FFXII reviews are starting to pop up.

[Animalor]

Here's 1up's - http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3154731 (9.5/10)

[Ryuda_69]

I CANNOT wait to get my hands on a copy of this game on tuesday... i've been waiting like 4 years for this freaking game. I played a demo of the game two weeks ago at the Digital Life Expo at the jacob javits center here in newyork and i was very impressed. the new battle system is fun, although it does take some getting used to. it sorta plays like an mmorpg so it does add a new feel to the game.

[Winnow]

Fun game so far.

The quality of the animation is excellent but it's painfully obvious that this game is screaming for 720p and a next gen console. You can see that the quality is first rate but the jaggies of 480i or p hurts when you know how good it could look.

The review that said it takes six hours to get going is correct. The game moves you along slowly to begin with while showing you how to play. It doesn't have the panache of FFX IMO yet but the characters have a long ways to go developing still. The opening sequence is on an epic scale and then it transitions into a more personal level.

My only knock on the game is that the controller is stuck in reverse axis mode with no way to switch it to "pilot" mode where you'd operate the camera panning the same way you'd operate a flightstick to look around. I don't know who thought up the idea to move the control stick the opposite direction of the way you want to look but it drives me batty. It's going to take a long while to not be constantly fighting the movement controls. I wish they had included a way to switch that option like most games do.

I've only made it a little past getting a Sunstone so don't have the "gambits" option in my party menu yet. I'm looking forward to configuring those as they are how you setup your party members to handle attack/defend etc in battle if not directly controlled by yourself. I like the combat system in that it's live but pauses everytime you jump into the battle menu so you can let it flow or micromanage.

This game is too well made to be stuck in 480 res. Some of the city scenes would be eye popping in HD. Maybe the severe case of the jaggies will be improved upon when played in a PS3 console. Anti Aliasing would help tremendously.

Good stuff. Get it for sure if you liked FFX or the Final Fantasy style of game.

[Winnow]

Here's a great FAQ on License and Gambit building in FFXII.

There's not a whole lot of info on these things in the mini manual. This is a big help without ruining the game.

http://winnow.veeshanvault.org/files/no ... _build.txt

[Winnow]

More stuff that isn't really a spoiler but might be helpful. With Licenses wide open, you can do anything you want with your characters but supposedly using the following combinations helps slightly. The female characters seem to be able to handle Rods the best. Fancy that!

Vaan BEST EQUIPPED WITH: Light Armour, Heavy Armour; Daggers, Swords, Ninja Swords, Bows

Ashe BEST EQUIPPED WITH: Light Armour, Mage Armour; Swords, Katanas, Staffs, Rods

Balthier BEST EQUIPPED WITH: Light Armour, Heavy Armour; Knight Swords, Swords, Ninja Swords, Firearms, Bowguns, Bows

Fran BEST EQUIPPED WITH: Light Armour, Mage Armour; Swords, Katanas, Staffs, Rods

Basch BEST EQUIPPED WITH: Heavy Armour; Knight Swords, Swords, Axes/Hammers, Spears

Penelo BEST EQUIPPED WITH: Light Armour, Mage Armour; Katanas, Daggers, Staffs, Rods, Mace,

[Sionistic]

You cant do direct links to faqs

[Truant]

I'm about 6 hours in and loving it.

I was really worried about not liking the new battle system after they introduced that thing in x-2, but honestly I think it's fantastic.

I also like the seamlessness of battles, such that you don't have to load a new screen everytime you hit a random encounter. Makes it much more enjoyable and feel less tedious.

The movie sequences are absolutely beautiful, and I think the voice acting is a huge improvement over X.

Just thought i'd share.

[Winnow]

You cant do direct links to faqs

Eh? The link's not working for you?

[Boogahz]

The link goes to a page that says something about "you can link to the page, but not directly to the FAQ."

[Winnow]

The link goes to a page that says something about "you can link to the page, but not directly to the FAQ."

Ah, k fixed:

http://winnow.veeshanvault.org/files/no ... _build.txt

Here's a link to an image of the license grid:

http://winnow.veeshanvault.org/files/no ... e_grid.png

maybe a better layout of the grid:

http://winnow.veeshanvault.org/files/no ... _board.gif

[kyoukan]

what is it with squaresoft and fruity protaganists?

[Leonaerd]

Manly men don't exist in Japan.

[Dregor Thule]

What exactly about those combinations make them a bit better than using other combinations? I've figured out the differences in armor types (mage = +magik type stats, light = +speed, +hps, heavy = higher defensive stats but not +hps oddly) and the various weapon types are explained in the clan primer, but I don't see why certain characters would excel more with certain weapons beyond having characters with high speed using weapons that fall under the fast category.

On Battle Chains: haven't found any info on em, but from testing I've gotten them to level 3 times. I did a chain of around 107 before I got sick of killing dire rats. Seems around x10 it levels to silver loot medals, x25ish to gold, and x50ish to glowing gold. If there's any beyond that, I don't know, but would love to find out.

I have no idea how far I am through it.. I'm crossing through the sandseas to get to some tomb of kings or some such. I have the full party finally, and am really liking the gambit system. Some people may be anal enough to control each character themselves, but I can't even think of doing that. I've tried having the leader with gambit turned on as well, but that seems to be pushing the automation too far, even tho it may be more efficient on some things. It would be nice if you could have the leaders gambits turned on without an attack gambit, and when you told them to start attacking they'd keep going, but they just stop after the one command entry and wait for their gambit criteria to be met

Still missing a whole lot of the gambits tho, so maybe something will come along. Haven't encountered any espers yet, can't wait!

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

Any Martial Artists in this game using hands and feet?

[Winnow]

Dregor: I have no proof that those Armor/Weapon combos are helpful. Somone just posted that on an FFXII forum with nothing to back it up. I'm thinking even if it does make a difference, it's not much.

Kwon: Avoid this game. While Fran has a nice pooper and cute bunny ears, the general builds on the characters are slender. These characters just don't have the muscle mass to be Kwonplay Certified.

I made it through the "tutorial" part of the game last night and am able to use Gambits. As Truant mentioned, the voice acting is outstanding in comparison to other games. Enchanted Arms was unplayable without turning off the English voiceovers. I wish I could trade Enchanted Arm's resolution with FFXI's though. The Square Enix graphics team must be frustrated to see their great work reduced to 480.

Did I miss something earlier in the game? At the end of the water/sewer levels, you fight the fire-based horse mob. The only spell I had was fire based so that didn't help much. I basically healed and res'd my way through the battle. Was there a store that sells "spells" I missed earlier in the game? A cold based spell would have been helpful in that battle!

[Dregor Thule]

There is a magic shop in the main city, it's right around the corner from the technik shop I believe.

[Arborealus]

So somehow Tat (my nephew) just combined quickenings for 7K+ and killed the beeg Saurian........At level 10...he is good XP ...

the Clan for Idea for monster sidequests...

The voice acting and art is great by and large, but WTF is up with Vaan's abs lol...they look painted on...

F moogles with bunny ears...

Vaan is extremely light in the greaves... But at least (so far) he's not as emo as Titus was...there is a fine line between reluctant hero and whiney bitch...

[Winnow]

F moogles with bunny ears...

Vaan is extremely light in the greaves... But at least (so far) he's not as emo as Titus was...there is a fine line between reluctant hero and whiney bitch...

F Moogles w/buuny ears but I hardly notice Fran's (Race: Viera) bunny ears! Can anyone place her accent?

I like how in FFXII you can select the leader of your group and aren't stuck playing the emo character, even completely ignoring them if you wish when making up your three man teams. The pirate Balthier is pretty cool.

Oh Kwon, Penelo sort of knows martial arts:

Her philosophy is "As long as you never give up, things will get better down the road." Penelo loves to sing and dance. She learned martial arts from her older brother, who used to be a knight. Her dancing style is similar to martial arts.

[Animalor]

Much for my rental service.

We have just packaged the following game from your queue to you. Your game will ship during the next postal pick up. Shipping times are generally between
2 to 4 business days depending on your location.

Final Fantasy XII

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our customer service department.

http://www.gameaccess.ca/displayContactUs.jsp

[Dregor Thule]

Fran's description also states that she's comfortable using her hands, but I haven't seen any reason to not use a weapon! And I think her accent isn't some natural one.

[Arborealus]

Actually it sounds like the voice actress is wearing an oral appliance to emulate her tooth structure.

By the way chaining quickenings does just stupid amounts of damage...

[masteen]

I was really worried about not liking the new battle system after they introduced that thing in x-2, but honestly I think it's fantastic.

Any specific improvements from x-2 to xii that you can point out that make it better? I've been fond of the turn-based combat since the first ones came out, and the real time system was the reason that I never finished x-2.

[Niffoni]

Got it today and am about 2 hours in. It's good enough story not to lose me, but I'm already getting that "get on with it" feel I have whenever I play FFVII and start getting sick of Midgar.

- Voice acting is a cut above any other video game. any. ever. It's a whole new level.

- Liscence system is cool, but it scares me into wondering if I'm going to do something horrible I'll regret later. Still waiting for other party members.

- Why... does every man... in Square games... have to be so... pretty? It used to be a cute style. Now it's getting annoying.


So far it hasn't sucked me in, but I'm still interested. Got high hopes the story comes down to earth with something i can identify with soon.

[Winnow]

I was happy to get out of the timed electricity sucking spider dungeon last night. License Points were coming slowly up until reaching the Desert...killing those wolves in the desert racks up the LP quickly in comparison.

I'm not paying attention to "what's best" for each character as I don't think it matters. Somehow Fran ended up my healer/magic user but she's set to use the Bow if everyone's healthy. Vaan is going to stick with daggers.

I've got five level Gambits setup for most characters. Stealing would be a pain in the ass w/out using a Gambit for it.

How's Black magic later in the game? MP seems in short supply early in the game during the more difficult battles so I'm wondering if it's worth advancing in the offensive spell areas as so far, MP is all taken up with healing.

[Truant]

I was really worried about not liking the new battle system after they introduced that thing in x-2, but honestly I think it's fantastic.

Any specific improvements from x-2 to xii that you can point out that make it better? I've been fond of the turn-based combat since the first ones came out, and the real time system was the reason that I never finished x-2.

For one, when the menus are open, time stops. That alone was a big improvement as you weren't getting your ass handed to you while you tried to find some status curing item.

Two, the gambit system really is fanfuckingtastic. But, it's only as good as you make it. I really put some thought into mine and now run with gambits turned on during all battles for all characters (including the party leader). If I need to intervene, I can, and my inputs take precedents over programmed actions.

Highlights of the gambit system include. AI automatically stopping one action to begin another if the conditions of that action are met and it is of higher priority than the first.
(For example: You have a gambit in the top priority slot set to heal an ally if their HP falls below 30%, and a gambit in the second priority slot to attack the leader's target. This character will attack the leader's target, but at any point if a character falls below 30% health will immediately begin casting cure, even if it was midway through an attack.
Even sexier is that if you have multiple gambits for the same thing on multiple characters, they don't all spam the same cure spell on the same character at the same time. They actually coordinate what they're doing based on what another character is already doing. For example, similar gambits above, but on two characters, and two different characters fall below 30%...they will each automatically heal one instead of both healing the one that fell below 30% first. It's fantastic!)

And, like i said...you can manually input commands OVER gambits, which is useful during boss fights and whatnot.

It also uses the party swap feature found in FFX, however, there are conditions as to when in a battle you can swap a character. At early guess, it seems to be when that character is NOT the target of an enemies' actions. (or when dead, which is useful during boss fights, just swap out the dead guy for a fresh one with full MP)

You can also change the inputted (or programmed action) at any point during the execution of that action (as long as it's before it finishes). So if you accidentally select to cast blizzard on and ice elemental instead of a fire elemental, you can change it instead of being stuck with it. This is very useful in very hairy battles where quick healing may be needed suddenly.

so to answer your question. It's still real time, but to me, itfeels more turn based than the last effort. (and that statement doesn't really make sense, but i think you know what i mean)

[Dregor Thule]

You can swap a party member out as long as their name isn't red. The name goes red by being the target of an action from friend, foe, or self.

The gambit system is nice, but man I want some of the more useful ones already! Haven't found many of the status effect ones for allies. Also, considering stealing is a major part of the games economy and how you make about half your cash, I wish it was a little more smart about recognizing if a monsters inventory has already been cleaned out. As it is, I have it on foe >= 70% health but I still have a lot of instances where the thief is just spamming steal on an off-target instead of helping with the fray. It's not hard to go in and turn it off for a fight, but it is annoying. Otherwise the system is pretty good.

I'm still not comfortable with putting the leader on automatic tho...

[Dregor Thule]

Some more specifics on the weapon types:

One-Handed Weapons


# 1H Swords - Damage affected by attack rating and enemy's defense. All 1H Swords except for Stoneblade add 5 to evasion

# Daggers - Faster but weaker than 1H Swords. Basically you sacrifice attack power for faster attacking. Damage is determined by character's strength and speed against the enemy's defense.

# Axes and Hammers - High attack ratings but somewhat random damage. They are capable of big damage but may hit for almost nothing as well. Axes are slightly faster than Hammers, and add 6 to evasion. Hammers add 2 to evasion.

# Maces - Damage determined by the weapon's attack power, the magick power of the wielder, and the enemy's defense. All Maces add 4 to evasion. Good weapons for nukes and healers.

# Measures - Damage is based solely on weapon's attack power, completely ignoring the enemy's defense. The also add positive status effects such as protect, shell, haste etc. The attack power of measures is generally quite low, making it feasible to attack your own party members imbuing them with beneficial status effects at a minimal damage cost.

Two-Handed Weapons


# Greatswords - Damage calculated based on character's strength, attack rating, and enemy's defense. Also adds evasion bonus.

# Katanas - Katanas combo more readily than most other weapons, at a sacrifice of attack power. Damage calculated by character's strength and magick power against enemy's defense. All Katanas add 5 to evasion.

# Ninja Swords - Even more likely to combo than Katanas. Damage calculated by character's strength and speed, the weapon's attack rating, and the enemy's defense. All Ninja Swords add 20 to evasion and are imbued with the Dark element.

# Spears - Spears have the highest attack ratings in the game. Damage calculated by character's strength, weapon's attack rating, and enemy defense.

# Poles - Poles also combo frequently, Damage based on character's strength, weapon's attack rating, and enemy magick defense. All Poles add 25 to evasion.

# Rods - Rods increase the magick power and maximum MP of the character wielding it. Damage is based on character's strength, weapon's attack rating, and enemy's defense. All Rods add 6 to evasion.

# Staves - Staves enhance certain magick spells cast by the wielder. (Flame Staff enhances fire, Glacial Staff enhances ice, etc.)When used in melee combat damage is calculated based on character's strength and magick power, weapon's attack rating, and enemy defense. All Staves add 8 to evasion.

Ranged Weapons


# Bows - Ranged weapon. Damage based on character's strength and speed, Bow's and Arrow's attack rating, and enemy defense. Bows do not grant an evasion bonus.

# Crossbows - Crossbow attacks cannot be parried or countered. Damage is calculated based on character's strength, attack power of Crossbow and Bolt, and enemy defense. All Crossbows add 5 to evasion

# Guns - Guns are slow to fire, but are 100% accurate and cannot be blocked, parried or countered. Damage is based solely on the attack power of the Gun and Ammunition, enemy defense is ignored. All guns add 10 to evasion.

# Hand-Bombs - Hand-Bombs are the ranged equivalent of Axes and Hammers. They can hit for big damage, very little damage, or anywhere in between. Damage is based on character's strength and vitality, weapon's attack rating, and enemy defense. Hand-Bombs do not give an evasion bonus.

I haven't played with bombs, rods, poles, bowguns, ninja swords, sliderules or maces yet. It's tough deciding what to focus on for characters, both weapon and armor wise.

[Winnow]

The gambit system is nice, but man I want some of the more useful ones already! Haven't found many of the status effect ones for allies. Also, considering stealing is a major part of the games economy and how you make about half your cash, I wish it was a little more smart about recognizing if a monsters inventory has already been cleaned out. As it is, I have it on foe >= 70% health but I still have a lot of instances where the thief is just spamming steal on an off-target instead of helping with the fray. It's not hard to go in and turn it off for a fight, but it is annoying. Otherwise the system is pretty good.

I'm still not comfortable with putting the leader on automatic tho...

After you leave the Electricity Sucking Spider area (Barheim Passage), before returning to Rabanastre, you can explore the desert zones of Dalmasca. If you head southish after killing the boss electricity mob and zone...then head North East in the next zone, you end up in the Nalbina Fortress. There is a gambit vendor there that sells many (or all) of the useful ones. I found every Gambit I wanted there for my current setups. There is also an armor, weapon and spell vendor but they didnt have much new stuff ..picked up a silver bow for Fran. It's a good spot for Gambit buying though and they only run 50 Gil each so you can grab them all. I suppose you can get right back to Nalbina Fortress from Rabanastre so you can still grab those Gambits.

I quit last night after the T-Rex ate my group on my way back to Rabanastre so I'm still out in the desert.

[Leonaerd]

Winnow has invested so much of an interest in this game that I'm worried I won't like it.

[Drinsic Darkwood]

Would anyone happen to know if there is any point later in the game (most likely the end, whatever/wherever that may be) that we'll be required to use all of our playable characters?

I ask because I hate looking at Vaan's hideousness to the extent that I just stopped using him in combat while crossing the Yensa Sandsea - I have Basch as my melee/tank, Balthier doing ranged damage, and Ashe as my "caster" - and at this point he's about 5 levels behind them.

I enjoy just using my setup without Vaan ugly-ing up my screen with the exception of cutscenes and city visits, but I don't want to fuck myself in the end with Vaan, Penelo, and Fran being lvl 20 or something. I know FF6 and FF8 (Kefka's Tower / Ultimecia's Castle) had areas like that... in FF7 you could just ignore the other teams on Sephiroth. I haven't played FF9, or gone all the way through X yet so I don't know about those two.

Just wondering if anyone would happen to know something about that.

[Winnow]

Would anyone happen to know if there is any point later in the game (most likely the end, whatever/wherever that may be) that we'll be required to use all of our playable characters?

Well, the guy that wrote the Gambit FAQ seems to go through most of the game, after the characters are available, with Penelo, Ashe and Fran so I'm guessing it's not necessary.

Being able to swap out players in battles might be a reason to have your backup characters be in decent shape.

His successful setup was:

Penelo (Gun - Healer/Support) (~10 Gambits)
Ashe (Katana - Steal/Tank) (~10 Gambits)
Fran (Bow - Healer/Fighter) (~7 Gambits)

Here's a couple uTube videos of Gameplay for those interested (first one is a boss fight so ***spoiler alert***)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZkE1jB_1Rg&NR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERuEVyny_Mc&NR

Japanese commercial for FFXII. Good stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn3c7CEuhEo

[Winnow]

Was anyone tough enough to kill the named Lizards in the Lhusu mines? "Bagammon" (spelling)

I got my ass kicked. I tried again and had to flee through like three zones to escape. My group is only avg level 10. I think I may need to level up some.

[Arborealus]

Was anyone tough enough to kill the named Lizards in the Lhusu mines? "Bagammon" (spelling)

I got my ass kicked. I tried again and had to flee through like three zones to escape. My group is only avg level 10. I think I may need to level up some.

Yeah we instagibbed them by chaining together quickenings...no loot, no exp...they just poof to a place back deeper in the mines that you can't get to yet...

[Winnow]

Was anyone tough enough to kill the named Lizards in the Lhusu mines? "Bagammon" (spelling)

I got my ass kicked. I tried again and had to flee through like three zones to escape. My group is only avg level 10. I think I may need to level up some.

Yeah we instagibbed them by chaining together quickenings...no loot, no exp...they just poof to a place back deeper in the mines that you can't get to yet...

Yeah, I don't have a single quickening yet. I'm close to several on the license board. Guess I need to get those before taking on more Bosses and "Hunt" mobs.

[Arborealus]

Was anyone tough enough to kill the named Lizards in the Lhusu mines? "Bagammon" (spelling)

I got my ass kicked. I tried again and had to flee through like three zones to escape. My group is only avg level 10. I think I may need to level up some.

Yeah we instagibbed them by chaining together quickenings...no loot, no exp...they just poof to a place back deeper in the mines that you can't get to yet...

Yeah, I don't have a single quickening yet. I'm close to several on the license board. Guess I need to get those before taking on more Bosses and "Hunt" mobs.

Well they aren't "necessary" for any Mark I have found yet but it would have been a long while before I would have done some of them...

You can chain them together using r2 to shuffle and the square, triangle etc to select the next to cast...if you get enough in a row there is an additional AE end effect so at level 10 we were doing 15kish...

Getting the mist skills also boosts the hell out of your MP...

[Arborealus]

Oh by the way Frann's accent sounds very like English inflected by Icelandic...

[Truant]

You aren't really supposed to kill Bagamnon, there's no reward for it if you are able to...you're actually just supposed to run away.

To the person that asked about leveling all characters or not. My guide puts emphasis on leveling everyone evenly to 40, and then after that...focus on 3 primary characters.

[Arborealus]

You aren't really supposed to kill Bagamnon, there's no reward for it if you are able to...you're actually just supposed to run away.

To the person that asked about leveling all characters or not. My guide puts emphasis on leveling everyone evenly to 40, and then after that...focus on 3 primary characters.

Yeah, I know...it is just the principle of the thing! We were running away and just thought....hrmmmm I wonder how many HP they actually have......It's like killing the Robot in 7 or 9....just a principle thing...

Level V Marks by the way can be tricksy bastiges...And any of the Elites can put up a tussle...

[Drinsic Darkwood]

To the person that asked about leveling all characters or not. My guide puts emphasis on leveling everyone evenly to 40, and then after that...focus on 3 primary characters.

Does it give a specific reason why? Is there a reason other than to simply have extra characters to switch in should things go bad or to do multiple quickening chains back to back?

At this point Balthier Ashe and Basch are all around 38ish and the rest are still stuck at 20. I sincerely hope I'm not going to have to level their asses back up =(

[Winnow]

This is probably too late for most of you playing FFXII, but I found an excellent place to level up and get some LP.

In the Dreadnought Leviathan, you can get great Exp/LP right after you rescue Ashe from the Brig.

Basically, you have to backtrack to get out of the level to the Port Launch. Right inside the brig there is a Save Crystal and a Merchant.

On your way out, the alarm has been tripped so there's a ton of mobs (guards that have potions and Gil on them). All you need to do is go through the same room in which you had the boss fight right before the brig and then sone out into the corridor. Set up shop right there as you'll get a steady stream of Imperial Guard coming at you. You've also got a guest in your party named Vossler who helps a bunch killing the mobs.

After chaining around 70 of them, it slows down for some reason so that's a good time to go back to the crystal and save your progress and sell the bazillion heal portions you get off the guards to the merchant. All you need to do is zone out and back into the corridor to reset the mobs. I leveled my main three characters all from 11 to 17 and picked up ~80 phoenix down potions and ~10,000 Gill. Be sure to keep selling your healing potions as you can only hold 99 at a time. I picked up quite a few of those "Motes" which are spells anyone can cast...sort of like scrolls I suppose.

I worked my three characters down to the 500 HP License, got them all at least one Quickening/Mist) and decided that was enough. Gambits are so great! They picked up ~1,000 hps each, Ashe a little more as she actually got the 500HP License while Vaan and Fran are right next to that license on the board but need a bunch more LP to grab it and I didn't want to wait.

Here's my setup atm, (exiting Dreadnought ship)

Ashe (leader) (heavy armor)

Uses the Zwill Sword. I picked up all the Reduce Action Time, HP+, and Attack Increases I could find on my way down to the 500hp. She'll eventually move to Katanas when available. She's a fast attacker and her magic stats are good as well so should own with the katanas.

Vaan (theif/fighter) (light armor for more HPs)

I found it easier to have your thief be a secondary player as I have him set to steal if the Mobs have full hps. Anything less than full hps and he ends up repeatedly trying to steal more than once on a mob which is a waste. He's using one of the daggers/shield right now but I have him slated for Katanas as well. I also have Vaan setup to heal with potions after the battles to ease the healing burden on Fran.

Fran (healer/range) (light armor, maybe mage later for more MP)

Fran sits back and uses a bow for big damage until healing is needed. I have it set fairly high, maybe 50% HPs and she kicks into healer mode.

I plan on making team two, Penelo, Basch and Balthier sort of backups to the main group. Penelo will be healer/mage, Basch tank, and Balthier kind of a catch all.

Anyways, if you haven't gotten to the Dreadnought Ship yet, keep that particular spot in mind. The only thing that might drive you crazy is the alarm going off constantly while you level.

This game would be perfect if it was in HD. It's unplayable on the Dell 24" but doesn't look too bad on the Home Theater projector as that has better up conversion, just blurry compared to if it were actually in HD. FFXIII will be the reason I grab a PS3.

Edit:

One thing to note. I originally backtracked through the Dreadnought to the Port where you meet up with Penelo and go on to fight the Judge. I wasn't leveled enough imo so went to my previous save and figured out the nice XP spot. The interesting things is that Penelo, when I originally ran back to the port was level 11 (same as my average group level, and had ~500 LP). When I went back there this time after leveling up my characters to 17, Penelo was also level 17 and had 1,200 LP. Nice. I thought she was going to be too far behind but even while not in the group at all, she leveled up as I did and received LP. On the other hand, Balthier and Basch, while in my group, received LP but remained level 8 and level 11 respectively.

[Truant]

yeah, reserve party members still get full LP from kills, but get zero xp.

Drinsic, it doesn't list a specific encounter. Just says that if your main group falls (boss fight or such), you're fucked because your backup characters are level 20 or whatever. So I guess it's entirely up to you.

[Drinsic Darkwood]

Heh, Winnow, I remember when I was going through the ship thinking, 'Why dodge the alarms? More LP and money this way.' I don't think I milked it quite that much though.

Also, if you're worried about LP, get Golden Amulets as soon they're available. I bought three for my main party and by level 35 their passive abilities and spell boards were about 95% maxed.

I ended up receiving a 4th amulet at some point (not sure what, a mark maybe) not too long ago and put it on Vaan just to see it rise. He's got nearly 2500 LP unspent at the moment.

In any case, thanks for clearing that up Truant.

[Arborealus]

Yeah it is definitely good to be able to pull the reserves in on some of the tougher marks even if it is just to have enough HP to run away ...

[Winnow]

Is there any point in the game after the Dreadnought where some of the characters temporarily leave the group? From the Penelo situation, it appears that non grouped playable characters level up as well as LP up along with the active group.

Also, at what point in the game are the Golden Amulets available? It'd be nice to get the 2X's LP bonus.

[Drinsic Darkwood]

Is there any point in the game after the Dreadnought where some of the characters temporarily leave the group? From the Penelo situation, it appears that non grouped playable characters level up as well as LP up along with the active group.

Also, at what point in the game are the Golden Amulets available? It'd be nice to get the 2X's LP bonus.

In my experience, non-active characters only gain LP as Truant said. Penelo joined my party at level 17 and is still level 17, with nearly 3k LP unspent.

As for when Golden Amulets started appearing in shops... I can't say. I'm not sure if it was after Raithwall's Tomb or maybe even Mt. Bur-Omisace. It's not that far into the game, and they only cost 4500 or so, which is cheap considering how awesome they are.

[Truant]

Is there any point in the game after the Dreadnought where some of the characters temporarily leave the group? From the Penelo situation, it appears that non grouped playable characters level up as well as LP up along with the active group.

Also, at what point in the game are the Golden Amulets available? It'd be nice to get the 2X's LP bonus.

I'm 99% positive that's the last time anyone leaves the party. So no.

Golden Amulets are available in Rabanastre after Raithwell Tomb.

[Winnow]

Here's the best License grid I've found so far. Lists the weapons, armor, accessories and spells associated with each license which is nice.

http://home.comcast.net/~jhunwung/LicenseGrid.png

[Truant]

Looks like it has everything but the espers.

[Dregor Thule]

Basically it's not far fetched to get pretty much every license on the board, even without using Golden Amulets, but they definitely speed the process up. Unless you're just zipping through the game as fast as possible along the main storyline and not doing any side quests or hunts or anything that is. I figure I'm almost halfway through the game (2 of the 5 mandatory espers you get from the story, that's what I'm using to gauge my point) and I've got a good chunk of the license board filled out, about 50% I'd say per character. And that's without using the Amulets, which I've now been using on all but my thieves (Thief Cuffs... I need the cash badly, and these allow me to steal 2 items at once instead of just one).

My characters are around level 30 and I'm finding it a good time to do more exploring outside of the storyline. Working on a few mini quests from Rabanastre, doing hunts (done about 14 or so), and just killing everything I can see.

Only complaint I have is the quickening system. I don't like it. I fall back on it like a crutch and I feel cheap when I use it to kill a mob. I killed the Trickster with them and I would have had no possible way to off him without them at the level I was at (27ish). Problem is, I don't know how much of the game has been designed with the idea you'd be doing these obscene chains of quickenings. I preferred the old style of limit breaks they used in previous ones (7's were still the best system I think).

[Sionistic]

A great way to get money (and a decent amount of exp and lp) is to goto the lhusu mines. Hopefully by now you will done the thextera hunt. After you finish the hunt, go back to the rabanastre bazaar and the guy who posted the hunt will make a grimoire available on the bazaar. Pretty expensive (16k i think) but it is worth it. It will make beasts and birds drop items MUCH more often. View the bulletin board 20x times to make another 20k grimoire available as well (constructs and more importantly undead).

When you first visit bhujera(sp?) lamont will join your party. Go straight to the lhusu mines. Only fight the undead in the first area. Skip all the mobs in the second area (the first span) and the third area. In the fourth area (second span) kill all the undead, a ton spawn here. A good amount of undead spawn in the next area as well. However when you see the place starts to look like a mine, stop there and turn around. Go all the way back to the begining. Taking care to keep your chain going.

The key is to get a massive dead chain going. Have someone set just to steal all the time. You get tons of bone fragments (sell for 193g each, I sold a stack of 99 for 19k)
dark gems (only 44g but its something) and armor as well (pieces selling for about 700g). If you have the second grimoire they will just drop the items more frequently and also drop pebbles (sell for very little but when a bunch are sold they make an item available on the bazaar that cant be acquired otherwise.

With the massive chain going on you will get plenty of small heals, protects, shells, and mps. Great amount of lp as well. (Do most of your characters gravitate towards the bottom left of the top grid as well?) I must have gotton 100k gil just doing a few runs of this place. It was great because I was really starved for money at this point.