Friday, September 3, 2004

FF. all out
The name "Final Fantasy" conjures up different images for different people. For some, it might call to mind the Dark Knight Cecil, rebelling against the corrupt kingdom of Baron. For others, a quartet of pixelated adventurers chasing after the rat's tail and hanging out in Corneria. Yet others will remember the blowing of the Mako Reactor in Midgar, or a grand Blitzball tournament in Zanarkand. Really, the Final Fantasy series is very much defined by just how different each subsequent entry is from the last.

It wasn't always planned that way. In fact, back in 1987 Square didn't have much of a plan at all past releasing Final Fantasy and hoping that it sold. But sell it did, riding on the winds of the RPG phenomenon started by Enix's Dragon Quest a year before. Square was saved, a sequel was begun, and Final Fantasy failed to live up to its name. This fantasy was just beginning.

After three chapters on the Famicom (NES), the series made the leap to 16-bit with the Super Famicom's Final Fantasy IV (SNES's Final Fantasy II). More than just a technical upgrade, FFIV changed the rules of RPG storytelling. Tiny sprites were imbued with rich characterizations and complex motivations -- complex, at least, compared to what had come before. The plot roiled with twists, surprises and betrayals, all scored to the most dramatic and beautiful video game music ever heard. FFIV was like an epic opera playing out on a SNES, and it would serve as the model for most future console RPGs.

Two more 16-bit sequels followed to refine that formula, and then the series was reinvented again on the PlayStation. The long-awaited Final Fantasy VII combined pre-rendered CGI with 3D polygons for an amazing increase in production values. Pre-rendered backgrounds segued smoothly into CGI movies, enveloping players in a dark world of technology gone awry. In the States, Sony put a huge marketing budget behind the launch of FFVII, and many people bought it for the pretty graphics, without even really understanding the concept of an "RPG." They soon did, though, and would soon form the backbone of a greatly expanded North American fanbase.

Things just got glitzier from there. FFVIII featured yet more realistic CGI, while FFIX employed the technology in a strange attempt to return to the series' original, super-deformed look. With another trilogy completed, Final Fantasy's creators looked to the future once more. The future they saw was on the PlayStation 2.

terms of cinematic presentation, Final Fantasy X took its cue from the PlayStation games, only its backgrounds were rendered in real-time. As with the sprites of years ago, extensive story scenes were acted out with the use of the in-game character models, which were, in a series first, fully voice-acted. The increased dramatic flair lead to a game that was felt linear than ever, but the rich presentation, enjoyable characters and solid game system won over legions of fans.

But then something strange happened. FFXI became a massively multiplayer online game, devoid of the usual single-player, highly linear storyline Final Fantasy games had become known for. Then another odd thing occurred -- FFX got a direct sequel, in the form of Final Fantasy X-2! It continued the story of the world of Spira, albeit with a much lighter sensibility. But a sequel to a Final Fantasy game? Unheard of! Change was clearly afoot at Square, which had now merged with longtime rival Enix.

While it will be hard to top the radical divergence of FFXI, perhaps the biggest changes are yet to come. Final Fantasy XII is deep into development, and its gameplay bears only token similarities to any Final Fantasy that's come before. In fact, in some ways it's most similar to the MMORPG, FFXI. The changes really run deep in this one, and it has the potential to alienate fans. It could also be the freshest thing to happen to the series in years.

lot of Final Fantasy XII's massive changes can be traced back to one person: its director, Yasumi Matsuno. Matsuno is responsible for the highly successful Ogre Battle and Final Fantasy Tactics series, which suggests that FFXII could take on a more tactical aspect than prior games. But he's also the fellow behind 2000's extremely complicated Vagrant Story, which some people believe added far too much needless complication and abstraction to various aspects of its game system.

Matsuno's past body of work suggests that he's a meticulous craftsman with an eye for detail, be it in the form of strategic gameplay or ornately drawn graphics. He also seems to enjoy European names and visual motifs. But other signs, primarily the complicated Vagrant Story, suggest a tendency toward complexity for the sake of complexity and number-twiddling micro-management. In short, Matsuno is both a fascinating and a controversial choice to helm a new Final Fantasy.

One obvious sign of Matsuno's influence is that Final Fantasy XII takes place in the world of Ivalice, known previously as the world in which Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance took place. While FFXII occurs in a different time period than FFTA, you can expect to see many familiar elements you may have previously glimpsed in the GBA game. A rabbit-eared Viera woman, for example, will play a prominent role in the storyline. Speaking of which ...

Final Fantasy XII will tell the story of Rabanastre, the royal city of the township of Dalmasca. A peaceful place of beauty and high technology, Rabanastre sits between the warring empires of Archadia and Rosalia. Alas, Rabanastre's tranquility abruptly ends when the Archadians invade, presumably in an attempt to gain a strategic advantage over its enemies in Rosalia. Rabanastre falls, and an oppressive new regime begins.

That's all history, though -- the invasion happens two years before the beginning of the game. When FFXII's story truly begins, Rabanastre is still under the control of the Archadians, and its remaining people are powerless to resist. A 17 year-old kid, Vaan, lives as a street urchin of sorts; he steals and swindles to survive, but dreams of a future free of the Archadians. As the RPG gods have smiled upon him, he'll get a chance to make that far-flung dream a reality.
Vaan

~ A boy who would be a sky pirate. ~

Vaan is the main character of Final Fantasy XII, the Rabanastrean youth who yearns to be free of the Archadian yolk, dreaming of a future as an airship-faring sky pirate. ""Someday, I'll fly an airship of my own! A sky pirate, free to go where I will." He's also a member of the anti-Archadian resistance, which will shortly lead him into the adventure of a lifetime.

Sadly, Vaan's parents were killed two years ago during the initial Archadian invasion, which goes a long way toward explaining his disadvantaged lifestyle. He does have an older brother named Rekt (or possibly Reks) who's in the royal guard, but they seem to be separated when the game begins. In fact, Rekt is quite possibly dead.

Vaan follows in the footsteps of FFX's lead character, Tidus, in that he's got something of a femininity to his appearance. While he has a good sense of style, I wouldn't say he's too feminine for his own good. And he certainly doesn't look like Meg Ryan.

Penelo

~A girl who wants peace~

Penelo seems to be something like Vaan's girlfriend, at least as the game starts out. She's a talented dancer and singer, and quite the cutie besides. One scene of the trailer shows her admonishing Vaan for his thieving ways -- quite indignant by the looks of it. It's thought that Penelo will be Vaan's main love interest, though rumors indicate that the romantic subplot will not be as developed as in FFX.

~A loyal knight who becomes a traitor~

Basch is a member of Dalmascan royal guard, seemingly among the upper ranks of soldiers. Vaan's brother Rekt appears to be a subordinate of his. Though supposedly loyal to the King of Dalmasca, Basch assassinates him early in the story. He defends his actions, saying, "The king meant to sell Dalmasca ... His majesty was the traitor." Basch's face exudes strength and dignity, quite the opposite of what you'd expect in a traitor.

Rekt is the older brother of Vaan, who is serving the Dalmascan guard during the time of the Archadian invasion. The E3 trailer shows him arguing with Basch, and rumor has it that Basch kills him. Perhaps he raised objections to Basch's role in the Dalmascan king's demise?

Balthier

~He flies the skies of Ivalice. The sky pirate.~

Balthier is a 22 year-old sky pirate, a freedom-loving rogue who somehow becomes involved in Vaan's adventures. From the brief glimpses of him afforded thus far, he seems to be more of a gentleman rogue than a rogue rogue; he speaks with a dry, perhaps world-weary manner. He's also an accomplished gunfighter, and has a Viera partner named Fran.

Fran

~She wields any weapon with ease. His partner.~

Fran is a viera, a mostly female race of warriors that sport huge, rabbit-like ears. You might have seen them recently in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Not much is known about Fran's personality at the moment, other than that she's Balthier's partner and apparently a master of many weapons.

Ashe

~A princess. When all is lost, she builds it anew.~

The 19 year-old Ashe is the ninth child of the King of Dalmasca, and the only surviving heir to the throne. However, she has other business to take care of first, joining the resistance after the fall of Rabanastre. She hopes to lead her people to freedom, and really should try to find a longer skirt.

Judge

Judges are the arbiters of justice in the world of Ivalice, though it's not known if they're affiliated with any one country. My guess, simply based on a few scraps of info and the E3 trailer, is that they originate from the Archadian Empire. Balthier certainly seems worried when confronted with one in the E3 trailer. The Judges have hulking bodies and two wickedly twisted swords. In fact, you can see one in FFXII's official logo, so you know they'll play a significant part in the storyline.

The Races

Just as in Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy Tactics, FFXII's Ivalice is a world of many races. Here are the ones we've seen so far.

Humes: Humes are what we would call humans. They're largely responsible for the clashing empires that provide the impetus for FFXII's storyline. Many different cultures of Humes exist, just like in our world. Hume intelligence is the standard by which other races are judged, and there are races both above and below this level. Humes use some of the lesser-gifted races as slaves, while the more intelligent races often try to avoid attracting undue Hume attention.

Moogles: The classic Final Fantasy creature has been reimagined for the world of Ivalice, and now look somewhat like bipedal bunnies. With wings, mind you. Moogles are highly intelligent creatures and are responsible for much of Ivalice's amazing technology, including its fabulous airships. Perhaps because of this, Humes tend to respect Moogles, despite their cuteness and small stature.

Seeq: The Seeq have a hog-like appearance, and a similar level of intelligence. If they happen to speak Hume, it may still be hard to understand. Strong and fast, Seeq are well-suited to becoming warriors and mercenaries.

Viera: The odd, lithe bunny-women are called Viera. Viera are outstanding hunters, with super-human senses and great strength. Viera come in light and dark-skinned varieties; mixed-race (light/dark) Viera are most likely to live among Humes, with the pure-blooded varieties preferring to stick to ancestral forests.

Bangaa: This reptilian race has a Hume-like level of intelligence, but occupies a lower rung in society due to its bestial appearance. Like the Seeq, Bangaa are very swift and make great warriors. They also have unique potential as mages.

Are there any more races? It's quite possible. However, it's worth noting that all of the party members revealed thus far have been Hume, with the sole exception of the Viera Fran. It'll be interesting to see if any of the more exotic races can be incorporated into the party, or if they'll simply serve as NPCs and enemies.

New World, New Viewpoint

Ever since Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy games have featured fixed camera angles. Sure, they moved a bit in Final Fantasy X, but you never had any real control over which direction to look at any given time. That all changes with Final Fantasy XII, the first single-player Final Fantasy to offer a controllable 3D camera. The camera system looks to be very similar to Final Fantasy XI's, only now with the enhanced graphical richness possible in a dedicated single-player game.

This is more exciting than it might sound at first. The world of Final Fantasy XII will be the most realistic ever seen in the series, both in terms of layout and architecture. Now that you can look any which way, Square's artists will have to construct their worlds to a hitherto unseen standard of detail. There will be numerous obscure nooks and crannies for the attentive player to notice, and the feeling of environmental immersion will be another series high.

The fancy new camera will be used for more than just gameplay, as a majority of FFXII's hours and hours of cutscenes will now be acted out in-engine. Square achieved good results with this technique in FFX, but are going further with it now. Full-motion video (FMV) sequences will still be scattered throughout the game, but they'll be the exception rather than the rule. I used to have trepidations over the use of in-engine assets for cutscenes, but the awesome cinematics of Metal Gear Solid cured me of that. I have no doubt that Square-Enix will achieve a similar quality in FFXII's in-game cinemas, leading to better immersion and an easier sense of identification with the characters.
In addition to the newfound feeling of immersion, another important aspect of the new camera system is that all battles will now occur in the very same environments you explore on foot. No more fade to black or screen shatter -- the battle will occur instantaneously, wherever you happen to be in the current environment. Encounters won't be random, either; as in FFXI, all enemies will be visible as you approach, leaving you the option to avoid combat if you so desire. Now that Final Fantasy has finally adopted this technique, might it become the CRPG norm? Quite possible, and not a moment too soon. Random encounters are so 1986.

So, combat.

The Battle System

While the addition of a free-floating camera is huge, it pales in comparison to the changes Square's making to the familiar Final Fantasy battle system. In short, it's like no Final Fantasy you've ever seen. The classic Active Time Battle (ATB) system, which has been around since FFIV, is being replaced with the new Active Dimension Battle (ADB) system. While there are some similarities to ATB (such as the presence of the old ATB bars, which must be filled before an action can occur) FFXII is really blazing a new path for itself.

Gone are the familiar columns of characters -- enemies on the left, allies on the right. Your characters will now run wherever they need to attack, even splitting up if need be. Likewise, the enemies can move and pursue however they please. You'll only control one party member at a time, issuing commands in near real-time (again, you have to wait for the character's ATB bar to fill before anything can actually happen). Just like in FFXI, if you tell a character to attack something it will keep attacking until it gets different orders or its target dies.

Luckily, you can hop around between characters at any time, issuing them different commands as deemed necessary. However, you can't reliably control multiple characters at once (at least not well), so that's where gambits come in. Gambits appear to be items that can be obtained and then equipped onto a character. Each gambit will trigger different actions; one might make a character mimic the actions of the current player-controlled character, while another could make the character attack on its own initiative. Clearly, the details are still murky. It sounds like gambits will play a huge role in both how battles play out and in character customization, though.

Of course, now that battle happens in the actual game environments, you'll need to take positioning and line of sight into account as well. For example, it's thought that characters who fire down on enemies from above will have an attack bonus. This and many similar rules and circumstances will hopefully let FFXII make the most of its lovely new battlegrounds.

No Final Fantasy is complete without an epic soundtrack, and longtime Matsuno collaborator Hitoshi Sakimoto will be the composer behind Final Fantasy XII. Sakimoto-san has a very strong resume -- Radiant Silvergun, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics -- so fans can rest assured that the soundtrack is in able hands. The word is that Sakimoto-san will be creating a more energetic score than usual, presumably to reflect the game's bright and sunny visuals and sense of high adventure. Legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu will also be contributing the game's main theme, which will have a theme of "love." Last but not least, FFXII will support five-channel Dolby Pro Logic II in both gameplay and cinematic scenes. If you've got the proper equipment, the effect would be awesome.
...pretty much everything we know at this point. Final Fantasy XII still has a ways to go before it's released in Japan, let alone America. The Japanese date is merely 2005, and we can only speculate about an American debut at this point. Late 2005 would make sense given Square-Enix's past localization lag, and even 2006 could be feasible. It's clearly going to be a very late release over here, appearing in the twilight days of the PlayStation 2. If everything discussed in this article pans out, though, Matsuno-san will have given the system one heck of a send-off.







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