After the wild success of “Final Fantasy X”, a sequel was released entitled “Final Fantasy X-2”. Unlike the original, the sequel was mostly a light-hearted romp with more of a mission-based format than the typical hero quest format. By most measures, that new format was not as well received, and it seemed more like an attempt to pull in female gamers than a serious attempt at continuation.
The same creative team was behind “Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings”, and it shows. Vaan’s involvement in the rise and fall of empires gives way to a semi-serious sky pirate adventure where Vaan learns to consider the consequences of being…well, a sky pirate. More than that, quite a bit of time is spent on Vaan’s relationship with Penelo. It shouldn’t be hard to figure out how that goes. (By the way, for those complaining about her wardrobe…did you bother finishing “Final Fantasy XII”? Same outfit!)
That’s not the only change. The action-RPG format of the original gives way to a simplified real time strategy (RTS) concept. When I say simplified, I’m not kidding. There are essentially three different types of support units, and in rather predictable fashion, one unit is always weak to another in a rock-paper-scissors fashion. It takes about three battles to get the basics down to an instinctive level, and from there, it’s just a matter of checking out the competition before each new battle.
This makes it remarkably easy to prepare for most engagements. You build up your “esper” units fairly quickly, so while some missions are difficult, it’s mostly a matter of unit management. You check out the type of unit, the elemental weaknesses, set up your single gambit, and from there it’s a simple matter of positioning and movement.
Devoted RTS gamers will get bored very quickly. The missions are not all that complicated, and things only get hairy when the bosses have a massive “area of effect”, which is usually remedied by spamming the enemy with ranged units or a bit of quick leveling up. The strategy is so simple and predictable that additional elements like weapons crafting are almost entirely unnecessary.
All that said, these apparent weaknesses make it an almost perfect portable game. It’s possible to tackle a single mission in a few minutes, especially in the beginning, and by then the simplicity of the game makes it mildly addictive. The only problems are the long stretches of expository cut-scenes at certain points in the game. Also, if you save right before a battle, in some cases the cut-scenes leading to a battle will repeat.
So while the format is not what I would prefer, and the tone is more light-hearted than the original, the sequel works as a fairly easy and mostly time-friendly extension to the “Final Fantasy XII” story. Those looking for a true RTS challenge, however, would best be served looking elsewhere.
Rating: 8/10
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