Final Fantasy XII Weekend Review

As many of you know, last week heralded the release of the newest line of console RPG crack, namely Final Fantasy XII. It's a highly evolved take on the series, combining some of the great old concepts with very new ideas Square has been pushing.

Here's my highlights:
1. Character Design - Throughout the recent years of Final Fantasy development we've seem some truly sad main characters. In an RPG I'd rather not feel that my main character was based off an angsty teen seen at the mall *cough* Tidus *cough* Squall. But the characters in XII are a jaunt to the goodly side of the spectrum.

The main character is a street urchin named Vaan. He's your standard orphan who dreams of being a legendary sky pirate. Yes, the game has sky pirates. Ignoring the fact that he's rocking a bare mid-drift and in turn reminds me of a trashy girl you'd meet drunk at a bar, he actually fits into the story quite well, and from what I've seen thus far hasn't mentioned or acted like he's the depths of all sorrows.

Branching from Vaan you have one of his best friends Panelo, the run of the mill girl next door with sisterly love for the main character (see: Lucca - Chrono Trigger). She seems like she will shape up to be an effective mage while still dabbling in thiefy skills, she's cute, and wearing what looks like a rubber body glove, which gets my seal of approval.

Then you have Balthier, a British aristocratic sky pirate with a flair for white button up shirts and vests. I'm happy to see another seemingly affluent person with a ship making a strong presence in the FF series (see: Setzer). This guy saunters around wearing cuff links and bucks evil in the chest with his shotgun, he gets my vote.

Traveling with the aspiring thespian is Fran, a Viera (see: bunny girl), with an elvish grin and a dominatrix suit of leather straps (see: Lulu). Outside of being dressed for combat Heavy Metal style, Fran has a nose for sensing the Mist, a sort of magical flow in the world, which comes in handy more than once.

Rounding out the list of playable women is Amalia, err... Ashe, err... Amalia. You first run into this lass while making a trek in the sewers, and boy oh boy does she have a Daphne complex (see: Scooby Doo) though I suppose every game needs a damsel in distress. Ignoring that though she can kick some hiney. And unlike Rinoa (whom her clothing mildly resembles) she uses a real weapon (see: sword) when you first meet her, not some Xena inspired metal hoola-hoops.

And finally there is Captain Basch. Every RPG ends up with one grizzled scarred veteran (Thunder God Cid, Auron, Cyan, Frog...) and this is where he comes in. Unlike some terse and uninspired vets *cough* Auron *cough* Basch actually has a personality and it's interesting to see how his story unfolds. Plus, any person who gets referred to as "Kingslayer" is a welcomed addition to my party.











2. Sky Pirates - These exist and that just makes me happy. Thumbs up!

3. Revamped Progression System - With every new Final Fantasy game released, Square goes buck wild and creates a new skill system. In 6 is was espers, 7 had materia, 8 had JP, etc... well XII is no different and delivers an interesting twist. Now everything in the game is done through license points. Each enemy killed allots the players 1-2 (on average) LP to buy everything from Magic and Skills to the ability to equip that shiny new Mage Masher dagger you found. All magic and skills must be purchased once, and then every character who has bought the license to use them can do so. Equipment must be purchased for each character that wants the gear as well as the license to wear/wield it. The license systems sets up a fairly involved board similar to a periodic table of elements that the players purchase across, unlocking adjacent squares when a new one is bought. This free form set up allows you to make each character precisely what you want. Like Balthier but want him to be a mage? Buy him Black Magics 1 and 2, some mage armor licenses and the ability to use staves, done.

4. Real-Time-ish Combat - They finally pitched the standard turn-based combat for an engine that resembles FFXI's. Monsters are seen in the world, they are no longer floating in the invisible ether waiting to hop out and engage the heroes on an alternate plane. Walk past and wolf and he will attack you. This allows for players to pick and choose their combats better, and adds the worry of aggro and adds to combat which normally wasn't ever a consideration. It's a nice change actually, and this is coming from a classic gamer who prefers the old way of things most of the time.

5. Visually stunning - The game looks beautiful, as you would expect from Square-Enix in a last-gen PS2 game. The game supports 16:9 display and looks slick.

Downfalls:
1. Game can be a bit jarring for fans of the FF series who skipped FFXI's online world.

2. Camera can be obnoxious on a fairly regular basis. It can be tricky to see in front of the player when the geography contains hills and rocks. You end up having to become a camera jockey to really get the whole run down of what's going on around you.

3. The game is engrossing and can eat up a good portion of your day before you know it, plan accordingly, set alarm clocks to remind you to eat, bathe and go to work.

So overall I think this is a game that can be enjoyed by both newbies to the series and veterans alike. If you're a fan of console RPG's you would be doing yourself a disservice by missing out on this title.

\\drew