Final Fantasy XII
Submitted Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 2:43:49 AM by Klaitu

This is the one that everyone's been waiting for. Square made Final Fantasy 11 a MMORPG, and then there was Final Fantasy X-2, which was more of a sequel than a whole other game. Fans everywhere were clamoring for a brand new numbered Final Fantasy.


This particular Final Fantasy has the main character caught up in a much larger web of events. Unlike the previous stories, there is no main romantic interest, and many times the exact objective of the game isn't quite so defined as it usually is.

The Good:
- For a PS2 game, it looks great. No Next-gen graphics here, but top notch old-gen stuff. FMV's are crisp and clear.

- Sound quality and voice acting are top notch. In fact, the game was produced in a THX certified facility.

- The new style of gameplay is more akin to what you might expect in an mmo, but is much simpler. Your party-mates are not complete idiots like most cases in a MMO. (I'm looking at you FF11)

- Elimination of Random Battles. Random battles have and always will suck. Their elimination alone makes this game worthy of note.

- If you casually play (that is, don't collect every single item, weapon, and all that) the game clocks in at around 80 hours.. maybe a tad less. That's pretty hefty for a Final Fantasy game, which usually comes in around 40 to 60.

The Bad:
- The game has a serious flaw where you can set your gambits and let the game play itself while you go off to work, sleep, or wherever. Come back to level 99 characters and a full license board.

- The license board system lets you develop your characters however you want them. That much is good, but at the end of the game, each character has a complete license board, which means all the characters are more or less identical.

- There is little difference between the weapons. Katana, axe, greatsword.. all work just fine for baddie-killing. Guns are neat, but their special use is limited, and the ammunition is hard to find.

- The bazaar system is just screwy. FF12 has a loot system where you sell otherwise useless items and depending on the combination of stuff you sell at once, it unlocks seemingly random, powerful items for you to use. This is the only way to get the ultimate weapons.

- This Final Fantasy has a lot more gameplay and a lot less story. Most of my game time was spent walking hundreds of miles attempting to get from one story point to another. There are sidequests, but many of the rewards for them fall flat.

- The story itself is pretty good, albeit it seems a bit like Star-Wars on a planet.. I guess you might call it Air-Wars.. especially near the end. The end of the story evokes images of the Death Star threatening poor, defenseless inhabitants.

The Bottom Line:

This game is worth buying, and is definately noteworthy. Don't go into it expecting anything like the others in the series. It doesn't feel very Final Fantasy-ish. The ending is not satisfying at all (there's not even an after-the-credits video snippet like FF7-x2).

If you've got the funds, buy this game. If you want to wait for the greatest hits, try Dragon Quest 8 instead.

Overall Score 8 of 10