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PREVIEW

Final Fantasy XII marks the end of a very long wait for RPG fanatics starving for another real title from one of Square-Enix’s premier franchises. While FF XI has a pretty solid fanbase, the game itself is a MMORPG and not a single player entry, like other games in the Final Fantasy series. But at long last, FF XII is headed to North American shores at the very end of October. After countless delays that are nothing short of frustrating to everyone involved, the game has finally been released in Japan earlier this year. The game features many different changes to the actual gameplay mechanics that will take awhile to get used to, but are a welcome change to the former titles. Along with some other unique features, FF XII manages to introduce some innovative aspects to the otherwise stale and tired RPG formula. Is the long wait worth it? This preview should help in making your decision.

Gameplay
     Immediately after you go through the opening cutscenes, you are thrust into battle. The battle system is fairly different from other FF titles and feels awkward at first, but gamers will learn to get used to it. No longer would you have to manually input commands for each individual character through a menu-based system, although you still could do this by changing some of the game option settings. FF XII aims to have the gamer assign custom AI to other party members through the use of the new “gambit” system. For example, you can automatically have a character cure himself/herself if their HP falls below 60% and so forth. This saves a lot of time. As a result, battles are more automated and you can change actions on the fly. Obviously, the gambit system offers much more than this, but that will have to be explored as you get deeper and deeper through FF XII. The old random battles that we love and hate in the old FFs are now completely non-existent. Battle scenes now transition seamlessly in an open field and you can engage in enemies on the field. The battle view includes a full 360 degrees camera view. Money cannot be obtained from monsters anymore. It makes a lot of sense, as it would seem rather silly that monsters would always carry loads of cash on them. Rather, you obtain money from completing various sidequests and other events. FF XII introduces the license board, which is quite interesting and cool to say the least. In the past, gamers would have to either buy weapons/armor and magic spells or find them throughout the game. In FF XII, a character is only able to equip certain weapons, armor or use certain skills/spells if they have the appropriate license. However, you still need to buy a real copy of the equipment at a store. The license board also contains various types of skills and techniques. This includes the ability to summon as well as “mist knacks”, which are powerful attacks similar to Limit breaks of the past.

Graphics
     Visually, FF XII looks amazing. With large and diverse towns, FF XII creates an atmosphere of realism not seen in other titles. There is lots of explore in Ivalice and the CG cutscenes continue to impress. It appears that many of the CG sequences have strong influence from Star Wars, just to let you know. FF XII presents a fairly unique cast from different backgrounds. This includes doing a good job in successfully integrating the numerous races found in the game. Of course, we would need to play through the entire game to really make a fair assessment. But from various trailers and preview videos, FF XII is stunning.

Sound
     Nobuo Uematsu is no longer “the man” behind the music of the Final Fantasy series. Like FF X, his role is drastically reduced and now there are several new people within Square-Enix that have the opportunity to showcase their talents. Sakimoto does this with conviction in FF XII. While the musical score may seem to lack the sharp and aggressive punch of its predecessors, it manages to set the tone and mood for any situation within the game. The musical score appears to be quite solid in FF XII and while some tracks may not be the most memorable, Sakimoto’s work is worthy of carrying the Final Fantasy namesake. Finally, the voice-acting is much improved from FF X. The English voice actors/actresses seem to offer a more professional approach and the game has numerous accents to various characters which adds another dimension of realism.

Storyline/Character development
     FF XII seems to offer a relatively emotional and politically-charged storyline, much in a similar light to what FF Tactics had to offer. Supposedly, FF XII is much less focused on an actual love story that was found in FF X and FF VIII, for example. The overall storyline is darker and serious than before and the plot focuses on more mature themes. The characters again offer various points of view and influences to the gaming experience. We should expect enough depth in the characters and their personalities to keep ourselves interested in FF XII. Hopefully, the storyline will again be memorable.

Conclusion
     Despite some of the negative reader reviews that you may have read on the internet about FF XII, it is really up to you to decide whether or not FF XII meets your expectations. Famitsu gave the title a 40/40 and that should mean something. With several fresh approaches to the gameplay and battle system, FF XII’s battle system is certainly different from the status quo. However, it has been quite a long time since we’ve last played a traditional single-player FF game. We all owe it to ourselves to give FF XII a reasonable shot, even with some of the changes. The graphics and sound appear to be of high-quality and the storyline hopes to provide enough intrigue, plot twists and turns to keep RPG fans excited. We’ll give you a full review once we have fully played FF XII. Keep checking Final Fantasy Odyssey for the latest updates.