Final Fantasy XII

"Final Fantasy XII was well worth the wait"

Square Enix's latest Final Fantasy has truly been worth the wait.

Visual - I have to say that the amount of detail that the developers put into this game is amazing. From the movement of how Ashe's cloths move when she runs to the way the characters hair blows and moves as they cast a spell. As usual the FMV is up to Square Enix quality. The characters look great there but they also look great in the real time cutscenes. Its amazing to see how much detail the real-time cutscenes have, considering how long the PS2 has been around. Truly Impressive.

Audio - From the moment you hear the Crystal theme and Main Theme of Final Fantasy in the title, you get this sentimental feeling. I do admit though some of the music does not stick to me as much as previous installments. I can probably remember most of the music from previous installments and tell you where exactly they came during the game, but I sadly I cannot do that here. That is not to say the music isnt good, but I think it blends in more here than before. There are a few songs that I will always remember and like.

Gameplay - here is where FFXII I think gets bashed by people who either havent played the game, and just base it on the looks. First thing I always hear from people "it looks like FFXI!" Im not saying it doesnt look like FFXI because it does share a lot of aesthetic aspects (not a bad thing IMO)

FFXI gets a lot of hate from the community because its an MMORPG. One thing people have to realize that in an MMORPG, you generally have a backstory that sometimes plays a big part in the game or sometimes is just there (depending on the MMORPG) Then there is the whole Looking for Group process. With an MMORPG, a lot of times people get stuck into the grind of leveling or encountering less than spectacular people online.

Well guess what, this is NOT an MMORPG. You dont have to wait and look for a group, you can dive right in and play. There is a story and there are characters and they have wonderful development.

The battle system when you think about it isnt THAT different from previous games. You still have the Active Time Bar. If you want to issue commands to each person, you are free to do that as well. Square Enix has also added what is called the Gambit. Basically here you can setup commands that the CPU characters will do when. For instance you can tell the cpu character to heal any allies whos HP has dropped below 30%.

I the actual battles you have two settings you can use: Wait and Active.
The Wait option is a nice thing for people who want to take their time and not feel pressure when choosing their skills and spells in combat. When in Active mode, everything happens in real time, so you have to be quick about choosing your spells. I found active wonderful when just wandering around leveling or exploring, while wait mode can be used in tactical situations like boss fights. Its a small choice, but it does affect the game difficulty quite a bit.

Story - This was very interesting indeed. I have to say the story feels very mature compared to past installments. I dont want to spoil anything, but I will say that the characters, their personalities and their development is what makes and drives this games story. You feel you really get to know the characters and that helps you care about their struggles or causes. w/o that feeling, you are left wondering "why am I even playing this game?"Trust me when I say that the story will suck you in and the characters are very interesting and enjoyable.

Final Thoughts - What else can be said other than this is a great game. For people who are afraid of change or things that look different, I beg you to give it a try. You will not regret it and will be playing one of the best games of 2006 and in RPGs in general. I truly enjoyed this game. I can say that when you are very sad at the end of the game because it is over, it has left an impression on you. For me this game did that and I hope everyone will give it a chance. Dont judge a book by its cover and certainly do not pass on this!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/06