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After a long wait, Final Fantasy XII is finally here, after such a long wait. Everything about it shines. From it's deep storyline, to its fantastic and complex gameplay. All worries aside, Final Fantasy XII is a keeper.
The Archadian Empire has taken over the Kingdom of Dalmasca. The King has been assissnated and the princess is presumed dead. The people of Dalmasca are displeased with the Empire, especially a young boy named Vaan who believes it is up to him to take Dalmasca back. Luckily, he's not alone. There's an entire resistence group out there that are willing to help him out. The storyline of Final Fantasy XII is different from all the Final Fantasy games. For one, it relies far more heavily on its political drama and philosophical intrigue. What you get from Final Fantasy XII isn't a huge epic story in scope, but rather a drama that unfolds. It's a different way to tell the story for Final Fantasy, but here it actually works. It's still got some good twists and it is somewhat deep, but don't expect something along the lines of previous installments such as Final Fantasy X or VII. It doesn't have the most memorable ensemble cast either, but you do, for the most part, like the characters.
What many fans are most concerned about when it comes to this new installment is the battle system itself. It strays away from the series roots. It is no longer the ATB style battles we've been used to since Final Fantasy IV. Instead it's Active Dimension battle. All enemies in any given area of a dungeon are present at all times and will charge you upon seeing you.
You can free roam through any area, and so can your enemies. As your characters approach an enemy they pull out their weapons and you can begin to issue attacks. You can only play as one character at a time, but you can still issue orders to other characters if you want. Since all enemies are present on the map at one time, running away can be a hassle. Enemies will give chase, and some enemies will even join in the battle.
The combat has a couple of downsides. For one, getting money is downright painful and repetitive. Your enemies don't drop money, and when they do it's not a lot. Instead you'll be forced to sell the items they drop. This wouldn't be a problem if stuff wasn't so expensive, and if the items dropped by enemies didn't sell for so little. Also, dungeon maps are huge. It's easy to get lost and overshoot your objective sometimes, even with the ingame map provided.
This wouldn't be Final Fantasy without some complexity to the battle system, though. First, there is the game's complex AI system called "Gambits." Gambits allow you t customize what your characters do in battle. You can set your characters up to attack, or you can get more complex and have them heal anyone whose HP falls below a certain percentile. Once you get used to the Gambit system, however, it's really easy to take advantage of. To the point where Final Fantasy XII becomes a cakewalk. Even worse, if you set them up too well, you'll find that the only thing you ever have to do is move around the left analog stick. It is entirely possible to track through Final Fantasy XII never having to open up the menu.
Then there's the license point system. As you battle through the game you'll earn license points which can be spent on the license board. This helps to determine what spells, abilities and even weapon and armor characters can use. Yes, that's right, weapons and armor. You cannot use a certain weapon unless you have a "license" to do so. There's nothing too complex about this and it suffers from its own little issue, the fact that in the end every character is the same.
Let's be honest on one more thing... for some Final Fantasy XII just might not be a lot of fun to play. The aspect of no random battles is nice, but take advantage of the gambit system, and Final Fantasy XII becomes a game that, for the most part, feels one-dimensional. The complexity is nice, but gambits can make the player feel like he's doing little to participate. What it amounts to is basically you moving around the left analog stick while your characters automatically carry out their own actions in battle. There are times when Final Fantasy XII can feel monotonous as a result. That's not to say you won't have fun, it's only to say that battling won't keep you as engaged for long. Especially when every character can so easily learn everything. The dungeons being so big doesn't help this. They've made big so that you will battle. And while the battle system isn't really bad in anyway, it can definitely be annoying to find that Square-Enix made a dungeon huge for the sake of padding out the length.
Graphic-wise, Final Fantasy XII is fantastic. The towns are detailed, and so are your characters. The fact that each town has so many unique looking characters on screen at once is an impressive feat. The game also sounds lovely. Even better is the games artistic design. Towns are breathtaking. The game also sounds good. The voice acting isn't the best in the world, but it does manage to be good in many areas.
Perhaps Final Fantasy XII suffers most in the story department. It's a good story, but the game doesn't spend a lot of time focusing on it. It gets off to a great start, but at some point the game just becomes so devoid of it that it's easy to lose interest in what may have been one of the series more interesting stories. Around the mid point of the game, the story takes a backseat, with developments coming further between. It's refusal to focus too much on its characters doesn't help this. It picks up again in the end and makes for a good story overall, but there's so much to Final Fantasy XII that just doesn't focus on it. What makes the story good is how well written and how cinematic each of the cutscenes becomes. When you get one of these in depth moments into the story it's really engaging and really good. The problem is just that for so long this doesn't happen much. The world of Ivalice is definitely beating with a pulse, though. Running through towns and seeing the vast populations really brings things to life. It's just a shame Final Fantasy XII couldn't have a more lively story.
The Good
+Fantastic Graphics
+Good storyline
+The new battle system is complex
+Tons of side quests and secrets to keep you busy for hours
+Beautiful soundtrack
+Well done voices
The Bad
-Dungeons are huge and save points are few and far between
-The battle system is too easy to take advantage of
-The license board will eventually make every character the same
-While the story is good overall, there certainly isn't too much focus on it
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So, here's my take on Final Fantasy's latest. Is it the greatest? Read on and find out!
BATTLE SYSTEM: Everything is in real-time, which any veteran FF gamer knows is not the way it used to be. Although it takes a while to get accustomed to this change I found the real-time battles a breath of fresh air--something this series is definitely going to need if we're ever to hope of seeing Final Fantasy 24 or so. It is so nice when the only transition screens you have are those that occur when going to menus, new locations or cut-scenes. Also, the ability to run for your life all the way across the map is really nice, especially in addition with the sounds of thousands of angry hooves and feet stamping after you!
TRANSPORTATION: I don't know about you, but I LOVE flying airships on a world map! Sadly, in Final Fantasy 12 this is not possible. Very ironic, because this is the powerful Playstation 2 and the game itself sports alot of airships. There are Chocobos, but that is the only type of transportation you actually steer on your own. You can take teleport crystals to warp you almost anywhere and later your airship can "fly" you places.
STORYLINE: I would disagree with anyone that says that this game has no storyline. But I would agree that there is so much leveling up/looting to be done between locations that when you reach your final destination you might forget your initial motive for going there. As a whole, FF12's storyline is not as prominent as other storylines, like FF6 and FF7. And of course part of what makes a good storyline are good . . .
CHARACTERS: Since anyone can learn any weapon or magic, the only thing that makes them unique are their looks. Fran looks like she escaped from the Playboy mansion, Vaan looks like a younger brother to Ashley Riot from Vagrant Story and Balthier is something of a mix between Setzer and Locke, which is cool. Reddas is an interesting Auron-like person, but he appears too little, too late in the game. Ah yes, and if only Elza in Balfonheim Port were a playable character.
ANTAGONISTS: Part of the reason I did not get drawn in by the storyline (what little there is of it) is because the antagonists were not very convincing. You won't find anyone as evil as Kefka or Sephiroth. For a good portion of the game I knew that the Empire was evil (obviously) but had no idea who exactly was the "Boss" and even more importantly, WHY? And it doesn't help either that the Empire's black-clad knights like Gabranth sound like Dark Helmet from Spaceballs. Or at least a very pathetic Darth Vader.
MUSIC: I own several Final Fantasy game soundtracks and of course I think that Uematsu is brilliant in his work. But I also own the FF Tactics soundtrack and I was surprised how good it was. One of the two composers for the Tactics soundtrack did the music for this game. Unfortunately, by himself, he's not that good. Granted, there were no songs that felt out of place, but at the same time, there were no stellar tracks that captured the EMOTION OF THE MOMENT or had the genius of the work of Uematsu's earlier soundtracks. Considering that you will spend alot of time collecting loot/leveling up in different locations, expect to hear the same track over and over again. Also, the ending boss theme, sadly, is nothing spectacular. I'd even say it's forgettable.
SUMMONS, SPELLS AND SIDEQUESTS: For perhaps the first time ever I found myself hardly ever using summons and magic. The summons are nice to look at, but die too easily and deal too little damage and sadly offensive magic is the same way (although Flare comes in handy at the end). Even sadder, to get alot of these spells and summons you have to go on sidequests that are voluntary, but end up feeling mandatory--or you could do the alternative and loot the land for 3 hours and search a whole world for the one shop that sells the magic/weapon/armor you need.
GRAPHICS: To me, the least important, but they're definitely good. Although only the first and last few FMV scenes are worth watching twice and unlike FF10, you can't buy them.
SOMETHING FUNNY: When Vaan is running around saying "I'm Captain Basch fon Rosenburg" I thought it would be funny if he also randomly said, "I'm Rick James, b-tch!"
OVERALL: If you're a casual RPG gamer, this is clearly a solid RPG that is very well thought through in terms of game mechanics. And let's not forget, you can easily log in 80+ hours before beating the game, which is definitely getting your money's worth.
If you're a veteran Final Fantasy gamer, one who's played since it's NES days (or at least its SNES days), then you'll see what a weak story and soundtrack this game has, which to me is below par for a Final Fantasy title.
Best Deals for Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy is sometimes thought of as a kiddy game with chocobos and moogles. Final Fantasy XII proves that this series can present an awesome storyline and graphics that all ages will adore.
Don't worry if you haven't played all of the other Final Fantasy games. You don't need to. There are subtle carry-overs, but this game is meant to stand alone. You are a young orphan in a city recovering after a war. The cruel Empire has taken over your home town, and you enjoy causing trouble for the soldiers.
Soon, of course, you're swept up in an epic rebellion. The storyline here is just *amazing*. Not just the plot itself, but the voice acting, the dialogue, the graphics, they are top notch. This is really like being a part of an extremely well done drama movie. They delve into issues of honor, loyalty, love, betrayal, and more. I'm an adult gamer, and I was staying up many long nights because I wanted to see where the story was going. Some of the subtle interactions between characters in cut scenes are just amazing. The small nods, the looks in their eyes, you are hard pressed to remember that they are animated in a computer game.
Gameplay itself revolves around a party of characters going on quests, fighting in battles and moving through the large world. Each character gains experience and skills as they go. You buy them new weapons and armor, train them in spells, and aim them in their career growth however you wish. There is a dual system in play here. First, you need to physically own the weapon or item you wish to use say an iron sword. But then you need to KNOW how to use it too! You can't just hand an iron sword to a 10 year old piano player and expect her to know how to use it. That skill is called a "license". You have an online license chart that lets you manage what each character knows. Licenses relate to each other. If your character learns the basics of sword work, now they can learn a more advanced version. It is very intuitive and adds a fun element to the game. It's not just one straight line that you choose and are stuck with. It's an all-directions layout where you can try new skills or expand out as you learn the system better.
I really like combat in this Final Fantasy as well. Instead of random battles where enemies appear out of nowhere to assault you, all enemies are "on the map" with you. If you're running along a path in the desert and see something really scary in the distance, you run away from it! You don't have to worry about enemies springing up out of nowhere to slam you into the ground.
The enemies in general are challenging but not impossible. There are spots where you really have to think about the enemy and what its weakness is to defeat it. You can't just brute force bash away at everything and hope to succeed.
Still, as great as the gameplay is, and as gorgeous as the visuals and music and voice acting are, I really have to come back to the plot and characters as standing out here. There's been a lot of talk in the gaming world about a game that finally goes from "little pixels on the screen" that you move from X to Y to the point of *caring* about these characters, about what they are going through, and feeling emotional about their highs and lows. I really think Final Fantasy XII has hit that level. Yes, there are one or two twerpy characters that can be annoying. Even Star Wars had Luke whining about the Takashi Station at the beginning, to set his "basis for growth". In general, though, every single character here seems real, seems complex, and you don't want to put the game down.
Highly, highly recommended.
Honest reviews on Final Fantasy XII
I bought the game the night of the release. I took it straight home and played it that very night like many of us did. Within the first 2 hours of playing I was hooked. Yes, like all new games, getting used to a new world, battle system, monsters, leveling systems and how to aquire items is always a challenge. But I think the developers saw the possibility of people becoming frustrated and they put items throughout the game to assist in leveling up, finding the way around, buying items, getting from pt. a to pt. b, ect... It is a huge, vast and enormous game, endless choices! It is marvelous!
I love the concept of having to take back your pillaged items and selling them. To me that makes it seem more real to life. If I were to go out and kill a few birds, beasts, catch a few fish ect... I would not expect ever to find a shiny brass farthing on them. However I would expect to have to take what I could and sell it. That would be how I would make my living. The same concept exists here.
I find the game to be beautiful, brilliant and hypnotic. I enjoy listening to all the characters voices, I enjoy the story line and I feel pulled into the world.
I am now about 55 hours into the game and my opinion at 2.4 hours hasn't changed. If anything it has only deepened the conviction that I have that Squaresoft knew what it was doing and that they did a splendid job.
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Last night I finished FFXII. It is my favorite FF game and the best video game I've ever played. I logged 120 hours and loved it.
My favorite Final Fantasy games that I have played are now, in order: XII, X, VI, VII, and X-2. I plan to play VIII and IX next.
What I loved about FF XII:
beautiful graphics
lots of challenging fights
huge world to explore and freedom to travel around
scenes including dark dungeons full of undead, icy mountains, foggy marshes, rolling praries, mystic forests, and more
combat system (with gambits optional) that I grew to love
memorable characters
license system for abilities is flexible and lets you choose who is a fighter, mage, etc.
no random monster encounters you can see them approaching and use location and range to your advantage
the game stayed challenging pretty much the whole way
the NPC interaction and side quests are interesting and can be helpful, but are mostly optional
What I didn't like about FF XII:
if I could redesign it, I would change the end fight it was good, but could have been better.
The best thing about FF XII is that I loved it all the way through the game, all 120 hours I played. I enjoyed all of the areas, all the boss fights, and monsters, weapons, magic, were all fun. In previous FF games, I have always liked developing character abilities and powers, and this game seemed to be the best yet that I have played at keeping the balance between toughness of monsters and power of characters good to keep fights challenging. I got wiped out a few times and had to restart from save points, and there were a bunch of close encounters where I just barely got out, but that to me is challenging and fun.
Also, I liked the visuals. I could tell by looking at the weapons my characters were carrying around exactly which sword, spear, etc., they had because the detail is that precise. You can tell a Defender sword from a Save The Queen just by looking at them. Little details make it visually impactful. Fran and Balthier are great looking characters the tall elf woman in leather and the swashbuckling leading man, very memorable. Penelo was the fun, peppy one. Vaan and Ashe reminded me of Tidus and Yuna from FF X. Basch was the tough guy. I thought the voicing was for the most part excellent, especially Balthier and Fran.
My favorite locations were the creepier dungeons with the eerie music and undead monsters. When you are wading through zombies nearly getting your butt kicked, but manage to pull through and reach the goal, that is fun. There was also a windswept snowy area with swirling magic illusions that I will never forget.
The battle system, with no random encounters, enemies you see coming on a corner map, and gambit options, is my favorite of all the FF games.
The license system is my second favorite, after the sphere grid in X. The ending was also my second favorite, after the ending in X. However, I liked XII better overall because I loved the combat system, the consistent challenges, the phenominal look and graphics, and the puzzles were more intuitive to me.
I will definitely play FF XII again some time in the future. It is my new favorite.
