...I initially typed Lovecrafting, and that would not have done, at all.
(105 Minutes later)
King of Distraction that I am, I nearly got completely sidetracked from what I mean to do, namely, talking about Final Fantasy Twelve. I like how it looks written out, but FFXII is a hell of a lot easier to type, not that I expect to be needed it too frequently.
(100 Strips of Megatokyo later, the first 100 to be precise)
Focus!
Alright. Spoilers will likely be present.
Visually, FFXII is pretty, the eyecandy level isn't stellar, I've never really been a fan of vast sweeping landscapes if you're not going to give me a self-controlled Airship to navagate them, but it's definately present. Some of the architexture is amazing, as are some of the revamped creature models. The Slavens and Treants aren't what I'd call bland, merely stupid looking; but the models for the higher-grade undead of each tier and the slepnir (armored horses) are very nice. Turtles seem to lack heads, and the croc mobs are plain bizzare. Espers and Judges are well defined, the rest of the mobs (Elites, Bosses, and Hunts) sorta blend into each other but there's still a fair deal of mob types. And when it's not sprite based, palette (two l's?) shifts don't bother me.
Musically I've yet to be impressed, but I've also not started turned off my sounds in favor of Winamp/Pandora backgrounds, so that's good. The Chocobo remix was, interesting, though in a good way. And the Congratulations classic victory music is great, though it's a bit zoomed out, and the styles are a bit generic. Nothing has gripped me in the cutscenes, but that's mostly because they're powering the plot/drama though words and actions, rather than the music all the time. (Squall says ...)
Speaking of, cutscenes are generally wonderful, as to be expected, though I don't think the linework for the words always matches up. I worry that the villian might end up be exactly who I expect it is without any secrets in the back or tricks up his sleeves. I'd hate for this to be another Seymour (who's reasonably powerful in his own right, but still just one person) summons Anima moment. I'd like a bit of a twist that isn't Overall Baddie Alpha summons the Esper X+1 (where X is the final storyline summon).
Castwise I don't think I've had enough time to deal with them all. Most of my time has been spent on Hunts and Chains and Exploration, and not a whole lot of plot (Mt. Bur-Omisace with 40 hours of the clock, 6 of which were idle (not paused, which doesn't count)).
Vaan -- Zidane/Early-Tidus level annoying and ignorant, but at least I sense potential. He probably doesn't deserve quite the prominent role the storyline is trying to give him as there's no reason it cannot be just a main party rather than a main character, especially given the flexibility of the game.
Ashe -- Headstrong and prosiac at times, but if love develops I could see that softening. At least her garb is nice. Though the ghost of her husband, and the fact that she was married just kinda sit awkwardly so far.
Basch -- A Steiner/Celes remix, just hear me out. He has a comitted duty but he also feels tainted by past failures and betrayl (His brother, Vossler). His outfit is stupid though.
Penello -- Makes a nice foil to Ashe, intentional or not, but she ultimately doesn't seem particularly useful to this point. Her relationship, as she desires it, with Vaan is what I'm personally hoping for, but I think that Ashe might just botch that all up. Her holding his arm at the very beginning was probably the best moment she's had.
Fran -- Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the bunny girls. Viera seem to have a Germanic based language, at least the names (Fran, Mjrn, etc) which gives an awfully harsh overtone to the language of the passive woods-dwellers. She's relatively cool otherwise, though the script sucks at explaning or demonstrating Mist very effectively. Everything keeps talking about it like there was some 3rd Grade History Course everyone took, but that's pretty clearly not the case. I really wish that when she was leaving Eruyt village only Balthier would've been visible. Vaan had no place standing there.
Balthier -- Rocks. Plain and simple. His Mist Quickenings are amusing, his attitude is awesome. It's essentially the re-envisioned form of Setzer from FFVI, the way he should have been in KH2. He's not afraid to admit his piracy, he's got an airship, he "kidnaps" damsels. All we need is an assault on an opera house to really finish the picture. Sadly this leading man seems to be losing his top billing to Vaan.
I don't know how much more game there is to be played. I think it's a large amount though. I know there's 45 Hunts (I've done maybe 20?) and 5 Espers in the main storyline (I've got 2 of them), which gives me a rough idea of how things stand.
45 Hours in, did Stil-Shrine (Crappy ass dungeon) and returned to Bur-Omisace. This'll do for a first post, working solo is very non-condusive, blogging tired isn't either.
