I have to agree with you. FF12, by the time I got the ability to get to Bahamut, was an exercise in "...wait, that's it?" and then, after that, another moment of, "...oh wait, there ISN'T going to be another plot arc? ....oh." I have to admitt hat I spent a lot of my life playing that game, and the mark systemw as cool and all, but...weell, see, FFX I spent way over 100 hours on, too, and it didn't have NEARLY so much random killing things quests (the collecting for the arena aside, and that was NOT even close to the amount of time it took to do the marks). Sidequests that gave little bits of plot or background, yes, but not just random "go here, kill this" types of things. Things that actually made me feel more immersed in the world and the characters' stories.
I had to really grow to like some of the FFXII characters. I have to admit that Laylah helped some, with her fiction. But I had the same feeling that there could have been a lot more characterization of folks put in there. Penelo and Vaan in particular, but all of them just didn't QUITE have enough development for me to really feel like I was seeing what they truly felt. I often didn't know what the characters were thinking, which can work, but didn't for me. It just made the characters seem flatter than they should have. And yes, yes, I think that everyone being Very Serious was partly to blame. It's hard to get to know someone when they're always focussed on something else and frowny faced with concentration and determination. Much easier to get to know them when they've had a few drinks and are smiling and chatting you up. The characters in XII seem to hardly have any time for that kind of thing.
I blame this on the story director guy leaving the project partway through. I think that there was originally supposed to be more plot. Something after the Lighthouse besides just the ridiculous "where the hell did THAT come from?" airship. They were TOTALLY setting up for the Occuria to come down on Ashe like the hand of god for not doing what they told her to, and instead the Occuria did NOTHING. Not even any MENTION of any response from them about Ashe thumbing her nose at them. That was a glaring plot thread just dropped unceremoniously. My guess is that after the lighthouse, perhaps after Bahamut, you were supposed to go to a new area or something and fight the Occuria, because they were going to destroy the world or something. :shrug: It's what _I_ would have written, if I were the story designer.
all that said, I did LIKE FFXII, but I felt like it could have been much better.
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I had to really grow to like some of the FFXII characters. I have to admit that Laylah helped some, with her fiction. But I had the same feeling that there could have been a lot more characterization of folks put in there. Penelo and Vaan in particular, but all of them just didn't QUITE have enough development for me to really feel like I was seeing what they truly felt. I often didn't know what the characters were thinking, which can work, but didn't for me. It just made the characters seem flatter than they should have. And yes, yes, I think that everyone being Very Serious was partly to blame. It's hard to get to know someone when they're always focussed on something else and frowny faced with concentration and determination. Much easier to get to know them when they've had a few drinks and are smiling and chatting you up. The characters in XII seem to hardly have any time for that kind of thing.
I blame this on the story director guy leaving the project partway through. I think that there was originally supposed to be more plot. Something after the Lighthouse besides just the ridiculous "where the hell did THAT come from?" airship. They were TOTALLY setting up for the Occuria to come down on Ashe like the hand of god for not doing what they told her to, and instead the Occuria did NOTHING. Not even any MENTION of any response from them about Ashe thumbing her nose at them. That was a glaring plot thread just dropped unceremoniously. My guess is that after the lighthouse, perhaps after Bahamut, you were supposed to go to a new area or something and fight the Occuria, because they were going to destroy the world or something. :shrug: It's what _I_ would have written, if I were the story designer.
all that said, I did LIKE FFXII, but I felt like it could have been much better.