I finally realize why FF12 bugs me.

[swordianmaster]

[5:00:12 AM] Bahamut725: Twelve.
[5:00:16 AM] Bahamut725: 12, 12, 12, 12, 12.
[5:00:18 AM] Bahamut725: So much.
[5:00:23 AM] Bahamut725: I wanted SO BAD to like that game.
[5:00:32 AM] Bahamut725: I am a GIGANTIC Matsuno fanboy.
[5:00:50 AM] Bahamut725: I love everything that even TOUCHES the "Ivalice Alliance".
[5:00:57 AM] Bahamut725: And the worldbuilding in 12? Fantastic.
[5:01:53 AM] Bahamut725: But... then the story is just incomprehensible, your viewpoint character has less personality than a wet cat dropping, and the combat system is just stupid.
[5:02:24 AM] [redacted]: All the issues with 8 and 10, with none of the good parts.
[5:02:36 AM] Bahamut725: No, not even that.
[5:02:41 AM] Bahamut725: You want my analogy?
[5:02:47 AM] [redacted]: Go for it.
[5:03:03 AM] Bahamut725: "Silmarillion: The Video Game".
[5:03:36 AM] [redacted]: ...
[5:03:37 AM] [redacted]: Y'know...
[5:03:47 AM] [redacted]: You've got a point.
[5:04:43 AM] Bahamut725: It's a cash-in on a famous franchise's success. It's a glorified world omnibus that tries to parade itself as a readable narrative. It's obtuse as shit and at least part of that is due to the author's fucking insanity.
[5:04:49 AM] Bahamut725: The parallels are more than a few.

EDIT:
[5:07:15 AM] [redacted]: But Silmarillion had saving graces in that it was basically just whatever the heck he wanted to write in the style he did. I actually understood it - then again, I'm verbose and over-literary. It's got reasons for existing.
[5:07:24 AM] Bahamut725: ...
[5:07:40 AM] [redacted]: Can't say I enjoyed it, but I did follow it.
[5:07:58 AM] Bahamut725: j.r.r. tolkien
[5:08:07 AM] Bahamut725: is a writer i will never be able to stomach.
[5:08:23 AM] [redacted]: Not so for me.
[5:08:37 AM] Bahamut725: This is a man who spouted platitudes about the phrase "Cellar door". He was a linguist first and anything else /never/.
[5:08:45 AM] Bahamut725: The world he made? Fantastic. Beautiful. Detailed.
[5:08:53 AM] Bahamut725: Actually READING about it? Oh god where is the acid.

Comments

[linen-tartaruga.livejournal.com]

Hey hey hey now!

There were parts of The Silmarillion that had an actual story.

Also you could TOTALLY do a Guitar Hero type thing with the creation story -- Ainur Hero! "TOTALLY RAD! YOU CREATED THE PERFECT LIFE FORMS! BUT WATCH OUT FOR THAT MELKOR DUDE, HE'S TOTALLY HARSHING YOUR CHORDS! NOT COOL!"

... this would probably be a more successful joke if I'd ever actually played Guitar Hero and knew what the little electronic groupie talked like.

[xyzzysqrl]

This actually made me want to club you with something a little bit.

Just thought I'd mention.

[swordianmaster.livejournal.com]

[6:13:22 PM] Bahamut725: Only tangentially related, I believe I have discovered that Xyzzy is a Tolkien reader.
[6:14:48 PM] bossgoji: I think it's more dissing on FF12 than that.
[6:15:00 PM] bossgoji: Also: *whap* I agree with him. ^_^
[6:15:02 PM] Bahamut725: Then I need to clarify.
[6:15:06 PM] Bahamut725: I love the hell out of FF12.
[6:15:17 PM] Bahamut725: But the writing... well, let's just say that, much like Vagrant Story before it
[6:15:28 PM] Bahamut725: I needed a flowchart to figure out what the fuck was going on at ANY time.
[6:16:01 PM] bossgoji: ...I never had ANY problems figuring it OR Vagrant Story out.
[6:16:05 PM] Bahamut725: .....
[6:16:11 PM] Bahamut725: are you a wizard

[6:18:00 PM] Bahamut725: Also, the sidequest stuff in 12 was RETARDEDLY grindy.

[swordianmaster.livejournal.com]

[6:18:37 PM] Bahamut725: I should probably clarify there, too. It's not the combat system so much that's stupid.
[6:18:43 PM] Bahamut725: The license board.
[6:18:53 PM] Bahamut725: It's like a sphere grid with added durr.

[feniiku-lumaris.livejournal.com]

oh god 12. I could NOT get into that, I played it for five minutes, tops. My brother managed to tough it out longer but eventually gave up too, it's just... so awkward to understand.