Daunting, a word that came to mind as I thought about writing this review. I could write pages about what makes this game so good, why it’s a cut above most any other RPG you’ve played (maybe even most any kind of game), but then I figured I’d try my best to keep it short so as not to delay you from getting to the nearest video game retailer to pick up your very own copy. I’ll get to the point, but I need to pay the game service where it deserves.
Story
If you’re a fan of the series then you know to expect an epic tale of an unlikely group of heroes trying to prevent certain disaster on a grand scale. The stage is set in the world of Ivalice. The neutral kingdome of Dalmasca is under invasion by the powerful Archadian Empire. One for peace, the King of Dalmasca agrees to sign a treaty of occupation in trade of the war’s end. Dalmasca’s King is assassinated and taken over by Archadian forces. Two years past, you are introduced to Vaan, an energetic youth of Dalmasca whose brother, a Dalmascan soldier, was murdered during the assassination on the King. Feeling spiteful, Vaan decides he will take down the empire one theft at a time. He decides to break in to the palace during a banquet event for the arrival of the city’s new rule. Coincidentally, he breaks in the same time as a Dalmascan resistance force attacks the palace and a couple of sky pirates trying looting the palace as well. You acquire something the sky pirates want, so they help you escape the palace. It gets more complicated from here on it, unraveling a roller coaster of ups and downs and surprise turns aplenty, but I’ll just let you play it to find out what happens.
What makes this Final Fantasy different is that there is no single character driving the story. It’s an ensemble of characters whose story’s interweave and create a tale of love, hatred, loss, fortune, treacherous betrayal, unlikely alliances, and more. It’s elegantly crafted to keep you constantly engaged as you explore the story and world before you. Before long the game will hook you and take you ever deeper, getting you more involved in this epic of stories. This is no standard storytelling fare; it’s a prime example of what story telling should be like.
<O:p</O:p
10
Gameplay
I’ll get right to it, the battle system is awesome. Yes, it’s different but not as much as you think. I’ve come to think of it as active time battle system 2.0. It’s just like the battle system in previous Final Fantasy games, save for the entirely turn-based Final Fantasy X, but it’s uninterrupted. Yes, the real major difference here is that you can see your enemies now. It was a much needed overhaul and it absolutely works. The new Gambit system lets you, in essence, have automatic reactions. One could set this up to automatically cast Haste, attack, cure any enemy induced ailments, and move on with you only moving in the direction. If you prefer to be more hands-on, and at times you have to be, you can take control quite easily by simply pressing X and choosing the actions yourself. One could turn the gambits off entirely, but I can’t imagine anyone wanting to do that.
So the battle system does everything for you, great. That is not to say the game is easy…it’s not. In fact, I would say this is among the most challenging RPGs I’ve played through. The enemies can be tough, and the bosses are even tougher. There were instances in the game when I had to level grind in order to defeat a boss, or other times when I simply wanted to go to a new area. Fortunately the new cruise control like battle system makes it easy to level up and move on, but you’ll spend a significant amount of time over the course of the game doing so.
To increase your character stats and abilities is the new license system. It’s similar to Final Fantasy X’s sphere grid in that you get to customize your characters as you see fit, but different in that you can go in any direction you want. Instead of following a path like the sphere grid, you start in a spot and build out as you acquire more licenses. You acquire license points as you defeat enemies. You will acquire thousands of license points over the duration of your journey, but it won’t likely be enough to fill up the whole board (unless you are in it for a long haul). This in turn makes you a bit more decisive on how you want to customize a certain character. However, seeing as how there is little strategy to defeating enemies, there is not an incentive to make anything other than heavy hitters.
There are some downsides. This Final Fantasy has an incredible amount of emphasis on physical strength and defense. You can hack your way through the entire game, relying little on offensive magick. Every enemy, every boss, same strategy- hit them as hard and often as you can while keeping your defense up. Sure, you’ll cast dispel on your enemies quite often, but there really isn’t much strategy to battles. You’ll need the latest weapons and armor to move through the next area, but you’re going to need to earn them. The game is very tight with money, the enemies hardly giving any at all, instead dropping loot to sell to the shops. Fortunately, you’ll accrue a significant amount of loot while you’re out necessarily level grinding. You’ll hardly ever have gil (Final Fantasy currency) to spare though.
EDIT: It was pointed out to me that I need to pay a bit more lip service to magick. I managed to hack my way through the game using a magick routine- dispel the boss's positive attributes, cast haste, protect, shell on your party, and go to work. It really felt like a rinse, wash, repeat ordeal. It works with every boss. However, it was brought to my attention that there were times when offensive magicks (those that inflict damage on the enemy) helped out even more. In other words, don't skimp on building out your magick. It can be useful to incorporate it in to your strategy. It depends on how you want to play.
Despite the nuisances, the game still works incredibly well. It’s a challenge, but one that gives a great sense of accomplishment. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty close. If you’re a skeptic of SquareEnix’s shift in game play, I dare you to spend just a few minutes with it.
9
Graphics
Gorgeous. It pushes the Playstation 2 to new boundaries. The game is awash in beautiful colors, complex but elegant architecture, varied and vast vistas, and inhabited with bustling populations. Every area in the game is distinguishable with special touches all its own. You will likely be astounded at the amount of detail, care, and high production values that very obviously went in to this game.
10
Audio
The voice acting is superb. The sound effects are surreal, especially on a surround sound system. The soundtrack is of a European flavor, different from previous Final Fantasy games, but it’s a welcome change and very accomplished.
10
Longevity
Ivalice is huge, and there’s enough to do to keep you busy for dozens of hours past the main quest. There are several areas that are completely optional, and most will put up quite the challenge just to explore. There are optional espers (XII’s summons) to obtain, most requiring small side quests simply to gain access, never mind they certainly pose a considerable challenge themselves. There are also marks to take on, special monster hunts posted by Ivalice inhabitants, usually with nice payoffs. Then there are the rare monster hunts which have you seeking out 80 or so monsters that show up in specific parts of Ivalice with given conditions (cloudy, rainy, sunny, time sensitive, etc). There’s a lot to do, and from reports I’ve read, it’s taken many people upwards of 150 hours to complete it all. A game that offers a big bang for your buck whether you’re in it for the main quest or in it for everything.
10
Final Fantasy XII is an epic of a game that reinvents the long running series. It sets new standards in RPG story telling. The battle system and enemy-on-screen overhaul makes for a much needed new feel. It gorgeous, and sounds wonderful, and will keep you entertained for as much as you can likely stand.
9/10
Grading system:
<5-Failure; 6-Okay; 7-Good; 8-Great; 9-Excellent; 10-Perfect
Story
If you’re a fan of the series then you know to expect an epic tale of an unlikely group of heroes trying to prevent certain disaster on a grand scale. The stage is set in the world of Ivalice. The neutral kingdome of Dalmasca is under invasion by the powerful Archadian Empire. One for peace, the King of Dalmasca agrees to sign a treaty of occupation in trade of the war’s end. Dalmasca’s King is assassinated and taken over by Archadian forces. Two years past, you are introduced to Vaan, an energetic youth of Dalmasca whose brother, a Dalmascan soldier, was murdered during the assassination on the King. Feeling spiteful, Vaan decides he will take down the empire one theft at a time. He decides to break in to the palace during a banquet event for the arrival of the city’s new rule. Coincidentally, he breaks in the same time as a Dalmascan resistance force attacks the palace and a couple of sky pirates trying looting the palace as well. You acquire something the sky pirates want, so they help you escape the palace. It gets more complicated from here on it, unraveling a roller coaster of ups and downs and surprise turns aplenty, but I’ll just let you play it to find out what happens.
What makes this Final Fantasy different is that there is no single character driving the story. It’s an ensemble of characters whose story’s interweave and create a tale of love, hatred, loss, fortune, treacherous betrayal, unlikely alliances, and more. It’s elegantly crafted to keep you constantly engaged as you explore the story and world before you. Before long the game will hook you and take you ever deeper, getting you more involved in this epic of stories. This is no standard storytelling fare; it’s a prime example of what story telling should be like.
<O:p</O:p
10
Gameplay
I’ll get right to it, the battle system is awesome. Yes, it’s different but not as much as you think. I’ve come to think of it as active time battle system 2.0. It’s just like the battle system in previous Final Fantasy games, save for the entirely turn-based Final Fantasy X, but it’s uninterrupted. Yes, the real major difference here is that you can see your enemies now. It was a much needed overhaul and it absolutely works. The new Gambit system lets you, in essence, have automatic reactions. One could set this up to automatically cast Haste, attack, cure any enemy induced ailments, and move on with you only moving in the direction. If you prefer to be more hands-on, and at times you have to be, you can take control quite easily by simply pressing X and choosing the actions yourself. One could turn the gambits off entirely, but I can’t imagine anyone wanting to do that.
So the battle system does everything for you, great. That is not to say the game is easy…it’s not. In fact, I would say this is among the most challenging RPGs I’ve played through. The enemies can be tough, and the bosses are even tougher. There were instances in the game when I had to level grind in order to defeat a boss, or other times when I simply wanted to go to a new area. Fortunately the new cruise control like battle system makes it easy to level up and move on, but you’ll spend a significant amount of time over the course of the game doing so.
To increase your character stats and abilities is the new license system. It’s similar to Final Fantasy X’s sphere grid in that you get to customize your characters as you see fit, but different in that you can go in any direction you want. Instead of following a path like the sphere grid, you start in a spot and build out as you acquire more licenses. You acquire license points as you defeat enemies. You will acquire thousands of license points over the duration of your journey, but it won’t likely be enough to fill up the whole board (unless you are in it for a long haul). This in turn makes you a bit more decisive on how you want to customize a certain character. However, seeing as how there is little strategy to defeating enemies, there is not an incentive to make anything other than heavy hitters.
There are some downsides. This Final Fantasy has an incredible amount of emphasis on physical strength and defense. You can hack your way through the entire game, relying little on offensive magick. Every enemy, every boss, same strategy- hit them as hard and often as you can while keeping your defense up. Sure, you’ll cast dispel on your enemies quite often, but there really isn’t much strategy to battles. You’ll need the latest weapons and armor to move through the next area, but you’re going to need to earn them. The game is very tight with money, the enemies hardly giving any at all, instead dropping loot to sell to the shops. Fortunately, you’ll accrue a significant amount of loot while you’re out necessarily level grinding. You’ll hardly ever have gil (Final Fantasy currency) to spare though.
EDIT: It was pointed out to me that I need to pay a bit more lip service to magick. I managed to hack my way through the game using a magick routine- dispel the boss's positive attributes, cast haste, protect, shell on your party, and go to work. It really felt like a rinse, wash, repeat ordeal. It works with every boss. However, it was brought to my attention that there were times when offensive magicks (those that inflict damage on the enemy) helped out even more. In other words, don't skimp on building out your magick. It can be useful to incorporate it in to your strategy. It depends on how you want to play.
Despite the nuisances, the game still works incredibly well. It’s a challenge, but one that gives a great sense of accomplishment. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty close. If you’re a skeptic of SquareEnix’s shift in game play, I dare you to spend just a few minutes with it.
9
Graphics
Gorgeous. It pushes the Playstation 2 to new boundaries. The game is awash in beautiful colors, complex but elegant architecture, varied and vast vistas, and inhabited with bustling populations. Every area in the game is distinguishable with special touches all its own. You will likely be astounded at the amount of detail, care, and high production values that very obviously went in to this game.
10
Audio
The voice acting is superb. The sound effects are surreal, especially on a surround sound system. The soundtrack is of a European flavor, different from previous Final Fantasy games, but it’s a welcome change and very accomplished.
10
Longevity
Ivalice is huge, and there’s enough to do to keep you busy for dozens of hours past the main quest. There are several areas that are completely optional, and most will put up quite the challenge just to explore. There are optional espers (XII’s summons) to obtain, most requiring small side quests simply to gain access, never mind they certainly pose a considerable challenge themselves. There are also marks to take on, special monster hunts posted by Ivalice inhabitants, usually with nice payoffs. Then there are the rare monster hunts which have you seeking out 80 or so monsters that show up in specific parts of Ivalice with given conditions (cloudy, rainy, sunny, time sensitive, etc). There’s a lot to do, and from reports I’ve read, it’s taken many people upwards of 150 hours to complete it all. A game that offers a big bang for your buck whether you’re in it for the main quest or in it for everything.
10
Final Fantasy XII is an epic of a game that reinvents the long running series. It sets new standards in RPG story telling. The battle system and enemy-on-screen overhaul makes for a much needed new feel. It gorgeous, and sounds wonderful, and will keep you entertained for as much as you can likely stand.
9/10
Grading system:
<5-Failure; 6-Okay; 7-Good; 8-Great; 9-Excellent; 10-Perfect
Jak 3 : Jet Set Radio Future : Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee : Final Fantasy XII : Shadow of the Colossus : more to come...
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