Penny Arcade - Final Fantasy XII plays itself? Noes!

[MrAngryFace]

www.penny-arcade.com



Great blog entry by Tycho, the wordsmith:

FFXII's Gambit System is, and I am not exaggerating for effect, the mechanism by which you relinquish control of the game.


The Final Fantasy series has been an nearly unbroken string of cinemas for several installments now, and with this new innovation they have managed to wrest even combat - that tawdry, unregulated brothel of player interaction - from our increasingly desperate grip. I am not a "Final Fantasy Hater," though such people exist - indeed, I believe many are currently employed at SquareEnix, where their evil labours on Final Fantasy XII have birthed darkness in a twisted mockery of The Holy Nativity.


A glance at today's comic will give you a taste of a savage and cyber future where the rubbery feeding tubes of SquareEnix - tubes which are at once part esophagus, part tentacle - latch on and then digest the Odin All-Father of gaming deities.

1up suggests in their recent preview that it's hard to know what the fan reaction will be, but one need not resort to nostradaman ambiguities to derive this one. It is going to sell out in every store until the stores get their next shipments, which will then sell out. The lines of merchandise will themselves create lines, except they will be lines of people instead, and their hands will clench on sweaty money.  Reviews will rest high, like crowns, at 9.0 and above.  No divine punishment will ever be meted out! The giant hammer will hang there, suspended, but not fall.  Looking out from my tower - my robe resplendent, chin heavy in my palm - I will think of winter.

Even I - I, who have made myself a fortress against it! - feel that brand's dense core drawing me in. It's even set in Ivalice, which twists the knife.  I want to summon spectacular creatures to war with violent root vegetables - or, at least, I am not opposed to their being summoned.  I want to navigate convoluted familial bonds and fly in ships designed explicitly for that purpose.   


Most of all, I want to do what's right.

And I love being wrong on things like this, so if it's really this amazing thing where you're, like, programming your guys or whatever, you'll tell me about it -  it's not like I don't own a PS2.  It may be physically difficult to pry out the Guitar Hero disc by this point, but I've been working out, and I think I've got what it takes. 



(CW)TB out.

[The Fake Shemp]

 

[TVC15]

Depending on how you set things up, it will take as much control as you give it, but like KotOR, you can micromanage to your heart's content.

[Diablos]

If it hasn't changed much since the demo that came with DQ8, then it's not as bad as people make it out to be.

I can always manage to be in complete control of one character at all times by turning off gambit for them. With the way the game plays, you wouldn't want to control more than one character anyway.

[APF]

Yeah, I really had no problem with the demo either.  Definitely not to the point where I really felt the entire game was guiding me through a non-interactive experience.  The PA cartoon reminds me of Paper Mario though--it has been done!

[Bacon]

You could do it in Symphonia. I liked it.

[APF]

Fucking pervasive liberal bias

[Third]

FFXII is already GOTY.

[The Fake Shemp]

More like FFIII.

[truffleshuffle83]

GHII is already GOTY.

fixed

[Third]

What is GHII?   

And yes. FFXII is GOTY. Followed by Zelda TP.

This gen > next-gen

[Vizzys]

Ive been told you can control each character instead of using the gambit system.

Also that its the best FF game like evar, even famitsu gave it a 40/40 score which is VERY good considering how harsh they are.

93%  at gamerankings: http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/459841.asp

But wait, does this system mean that you may be forced to enter commands for three different characters in real time if the AI decides to take a sudden crash course in becoming a kamikaze fighter? Fret not, because Square Enix has addressed that aspect of combat well through the Gambit System.

Let us say that the Gambit System is, for all intents and purposes, customizable AI. So, you may be asking, how is that different from other games with 'customizable AI' that give you only three choices, all of which probably spell certain doom for the character? Ah, that's where things get interesting - the Gambit System is much more complicated than any of those piddly 'customizable' AI systems. The Gambit System basically consists of a number of slots where players are able to set different 'Situation-Reaction' scenarios. It offers a staggering amount of different options, allowing the player to do things like set the exact HP percentage when an ally should use a cure spell, or set whether the ally should attack the strongest, weakest, or same enemy the leader is fighting. Of course, any command the player gives while in battle overrides the AI setups, but this is pretty much as close to programming actual AI a game could possibly allow players without forcing them to sit down and code it themselves. The Gambit System, while limited by a small number of slots and a pitiful amount of selections at the outset of the game, quickly expands and as the game progresses, players will be able to find the exact Gambits they need to guide them through their quests.

Speaking of finding Gambits, everything the player will use is either found in a dungeon or sold in shops. Weapons, armor, accessories, spells, even gambit options are all up for sale or obtainable through treasure chests in dungeons, with any character able to use any item, cast any spell, and equip any weapon or armor.

This is where the License Board comes in. Every character has access to the same license board, which looks oddly like a chess board. Pretty much anything outside of normal levels is handled by the License Board; each square on said board grants access to abilities, weapons, armor, accessories, stat ups, and more, with certain special attacks and summon spaces becoming unavailable after one character has learned it already. To learn objects on the License Board, LP (which is gained in normal battles) is expended, with more powerful options costing more LP. But wait, did I just say "weapons, armor, and accessories"? That's right, in this incarnation of the series, just buying the equipment won't help your characters at all. Technically, every character can equip any piece of equipment and cast any spell in the game. However, such a task would take hours upon hours of slaughtering enemies, so players will have to decide what items they want their character to be able to equip. In execution, this allows full customization of each character while still allowing them their own unique individual traits, and the player will never be 'stuck' on the board due to the lack of a pre-set path. Each time a square on the License Board is activated, each square surrounding it becomes available to learn. Players are limited only by the edges of their current progress, so the entire system is incredibly flexible while still offering reasonable boundaries for players to adhere to, all the while preventing players from becoming too powerful simply by hoarding money and upgrading to the most powerful equipment available, thereby keeping the game's challenege intact.

[Flannel Boy]

Deleted by user

[Vizzys]

Also that its the best FF game like evar, even famitsu gave it a 40/40 score which is VERY good considering how harsh they are.

(Image removed from quote.)

Excellent point.

[Third]

Children like Nintendogs. It's a 40/40 for them. 

Japanese people dig those games a lot. So I can understand the 40/40 score...

[Diablos]

Ive been told you can control each character instead of using the gambit system.

You can, but according to Shouta and Red Scarlet, the game will take _forever_ to play.

Make no mistake about it, the Gambit system really does save you a lot of work. On GAF, Bepbo said he made a pizza during a really long boss fight. He put his controller down, went into the kitchen, and made a pizza. Everything was automated and he didn't die.

I used to have one of Scarlet's videos where she's fighting a tough boss -- 10 seconds into the video she puts the controller down. And the AI does the rest for like 7 minutes until the boss is dead.

[MrAngryFace]

I hate Nintendo Dogs

[Diablos]

MAF: It does look dumb. Have you ever played it, or being speculative?

[Van Cruncheon]

How the hell is letting the AI fight for you FUN

[Diablos]

How the hell is letting the AI fight for you FUN

I guess we won't really know how it works until we play ourselves. I don't think you HAVE to set everything up to be completely automated, but it sure seems set up that way. The most ideal option.

[brawndolicious]

I never liked playing FF but that is so fucked up.