So far they only have one campaign (two if you include the core set, which feels more like proof-of-concept than anything else) which just wrapped up, and it seems like it's basically impossible to lose a scenario prior to the final one in the campaign. A bad session can mean that you don't get much, if any,…

If you don't do all the side content—and FFIX has a ton of side content, probably the most of any FF—I'd peg it at around 35 hours or so if you're using 4X speed when grinding. And I've been grinding a lot and doing all the side stuff, so I might still be overestimating the minimum required time.

The hunts are definitely the most challenging part of FFXII, but they're all optional. The mainline bosses are all much easier than I remember them, though, so I suspect that someone not interested in the side content won't feel quite as punished as when the game was first released.

Yeah, the soundtrack is great. I do thik it lacks a strong theme compared to other Final Fantasies, though; there's no track that really stands out as being emblematic of the game, and they all kind of blur together a bit as a result. But it's probably the most "adventure-y" Final Fantasy out there. Even when you're…

I tried, but that game was ultimately just too hard for me to really enjoy. My boyfriend and I play Arkham Horror: The Card Game, which feels like a superior take on the general concept.

You should consider updating yourself to Doctoid for awhile.

After the Belias fight, you'll be able to give each character a second job, which makes them significantly more powerful (Espers also grant access to various unlocks for classes that can add significant amounts of utility if you pair them up correctly). A Red Mage/Black Mage combo is a beast; all offensive magick,…

This weekend I'll be playing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age. I've always considered this game a top-three Final Fantasy, but the updates in this version are so good that it threatens to knock Final Fantasy IX off its perch as my favorite. I've never spent much time exploring around Balfonheim, but the new 4x speed…

It definitely feels easier, and I can't tell if it's been tweaked, if the speed-up option makes grinding much more bearable to the point that you actually get the EXP, LP, and gil you need to effectively go toe-to-toe with the bosses, if the new Job system makes your characters more powerful by letting them lean…

Yeah, I've been burned before that way.

It came out in…2006, so…dammit, math! Tricked again!

A good example is Bowser in Super Mario 3D World. The first two fights are basically identical, but when you get to the final one you find his car abandoned and then he busts out the Bell and Cherry power-ups to fight you with the very tools you've been using throughout the game for a crazy, King Kong-esque…

It's also the 16th anniversary of Final Fantasy XII, which just had its definitive version released.

Twin Peaks was also an inspiration for Link's Awakening, so it clearly made an impression on the team.

BOTW's problem is mostly that it doesn't really do more than the bare minimum. No character is involved with the story for more than about 10 minutes total, even though each major area already has quests that don't become available until after you clear the associated Divine Beast.

Yeah, and on top of that you don't have any control over the characters you aren't controlling directly, so you have to hope that the AI is good enough to effectively use the skills you assign and, if it is, then sit back and contribute nothing for vast stretches of time. It's the FFXII complaint that "the game plays…

Oh, definitely, but to talk about Mario specifically, I feel that Mario Galaxy 2, while overall the superior game thanks to its fantastic levels, loses something by paring back the narrative elements from Galaxy (which is not itself a narrative-heavy game).

Xenoblade: the game series that dares to ask "what if we made a crappier version of Final Fantasy XII, tied it to a bunch of anime tropes, and then made it twice as long?"

One of the pleasures of Mario Galaxy 2 is the green stars. Some of them really show the limits of the level design; there's nothing to do but throw a star in your path and maybe add in an extra jump somewhere. But the best ones demand creativity and a strong understanding of the game's mechanics in order to gather,…

I wish they had let Paper Mario stay an RPG series, because they've still got the creativity but they clearly have no idea how to make any other kind of game and it seriously hurts the series.