Not counting long-running franchises like: Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Pokemon, Final Fantasy was the first to make it to a total of 12 installments. Bringing back the key elements of FF like chocobos and moogles, XII also introduces a brand new gaming experience.
Story
Our tale begins in the world of Ivalice in capial of Dalmasca, Rabanastre where the union between Princess Ashe, sole heir of Dalmasca and Prince Rasler of Nabradia is interrupted by the invading Arcadian Empire. Nabradia and Dalmasca are subjugated by Archadia and in the war, Prince Rasler's life is lost. King Raminas, king of Dalmasca, is forced to sign a treaty and who is also slated for assassination. Dalmasca's knights are are dispached on a recue attempt in the castle, when unexpectidly, Basch, one of the leading knights slays the king and one of the young soldiers, Reks, by his own hand. Not long after, the treason of Basch and the supposed suicide of Princess Ashe were declared.
Two years have past since those events and the Rabanastre governent appointed their new Consul, Vayne. Long since hating the government, Vaan, Reks' younger brother, infiltrates the castle, despit his friend Penelo's objection, during the dinner to celebrate the country's new consul to procure some valuable merchandise to sell to fund his dream of becoming a sky pirate with his own airship. During Vaan's intrusion, he meets Balthier, a sky pirate himself, and Fran, Balthier's Viera partner, who introduce him to magicite, the very item Vaan stole from the palace. No plan goes without a hitch because, during their escape, Resistance forces storm the palace and the trio is forced into the sewers...
I'll stop here so I don't reveal any of the key plot twists to anyone who hasn't already played the game. Like all role-playing games, the story is one of the key elements, however, the plot in XII is far from the most compelling in the series.
Gameplay/Combat
In almost all previous Final Fantasy Titles, you were given only two modes of play - the map in witch you move your protagonist and a battle screen where you engage in a stationary encounter with the foe. Final Fantasy XII introduces a new encounter system where enemies apperar on the same feild (screen) you control your characters and engage in almost all interaction with objects, giving you a choice of weather you want to engage the foe in combat or simply avoid them. The battle mechanic in XII is very similar to that of a MMORPG (massivly multiplayer online role-playing game). With this new system, not only have random encounters with enemies been eliminated, but has been replaced with the Active Dimention Battle (ADB). This new system allows you to freely move your characters during combat to dodge enemy attacks, gain a better vantage point, ect. howerver, you still access commands by using a standard battle menu.
Gambits: This new feature allows players to designate certain actions to any of his AI controlled party members will take in cerain situations. For instance, say you set Ashe with the gambit Ally 20% HP < Cure, if any one ally in the party has less than or equal to 20% of their total HP, Ashe will cease all other actions and focus on casting cure on said ally. Or, if you set her with Party Leader's target < Attack, she will only focus on attacking the same enemy your current leader is attacking. This new gambit system adds alot of depth and strategy to the gameplay.
Mist Attacks/Espers: Much like Limit Breakers in past FF titles, XII also has super powered attacks you can use under only one cucumstance called Mist Attacks. Only when one of your characters has full MP (Magic Points) you can activate a mist attack or Esper (more on them later.) After a Mist Attack is activated, your character's MP is reduced to zero at the price of dealing massive damage to the foes. Mists are located on the license board and are limited to only 3 per character, that's only 18 total. Another cool addition to these attacks is the ability to chain them together by activating multiple Mist Attacks with different characters at the same time. Sure, all three characters MP will be rediced to zero, but, if your good, you can link 10 or more of these tekniques together to critically wound even the toughest of foes.
Espers are the equivelant of Guardian Force (VIII) or Aeons (X) in the sence that you summon great beasts to aid you in combat. Much like the Guardian Force from 8, you will have to engage these powerful entitys in battle, and defeat them, before they will lend you their strenght. Hidden throughout Ivalice you will encounter many of these Espers through side mission, however, you will still obtain some during the course of the main story.
License Board: Much like Final Fantasy X, XII doesn't use your traditional leveling up system. Instead, it introduces the License Board - a screen where you use LP (license points) obtained in battle to access certain skills. This board is split in two halfs, the top half specializes in magicks, technick, accessory, and augment (stat-raising) while the other half deals with weapon and armor licenses. With this board, no accessories, weapons, magick or technicks can be used by any character unless he/she has previously perchased the correct license for the item. For example. You have just obtained the Flametounge (sword) and you wish to equipt it to Basch but ,for some reason, it will not register. You must then start following the series of sword icons on the board until you come across the space where you can use the Flametounge. You might think, "Yes, now I can use this powerful weapon." but before that is possible, you must first have the correct ammount of LP to buy the license for that sword on Basch's board, then the time comes where you can equip it to him. Every character has their own board so you can't expect to be able to equip a Bracer it to anyone if you only perchased a license for Vaan. Frankly, I think this is a little needless and time consuming, but it too adds depth to the game.
Graphics/Visuals
Simply put, XII looks outstanding. Everything form character models to the background textures look fantastic. It is extremely rare to find a game that looks this good in the CG cutscenes, and to quote Game Informer, "Even the cutscenes using the in-game engine look gorgeous." The visuals in XII outdoes that of any other PS2 game by leaps and bounds and is seconded only to Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 3.
Sound/Music/Voice Talant
The audio effects here are one of the games major points, however, unlike most othr Final Fantasy titles, the musical score tends to dissappoint. You'll notice that most of the soundtrack is easily forgettable and you probably won't find yourself humming the tunes the same way I did (and still do) with "One Winged Angel" (VII) and "To Zanarkand" (X). One of the major improvements over the most recent single player PS2 predecessor (X) is the quality of the voice acting. Before, I found the VA forced and cheesy at times, but now, you have a cast of excellent actors that do an incredible job at bringing these characters to life.
Bonus Disc
If you were able to score on of the limited edition Collector's Edition of Final Fantasy XII, you would have also received a second disc (DVD) with lots of extra content.
Developer Interviews: Directors, Art Design, Story & Translation, Music, and Battle System
The History of Final Fantasy: A breif description of the story, characters, and background of FF 1-13
Promotional Trailers: E3 2004, Destination Playstation 2005, E3 2005, Demo Trailer
Art Gallery: Illustations, Moogles, Espers, Concept Art, Airships, Characters, Races
With a deeper, political driven plot, extrodinary graphics, fresh new gameplay, and dozens of hours of gameplay, Final Fantasy XII, along with God of War II are worthy send-offs to one of the most bloved gaming consoles ever, the Playstation 2. This is a game no RPG fan should miss out on, however, waiting for it to become Greatest Hits is probably your best bet if you want to feel fully justified in your purchase.
Story
Our tale begins in the world of Ivalice in capial of Dalmasca, Rabanastre where the union between Princess Ashe, sole heir of Dalmasca and Prince Rasler of Nabradia is interrupted by the invading Arcadian Empire. Nabradia and Dalmasca are subjugated by Archadia and in the war, Prince Rasler's life is lost. King Raminas, king of Dalmasca, is forced to sign a treaty and who is also slated for assassination. Dalmasca's knights are are dispached on a recue attempt in the castle, when unexpectidly, Basch, one of the leading knights slays the king and one of the young soldiers, Reks, by his own hand. Not long after, the treason of Basch and the supposed suicide of Princess Ashe were declared.
Two years have past since those events and the Rabanastre governent appointed their new Consul, Vayne. Long since hating the government, Vaan, Reks' younger brother, infiltrates the castle, despit his friend Penelo's objection, during the dinner to celebrate the country's new consul to procure some valuable merchandise to sell to fund his dream of becoming a sky pirate with his own airship. During Vaan's intrusion, he meets Balthier, a sky pirate himself, and Fran, Balthier's Viera partner, who introduce him to magicite, the very item Vaan stole from the palace. No plan goes without a hitch because, during their escape, Resistance forces storm the palace and the trio is forced into the sewers...
I'll stop here so I don't reveal any of the key plot twists to anyone who hasn't already played the game. Like all role-playing games, the story is one of the key elements, however, the plot in XII is far from the most compelling in the series.
Gameplay/Combat
In almost all previous Final Fantasy Titles, you were given only two modes of play - the map in witch you move your protagonist and a battle screen where you engage in a stationary encounter with the foe. Final Fantasy XII introduces a new encounter system where enemies apperar on the same feild (screen) you control your characters and engage in almost all interaction with objects, giving you a choice of weather you want to engage the foe in combat or simply avoid them. The battle mechanic in XII is very similar to that of a MMORPG (massivly multiplayer online role-playing game). With this new system, not only have random encounters with enemies been eliminated, but has been replaced with the Active Dimention Battle (ADB). This new system allows you to freely move your characters during combat to dodge enemy attacks, gain a better vantage point, ect. howerver, you still access commands by using a standard battle menu.
Gambits: This new feature allows players to designate certain actions to any of his AI controlled party members will take in cerain situations. For instance, say you set Ashe with the gambit Ally 20% HP < Cure, if any one ally in the party has less than or equal to 20% of their total HP, Ashe will cease all other actions and focus on casting cure on said ally. Or, if you set her with Party Leader's target < Attack, she will only focus on attacking the same enemy your current leader is attacking. This new gambit system adds alot of depth and strategy to the gameplay.
Mist Attacks/Espers: Much like Limit Breakers in past FF titles, XII also has super powered attacks you can use under only one cucumstance called Mist Attacks. Only when one of your characters has full MP (Magic Points) you can activate a mist attack or Esper (more on them later.) After a Mist Attack is activated, your character's MP is reduced to zero at the price of dealing massive damage to the foes. Mists are located on the license board and are limited to only 3 per character, that's only 18 total. Another cool addition to these attacks is the ability to chain them together by activating multiple Mist Attacks with different characters at the same time. Sure, all three characters MP will be rediced to zero, but, if your good, you can link 10 or more of these tekniques together to critically wound even the toughest of foes.
Espers are the equivelant of Guardian Force (VIII) or Aeons (X) in the sence that you summon great beasts to aid you in combat. Much like the Guardian Force from 8, you will have to engage these powerful entitys in battle, and defeat them, before they will lend you their strenght. Hidden throughout Ivalice you will encounter many of these Espers through side mission, however, you will still obtain some during the course of the main story.
License Board: Much like Final Fantasy X, XII doesn't use your traditional leveling up system. Instead, it introduces the License Board - a screen where you use LP (license points) obtained in battle to access certain skills. This board is split in two halfs, the top half specializes in magicks, technick, accessory, and augment (stat-raising) while the other half deals with weapon and armor licenses. With this board, no accessories, weapons, magick or technicks can be used by any character unless he/she has previously perchased the correct license for the item. For example. You have just obtained the Flametounge (sword) and you wish to equipt it to Basch but ,for some reason, it will not register. You must then start following the series of sword icons on the board until you come across the space where you can use the Flametounge. You might think, "Yes, now I can use this powerful weapon." but before that is possible, you must first have the correct ammount of LP to buy the license for that sword on Basch's board, then the time comes where you can equip it to him. Every character has their own board so you can't expect to be able to equip a Bracer it to anyone if you only perchased a license for Vaan. Frankly, I think this is a little needless and time consuming, but it too adds depth to the game.
Graphics/Visuals
Simply put, XII looks outstanding. Everything form character models to the background textures look fantastic. It is extremely rare to find a game that looks this good in the CG cutscenes, and to quote Game Informer, "Even the cutscenes using the in-game engine look gorgeous." The visuals in XII outdoes that of any other PS2 game by leaps and bounds and is seconded only to Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 3.
Sound/Music/Voice Talant
The audio effects here are one of the games major points, however, unlike most othr Final Fantasy titles, the musical score tends to dissappoint. You'll notice that most of the soundtrack is easily forgettable and you probably won't find yourself humming the tunes the same way I did (and still do) with "One Winged Angel" (VII) and "To Zanarkand" (X). One of the major improvements over the most recent single player PS2 predecessor (X) is the quality of the voice acting. Before, I found the VA forced and cheesy at times, but now, you have a cast of excellent actors that do an incredible job at bringing these characters to life.
Bonus Disc
If you were able to score on of the limited edition Collector's Edition of Final Fantasy XII, you would have also received a second disc (DVD) with lots of extra content.
Developer Interviews: Directors, Art Design, Story & Translation, Music, and Battle System
The History of Final Fantasy: A breif description of the story, characters, and background of FF 1-13
Promotional Trailers: E3 2004, Destination Playstation 2005, E3 2005, Demo Trailer
Art Gallery: Illustations, Moogles, Espers, Concept Art, Airships, Characters, Races
With a deeper, political driven plot, extrodinary graphics, fresh new gameplay, and dozens of hours of gameplay, Final Fantasy XII, along with God of War II are worthy send-offs to one of the most bloved gaming consoles ever, the Playstation 2. This is a game no RPG fan should miss out on, however, waiting for it to become Greatest Hits is probably your best bet if you want to feel fully justified in your purchase.
