A Marriage of Miracles
by tonyadpx
Squaresoft and Enix proved genius in their merging some years ago, mingling what are arguably the two greatest RPG developing companies in the biz. They proved this with the release of Dragon Quest VIII, a game that stayed true to the classical style while allowing for just enough improvements to not only make the game fun, but a masterpiece as well. Now, these two companies, Squaresoft and Enix, now one, has worked their magic on the other mainstay console RPG Final Fantasy.
I’ll be quick with my assessment of Final Fantasy XII: IT IS THE BEST OF THE BUNCH. And yes, that’s means it’s better than Final Fantasy VII, that instant classic that is spawning many other video games along the way. Following Dragon Quest VIII’s example, Final Fantasy XII brought back those classic elements found in the earlier games while mixing many new and innovative features that only add to the over-all experience that is the Final Fantasy franchise.
For many, the most memorable moments of the earlier games were those dramatic moments backed by the powerful musical score by Nobuo Uemetsu. In Final Fantasy XII, all of those classic songs were revamped with the more modern technology. The opening title screen is something that must be watched the entire way through, simply for the breathtaking music and visual effects. Also brought back from the earlier games is the simplistic character development. Simply level up, buy new abilities, and customize each separate character to your liking.
As for the new, the series is now headed by a different director, which means a new vision to the Final Fantasy universe. What were once integral characters have now found new places. Shiva and Ifrit are no longer the powerful summoned creatures they used to be, but are instead massive airships designed for war. Cid is a bad guy. Random battles are gone for real-time battles. And the story has returned to its fantasy roots.
Besides that, Final Fantasy XII is the first in the series to explore a setting that existed in a different franchise all-together, that being Final Fantasy Tactics. While more similar to Tactics Advance, it’s clear that Final Fantasy XII is the precursor story to what the world will become the Final Fantasy Tactics story. Ivalice is a land of magic and technology, where numerous races thrive and have learned to live peacefully amongst each other. Of those races, the hume (humans) dominate the regions of the world, while the other races, the moogles (we all know what they are so I’ll not explain), the Bangaa, a lizard-men race, the magically gifted Nu Mou, the Garif, powerful fighters and peace keepers of the plainlands, the goblin-like Baknamy, the mysterious rabbit-eared Vierra, and finally the desert dwelling Uratan-Yensa, live lives both independent and dependent upon the hume kingdoms of Dalmasca and Archardia. For these two kingdoms are in the middle of a long-standing conflict to dominate the land. The traditional kingdom of Dalmasca is at the losing end of this conflict, and must suffer the indignation of being ruled the bureaucratic empire of the north, Archadia.
In the middle of this conflict is a dreamer of a boy named Vaan, who lost his family during the war between Archadia and Dalmasca. As a resident of Dalmasca, he looks upon Archadia as the source of his loss, but also finds himself brooding over one individual in particular, a Dalmascan knight named Basch who disappeared during the last moments of the war. Now living his life as freely as he can, Vaan wants nothing more than to fly the skies as a sky pirate. Thus he meets Balthier and the Vierra warrior Fran, who are indeed sky-pirates, while making an attempt to plunder the treasure of the old Dalmascan king. Finding himself sucked into a greater conflict, Vaan and his new companions escape and find themselves meeting a mysterious woman who looks exactly like the long-dead Dalmascan princess and heir-apparent to the throne. Just what secrets does this woman hold, and what kind of threat is she to the current peace of the two kingdoms, Vaan does not know. What he does know is that he’s willing to follow this woman to find out what can be done to free his homeland of Dalmasca from the Archadian Empire’s hands….
The scope of the story is, obviously, rather large, but maintained nicely by keeping the cast of characters small and categorized. Besides that, the lead character Vaan, who is swept into something that may be beyond him, and Ashe, the princess, are endearing and intriguing figures. It helps that the voice-acting of these characters, as well as the others, is the best that could ever be expected. Accents are added to characters from different parts of the world, adding to the feel of the game.
To sum this up as quickly as possible, everything, and that means EVERYTHING, is just done well in Final Fantasy XII…
Now, for the gameplay. As stated earlier, the simplistic elements of the earlier games were brought back. But added to these more familiar gameplay elements is the licensing system, a revamped take on the “Class” system from the earlier titles. While gaining experience, characters also gain something called LP that can be spent to buy specific proficiencies in certain categories, such as Black Magic, Daggers, and Skills. As it takes quite a bit too fully master every ability, LP must be spent smartly and each character must take on a role of their own. Melee fighters, long-range shooters, and magic users are the common paths but mixing and matching can be fun as well. I’ve found myself wondering for hours on end simply to gain the LP needed to customize the characters to my liking.
The real-time battles are also a welcome addition. While I was one of those who spoke up for random battles, believing it to be important to what Final Fantasy is as a series, I can say that I’m now convinced that the change was a smart one. Rather than waiting for every separate battle to load, the characters simply draw their weapons when an enemy is near. Experienced is tallied on the fly and items are dropped on-screen, meaning no extra time is spent after the battle while the game processes these things. And should the battling become tedious, you can simply hold down the R2 button and run away.
I will say, however, that I miss Bahamut, the King of Dragons. The summon spells are now the creatures from the Zodiac stones from Final Fantasy Tactics, and though the variation was interesting it does seem a little different without that old mainstay. Still, the actual system of summoning monsters is unique so this can be easily forgotten. It’s something, seeing these all-powerful beings manifest themselves as fight alongside your characters on the battlefield.
Final Fantasy XII is a marriage of miracles, combining the old and the new, the tried and the true, together to make what will go down as one of the greatest games ever made. The sweeping, political story (yet another difference of the previous apocalypse-based stories of the previous games) is smartly done, well-acted, and dramatic enough for the player to find themselves swept up in their roles as the controller of the characters. The new direction is a welcome change, as it breathes new life into a series that was facing becoming a cliché. Therefore, I highly recommend Final Fantasy XII. It is as masterpiece deserving a huge audience, and is a gift to gamers all-over the world.
