone down to a fine layer.

I've played with a few parties, and plan on redoing it again now that I truly know how it works, and I like where you can go with it. You can now have a heavily armored thief, or a Gunsmith with Black Magic, or a Paladin, or whatever you want.

I do like the Storyline, except for like the -really- confusing Intro where you see three characters that look identical. The lord whatshisname, Reks, and Vaan. At first I thought you were just playing out three time periods of one dudes life. I blame the fact the people I was hanging with at the time wouldn't shut up so I didn't hear any names. *shrugs* And as always Squaresoft delivers with characters that have interesting personalities. Balthier is perhaps the coolest character I've seen since Locke

So yeah. Anyone's thought about this game? Pros, Cons?

Please don't post flames or "OMGILOVETHISGAME" one liners. :P

OMGILOVETHISGAME

But seriously, I too like it... but I've still got it in my thick skull this is the "give party members commands every five seconds" Final Fantasy we know and love.

That's why I can't keep playing. >_<

I'll have to give it a try again soon. I refuse to sell it, because I can't get used to the Gambit system. I REFUSE!

I liked the Gambit system. It seemed like a natural evolution of the turn based combat systems previous because you still give commands, you can just give them in advance now. Instead of saying "Crap my warrior needs help, I'd better heal him." you say, "Healer, when my warrior gets hurt I want you to heal him." and they do. I found that playing with the gambit system to get everything just right was strategically fulfilling. Of course, it did get a little old after a while, and I did wish that I could actively control the main character in real time, but it's still a menu based rpg.

Most of the story was great, and I must say that Balthier is one of my favorite game characters ever.

I couldn't take the ending though. It was heavy handed, blunt, and the dialogue killed me. And the fact that the final boss was a megalomaniacal crazy dude out to take over the world (should I have put a spoiler warning...oh, wait, no this is final fantasy they all have a megalomaniac trying to take over or destroy the world at the end.)...well it was a bit over the top. but for most of the game I enjoyed it.

In the end, I just finished the game to say that I had done it though because it became tedious. I was driven to do the stuff, but after the first half I just wasn't having fun. But I've played Oblivion now, so I can never go back.

I really enjoyed the game, for the most part the gambit system worked out fine, I had attacks, heals, buffs and dispels all set up.
But what i found annoying was when I had to radically change the entire gambit list in preparation for a bigger enemy. If I had my normal "heal main when hp is low" one character got stuck in a healing loop, eventually running out of mana.
But other than those few quirks, the gambit system was neat.

I was a bit dissapointed when I learned that the best weapon in the game was not readily avaliable, but it didn't really matter since no enemy posed any real threat to me at lvl 70. Not even the final enemy of the hunt sidequest, which I found to be a nice subquest chain.

ya. The nice thing about magic in this game is the MP regenerates as you walk around. So you really don't necessarily need ethers.

I do have a question on Kill Chains. Do you get massive bonuses for going in higher numbers? I am curious as I am at the place in the game where you, Balthier, Fran, Bosch, and Lemont are on the bridge with the constantly spawning soldiers. I've not yet tested higher than 27 kills, but I notice every 8 I get a "chain level"... what does that mean?

Apparently, it ups the chances of good drops. At least, that's what I think I remember it does.

I are goods at englush.

It also ups the rate of drops themselves. At higher chains every enemy will drop something and increasingly as the chain level rises multiple drops. Basically lets you get tons of items for the selling.

Oh and my thoughts on the game I like it, I agree it's a natural evolution of the good old ATB system. I tend to directly control the main character though, and have the other two run by gambits. The bestiary also has made me it's bitch.

I agree. I usually have two of em on gambits, and the main player I fiddle with.

I am totally restarting though because I was experimenting and getting used to the system so I have my points spread out on my main between alot of basic stuff instead of honing in, with the exception of Light Armor. Is it wrong to be on Light Armor 9 when I've only just gotten to the leviathan

If you get a 50-Chain you get rewarded with a Montblanc trophy in the sky pirates den part of your Clan Primer.

*nods* I got the thieving and technique trophy before I even got my 2nd party member. My fights always start out with thieving twice... >.< I used up alot more potions than I would've but made the money back with itemz.