Hey hey! Cory Game Lord Bresser here, and as promised, with the first installment of Game On (brought to you by www.sockpuppetsfromhell.com ) we’re starting big. Ladies and gentlemen….I am proud to review for you….
Final Fantasy XII
Yes, that’s right boys and girls, the grand daddy of RPGs. Square Enix’s pride and joy. One of the greatest Video game series’ of all time. Whatever you call Final Fantasy, the series has hit a dozen, and with this latest installment a lot has changed…but is it for the better?
First and foremost in XII the biggest change is gameplay. Gone are the days of random battles of turn-based destruction and mayhem. Now is the time of always visible enemies and real-time destruction and mayhem. The classic options are still there, attack, magic, summon, item. But now all these actions are made in complete real time. While traversing the world of Ivalice monsters are encountered at your leisure. The player has near-complete control of how many battles you take part of. Furthermore, once the battle begins, all actions occur right form the field, no swirling or fading screens to initiate the battle. Sadly this leads to a major drop in hearing the classic fanfare we’ve all come to know and love(though it does play after certain event battles and story battles). Another huge addition to the series is the License Board. Working similarly to the sphere grid of Final Fantasy X fame, the license board is what enables characters to do everything, from what items you can equip to what abilities and magic you can use.
Now some who have been playing the series for years, this all may come as an outrage. But those same people know that Square Enix would never ******** up their flagship series. For all that is new, all is old. The classic features that made the series great are all still there: Epic storylines, memorable characters, heart pounding action, and some good cheap laughs. Limit breaks return in the form of Quickenings, which, if you have more then 1 party member capable of performing a Quickening, can be linked together. Summons also make a triumphant return (however none of the classic Final Fantasy Summons do). Similar to Final Fantasy X when a creature is summoned it replaces the 2 members of your party who did now summon. The summoned creature acts as a regular party member now, complete with gambits. The only drawback is the only person who can summon the beasts is the one who unlocks them via the license grid.
The main story follows a boy named Vaan in his journey to save his country of Dalmasca from the evil imperials of Archadia. Along his travels Vaan meets up with quite the crew, ranging from A sky pirate(and soon to be fan-favorite) and his Bunny-girl partner, the man the world believes killed the king of Dalmasca(And Vaan’s brother) and many more, totaling 6 possible party-members. Besides the party members you meet many other characters, such as the judges of Archadia who act as judge jury and executioner to those who dare defy the Empire. The creatures of Final Fantasy XII amaze you in how perfectly they blend into crowds and cutscenses along side humans (or Humes as they are called in the game). From the tiny moogles, the rabbit-human Viera, lizard-like Bangaa, to the giant monstrous werewolves and behemoths you’ll fight in the fields, the inhabitants of Ivalice will set your senses ablaze.
It simply wouldn’t be Final Fantasy if you didn’t have to periodically remove your jaw from the floor because of the stunning visuals. Final Fantasy XII delivers in spades, and then some. Right from the opening cinematic the game takes your breathe away, and as you get more into the storyline, they just get better and better and more beautiful in every way.
If the Final Fantasy purists and whackos that refuse to accept change, fear not, there is still hope. One of the most admirable features of Final Fantasy XII is the fact that it can, in essence, almost mimic the classic gameplay of previous Final Fantasy games. By turning off all gambits (actions you pre-program for the A.I. controlled characters in your party) and setting the ATB to ‘wait’ characters in your party will not make any actions without your say-so and all action will freeze when you bring up the action select window. So honestly psycho fanboys…give the game a chance before you proclaim it the downfall of the Final Fantasy series and humanity as a whole.
Now ladies and gentlemen, the moment of truth. Get used to this part of the review because this is how all my installments of “Game On with Game Lord” will end. In terms of gameplay the game is new for the series, fun, and easy to pick up. The sound effects and musical score are crisp, and captivating. As always with Final Fantasy the storyline it is 100% captivating and entrancing. And most important of all everything compliments everything else. Final Fantasy XII for the Playstation 2 gets a whopping 10 out of 10.
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Well...here it is...I dunno how much I'll update this but...I will...everynow and again lol and so...enjoy! n.n
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