Final Fantasy XII

I really liked Final Fantasy VII, and VI after the fact. I even went back to V and IV to give those a whirl. But I saw other people play enough of Final Fantasy VIII, IX, X and XI - and it wasn't much, in each case - to have absolutely no interest in playing them. So XII is my first attempt to jump back into numbered Final Fantasies. Thus far, I feel like I haven't missed much.

I still remember the previews from before FFXII came out, and it painted a pretty bleak picture for me: basically, an MMORPG without the online component. Combat looked and sounded incredibly dull. The environments didn't appear very compelling. And the setting, well, standard RPG shit.

But I had a college roommate who was all about Final Fantasy, and when I watched him play FF12, I actually started to get interested in it. Visually imaginative, bizarre moves? Check. Action-rich pacing with little downtime bullshit? Check. A thorough eviction of the random encounter? Check. Straightforward but deep character configuration? Check. So when the game hit $20, I stored it away in my backlog, and waited until I'd have the free time to set up gambits of my own.

The other weekend I finally decided to jump in. And, well, I haven't played it again since. For all the sophistication of the game, and the thought put into the combat system, actually playing it hasn't lit my fire yet. It may look like there's a lot going on on-screen, but actually controlling a battle feels very Ron Popeil. I pick an enemy to attack, and wait for it to die. I almost fell asleep - not even kidding - on my way to a mission objective.

I'm only about two hours into the game, so there's plenty of time for it to warm up on me. So far, though, it's really failing to draw me in.

Progress: Garamsythe Waterway