"Final Fantasy XII: Revenanat Wings is a near perfect balance of RPG, strategy, and style."

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is a game that blends the world of Final Fantasy XII with Real Time Strategy and finds its home on Nintendo's DS. The game continues the story of Final Fantasy XII in another of Square's new Final Fantasy sequels, a trend that began with Final Fantasy X-2. For those of that were put off by that game, don't be. This game is completely different in terms of presentation and style. It brings what you love from Final Fantasy XII and offers a new adventure to be thoroughly enjoyed on Nintendo's handheld. If you liked Final Fantasy XII for the Playstation 2, you'll feel right at home here.

Vaan, Panelo, Balthier, Fran, and Ashe are all back in a new adventure that takes place one year after the conclusion of Final Fantasy XII. Vann is a full fledged Sky Pirate and Panelo is still trying to keep him out of trouble. The adventure takes place mostly on the floating continent of Lemures, above Ivalice. Filo, Kyte, and Tomaj accompany Vann as he acquires a new mysterious ship and a stone that allows him to summon monsters or "Espers" in order to help him in his battles. The Espers will be very familiar to those of you that have played previous Final Fantasy games. The Chocobo, Ifrit, Shiva, Bomb, and Carbuncle all make their return in this game as Espers that fight against or along side you. It's not necessary to have played Final Fantasy XII in order to get the idea of what is going on in the story, but it certainly helps. This game is a direct sequel and you will find yourself enjoying the game much more if you are already familiar with the main characters and the world of Ivalice. For those that might have thought that Final Fantasy XII's story was too political or were bothered that a true central hero wasn't the focus of that game, worry not. The story has less of a serious tone and Vann is the main character here. The game focuses solely on his adventures as a new Sky Pirate.

The actual game plays a lot like an RTS except the stylus is used instead of a mouse. Missions are played out through chapters along with various side missions that can be played in order to gain experience and more treasure. In combat, Espers are selected at the beginning of a battle and more can be summoned through Summoning Gates placed in the battle area. The Summoning Gates can be used by enemies as well to summon Espers to fight against your party. If a Summoning Gate is controlled by an enemy, you must conquer it in order to summon your own Espers from it and to keep the enemy from replenishing their numbers. Your Espers are assigned to group leaders and can be controlled individually or under their selected leader as a group.

Battles are quite fun and well done here too. The fights take on a basic "rock, paper, scissors" style that works very nicely. You command your characters to attack your enemies by dragging the stylus over your party member(s) and then tapping on the enemy character(s) that you choose to battle it out with. It's not all by chance though. There are different types of fighters that are used and the wrong combination can make the difference between victory and defeat. You have three types of fighters to choose from; melee fighters, ranged fighters, and flying fighters. Each type has their strengths and weaknesses and it's important to match up your strengths with the enemy's weaknesses or you'll lose. You get to choose from a set of Espers before each fight. You can also check out the enemy stats and Espers before the fight commences. This is where your strategy comes in to play and it's an important aspect to winning battles. Early fights are pretty easy but the game gains momentum and later battles can be quite a challenge. FFXII: RW is laid out in a good way for new-comers to get their feet wet and not be overwhelmed with the very different playing style than that of the previous Final Fantasy games. One interesting aspect from the original Final Fantasy XII that makes a welcomed return is a simplified version of the Gambit System. You can select a Gambit (a specific command) for your group leaders to use automatically during an enemy encounter. This makes battles easier so your group doesn't just use the default attack when fighting. Having to worry about five leaders and their groups of Espers can get rather daunting during hectic battles, so the Gambit system helps out a lot without making things too easy. The game's only real weakness is that the characters on screen can become cluttered and hard to keep track of. The game compensates for this by allowing the player to select group leaders to command and the leader's assigned Esper follows. With the Gambit System in place on screen clutter isn't so much of a problem and the game becomes very manageable. Plus, the Gambit System just makes this game feel that much more like Final Fantasy XII.

Unlike many RTS games out there this is a very simplified formula. Gone are the tasks of constantly building forts, headquarters, and taking over an enemy building. Such tedious tasks would become too cumbersome if included in this game. On that note, gone too are some of the traditional RPG aspects you might have come to expect from Final Fantasy as well. Keeping track of MP (Magic Points) and HP (Hit Points) are no longer an issue with the "rock, paper, scissors" format. Each character has an energy bar and once it's depleted they are knocked out. Some battles have something called a Soul Crystal that is similar to a Summoning Gate. Once one of your group leaders is knocked out, if you have a Soul Crystal, your leader will re-spawn from there and be able to continue the battle. The enemy has Soul Crystals as well so you have to destroy it to keep them from re-spawning all while protecting your own. The enemy will try to destroy your Soul Crystal as well. If they are successful then battles will become much more difficult and one-sided. It's hectic and challenging but it's a lot of fun too.

What FFXII: RW does is puts the focus on the characters themselves and the story. While not as serious or convoluted as that of its big brother, the series of events are just as engaging and emotionally charged. Make no mistake about it; this is not your little brother's Final Fantasy game. The light-hearted nature of the game doesn't make this game any less of a challenge. There is plenty of micro-managing present here but it's more along the lines of what you might be familiar with if you have played Final Fantasy Tactics over your standard RTS. Collecting items and treasures are a big part of this game as is making new weapons with bones and metals and other items you come across in battle.

Nintendo's handheld has shown it has a lot more graphical prowess than most give it credit for. Never has that been truer than with this game. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings features the most amazing cinematics yet on the DS. Square Enix shows it truly is the master of cut scenes with some beautiful renderings and top quality work. The graphical style is a little more on the cartoon side than that of Final Fantasy XII. The characters look more like something out of Final Fantasy IX than the realistic approach of the original game. In-game graphics are very colorful and pleasant to the eye as well. The characters are all 2D sprites against an isometric 3D backdrop. Each character's avatar reflects the style of the cut scenes during dialogue but the graphical style is something more familiar to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. It's a great blend of warm and friendly presentation that gives the game a feeling that's very welcoming. The game keeps the player in the world of Ivalice even more with the inclusion of most of the music from Final Fantasy XII. Altered slightly in that same light-hearted feel, you'll find yourself humming along with the tunes as you play through the game. Sadly, the great voice acting is not present in this game but that's understandable due to the limitations of the DS.

All in all this is a fantastic game that is very well done on the DS. Real Time Strategy games have come to the DS before but Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings really hits the nail on the head here. The folks at Square Enix seem to realize that the DS is not a PC and have taken certain liberties with the RTS gaming style to adjust to the different format. In combining the familiar style of Final Fantasy with Real Time Strategy we are presented with a fun game and an engaging story that will keep you glued to your DS for hours. Fans of War Craft and Final Fantasy looking for a great game on the go need look no further than here. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is a near perfect balance of RPG, strategy, and style.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/13/07

Game Release: Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (US, 11/20/07)