Final Fantasy XII (Collector's Edition)

This is my third favorite game overall. Only Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Vesperia are better. The game has exceptional storytelling, great locations you will travel to, and the best soundtrack of any game. The characters are so likeable and developed so well that you will feel genuinely for them. If you love RPGs, you will get emotional at certain parts of the story. The game is quite different from other Final Fantasy titles, which has earned it some bad reviews here and there. I have played FF IV, FF VIII, FF Tactics, FF X, and FF XIII as well. All are very good games but I think that XII is better than all of them.Add to this the new, improved battle system. It has one of the best battle systems ever (although the Tales series is still #1) . The days of random encounters and turn-based combat is over. It is replaced by real-time combat where different actions and different weapons take different amounts of time to use.In XII, you can equip characters any way you want to. You can choose from different types of armor that give you different kinds of bonuses, whether it be for speed, magic power, or simply great protection. There are many different kinds of weapon classes to choose from, too, like longswords, axes/hammers, bows, spears, greatswords, poles, rods, muzzleloading guns, crossbows, maces, katanas, and others. Each gives different bonuses and take different amounts of time to use.There are so many different things to do in this game, and you should try them all to really experience the world of Final Fantasy XII. There is, of course, the main story, but there is also dozens of mini-bosses that you are contracted to hunt down (some of which are actually much tougher to beat than the last boss in the main story). There are also many different secret things to find. To truly complete everything (or close to it), it will take you 150-200+ hours.This game also has a completely new system for the overdrives (they are called "Quickenings" in this game), that I think is better than in any of the previous games. The music for all Final Fantasy games is beyond superb, but I think that XII's is even better. It is so good at conveying the emotions experienced by the characters throughout the game. There is also a summoning system (of course; it IS a Final Fantasy game). The summoning system in XII is not as good as it was in X, but then again, Final Fantasy X focused primarily on summoning. The summoning is still really fun in XII, I just didn't use it very often.PROs: Everything. It has one of the best storylines, settings, characters, voice actors, and soundtracks of any game.CONs: Nothing. I just wish the game would never have ended.I'm not the only one who loved this game. Many of the best-regarded video game magazines and shows in Japan have said that this is the best Final Fantasy yet (and that is definitely saying something!) Famitsu, the most trusted and revered game magazine in Japan, gave it a perfect score, which has only been given to six games so far in all of video game history. It is also the first time that a Final Fantasy game got a perfect score from it (Final Fantasy X came very, very close though).This Collectors Edition comes with the game and a making of DVD that is pretty neat, all packed in a metal case.

Im not a hardcore FF fan but this game fit my rpg needs and thats all that matters. The story is complex and you'll have to pay attention while getting into the setting most people will say its boring and yeah it looks that way but you have to have clean notion as to whats boring and whats complex of course the story is no where as good as the first couple of FF's but this story is far from bad. The characters are alright in my opinion, Balthier and Fran just stood out to me the most I want to say everyone is interesting but something about these two character really made the adventure feel grander then it was going to be. Production value is high, SE really knows how to deliver in the visuals the worlds you roam in do feel static but their varied enough.Now the worst part, grinding this game suffers from spikes in difficulty but i cant really blame the game for the grinding really. You see the levels in the game have enemies just walking around they are not the same level as you so expect sometimes to easily run into enemies much stronger then you are, so to balance this they wanted you to grind but its inconsistent really its noticeable for the majority of the game but avid rpg players shouldn't have any problems but its worth mentioning for people who haven't played it.FF12 is a great rpg game it has its own feel to the gameplay that's never been seen in any FF game and it stands on its own when it comes to story and themes. Give this game a shot if your into role playing it won't disappoint.

The great battle system. Final Fantasy games have always had intuitive, fun, battle systems (I know, I know, FF8 wasn't the best...) except this game. I guess you could say this game's battle system is intuitive, but it lacks greatly, in my opinion, when it comes to fun or engaging.Overall, the game is a good game. Story is good, characters are good, and of course, the graphics and movies are good. Check this installment out if you're a Final Fantasy fan or not, but don't be expecting the best of the series.The bonus features that come with this collector's edition are very nice. The featurettes of the past FF games are really cool, along with the rest of the features on the bonus disk.