"Corran450's Review Series Vol. 1 = Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings"

This is my first review, so bear with me.

In 2006, the world finally received the long-awaited next installment of the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XII. Its development was long and turbulent, with many delays and breakdowns of staff and developers. However, many gamers believed, after seeing the results, that the wait was well worth it, in spite of the much maligned gambit system.

After the hubbub calmed following the release, Square Enix quietly began development on a sequel chronicling the events following the game. Developed for the Nintendo DS, the new game evolved into a strategy title utilizing RPG elements and the mythos of Final Fantasy XII, called Revenant Wings. The result was an engrossing, if simple, tactical game.

Gameplay: 7
The gameplay is fairly simple. Using characters from FFXII as leaders, you summon waves of monsters, called espers, to wage battle on various playing fields, against a variety of enemies, using the stylus to control friendly units on the touch screen. Every character and esper has a basic nature determining their effectiveness against other enemies: melee, ranged, and flying. Melee fighters are highly effective against ranged fighters, ranged against flying, and flying against melee. Most espers are also possessed of an elemental strength, and weakness. The result is a battle system where your leaders' natures, as well as that of your espers, can determine the outcome of the battle, in your favor if you prepare correctly.

Word of warning: if you are new to the strategy genre, as I was, this game can be extremely difficult, especially in the later stages. I can see, however, where people experienced in this genre would find this game simplistic.

One complaint about the gameplay is that it can be difficult to control individual units on the battlefield. The sprites representing the characters are small and hard to discern on the DS's screen. Half the time, it's impossible to select a single unit out of a large group. It can make battles even harder by increasing your reaction times, simply because you can't select the proper units for the job. By the end of the game, you'll be pressing ‘X' to select ALL units and sending them against single enemies, at the risk of sending flying units versus ranged, and so forth. You will have to learn to overcome this weakness by the end of the game, or you'll get slaughtered in the final battles.

Story: 7
The story follows the adventures of Vaan and Penelo, who have since the last game become sky pirates over the skies of Ivalice. In the prologue, Vaan and Penelo, along with Balthier and Fran, invade the ruins of Glabados to claim a treasure hidden there. As they leave, the ruins rumble from an earthquake and Vaan's airship is destroyed. Vaan and Penelo barely escape with Balthier and Fran on the Strahl. This event leads to the discovery of a hidden sky continent called Lemures, and a hidden race of people called the Aegyl. Of course, the requisite world-threatening danger is also revealed....

Nothing in the story deviates too far from the norm, but there are some entertaining moments, and well as some very touching scenes involving Vaan and Penelo. Overall, not a bad romp, but nothing special.

Graphics: 6
The game's graphics are considerably more simplistic than it's console counterpart, but that's to be expected from a handheld system. All of the returning characters have been redesigned to fit the game's more simple graphical style. Unfortunately, this makes everyone look 5 years younger, but it does jive better with the in-game graphics.

Characters in battle, and cutscenes before and after battle, are represented with simple sprites, thus allowing the DS's more limited processor to display more units onscreen. There is still a little bit of slowdown during later battles when there are dozens of characters onscreen. Overall, the graphics are very simple, but colorful. I'd say they get the job done. Naturally, the CGI is lovely, but sparse. One thing I both liked and disliked was the fact that both screens could be displaying different aspects of scenes. It was cool, but I didn't like that I couldn't see all the action while I was focusing on one screen.

Sound: 8
Many tunes return from FFXII, in simpler form of course. But I enjoyed recognizing them and reminiscing about the first game. The new tunes are indifferent, but again, they get the job done. The overall soundtrack was enjoyable, and never became distracting or boring.

Sound effects consist of simple blips and clashes, nothing special. Of course, no voice acting, but I was actually glad to be rid of Fran's bizarre accent and monotone delivery. Overall, sound effects are indifferent.

Play Time/Replayability: 5
My play time clocked in at over 50 hours, but experienced strategy players could probably half that time easily. Replay value is middling. There's dozens of side missions separate from the main narrative, accessed via Tomaj's Mission Board. There's also a bonus dungeon at the end, filled with highly difficult enemies, and a vicious boss battle. You also have the option in engaging in melee battles in various locations to level up your characters. If you complete every mission and achieve 100% completion, the final boss battle becomes much more difficult, (enemies at level 99!!!) But you receive, for your efforts, a slightly extended ending, with and extra scene.

Final Score: 7
I recommend this game for those who are looking for a simple strategy game utilizing the characters you know and love from Final Fantasy XII. In spite of its flaws, I was drawn in to this game in a way I've never been drawn in by a strategy game before. I bought this game because I'm a Final Fantasy fanboy (they say the first step towards recovery is admitting you have a problem), but I lucked out: this game was a rewarding experience for me, although difficult, and mastering its strategy was very satisfying.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/08

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