User Review: Final Fantasy XII

When I bought this game, I did so on trust that it would be as good as X. Final Fantasy XII – from the genius minds at Square-Enix. Beautiful visuals, a new form of gameplay, and a deep story. What I discovered surprised me.

The moment I watched the opening movie on the menu I knew that this game was worth the hundred dollars. What I was seeing looked incredible, and the music was exciting.
When starting a new game, I discovered that I wan’t acting Vaan, but an oddly-dressed teen by the name of Reks. I ran through the tutorial, and had a basic handle on the battle system within minutes.

The battle system is different to what gamers are used to – all three party members can be controlled at once, move on their own accord, and attack on their own. I’ll get to that later.
There are no random battles; enemies are visible and engaged on the field, but this doesn’t detract from the game’s difficulty.
Players can still flee by holding down R2, and commands are issued via a very streamlined menu that feels very slightly similar to that of Kingdom Hearts II. Think Final Fantasy X’s system crossed with that of the aforementioned game.

Characters are directly controlled with the left analogue stick, and the camera with the right. This is very versatile.

The system can even be modified by hitting triangle and going to the options menu. There the player will find many options designed to tweak their experience to their liking.

Characters can attack and look after themselves on their own thanks to the innovative and deep Gambit system. It’s straightforward and easy to understand despite the hundreds of thousands of possible combinations one can create.
Modifying Gambits is very user-friendly and the player is given a brief tutorial in the form of one of the characters, Balthier, explaining them a little way through the game.
Sometimes it can feel half-automated, though. For this reason Gambits can be turned on and off for each individual character. But be warned: Without Gambits, all a character will do is follow the party lead around like a zombie unless given manual commands.

The visuals are too nice to describe in one sentence, or even one paragraph.
During normal gameplay, Final Fantasy XII’s visuals and animation are beautiful and smooth, and seem to have a particular style to them. Characters’ eyes can be hard to see sometimes, though.

The FMVs, however, have to be seen to be believed. They’re incredibly detailed, yet soft and aesthetic at the same time. The fluid movent of characters and objects would make you think it was real footage if you squinted and/or saw it from afar.
The detail of these movies really does show just how much Square-Enix is pushing the PlayStation 2 to its limits with this game.

The story pales in comparison to the rest of the game, but manages to remain interesting in the slightest. It follows Vaan, an orphaned teenager who has a dream of becoming a sky pirate, but also tracks that of Ashe, the princess of Dalmasca. She quickly seems to become the lead, however.

Ivalice is a stunning world to explore. It’s large, very large, and there is plenty of detail everywhere you look. Where the characters can walk is blended almost seamlessly with where they can’t, although the invisible walls can prove annoying at times. Tilting the camera to the horizon can tell you what the weather is like in the next few areas just by sight – I often stand at the edge of Rabanastre, a city, and look at the southern horizon to see if the rainy season has come to the Giza desert.

This is a very quick and comfortable way to see what’s happening in nearby areas of the game, and players can see the areas that neighbour the one they’re currently in. These sections vary in size from tiny islands that contain a save crystal, up to massive, sweeping plains.

There are some parts of Ivalice that are simply breathtaking when you see them for the first time. Not only that, but most of them are introduced with short FMVs.
Ivalice is a varied world. Within it you will find anything from sweltering, bone-dry deserts, to tropical forests full of trees the width of a house, white-sanded beaches, frozen mountains covered in snow and anything in-between.

The islands of civilization are just as varied. The player will find a range of cities, villages and settlements ranging from nomad camps up into sprawling metropolises that would rival those of the real world.
Mystical ruins and secrets abound, just waiting to be discovered by those eager (or brave) enough to venture to where they are hidden and fight the fell beasts there.

Bosses can be underwhelming sometimes, but the battles are most of the time spectacular, and in traditional Square-Enix style the most difficult ones are secret.
There are summons in this game, to, but to obtain them they must first be defeated. They are known as Espers, and there is a moderately large amount to be captured. Most of them are hidden and take the title of hidden bosses until killed.

If you buy Final Fantasy XII, be prepared to use at least one hundred hours of your life on it. The main storyline can take an average of fifty hours to complete, but that’s ignoring the almost endless supply of sidequests.
At the time I wrote this review, I had completed everything in the game except obtaining one treasure, one Esper, and taking down one boss. My save game’s timer at that point was at over two-hundred and eleven hours. My characters were not over-levelled—in fact, they’re only level 60 on average. That alone shows just how long this game can entertain the player.

In conclusion, Final Fantasy XII is a wonderful and intriguing game. There is so much to do, see, and find, and is an overall enjoyable experience. Players who like to discover everything a game has to offer will enjoy this title the most. Now that it’s been out for a while, the price has been discounted and it’s a best-seller. An almost definite must-buy.

Congratulations, Square-Enix. You have created another masterpiece.