If you actually remember 2004’s Final Fantasy’s Online also classed as
Final Fantasy 11, you will certainly remember the disappointment when
the game hit shelves and you played it for the first time.
Again for Square Enix’s 12 editions to the series, Final Fantasy XII’s
disappointment gushes from this game, from the moment you press start
to the moment the end credits role.
Die Hard Final Fantasy fans will be disappointed to hear that the
greatly loved classic battle system of the previous games has been
brutally changed with dire effects, as the battle system is now, still
turn based to a degree, its much more involving to the fact that it
requires more in-depth skill rather than your characters strength…
This is mainly due to the fact that an improved gambit system has been
added in which allows you to program to a sense your allies to do what
ever you tell them.
Another thing that Final Fantasy XII touches on would be its great visuals when it comes to in game play and cut scenes.
Although many fans found that Final Fantasy X lacked what really makes
a Final Fantasy experience, none of them could fault the amazing
visuals as is true with one of its successors, the in game visuals are
very good to look at as well as mind blazingly detailed for the most
part.
On the down side to these visuals you will easily encounter the Frame
rate to be dire at times, which may even lag the game down, as well as
its ridicules lengthy loading screens at every corner or doorway.
Linking in with the fame rate and visuals of the game, the layout is
something to be desired as Final Fantasy XII also gets rid of the
random bouts in which players would be exploring the land and suddenly
enter a fight with an unknown monster. Now there is an upside to this
as well as a downside.
The upside would be it makes exploring more enjoyable and doable as
you’re not entering random bouts every few steps as well as you can now
see the monsters all over the map so if you choose you can avoid them.
The downside to this however is much more brutal to the fact that as
you can avoid them and won’t enter random fights, it is now extremely
hard to find a monster to fight with as at some parts of this game you
wont find any to kill to gain levels. To conclude this review and make
the Players even more frustrated would be the loose story line and
depth to the characters from the start to the finish, this is shown as
soon as game play becomes available due to the fact in some ways its
similar to Final Fantasy X’s story line in the way that the main
character gets lost and then tries to find a long lost relative while
killing or meeting companions on the way.
This describes XII’s story line all too well as the main character Vann
tries to uncover what really happened to his brother in the war and
again on the way meeting these include:
Basch: A banished and disgraced Knight who was blamed for the Kings
death and also who has a twin brother Ashe: A forgotten princess who
lost her husband in the War and wants to find answers
Balthier: A sky pirate and thieve who is just trying to make his way in the world
Fran: Balthier’s partner in crime who also possesses a lot of Knowledge about magic.
This game has very few or none at all good points that Casual gamers
will want to try out. However if you are one of many Die hard Final
Fantasy fans then you will get a few kicks out of this but not many and
this game is certainly forgettable.
