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FF12 Demo Review
The demo begins with a two to three minute long trailer that happens to be the trailer that was played at the SE conference not too long ago. They had a few new scenes but sadly it is not is English. More details will come soon.
The demo that is added to the Dragon Quest 8 game has two different trial modes. There is ‘Wait Mode’ and ‘Active Mode’. Both of them have three different characters, two different areas and two different bosses.
I chose the ‘Wait Mode’ first since it is the first option. In this selection you have in your party Vaan, Penelo and Basch. You seem to be on a tropical island. A screen pops up telling you that you have to defeat four of a certain monster then you have to go defeat the boss.
If the group it seems that Vaan and Bash are both the combat fighters but they have magic which could be useful for long range attacks. Penelo is the healer of the group but she also is an archer which will help for long range attacks. All the characters seem to be fit for both long and short range.
Now this is where the name ‘Wait Mode’ comes in. When you engage in battle and you click (X) and the command screen will pop up on the left button of the screen. See when the command screen pops up for you to attack everything around you freezes. The enemy and your party members can’t attack. This mode could be useful for the beginner who aren’t used to the battle system yet.
Now onto the Command Screen. When you select the Command Screen you can switch from character to character with the arrow key which comes in handy if one character has a certain move you want to use on an enemy. There are five different commands which you can choose from. Obviously the first one is the ‘Attack’ command, second is the ‘Magic’ command, third is ‘Summon’ command, fourth is ‘Gambit’ command and the last is ‘Items’ command.
Everyone has those five commands but it depends if they are developed or not. For example Penelo compared to Vaan. Her White Magic is more developed than Vaan White Magic. Some characters magic isn’t as developed as others which will become quite difficult in battle.
On the beach itself there are a few monsters roaming around and minding their own business until I come into range and then they try to come and kick my butt. Of course I won’t allow that so they died within a few hits.
Here are the basic faqs of the mode itself to the very last detail possible.
Wait Mode: for the thinking characters (The Phon Coast)
Stage Objective: Defeat the Rockeaster
Calling the Rockeater: Defeat three sleiphirs
Hints: Sleiphnirs hate mandragoros! Make your approach when they’re distracted fighting each other.
Vaan
Attack: Sword attacks
Magic: »White Magic – Cure, Blindna
»Black Magic – Fire, fira, thunder, thundara, water, aero
»Green Magic – Protect, shell
Summons: Rank 1 Espers – Hashmal
Gambits: On
Items: All normal items
Basch
Attack: Sword attacks
Magic: »Black Mage – Water, aero, fira, thundara, blizzara
»Time Mage – Slow, immobilize
Summons: Rank 1 Espers – Hashmal
Gambits: On
Items: All normal items
Penelo
Attack: Bow and arrow
Magic: »White Mage – Cure, cura, life, blindna, stona, silena, poisona, holy
» Time Mage – Slow, immobilize
Summons: Rank 1 Espers – Hashmal
Gambits: On
Items: All normal items
Monsters – Piranha, mondragora, seeq, sleiphir, rockeater
Of course second would be the ‘Active Mode’ which is a little harder then the other one. In this mode you are Ashe, Fran and Balthier in your party and you seem to be in a dungeon. You have to find a key to proceed to the boss.
This battle system is a little more difficult since instead of everything freezing when you select the command menu it just keeps going. So your enemy can attack you while you are going to select an attack or source of magic. This is a great command for the fast learners of the battle system and it could also test your speed and brain power.
When you are in the dungeon you have to follow the monsters which will lead you towards three mini bosses where you can obtain the ‘Dragon Key’ which will allow you to proceed to the boss. This level also shows two different monsters and you can also see the different chests they use in the game.
Here are the basic faqs of the mode itself to the very last detail possible.
Active Mode: for the thrill seekers (The Stilshrine of Miriam)
Stage Objective: Defeat the Ring Myrm
Finding the Ring Wyrm: An adamantoise holds the Dragon Key. Win it and pass beyond the ancient gates!
Hint: The adamantoise can be found lurking in the dead-end corridor
Ashe
Attack: Sword attacks
Magic: »White Magic – Cure, blindna
» Black Mage – Fire, thunder, blizzard, water, flare, aero, fira, thundara, blizzara
» Green Magic – Protect, shell
Summons: Rank 1 Espers – Hashmal
Gambits: On
Items: All normal items
Fran
Attack: Spear of some sort
Magic: »White Magic – Cure, cura, life, blindna, stona, silena, poisona
» Time Magic – Slow, immobilize
Summons: Rank 1 Espers – Hashmal
Gambits: On
Items: All normal items
Baltheir
Attack: Sword attacks
Magic: »Black Magic – Water, aero, fira, thundara, blizzara, flare
» Time Magic – Slow, immobilize
Summons: Rank 1 Espers – Hashmal
Gambits: On
Items: All normal items
Monsters – Headless, Bomb, Ring Wym
Over all, the demo was pretty awesome. This was only a few minutes of the game and only a few things that SE showed us. I am very excited for the game and it will for sure but an excellent game. Hopefully this review has broadened your horizon on the game and hopefully you will play it when it comes out.
Here are some scans from the booklet. It's not all the pages but the ones that were important.
   
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