9 Video Games That Didn't Know How To End

2. Final Fantasy 12

Onto something that didn't come up short through any conscious effort that didn't land, but a game that barely survived development at all.

First beginning production back in 2001 as a followup to Final Fantasy X (11 was always more of an online experiment), director Yasumi Matsuno reportedly had a ton of problems adjusting to the scale of production and level of expectation associated with a numbered Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy 12 was also going to debut another all-new battle system - one that was more "hands off" and MMO in nature, with you setting combat "states" or animations to play out ahead of time, then micro-managing how battles played out as an overseer.

This divides fans to this day, but ultimately, everything combined to see Matsuno leave the project, as release windows and implementation goals were missed.

By the time 12 hit release in 2006, Final Fantasy 13 was then announced only months later, having been in development for years at that point. The overlap wasn't healthy for development on what now felt like a case of "Just get it out the door", and 12's final act almost fell apart completely.

With no lead creative vision and Square Enix breathing down their necks, FF 12 pivots very suddenly into a short dungeon, quick deaths, a wannabe "epic" battle against The Undying, and an all-round feeling of running out of time.