Monday, January 12, 2004

FFXII




Square Enix held a press conference in Japan today introducing Final Fantasy XII to the world. Directed and produced by Yasumi Matsuno, Final Fantasy XII shares some elements with Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The Judge, for example, who set and enforced the fighting rules in FF Tactics Advance, will appear as a prominent character in the game (note also that the judge is part of the FF XII logo). Other elements in common with Tactics are the races, with Bangaas (lizard men), Humes (humans) Vieras, and Moogles appearing in the game. Square Enix plans to release the game in Japan in the summer of 2004.

The Background Story


The Judge figure from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance seems to have gotten more menacing.
The Alkaydia empire, who controls the continent of Valendia, has been waging war for many long years against the Rosaria empire, who controls the continent of Odaria. Dalmaska, a small kingdom between the two continents of Valendia and Odaria is caught between the two empires’ conflicts due to its strategic location. The Alkaydia empire invades Dalmaska, taking over the kingdom and killing the king. Ashe, the 19-year-old daughter who is heir to the throne, vows revenge and joins the resistance to oppose the empire’s rule. Her fight seems futile, as she sees countless comrades fall before the empire. It is at this time that she meets Vaan, a cheerful boy living in downtown Dalmaska, who together will greatly change the history of the world of Ivalice.

The Characters
Judging from the teaser and screenshots that Square Enix showed, there are at least four playable characters in the game. Ashe, 19 years old, is the royal successor to the kingdom of Dalmaska. After the death of her father, she goes into hiding to join the resistance and fight the Alkaydia Empire. Vaan is a 17-year-old orphan whose parents were killed in the conflict against the empire. Described as being optimistic and one who refuses to be bound by race or politics, he dreams of becoming an air pirate. The identities of two other playable characters, one male and one female, are still unknown.

As stated earlier, the Judge is a key character in the game, perhaps serving as a sort of antagonist. An armored knight with a Darth Vader-like imposing stature, the Judge takes upon the role of both juror and law enforcer. A Bangaa bounty hunter character also appears who also seems to play a notable role in the game.

The Battle System


Ashe and Vaan, off to go change the world.
Square Enix has revealed almost nothing of the battle system, though they have stated that they purposely took battle screenshots that resemble battle screens of other Final Fantasy games, so it could be a different system. The introductory blurb in the prologue section of the official website says that the warrior “transfers his trained skills onto a stone,” so it could perhaps mean that the game will have you equip stones to master skills similar to Final Fantasy VII.

Other Features
The game features a fully 3D world that players enables players to freely move about and manipulate the camera angle. As the artwork suggests, air ships and air battles will also play a large role in the game, as the four-minute trailer showed swarms of aircraft and dreadnought-sized battleships fighting.

We’ll have an interview with Square Enix later on, so stay tuned as we will give you more details as they come.







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