Square Enix creates another hit with Final Fantasy XII.
That being said, I, personally, find Final Fantasy XII to be an improvement over its predecessor and a worthy heir to the Final Fantasy name. Let's get to the review.
This time around, the story in Final Fantasy is much more a tale of larger political woe in Ivalice, rather than the story of just the main character and his past. You start off by seeing a beautiful FMV sequence, the marriage between the prince and princess of Rabanastre. However, all is not happy; the impending invasion from the East forces the prince to leave his throne and fight in the defense. He dies in the attempt, and Rabanastre is subjugated under foreign rule. Once the cutscenes finish, you find yourself playing as Reks, a young knight of Rabanastre's forces. You go through a tutorial of sorts, learning the setup of the game, and there's a little cutscene at the end, where a plot twist is revealed, and Reks passes out. Afterwards, there's a little written plot recap (it can get a little confusing), and you're taken to the home of one of Rabanastre's normal residents, whom you'll be playing as for the rest of the game, by the name of Vaan. Vaan is the typical, hot-headed, ambitious RPG antagonist, and you're to help him achieve his aims.
Although the story is a bit more complicated and political than previous Final Fantasy releases, it fits the whole grandeur of the plot well, and the characters complement it nicely. The cast is full of lively, involved characters which keep the story relevant and interesting, something that keeps it away from becoming a History Channel documentary.
Final Fantasy XII features a new combat system which strays away from that of its predecessors. Although some have criticized this for lack of traditionalism, I feel that this is a great change and adds to the realism of the game. The combat is a hybrid of real-time battle and the turn-based system seen in previous releases, and eliminates the need for random encounters--a welcome change, in my book. In essence, it feels to be real-time, because you can move around the environment during battles. However, the hybrid aspects of the system reveal themselves, as you still use the menu system to cast spells, use items, and attack. Basically, you can navigate around the battlefield, but ultimately you are still limited to the menu system. Initially, this system may feel alien and weird, but spending time with it, it becomes fluid and much more realistic than previous versions of FF. Another odd point about the battle system is that the action bar remains present on screen. In previous systems, if you didn't choose your attack, the game would remain idle. In this game, however, you will get continuously beaten if you don't attack or use magic. This adds a real touch of realism to battles. Even though the menu system still exists for choosing attacks and spells, the battlefield still acts in real-time. Your estimation is key; for instance, if you target an enemy from afar, by the time you reach it, your attack bar may be full and ready to unleash your attack. The turn-based system still makes itself known, however, in that you must still take turns to attack the enemy and there is no player control in dodging and blocking attacks. These skills can be improved through equip items and leveling up.
But as your party builds up, you will find it extremely difficult to use all your characters effectively, for the real-time system makes it tough to control multiple characters at once. This is where a new addition, the Gambit system, puts itself into action. Without it, you might find that fighting fast, responsive enemies to be impossible. The Gambits allow you more ease when you battle, because you can pre-program your characters to do things in response to certain events. For instance, you can make it so that a character casts a healing spell if one of the allies reaches below 30% health. The AI is remarkably well-written, and there are no real errors in this system to speak of. Of course, you can always turn it all off and do it all yourself, but you'll find this extremely tough and unwieldy. Conversely, you can make the AI do all your battles for you as well, but this might also lack some of the logic and reasoning behind your own moves, and make it hard to win battles. A good mix between your control and Gambit pre-programming is the best and most efficient way to go.
Another core difference that Final Fantasy XII has instituted is the license board. Unlike other RPGs, where leveling up means stat boosts by class type or rank, the license board, in effect, allows you to decide which stats can be boosted. Each enemy defeated allows you a number of license points, and you can use these points to unlock licenses to use weapons. Related licenses are situated closer to each other on the board, and since you can only use licenses once a license square touching it has been unlocked (something like Scrabble), you can appropriately generalize or specialize your characters as you wish. Although some criticize this system as being too hands-on, that they wish the game developers would just choose for themselves, I feel that this system adds great depth to the game and makes you feel as though you've created your own custom-made team, unique in its skills, assets, and weaknesses.
Square Enix took a huge risk by throwing out previous battle systems and completely redoing them, adding licenses and Gambits to the mix. It could have failed miserably, or made FF12 one of the most unique and deep RPGs in existence. Personally, I think it has done the latter. Now that the gameplay's out of the way, let's go on to the technical aspects of the game.
Final Fantasy XII's graphics, although are not revolutionary like FFX's were at it's time, are certainly an improvement over previous releases. The cutscenes, even the non-FMV ones, are beautifully done, showing even minute emotion changes in characters' faces. The environments are stunning, suiting Ivalice very well, bright and vibrant and times, and dark and dingy at others. The cities and towns themselves are massive and teeming with NPCs, and the first few hours of gameplay, you'll find yourself referring to your map often. Audio in FFXII is excellent, once again. Elements of previous FF titles are distinctly present in the soundtracks, but a new flavor is given to them, blending nostalgia with newness. Some themes are quite catchy alone; you'll find yourself absentmindedly humming along during gameplay. Voice acting is good, nothing to praise or detract from.
With more than 50 hours of gameplay, excellent audio and visuals, an all-new battle system, and that overall Final Fantasy charm, Final Fantasy XII is one of the best PS2 games ever, and should not be missed.
Pros:
+ Excellent graphics
+ Great sound
+ Realistic, fun battle system
+ Depth of team-building with the new license system
+ Many hours of gameplay and sidequests
+ Superb storytelling
Cons:
- Licenses and Gambits may be a bit confusing at first