Saturday, March 24, 2007

   Final Fantasy XII - Square-Enix - Playstation 2
Oohh maahhh gawwwd.

You are Vaan, a young orphan living in Rabanastre, trying to get your life back together when the empire killed your parents and your brother. He is joined by his best friend Penelo, along with the Sky Pirate Balthier and his attractive Viera friend Fran, the ex old empire soldier Basch, and Princess of the old empire Ashe. Each character has their own specific goal in mind but it all leads to one thing: overthrowing Emperor Gramis Solidor, and his two sons, Vayne and Larsa.

Kay well first off, this game steers off the beaten path for being the first non online FF to not have a turn based battle system. Lots of people were skeptical on it, saying as how it tears away from the "classic" feel. Let me reassure you, if this doesn't feel like a true FF game, then President Bush is my uncle. I assure you, he's not. FFXII's new battle system is so much more entertaining than the original its a wonder why they didn't make this earlier. They've now implemented a new system called the Gambit system, which allows you to create an AI for each character. Playing through a totally new dungeon? Keep the gambits off, and make decisive actions that could cost you your life. Running through an area with creatures you can kill in one hit? Throw the gambits on so you don't have to sift through the menu every time. The new active battling along side of the gambits make for an interesting prospect on FF gamers.

The Licensing system is another new feature added into FFXII. Basically what it means is when your character owns a weapon, he or she cannot use that particular weapon unless they have the license to do so. To earn LP, you just kill monsters. They are gained right along side EXP. The LP are also used to power up your characters with more gambit slots, additional HP, or added attack power. With the license system in place, no two people's characters will be the same, and you have nearly all the control to develop a character the way you want them. If you want to have a group of white mages be your party? Then by all means do it. The choice is yours.

The graphics are the third thing that stand out. They are truly phenominal. The CG's are absolutely breathtaking. Its hard to tell that I'm still playing a PS2 when they show those gorgeous scenes. And even during gameplay, its hard to tell the difference between a CG and the game itself. Don't get me wrong, the change is noticable, but its not out of control like in FFX or below.

With all the new features, its easy to see why FFXII would be a scary game to purchase. They say never to fix what's not broken, and believe me, before XII, Final Fantasy was far from broken. But you know what? Who takes a perfectly good car to a modification shop and says, "Please take everything off and put it back on again!" You gotta try something new every once in a while, and Square-Enix has done that, succeeding every step of the way. With a cast of highly lovable characters, beautifully created worlds, and a vivid storyline, you'll recognize the true Final Fantasy magic once you've experienced it first hand.

Rating:
9.9 / 10
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