5 years after X, Final Fantasy returns with one of the best RPG experiences for the PS2
FFXII is based in the world of Ivalice, introduced in strategy RPGs Final Fantasy Tactics and FF Tactics Advance, but fleshed out here in FFXII. The basic premise of the story revolves around the kingdom of Dalmasca. FFXII begins in a period of war between the empires of Archadia and Rozarria, with Dalmasca and its sibling kingdom of Nabradia caught in the middle. Also at this time, Lord Rasler of Nabradia, marries Princess Ashe of Dalmasca. However, Archadia's war threatens both kingdoms, and during a peace treaty signing, the King of Dalmasca, Lord Rasler, as well as a young soldier named Reks, who you play as in the beginning of the game, are all murdered supposedly by Basch, captain of the Dalmascan Army, which leads to Princess Ashe taking her own life. Flash forward 2 years, the Archadian Empire rules over Dalmasca, and this is where FFXII begins, as you take control of the main character, Vaan. Vaan wishes to become a sky pirate someday, and has no love of the Empire, since Reks was his older brother. From here, the story takes off, as Vaan gets caught up in the political battle for the restoration of Dalmasca, teaming up with good friend Penelo, meeting up with sky pirates Balthier and Fran, the supposedly deceased Ashe, and the traitor Basch. What I love about the story of FFXII is that it is completely different from the typical FF story, it is not a romantic, save the world storyline. It is a politically driven, restore the glory of a kingdom storyline, with very little romance (as far as the get the girl like in FFX, or IX, etc). And that is refreshing as FFXII's storyline does not retread familiar territory. That and its a great story, with plenty of memorable characters along the way, not to mention a very very well done main cast, as the 6 party members are all fleshed out very well. Simply put, I loved the story of FFXII.
But the big question, how is the gameplay? And since the large majority of the time you play the game, that is a good question. Well, if you've played a Final Fantasy before, you know what to expect in terms of how battles are fought, attack, cast spell, heal, steal, etc. However, the move to a real time battle system speeds up the battles alot. That and probably the best improvement, all the battles take place while you are exploring, like in an MMO. So in a nutshell, no random battles and the enemies are on screen so you can fight or flee. Couple that with the new gambit system, inspired by macros for MMOs, and leveling up is not as much of a tedious process anymore. Speaking of the gambit system, it is phenomenal. Basically, since all the battles take place in real time, to help you out from constantly switching thru menus looking for that esuna spell, or black magic spell, or heal spell, you can set up a gambit to do that. For instance, you can set up a gambit to cast a fire spell against an enemy weak to fire or if oil is cast on them; also if a party member's health drops below a certain percentage, you can cast a cure spell; if a party member is afflicted with a status effect, esuna or other status relieving spell can be cast. It is very cool to see in action, particularly in boss fights, say when a large attack is pulled off, and your party needs to heal up, well the gambits take care of that. Now even with the gambits, you still want to keep an eye on everything mainly b/c you have a limited amount of gambit slots, so you want to have them setup in a way to efficiently move from battle to battle. It does take a while to get used to, but as always, once you get used to it it just feels natural. As for how the real time battles are, they are not that much different from the ATB battles of FFVII-IX and FFX-2, except that there is no battle screen. All in all, the battles are good as they are quicker than ever, which means more exploring less time fighting.
The battles are of course necessary to gain experience points, but you also gain license points which leads to the new character customization feature, the license board. Kind of based on the sphere grid of FFX, the license board is where you learn all your spells, technics, equipment, etc. It works alot like the sphere grid, except here you can freely move around the board however you choose, provided you have the points to do so. Each board piece costs a certain amount of points depending on what it is you are learning, early stuff cheap late game stuff expensive. Learning one spot opens up its neighboring spot to continue moving around the board. The board itself is divided into areas, an area for weapons, armor, spells, augments, technics, and accessories. And within each area you can choose which path each character follows, 1-handed swords or spears, heavy or light armor, green/arcane/black magic, etc. It is possible for each character to learn everything, but that does take alot of time. For the main storyline, its a good idea to focus each character on a certain path like a class, black mage, green mage, etc. Also available on the board are the summons and XII's version of the limit/overdrive/trance attacks, quickenings. Each character can learn 3 quickenings, meaning there are 18 quickening spots on the board. Quickenings are powerful attacks that use up all your MP, but can deal alot of damage if you can build up a quickening chain. To begin a quickening, you select it from the menu, then select which quickening you want to start with, a level 1, 2, or 3. Once the quickening starts, you have a limited amount of time to trigger more quickenings creating a chain. Depending on how good your chain is, and how many of each level quickening you did, an powerful area of effect attack follows at the end. Quickenings can be great for bosses or tough enemies, though since they deplete your MP bar, be careful when using them. Summons return in the form of Espers. There are 13 total Espers in the game, 6 you encounter thru the story, the other 7 are optional. When summoned in battle, you need a full MP bar to summon an esper, and when it enters the battle, it is just the caster and the esper, and unlike it FFX, you cannot control the esper, but it does stay in battle for upwards of a minute and a half, or until its killed or the caster is killed. So like every Final Fantasy, there are plenty of attacking options in battle.
The graphics of FFXII are very well done. While at times they may not compare to those of FFX, overall the graphics of XII are very strong. The art style in particular is what sets the graphics of XII apart from the rest of the FFs. Everything has more of a western/european feel to them, rather than the standard Japanese feel, which also helps the game's storyline. All the main characters look great, in the battles, cutscenes and cinema scenes. All the various environments also look fantastic, particularly the brief scenes you are treated to when you first enter a new zone. Also the quickenings look incredible, as do the final attacks of the esper's. Square still knows how to take advantage of the PS2 hardware.
A must for any Final Fantasy is a good musical score. FFXII's may not be as highly regarded as past FF's music, but then again FFXII is a different beast compared to other FF's. The music of XII is still very good, even if you don't hear as much of the trademark FF music, like the battle and victory themes. Still, what's hear is very good, and does not get on your nerves. As for the voice acting, its terrific. The voice actors for XII did a great job, as they do bring life to their characters.
And of course, the big question always asked of RPGs, and any game for that matter, how long does it take to finish it? Well as I'm writing this, it took me just about 80 hours to finish the main story. Now I did do a number of side quests and side events, but I was still on par level-wise with the final bosses, so I would say you are looking at anywhere from 40-70 hours depending on how you play thru the game. Now if you are looking to do all the side quests and such, and there are alot of them (45 hunts, plenty of side quests/events, a fishing minigame, rare enemies, collecting all 13 espers, etc), you are looking all well over 100 hours of gameplay, especially if you are looking at taking down the last hunt (which only has 50 million HP), and an optional level 99 boss with 1 million HP. You definitely get your money's worth.
Now even though I loved FFXII and love all the games I review, you do need to point out any flaws, minor annoyances, just to keep from gushing about how great the game is. In FFXII's case, there are some minor annoyances, but none that are deal breakers. In an interesting choice, treasure chests are now random, meaning random locations random treasure. May be annoying, may not be. Since I like to have the guide when I play RPGs, this didn't bother me as much, but the game sometimes does not give you a clear idea of what to do next. Now this is not a bad thing, as too many RPGs these days tell you exactly what to do, so in this case, its just dependent on you. There aren't all that more really, you make like or hate the new battle system, you may like or hate the gambit system, but again that's dependent on the player.
Final Fantasy XII is an incredible game for a system that is nearing its final days. It is also one of the best RPGs that you can play for the PS2.