Final Fantasy retrospective: Part IX
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Sep 18th 2007 at 10:01AM }
The world of Ivalice is actually playable in four games: Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced and Final Fantasy XII. The big question is how these four games and their respective worlds tie into each other, which the retrospective covers in the last section of this episode. There are more games planned to occur in the world of Ivalice as well. In the next episode of the retrospective they'll cover all the random Final Fantasy stuff like the spin-offs and movies.
See also: Part I & II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
upz @ Sep 18th 2007 10:12AM
So after watching this last night, I ended up playing FFXII until five in the morning. I swear, this retrospective is the worst thing that ever happened to me.
ShortFuse @ Sep 18th 2007 10:17AM
So I clicked the link and started watching it, then realized it's 25 minutes long! I'll have to leave it for later. Good stuff though
Vince @ Sep 18th 2007 10:30AM
It sounds like whoever wrote the FFT portion has never played the game. Did they say Beowulf family?!
Silver R. Wolfe @ Sep 18th 2007 10:58AM
Unfortunately, not many have now a days. :(
Regulus Tera @ Sep 18th 2007 11:03AM
This has been the best episode yet. Though I have certain complaints about the Ivalice Alliance project (mainly, no Matsuno involvement at all), I have to admit I'm intrigued by what is the most expansive and engaging world in the series.
This tickled my fan innards. I approve. Faram.
blooh (CDF - Ass Ring) @ Sep 18th 2007 11:30AM
man tactics and vagrant story were good. their plots were awesome too
too bad ff12's plot sucked, the gameplay was pretty fun, but I just didn't care enough to go into the final dungeon
bm @ Sep 18th 2007 2:00PM
Good that you didn't, it was the most boring and longest dungeon of all (and that says something if you know FFXII's dungeons). And the ending didn't improve anything, plot-wise.
archie91s @ Sep 18th 2007 9:34PM
That's funny, because I've heard most of the critics say that they really liked the games more mature political plot. I have the game, but never got around to finishing it.
blooh (CDF - Ass Ring) @ Sep 18th 2007 11:21PM
you want a mature political plot? play ffT or vagrant story
ff12's plot was almost nonexistant. they just point you in the general direction of somewhere and you wander for a few hours to get there
blooh (CDF - Ass Ring) @ Sep 18th 2007 11:24PM
also, vagrant story was fucking scary to me. the secret dungeons on newgame+ that were very dark and had knife-wielding girls that were the only enemy in the game with a death spell? and all the difficult bosses in the iron maiden? I trekked in and out of there after every one to get to a save point, even though it took a while when you got near the bottom.
jeffx @ Sep 18th 2007 12:05PM
All of these games ruled hard. I played FF1 the day it came out and I still haven't lost an ounce of respect for them...
James @ Sep 18th 2007 3:45PM
I really didn't like XII plot-wise. I didn't get connected to any of the characters and I didn't care about any of them. It was more entertaining watching my cat sleep than listening to Vaan or Penelo.
archie91s @ Sep 18th 2007 9:35PM
That's funny, because I've heard most of the critics say that they really liked the games more mature political plot. I have the game, but never got around to finishing it.
bm @ Sep 19th 2007 6:05PM
Copypaste reply FTW! Archie, Idunno what happened with the "critics" at the time, but after all the unmerited hype died down, everyone pretty much agreed FFXII sucked balls because of the dungeons and the storyline.
Raikage (NDF - PK THUNDER RING) @ Sep 19th 2007 1:00AM
Kinda off topic, but Ogre Battle 64 is my favorite game of all time...
Anyway, I love these retrospectives, keep 'em coming!
Mxell483 @ Oct 11th 2007 9:50AM
The leveling up in this game, incorporating the gambit system, made this game a breeze to play. Yeah, the story line could of been better, but I'm not here to talk about that. I can't count how many games have frustrated me because of the need to LEVEL UP. The gambit system makes leveling up intuitive and easy to accomplish. If party leader HP < 30% ....your healer should OBVIOUSLY act out the part (as the name implies). Having this addition, along with the new Active Dimension Battle system, made running around the land of Ivalice that much more enjoyable.
Ross Patton @ Sep 26th 2007 8:30PM
I always assumed that FFT was the last game in the series specifically because:
1. They talk a lot about a highly advanced ancient society that had airships, guns and all that.
2. There are only humans, all the other non human races have been extinct for centuries.
It really does sound like whoever did this retrospective never played the original FFT by the way. Can't wait for the remake (even though I still own the original).