Final Fantasy XII

 PlayStation 2
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1542 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,062 out of 1542
  2. Mixed: 214 out of 1542
  3. Negative: 266 out of 1542
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  1. M1sfiT
    Sep 3, 2023
    8
    Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaameeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! ffxii
  2. nightocelot
    Jul 25, 2023
    0
    Litteraly, after about 8 hours you don't give a damn about a single soul in this game.
    Though characters design seems really good (accept Penelo, she's epicly unremarkable).
    Along with copy-paste like levels that feel like one repetitive corridor the whole experience is dull and forgetable.
  3. TheXxchaKing
    Jul 7, 2023
    9
    + Most brilliant and certainly most underrated soundtrack in the Final Fantasy franchise
    + Graphically the best looking game on the PS2
    + World design and various landscapes are creative masterpieces + Cinematic cutscenes were way ahead of its time + Boss fights and monster hunts are epic + Excellent atmosphere of political tension - Gambit system and license board are pretty lame    + Most brilliant and certainly most underrated soundtrack in the Final Fantasy franchise
    + Graphically the best looking game on the PS2
    + World design and various landscapes are creative masterpieces
    + Cinematic cutscenes were way ahead of its time
    + Boss fights and monster hunts are epic
    + Excellent atmosphere of political tension

    - Gambit system and license board are pretty lame but didn't ruin the game for me as much as it did for others
    - Unmemorable cast of characters and underwhelming story    … Expand
  4. Sha2n
    May 9, 2023
    10
    A unique work, one of the best to date. This game will definitely enter the top, created by a diverse, experienced, versatile and not envious gamer. A legend for a real dreamer. From Gabranth with Love.
  5. THOUSANDEYEKAii
    May 5, 2023
    9
    I admit I was let down by this game and didn't enjoy it much at first, but when I restarted years later I realized how great a game it really was.
  6. Albertomhg
    Mar 9, 2023
    10
    It's not perfect, but it's my favourite game every, despite all his flaws this game feels magic to me, the license board is well implemented and feels great to complete, the combat and gambit system is advanced to his era, side quests are the more satisfying to complete in any final fantasy game, and good story, lore and characters.
  7. aaronnmp96
    Jan 30, 2023
    6
    and sorry for what happened in the development of this game, it could be much better, and the difficult one is a bit broken, thank goodness they improved it for new generations
  8. LastResource
    Jan 14, 2023
    10
    worth it and glad to play this game again. so much memories and nostalgia within this eleventh game in the series. this collection is great.
  9. deathstramding
    Nov 8, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Masterpiece Masterpiece Masterpiece Masterpiece Masterpiece Masterpiece… Expand
  10. hector_bcn98
    Oct 31, 2022
    9
    Lo tenía todo para ser el mejor videojuego de la historia y se quedó en un top 5 de la saga. Lástima los problemas de dirección que tuvo a mitad del desarrollo. No me explico como la ps2 no explotaba al cargar los gráficos de este juego y el inmenso mundo que tiene. Los gambits, más que un truco, son una bendición a la hora de farmear. Una de las mejores bandas sonoras de la historia.
  11. paulop7x
    Jul 11, 2022
    10
    The Best Game of My Life
    um jogo complemente incrível, com uma atmosfera visual Star Wars, um bestiário amplo e diversificado, um mundo amplo e interligado, uma jogabilidade que não enjoa nunca, um game que da prazer ao explorar e fazer grind, tudo nesse jogo foi bem feito, os pontos fracos sequer merecem ser frisados.
  12. Tidu
    May 23, 2022
    8
    This was the first Final Fantasy I played, that was "just ok". I didn't get invested in the characters and the story wasn't as good as I would've hoped. But that doesn't mean I didn't have my fair share of fun with the game.
    I truly enjoyed the hunting jobs which was the best part of the game experience.
    For me, only thing that's missing from this game is an engaging story. Too bad that's    This was the first Final Fantasy I played, that was "just ok". I didn't get invested in the characters and the story wasn't as good as I would've hoped. But that doesn't mean I didn't have my fair share of fun with the game.
    I truly enjoyed the hunting jobs which was the best part of the game experience.
    For me, only thing that's missing from this game is an engaging story. Too bad that's the thing I'm looking for when I turn on my Playstation.    … Expand
  13. leofravoline
    May 10, 2022
    2
    Não é final fantasy apesar dos elementos estarem todos lá. Ele é vagrant story 2, que é um jogo que eu particularmente não gostei. Não consigo me importar com a história ou com os personagens. Vaan é um protagonista tenebroso.
  14. DarkwingSchmuck
    Mar 3, 2022
    8
    Final Fantasy XII is in many ways the exact opposite of Final Fantasy X -- it doesn't boast nearly as strong of a narrative or cast, but is heavily focused on exploration and features some of the best side quests in the franchise (including the exceptional Clan Hunts). Final Fantasy XII also ditches the turn based combat in favor of the Gambit system -- a user friendly programming systemFinal Fantasy XII is in many ways the exact opposite of Final Fantasy X -- it doesn't boast nearly as strong of a narrative or cast, but is heavily focused on exploration and features some of the best side quests in the franchise (including the exceptional Clan Hunts). Final Fantasy XII also ditches the turn based combat in favor of the Gambit system -- a user friendly programming system that allows one to fine tune their character A.I. with incredible precision.… Expand
  15. TheGoodGoat
    Feb 27, 2022
    9
    Thisbgame has the best writing ever. The sheer level of effort put on the dialogue and characters is unparalleled. It is a great game but it unfortunately falls into a pitfall many FF games fall into. You can make every character a hard hitting beast who can do white magic and cruise through the game. As such, it cannot be a 10/10 like FFIX imo
  16. MoofiaBossVal
    Dec 26, 2021
    7
    The cutscene direction, the English localization, and the voice direction makes the story REALLY enjoyable to watch. Sadly most of the main party you're stuck with comprises dry, unemotive characters. Vaan is the only character who is allowed to emote, and if he wasn't there I don't think I would have made it through the game.

    Aesthetically, the game looks great. The soundtrack is okay.    The cutscene direction, the English localization, and the voice direction makes the story REALLY enjoyable to watch. Sadly most of the main party you're stuck with comprises dry, unemotive characters. Vaan is the only character who is allowed to emote, and if he wasn't there I don't think I would have made it through the game.

    Aesthetically, the game looks great. The soundtrack is okay. A little too noisy for my liking but nothing particularly bad.

    The gameplay is meh. I liked the open zones, but I'm not a fan of the MMO combat. It's not as fun as the turn based battles with the cinematic camera shots and stuff. If you do like the battles, then thankfully there are a lot of optional bosses for you to fight.    … Expand
  17. Leonx17
    Dec 1, 2021
    10
    My fav ff game by far it's so enjoyable has best bosses and open world in any ff game has like 100+ hours of gameplay value , it's my fav game of all time tbh
  18. CloudStrife05
    Aug 24, 2021
    9
    FFXII went a different route in 2 main areas. The battle system, which for the first time you could control the character at all times. and the fact that the story centered around a "side" character in Ashe. You control Vaan who is by far, in my opinion, the worst of the "Leads" in the FF games. He fell flat and was just very vanilla. Had we been able to control Balthier, or even Basch, itFFXII went a different route in 2 main areas. The battle system, which for the first time you could control the character at all times. and the fact that the story centered around a "side" character in Ashe. You control Vaan who is by far, in my opinion, the worst of the "Leads" in the FF games. He fell flat and was just very vanilla. Had we been able to control Balthier, or even Basch, it would have been much better. Overall though, it was a good FF in my opinion.… Expand
  19. anthonybobby
    Aug 19, 2021
    10
    The ones in the negative section are the biggest 8 year olds I have ever seen! This game is great.
  20. ArthurWinters
    Jun 26, 2021
    8
    It's a good game facing the reality, but in this chapter of Final Fantasy miss one thing: Hironobu Sakaguchi. It detaches completely from the Final Fantasy games' formule. Some characters are very intresting even the plot decrease as you get the end.
  21. Danilin
    Feb 8, 2021
    9
    Gameplay fantástica, bestiário riquíssimo, inúmeras e extensas áreas, enorme gama de equipamentos e magias, gráficos de cair o queixo, trilha sonora impactante e diversas outras mudanças que começaram aqui, mudando de vez o rumo da franquia. Pra época já era um game à frente da sua geração e recentemente (2017) retorna com sua remasterização para nos lembrar o quão importante esse game éGameplay fantástica, bestiário riquíssimo, inúmeras e extensas áreas, enorme gama de equipamentos e magias, gráficos de cair o queixo, trilha sonora impactante e diversas outras mudanças que começaram aqui, mudando de vez o rumo da franquia. Pra época já era um game à frente da sua geração e recentemente (2017) retorna com sua remasterização para nos lembrar o quão importante esse game é para jogadores e indústria.… Expand
  22. Damos-Insomnia
    Jan 23, 2021
    10
    Quite simply the best game on the ps2. currently re playing it now and still loving every minute of it.. Great G's just pure beauty
  23. player0003
    Jan 5, 2021
    10
    Play this game in year 2020 again.
    Still a masterpiece.
    The graphics is actually better than FF-X, except the pre-render movie.
  24. Kai82
    Dec 8, 2020
    7
    After all the years I still don't know if it is a great game that I did not appreciate enough or a weaker game in the Final Fantasy franchise. It has a great story, many remarkable characters and an interesting world I liked to explore while getting rid of random encounters. However it has also some weaknesses as I dislike that you have no direct control of other party members (Liked theAfter all the years I still don't know if it is a great game that I did not appreciate enough or a weaker game in the Final Fantasy franchise. It has a great story, many remarkable characters and an interesting world I liked to explore while getting rid of random encounters. However it has also some weaknesses as I dislike that you have no direct control of other party members (Liked the Gambit system first but it became annoying after a while), the license board / character development system is uninteresting and the protagonist Vaan has not that much purpose after the set up of the story (He even mentioned this himself in the game and it is sad as I liked him). Also there is an incredible annoyance with treasure chests. The game is set in the world of Ivalice (A few games from Square-Enix are set here like Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics but these are not related). The Kingdom of Dalmasca is one of a few smaller countries set as buffer state between two larger powers. When one of them Archadia invades another smaller country a war seems unavoidable as there is no response from the other great power. Two years after the events of the intro we follow the protagonist Vaan who dreams to become a sky pirate using an opportunity to infiltrate the royal palace. From here on the story gains momentum. There is far more to the attack on Dalmasca then it seems. You will face political plots, schemes, moral dilemmas and adventures. The twist are great and after some you will reevaluate your opinions as the world and some characters are not black and white. Sadly the protagonist Vaan is the least awesome character in your party. Ashe, Basch or Bathier with Fran were far better choices as main characters. Their stories are immersive and enjoyable. There is also more to them than it seems. The world however is impressive. I liked to explore it as the world is colorful and full of variety. There are also many interesting characters in this game. So far it looks really good but there are downsides. Lets start with treasures. There are some you have to avoid at all cost to get a really awesome weapon that is not obtainable otherwise. This is nowhere told outside of a guide and I think this is a no go. Also some chest contains good stuff only at a low chance (The guide gives you a percental value here). Then there is the Gambit system. There are no random battles or a battle screen. When you are near enemies a battle starts if they are hostile (Warning in some areas there a stronger enemies you should not attack early on). You have however only control of 1 character in a party of 3. For the others you have to set gambits. First are priorities 1 = highest priority, 2 second highest etc. Then you have to set them. Example: 1: Heal character when < 20% HP and 2: Attack enemies. With this you attack and heal when your HPs are low. If you do it in reverse you will never heal as it is never a priority. This is just the beginning as you should add to use an MP potion when the MP for healing are low at an ever higher priority. As you progress you get more options and can even buy some later on if I remember correctly. This was fun and exciting first but became a burden and uninteresting later on. As you battle you get License Points to spend on the License Board. There you can unlock spells, techniques, new items you are allowed to use (You can have them before but are not allowed to use them until unlocking) or status buffs. It is acceptable but not great. Downside is that you can only link summons to 1 character (This prevented me from using them). There is also a system of special Limit Break like attacks called Quickenings also learnable on the License Board. These can be chained for powerful combos. As per Final Fantasy standards there are many sidequests, additional content and bonus dungeons. Overall this is an excellent game where I disliked the battle system and have some other problems with. It could not win me over completely but it has some great moments and a good story (Sometimes it remembered me of Star Wars with a certain battle;-).… Expand
  25. Belam97
    Dec 1, 2020
    10
    My first and favorite final fantasy. Maybe the most beautiful of them and original design. Thanks to this game i fall in love with the franchise and start to play ff6,7,8,9,10 and 15.
  26. edmelian
    Jul 26, 2020
    9
    Una maniobra arriesgada que salio muy bien, excelentes graficos, buena historia, mundo enoooooorme para ser un FF, nuevo modo de pelea...el unico punto flojo (y no por eso no importante) son los personajes, lejos de generarte la empatia o cariño como otros personajes de la saga...aqui son un poco sosos...sobre todo el protagonista.
  27. erza_scarlet87
    Jul 12, 2020
    10
    The best jrpg ever

    With adb battle system make game fun more than other jrpgs with turn base system with battle screen ... Story is serious and very deeper in comparison whit other final fantasies. A political , historical with Evil motives for gaining power and dictatorship. Level and environment and details is on another level for ps2 games that is still working even in 9    The best jrpg ever

    With adb battle system make game fun more than other jrpgs with turn base system with battle screen ...

    Story is serious and very deeper in comparison whit other final fantasies. A political , historical with Evil motives for gaining power and dictatorship.

    Level and environment and details is on another level for ps2 games that is still working even in 9 generation .

    Variety of weapons and locations and demons was important part of game ,and make game more fun ... Variety of this game is better than witcher 3 or Skyrim .

    Characters is Great and believable but best part is the game is character development.

    This is the best game that you choose to enter jrpg world.    … Expand
  28. meop
    Jun 27, 2020
    9
    This is, simply put one of the better modern RPGs, it isn't perfect... it has some minor flaws, but it is engrossing, it is fun, and the story is excellent until near the end where the authors seemed to lose their way to some degree. I can think of some minor potential improvements but they are quibbles, you'll love the game.
  29. Addposer
    Jun 23, 2020
    8
    Personally im not a big fan of automated sidekicks, and i dont like that to get gambits for commands on the allies you got to get em, thats kinda strange. The game is fine, but when you get really hypied about the plot/storry the game ends.
  30. Sitheral
    Jun 14, 2020
    8
    This one is a bit of an oddball in the series. It is very different from the rest, both in terms of its themes, atmoshpere, the way of telling a story and how you play it, really. It kind of feels like an mmo, with no loading screens for encounters, an open world and a lot of content that feels a bit like filler. Story is more of a political background and Vaan is somehow even more blandThis one is a bit of an oddball in the series. It is very different from the rest, both in terms of its themes, atmoshpere, the way of telling a story and how you play it, really. It kind of feels like an mmo, with no loading screens for encounters, an open world and a lot of content that feels a bit like filler. Story is more of a political background and Vaan is somehow even more bland than Tidus. But ultimately, its a very good game, just not necessary good Final Fantasy title.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Best PS2 Game of 2006
1
#1 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2006
2
#2 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
92

Universal acclaim - based on 64 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 61 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 64
  3. Negative: 0 out of 64
  1. GamesRadar+
    80
    The story soars, but not so often. The dungeons are long and meandering. The gameplay is effective, but not engrossing. It's a staggeringly well-made game that throws more at you than any other RPG on the PS2... but well-made doesn't necessarily mean "fun."
    Read full review
  2. eToychest
    97
    This is absolutely my favorite Final Fantasy title, a claim I probably would have laughed at two years ago when rumors about the game’s battle system began to circulate.
    Read full review
  3. Gaming Age
    91
    One of those rare games that can be appreciated by both hardcore and casual fans alike, Final Fantasy XII may very well be Square's last great adventure, and a fitting sendoff, for the PlayStation 2.
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