This is the final installment of the franchise for the PS2, which had an interesting history with the Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy X was a massive hit for the console in its earliest days, taking the 3D adventures on the original PlayStation to a completely new level. It was popular enough to spawn the first true sequel to a Final Fantasy game (X-2), which has since become a norm for the franchise. Final Fantasy XI was a MMORPG, and it took quite some time for XII to see the light of day.
Final Fantasy XII sets aside the classic turn-based format of previous installments in favor of the real-time format of the MMORPG version. Battles are fought in the same world as exploration, which allows the game to proceed at a much faster pace. Granted, the game still took me about 80 hours to complete, but that was mostly due to the challenge presented over the course of the story.
The story itself has certain Shakespearian qualities, focusing on empires and ultimately the desire to forge man’s destiny by stealing the power of the gods (more or less). Vaan is a young man in the city of Rabanastre, the capital of a nation overrun by an enemy Archadian empire. Eventually, he and his friend Penelo wind up helping the Princess Ashe and her bodyguard Basch defeat the Archadian Empire and restore freedom. Sky pirates Balthier and Fran also join them.
With few exceptions, the player can choose a party and roam the unlocked portions of the world of Ivalice forever. As each new major turn in the story is completed, the available regions expand. It’s a massive amount of territory to explore. Transport crystals allow for quick travel once they are unlocked.
All enemies can be seen before encountered; there are very few random battles in the course of the game. As previously mentioned, the combat is real-time, and the party consists of three members (plus, now and then, a guest). To aid in the administration of certain tasks (such as healing, status effects, and so on), the player can assign “gambits” to party members. This is very important, because as the game progresses, the gambits allow the player to focus on the task at hand, strategizing the use of “gambits” to specific types of enemies.
To keep the game from becoming too tedious, Vaan is part of a Hunt Club, and he can accept commissions to hunt down difficult enemies over the course of the game. This generally results in getting money, special weapons, and plenty of experience. More difficult hunts involve espers (basically, summons), which can then be used by the party. Every character also has the potential to acquire a “Quickening”, a special attack ability. However, in this game, the summoning/Quickening abilities are almost unnecessary; the party, once strong enough, can handle most situations with standard attacks.
That equipment can be hard to buy, however. Enemies no longer drop money; instead, they drop loot, which can then be sold at various vendors. Buying the weapon is only half the battle. One must also purchase the license for the weapon using license points, also acquired after defeating an enemy. This does require a bit of leveling up, which can get tiresome; I wound up taking a break in the middle of the game specifically to keep it from getting boring and repetitive.
Graphically, this is one of the best looking games on the PS2, even if the color palette of the game is a bit too light for my tastes. The environments are massive and highly-detailed, and the cutscenes are better than ever. After playing this game to its stunning conclusion, I was left drooling over the prospects of Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3 and the anticipated graphics leap.
On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed by the character arcs. While the larger story was resolved at the end, the characters were never given much exploration. This is really Ashe’s story, with a strong subplot for Balthier. Vaan, the central character, doesn’t change much at all and ends up a supporting character for the game.
That said, it is a rewarding game experience, especially for RPG fans, and it was definitely worth the money and the time!
Rating: 9/10
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