"Ivalice is pretty sweet."

I was there at the midnight release party. I was that guy who had to ask his friend to drive him 30 minutes to the Gamestop where his copy was reserved because I didn't have a car of my own on campus. I was the guy who paid $80 for the Collector's Edition game and guide (I got Balthier on my cover!). I was one of the world's biggest geeks on that fateful Halloween of 2006. I was one of the people who skipped his first class to see what would happen to Reks. Final Fantasy XII had finally come, and I was going to be all over it.

And was I ever. I stayed in on weekends, I got picked on by friends, and I saved eight dollars when everyone went to go see that overrated Borat movie. I didn't care about anything but my health, my grades, and my precious new videogame. How long have we all waited for this? Well it had arrived, and I think it's safe to say it was pretty worth all those delays.

STORY:
Final Fantasy XII begins with an intense FMV, showing a wedding for Princess Ashe and Prince Rasler in Dalmasca, a kingdom of the game's world, Ivalice. Shortly thereafter, an intense battle is being fought: the kingdom of Archadia versus Nabradia and Dalmasca. Nabradia and Dalmasca are crushed by the Archadian forces, and among the casualties is none other than Rasler. The king of Dalmasca has no choice but to surrender, and is then ordered to be killed. Basch and a small number of other soldiers attempt to rescue the king, and are joined by the young Reks. When they arrive at their destination, Reks sees the king he was going to resuce dead, and discovers what Basch's true mission was—which only turns out to be for naught (as you will see).

The introduction to FF12 may be my favorite out of all of them, only rivaled by FF9's. So much surprise in the first 30 minutes of a game must mean we're in for quite a treat for things to come, right? Well, mostly. The main plot follows Vaan, who we find out is Reks's brother. He is soon joined by the sky pirate Balthier, the mysterious viera Fran, a supposedly dead Princess Ashe, the wanted Basch, and his good friend Penelo. What I really liked was how none of the characters said “I'm going to come with you.” It was more like they just happened to stumble upon each other and go for the gold together. As a party of six, they must all learn to accept each other's differences to bring peace to Ivalice.

While the overall story is very nice, some of the plot twists could have been much better handled. Many of them were seemingly just plopped into a cutscene, then almost completely forgotten about for the rest of the game. My biggest complaint, however, was with the characters, though. Vaan is the one we control in towns and such, but has very little to do with the story. Part of this bothers me—from Cecil all the way through Tidus, the main characters have all been responsible for the main plots of their respective games, so what's the deal with this nobody? Then part of this doesn't bother me—Vaan reminds me a lot of Nick Carroway from the “Great Gatsby,” who also was the protagonist, yet had almost nothing to do with the book's main story. So I'm hoping that Square's decision to have Vaan be more of an observer was on purpose. Then we have Balthier, the arrogant sky pirate. He's a really cool guy, but the only thing he contributes to the story is telling our characters how to get from point A to point B, and then taking them there. Fran, his sidekick, provides little more. While her visit to her home village is probably the saddest moment of the game, she rarely speaks otherwise. Basch is an excellent character, however, since the entire kingdom of Dalmasca believes him to be a traitor. Then there's Ashe, who is probably the game's best character, since the story really revolves completely around her. Though all of Ivalice believes she committed suicide, her responsibility to bring back peace carries a gigantic burden on her throughout the entire game, and I'd say no one else is better suited for the job. Then we have Penelo, who, unfortunately, is almost 100% worthless to the story. She is Vaan's friend, she gets kidnapped once… and that's it.

I know my disappointment for the characters may make me sound like I didn't enjoy the story, but that's not entirely true. By far, the best character in FF12 is Ivalice itself. The actual land, its occurrences, and its citizens are what save this game's story. Different races (humes, viera, bangaa, etc.), different ways of life, and different cultural clashes are reason enough to keep us interested. It may even remind you of our own world.
STORY: 8.5/10

GRAPHICS:
I really didn't know how Square would pull of graphics better than FF10, but they really did a phenomenal job. I think it's safe to say this is one of the PS2's best-looking games ever. Characters move so much more fluidly, look so much more detailed, and are overall much more appealing than any FF game prior. Really, I can't think of much more to say since each character is brilliantly done.

Even better are the environments. You can look out on the edge of a cliff and see an intensely detailed landscape in front of you. Only, it's not just for looks—you will actually go to these beautiful landscapes. I'm glad they've got a free camera in this game, since looking around can provide you with some very pretty sights.

Not to mention the FMVs, which look fantastic, with shots panning across entire cities, showing literally hundreds of characters onscreen at once.
GRAPHICS: 10/10

SOUNDS:
Well, the soundtrack for this installment certainly sounds much more adventurous than any previous soundtracks. I'm guessing this is because of the work of the new guy, Hitoshi Sakimoto, having different musical styles than our old friend Uematsu. Adventurous is never a bad thing though—it's just more forgettable. It definitely fits perfectly in most locations, so no complaints.

The voices are, thankfully, very well done. I honestly had no problem with anyone's voice actors, except maybe some of the judges', who were at times very hard to understand under their muffled helmets (you can turn captions on, though). I also liked how they amplified the voices more in this game, so we could hear everyone more clearly.

Sound effects are also great, with walls crumbling, monsters pounding, swords slashing… yeah, you get it.
SOUNDS: 9.5/10

GAMEPLAY:
Get ready to lose your soul, as FF12 has the most in-depth and difficult gameplay out of all the Final Fantasys. First and foremost is the new battle system. It's still turn-based, even though it might not look it. The only real differences between this and the past FFs is that there are no random battles and that you still can move your characters around freely (as well as the exceptional camera). You see an enemy (or enemies) on screen, you run toward it and the fight begins. Pressing the X button brings up the command menu, where you can do all you need to, from attacking to using an item to summoning an Esper. What's more, you don't even have to be in the midst of a battle to do any of this—except you will, of course, need a target if you want to attack.

The greatest part of FF12's gameplay is in the challenge. Enemy AI is incredible—those bastards are smarter than ever before, and will fight to the death... Or maybe not!! Some enemies may realize that they aren't strong enough and will run away for help. Others will simply run away. It will be an extremely long road for you if you don't know your enemies. But you may ask, “How can you freely control three characters at once when you fight these enemies?” And I would answer, “well, with gambits, of course!” Gambits, one of this game's most talked about new features, are what give your allies their own AI. In a way, though, it's not AI at all. You are the one who sets these gambits. There are literally dozens of different gambits you can set, from “Heal allies with <70% HP,” to “Attack the enemy with the lowest defense.” Though some of them are pretty ridiculous, gambits are what will make or break you, and therefore require a lot of time. Thankfully, you can set up to twelve of them on each character, and that is more than enough. Still, they're not perfect. You will often find yourself manually commanding characters because their gambits cannot be set at exactly what you want them to be, and some of the most practical gambits aren't even available until later in the game. While usually useful, there will be countless times where you need to pause the battles to have an ally with gambits on do something he/she's not directed to do.

It doesn't end there, though! The License Board is also a new feature, and is what builds up your characters (like the Sphere Grid in FF10 or the GFs in FF8). On this beautiful board you consume LP (License Points, which are won after defeating enemies) to allow your characters to wield certain weapons, cast certain magicks, use certain technicks, and much, much more. My favorite thing about the LB is that you don't know where you'll go next, since the squares don't show you what they hold until you open a square next to them. As for my least favorite thing about the LB, I would have to say that it's the fact that all six party members are nearly identical. I miss the exclusivity the Sphere Grid gave the characters. The LB, while exciting, just makes everyone a cookie-cutter character. Even the “Quickenings,” which are beautifully animated attacks (similar to the Limit Breaks) that fully consume MP, are all ultimately the same.

Each character has different Quickenings, but they do the same amount of damage. However, the idea behind them is pure genius, and really makes up for the fact. They work like a slot machine, where you press the R1 (or R2… I don't remember), triggering a “slot” to begin. If a character's name lights up, you can use his/her Quickening, during which you begin the slot process over again (there is a time limit, of course). The idea is that you chain together as many of these Quickenings as possible to deal the most damage, often ending with a powerful area attack. Luck plays a larger role than anything else, and that risk is why using them is so exciting.

Unfortunately, the gameplay can sometimes be more frustating than fun. Espers, like Aeons or Summons from previous FFs, are absolutely beautiful to watch fight alongside you. The problem is that they are absolutely worthless. Within seconds they lose all their HP, and you are left with a character without any MP remaining for the rest of the battle. Thankfully, MP is gradually restored as you walk around, but this doesn't make wasting it on an Esper okay. Another problem I had was with the technicks. While some are very helpful (Libra, Telekinesis and Steal come to mind), most are utterly useless. Luckily they don't cost MP, so it's not all bad.

For you folks who want to have the entire game complete, prepare for a very tedious experience. The Hunters' Guild is fun at first, but really, how many Marks can we hunt before we get tired? Same with the Rare Game, which are a pain to actually come in contact with in the first place. Many of the other sidequests involve both boredom and useless rewards. Finally, what the hell's the deal with the shops? I love the whole idea behind enemies dropping loot instead of gil, but couldn't we just leave it at that? The Bazaar is way too hard to keep track of on my watch.

I can't hate on this game too much though. The creators have worked way too hard on it for it not to be fun, and if you can't respect that then you can just go back to shooting people in Halo 2. The limitlessness of the License Board and gambits, the action-packed battling and overall, the most fast-paced gameplay we've seen in a Final Fantasy game thus far makes this game one worth checking out.
GAMEPLAY: 9/10

LASTING APPEAL:
I tell you, it's almost impossible to get through this entire game without making an extra effort to build up your characters in one way or another. If you don't do any of the sidequests, you will have no social life for at least 60 hours. No, I'm not kidding. And if you do want to complete all the secret stuff? Do you really want to know? Well, let's just say you should kiss your loved ones goodbye.

Oh, and then you'll probably want to restart the whole game over and over again.
LASTING APPEAL: 10/10

OVERALL:
The best-looking game I've ever played on the PS2 is also one of the best RPGs on the PS2. Steps in new directions have proven valuable for both the creators and the players of Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy 12 reaches new ground, and is therefore an adventure no one should miss.
OVERALL: 9.3/10 (9 when rounded)

Thanks for reading =)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/17/07

Game Release: Final Fantasy XII (Collector's Edition) (US, 10/31/06)