well so far i think vayne is a decent character but also so far ashe is jus tthe clumbsiest thing you will ever see no kidding. Though i have not gotten a game over yet i havent beaten the game either, and im just excited to beat it this will be the second one i have beaten and im going for IX, VIII, and VII so review so far 8/10 and also who is better or

Well, I finished it today and this is what I think~

Gameplay: 7.5/10
I'm not sure what to think about the lack of random encounters. The active dimension battle system makes it more like KH or some other hack and slash action game than Final Fantasy.. well not quite, but it does not seem so much a tactical RPG as previous FF games. In fact, gambits take alot of the work out of it. The magicks system is quite ruined by ADB. You don't have to think carefully, the characters just auto-cast. The gambits system is far from perfect, and the fact that you have to buy them and wait to get the better ones practically ruins the purpose of alot of Magicks. You could say that by selecting wait while you issue commands and turning off character gambits you can make it more like previous FFs, perhaps, but I'm not convinced. You can switch freely between characters, but XII's battle system just doesn't play that way.
Marks/sidequests can be fun, but there's just too many.

Character Development : 8/10
Character personality is ok, but there is not much depth explored at all. There are only really two properly developed party characters- Balthier and Ashe. That said, they are great characters.
I'd say that the license board and idea of any character being developed any way you want them to detracts far away from the style of most RPGs. It can be fun levelling up and buying new items and equipment, but I don't like the idea of having no pre-defined classes. No Black Mages, Knights, and Chemists? Too freelance, IMO. The characters don't have strong images as a particular class, only their clothes give you a clue. The main party hardly ever use weapons, and never use magicks in storyline cutscenes. Licensing is just absurd, basically what Julius Argexis said. XD

Story: 8.5/10.
Evil empire, lots of politics, powerful judges, it all fits together. Whilst there's too much in the way of politics, the villains are quite good. There's alot missed out in the way of character background, etc. Shame. And the ending is perfect.
Very little romantic tension, for shame.
The story is a litle lacking in depth and detail, etc, but it makes up for it with good theatrics , e.g. Judge Bergan's speech.
Some great characters, but it's depressing that only two of them are party members.

Music: 9/10.
I love some of the battle and area themes in some places, but there are also those which can be tedious and annoying.

Graphics: 11/10. Its graphics are very advanced, no flaws there. Though it doesn't matter as much as having a strong story.

Replay value: 8/10. Lots of places to explore, lots of items to be had, but some parts are so mind-rapingly boring that I'm not sure I want to play it again.

Overall: 8.5/10.

There is something to be said about a franchise that spans twenty-eight games on ten systems (soon to be thirty-four on twelve), two movies, three anime titles, and a multitude of published works, such as novels and manga. Especially considering this particular franchise was started by a company that was just about to go under. I’d say that’s one hell of a success story, by anyone’s standards!

Well, in 2006, the most recently released numbered title in the franchise, Final Fantasy XII, was released, and quickly received some of the best reviews any Final Fantasy game had received since 1997, when Square Enix (then Squaresoft) released the legendary Final Fantasy VII to an unexpected world wide reaction … but this one happened to create the most mixed reactions amongst fans of the franchise than any other before it. Thus the question is presented…

Is the game really all that good, like those who review games for a living claim, and some fans support?
Or is it just hype for the innovations, and are all those angry fans, who knock it so emphatically, right?

Well… the answers to these questions are simple… yes… and yes… confused?

Well, that’s what I’m here for.


You’ll realize the moment you begin that this game has, by far, some of the best graphics any game has to offer… at least for the last gen systems (which included the PS2, XBox, and GameCube, in case you didn’t know). Sadly, however, you won’t get to see these amazing graphics very often throughout the game, as most FMV sequences within it are done with just the regular gameplay graphics… so even though there are well over six hours of cutscenes, you’ll get to see the really great stuff for maybe a total of an hour, or so (if that).

This is actually one of the chief complaints about the game, as I’ve noticed, and though it didn’t bother me much at all, I have to admit that the angry fanboys are right on this issue… the staple of badass cutscenes in badass graphics was mostly lost in this installment… not that the regular graphics are poor.

That said, however, the cutscenes are still badass, especially during the latter half of the game.


Fortunately for the player, this game makes up for its FMV issues with its extremely innovative gameplay.

Using what is called the Gambit System, the player can set up each of the playable character with instructions of how to fight, heal, and generally act during battle. With this system, it is even possible to set it up so that you would never have to actually think about any fights, save for boss battles, but I find that to be a lame option, and personally think that anyone who does such a thing isn’t a real gamer, anyway.

Personally, I liked to leave my party leader Gambit free so that the game would be more fun.

Oddly, though this actually created some problems later in the game, specifically in a location called Giruvegan, while I was leveling up my secondary group to level 50 before I went to face the final boss. Likely a glitch of some kind, When I would have my party leader, who happened to be Balthier at the time, attack, rather than continuing his attack until the enemy was dead (which is what they’re supposed to do, even without Gambits), he would shoot once and stop, forcing me to select the attack command again, but it didn’t bother me too much, because it never happened in any other location.

Overall, the battle system in this game is amazing. Its fluent, entertaining, sometimes challenging, and truly open to many strategies, all variant upon how the player likes to play the game. That said, one thin I can’t stand about the battle system is how the espers work, and how summoning essentially has become a waste of time, in my opinion, anyway.


See, regardless of which esper you decide to use, it is always the same… you summon them and all your allies are gone, save for the summoner and the esper. Not bad in theory, especially considering this is exactly how it was done in Final Fantasy X, however there is a major difference between the two, and that is the new battle system.

As great as the Gambit System is, it creates massive problems with summoning. The espers aren’t one hit wonders (like in Final Fantasy I-IX), and they aren’t controlled by you (like in Final Fantasy X), instead they are run entirely on Gambits… but you don’t even get to set up those! Basically, summoning is reduced to a method of distraction if you need to heal the person you’re having summon, and even then, it would just be easier to take control of them and have them run off a bit while the battle is still going and cast some healing magic on themselves. Not only would that be easier, but it would be faster, and less complicated.

But don’t worry too much about this flaw. Replacing the limit break type attacks (as seen in Final Fantasy VII-X) is a little something called quickening attacks (yes… quickenings).


Quickening attacks are mist abilities, not amazingly found underneath the summoning option. Essentially what they are is one hit extreme attacks, performed in cutscenes with the character selected. But since they don’t require a special meter to fill (Final Fantasy VII) or your life to be low (Final Fantasy VIII) in order to use them, but rather just work off of your MP, they are a surprisingly efficient replacement for your traditional summon.

And what’s more is that quickening attacks can be chained together. During the quickening attack, you are given the chance to choose another quickening attack from another character, or the same one depending on how many quickening the character has, and how much MP you’re using for the current quickening. But even if you’re out of MP, you can sometimes land a Mist Charge option on a character, which will boost the MP to its max, and allow you to select their quickening again.

The catch? As you do more quickenings in the chain, the faster the timer empties, and it can prevent you from selecting another quickening for the chain. But as long as you can manage a chain of three or more, you are almost guaranteed what is called a wide area attack. Its sort of the topping of the cake, as it attacks all foes in range, rather than just the one selected.

A good chain from high level characters can deal upwards of 30,000-50,000 damage, making boss fights a whole lot easier, but you probably wouldn’t want to use these attacks on anything but bosses, as they do tend to greatly drain your MP, and do far more damage than any regular beast needs done.

Now, the story is something that I’m kind of disappointed in, and here’s why… its not complete.

The story is one of truly epic proportions, with some great potential, and what you experience of it is absolutely magnificent, but there are gaps within it. And I don’t mean plot holes, or anything like that, I mean there are just gaps that are never properly explained. Most notably, there is a two-year period between the prologue and the introduction of the main character. A two-year period that is only explained by saying that Ashe is a resistance leader, Vossler has been protecting her, and Vaan’s brother died after bearing witness against Basch. Sure that’s enough, but it leaves a big hole, and it really just bugs me. I’m not saying I would like to be shown all that happened during that time, but a bit more dialog on the matter would be nice.

Now, some would go on to complain about the ending and how it doesn’t really end the story, because it leaves it open. This complaint I don’t agree with for two reasons… first, the story is over and done with. It’s the one-year-later-epilogue that is open ended… and second, there is a little game called Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings that literally begins at the exact moment the epilogue ends (I’m currently playing that, look for a review to come). So that’s not even an issue.

Also, there are other little things within the character development that should’ve been fleshed out more. Most notably is some of the main characters’ motivations, namely Vaan and Penelo. Its stated early in the game that Vaan wants to be a sky pirate… but his motivations passed just ending up there are mostly unexplored… he’s mostly just like a tag along to the other characters, and I don’t think that’s appropriate for the main character. And what is even worse is that Penelo’s whole reason for being there is that Vaan is. So Penelo is literally just a tag along of a tag along… and that’s just pathetic.

But not all of the characters had bad development.


The other four main characters get at least a fair shake at good character development, but you will notice that throughout the game, some are developed a whole lot better than others, and sadly, even some with good development don’t have as much as you’d like… or more truthfully… Basch didn’t have as much development as I would have liked.

Basch’s story begins in the prologue, as he is the only playable main character of the game that is a part of it. You see him kill his King and then mortally wound Vaan’s older brother, Reks. Later, you find him in a prison where he is being visited by the Judge Magister, Galbranth… someone who has a very personal relationship with Basch. After you reluctantly free him from his cell, he tells you his side of the story, and that he was actually captured, and that the man who killed his King and Vaan’s brother was, in fact, his own twin brother, who just happens to be Judge Galbranth, of the Arcadian Empire. Then we get much of nothing for him in terms of character development until right near and literally at the end of the game. You have a confrontation with Galbranth during the second to last mission objective, and there is some alright development from the words spoken by Galbranth that sort of flesh out a little of Basch’s history, but serves more as development for Galbranth, himself, who has had some interesting character developments himself, by this point in the game. Now, as long as you have Basch in your party during the boss fight that follows, there is a cutscene between the two brothers that is kind of nice. And then right before the final boss onslaught, you fight him again and you get some more decent development for both Basch, and his brother, not to mention a great bit about honor and serving those who are worthy, which leads to a cool moment in the epilogue, but I won’t say what it is, exactly. So he had decent development, but not really as much as one would like.

Ashe had some alright character development, as well, but it mostly had to do with her dead husband, and her royal lineage, rather than her actual character… but then, such development didn’t really bother me. Fran had similar development, but hers was just enough to interest you and then pull the plug. You go to her home and discover some things about her past, and her family. But you’re only here for a moment, and the whole bit gets slammed with a joke that, while funny, wasn’t a good end to her development.

Now, Balthier probably had the best character development in the game, and I reckon it had a lot to do with who he was and where he came from. Balthier doesn’t seem like much at first… he’s just a brash, arrogant, vain sky pirate by all accounts… but when you reach the Phon Coast on the way to Arcadia, there is a cutscene that is a discussion between him and Ashe. The discussion is mostly one sided, and it plays into Balthier’s history greatly. He tells her about his shocking past (and, yes, it is shocking)… his previous occupation, and most importantly, of his father. It is this connection that gives him some of the best development, because his father turns out to be one of the lead bad guys, one whom you must fight twice, and pushes the story along almost entirely. Thus Balthier was fleshed out fairly well by the end of the game… and what he does in the final cutscene, though I won’t say what it was, truly showed what kind of man he was, and why he was such a great character.

Anyway, that’s enough of that!


One last thing about the game is its openness. Taking queues from Final Fantasy XI, and MMORPGs in whole, I reckon, this game has a very open ended format. There is a direct story line, but it only encompasses maybe a fourth of what can be done in the game. Between hunting, running side quests, the optional espers (which there is reason to get at least five optional espers, even though summoning sucks in this game), and everything else that can be done in the game, there is definitely plenty of material here to keep you occupied for well over a hundred hours. That said, some of it is extremely frustrating, but what’s a game without a challenge?

This is actually another thing that some people complain about, but its one I think is unfounded. If you have a problem with side quests, and the like, just don’t do them! Don’t bitch because there are so many and you want a 100% game. This is actually one of the better things about the game, in my opinion. Because it creates a lot of continuing gameplay and thus the game purchase is worth more.

That said, its time for my verdict and final opinion of the game in whole (finally).


This game receives a solid 4 out of 5 pieces of manufacted nethecite… I really wanted to give it a perfect score, but to do so would be to unfairly overlook the flaws in the story line, character development, and summoning… that said, it is a truly a wonderful game that you will not regret putting forth your money to obtain. If you’re a long time fan of Final Fantasy, you will more than likely be quite pleased with this game, as long as you can allow yourself to keep an open mind while learning an entirely new battle system… as for everyone else… well, you’ll probably enjoy it even more than the long time Final Fantasy fans.

And there it is… my extremely longwinded review of Final Fantasy XII.
Thanks for bearing with me throughout it.

I finished the game again recently and wanted to write a review.

A final fantasy game that reverlusionised the games in most peoples oppion but in mine it only made a good game only a little better. This game couples good graphics and great game play with a compelling storyline that gets gamers wanting more and makes the game kind of adictive but highly enjoyable.

This game gets a 9/10 from The Hunter. (Note I have NEVER given a 10/10 before)

I was disappointed after playing 12, it was the worst for me.

Storyline: 6/10
The plot was the most basic among all FF's. It didn't have a twist to it. It was too plain. I could literally tell how the game was going to end after the first two hours of playing. It didn't have those mid-game introductions to bring the story to a whole new perspective (i.e. Jenova, Adel, Kuja). btw, did anyone notice that there was no love story involved?

Gameplay: 7/10
It was good for square to deviate from the turn based system but I do not think they performed this one well. With all the gambits, I just set it and watched TV or read a book. The licenses were not helpful at all. What's the use with having the same board for all(not sure about the int version). They should have used the boards for making specific jobs like thief,mage,etc.

Graphics: 10/10
Square always perform with the graphics but great graphics is never enough for an RPG.

World Map: 9/10
The scenery was great especially when I ran around for hours looking for marks,rare marks, and leveling up. Although I felt that there were too many places to walk through before getting there.
The cut scenes were great with the quickenings and espers but after using them too much, they become too long.

Characters: 7/10
They could've done a better job with developing Vayne's character. he's supposed to be the main bad guy right? They didn't focus on him like the attention that Seifer,Seph,and Kuja got.

Sidequests: 6/10
At first the idea seemed cool, but with more than fifty marks, rare marks and extra espers all in all, you begin to ask why you need to hunt them down.

Music: 9/10
The FF series has always produced music worth listening to.

Replayability: 5/10
There's no new game plus and repeating is too dragging.

Difficulty: 6/10
For an experienced RPG gamer, it's too easy.

All in all: 7.2/10

I still can't figure out how they pulled a 40 with Famitsu!

I finished XII a few weeks ago. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, the scenery being the biggest enjoyment factor, most probably.

Graphics - Simply amazing, well done Square.

I would've liked to have seen more cut scenes with the professional finish, (FMV's?) as opposed to the repeated use of game-play graphics in the short movie sequences.

The scenery was great. I loved the unique feel of each area. A more gradual transition between areas might be a potential area for some improvement. Suddenly going from forest to beach to desert isn't the most realistic experience

Music - Good work, definitely back on the right track

The music was entertaining and exciting in the right places. I have to say that I feel VII and VIII had the right level of dramatic music. This made you feel as though you were experiencing a fantastic adventure/action movie first hand. For some odd reason, the music in X and X-2 became really tame. Saving the world to a very passive soundtrack just really diminishes the entire experience.

XII seems to be getting back onto the right track. More dramatic and exhilarating music made the game much more entertaining for me. While I still feel it has a way to go, it was still far better than that of it's 2-3 most recent predecessors.

Story - Believable and realistic, rather predictable.

I found the story to be quite fast moving in the beginning, only to level off and slow down further along the track. I suppose the main reason for this is because you only really get the opportunity to go on hunts and level up, further down the track.

I was really hoping that the history of Ivalice would be more developed but it wasn't meant to be. Also, the fact that the story completely side-steps the mighty Rozarrian Empire seems strange at the very least.

Once you have established the basics of the plot near the beginning of the game, you can basically predict the ending fairly accurately. I didn't really feel that there were any major plot twists, perhaps a few are debatable.

In favour of the story, it is believable and realistic. It's not something that would be completely unrealistic in a real world situation. I suppose this is because Square moved away from a "saving the world" situation to a "political dispute" situation.

Characters - Great looking but it's skin deep

These characters had the potential to be amazing. They were fantastic looking, the graphics the most realistic by far. Also the token non-human character creates the opportunity for story development.

Like most people say, the characters are somewhat under-developed. There isn't a lot of back story into each of the characters. They also just seem to be filling the necessary niche's that are convenient for the the main story.

Misc

I just found this game overly easy. The bosses weren't hard, the final battles were ridiculously easy, especially given my low levels (55 for all characters). I didn't even need to dip into my reserve members once! Increased difficulty would've been good motivation to be a bit more clever in gambit set up and general strategy.

Gambits were a great addition to the game. Also the fact that they're optional removes any basis for complaining about them.

I think everyone rejoiced when the random battle screens were taken off the charts. Being able to see and engage monsters on your own prerogative was immensely satisfying.

A sort of World Map again! Well done Square. After having both X and X-2 being highly linear and restrictive, I thought we had waved world maps goodbye forever. However XII brought the world map back. I think the obvious next improvement would be to reinstate vehicles on the world map. Let's go back to being able to directly fly an airship and land it on the various locations in the world. Manual travel was definitely a big plus for me.

The little extras such as the bestiary information were great. It helps add to the overall feel and story of Ivalice. I fancied the idea of getting that information from the monsters you encountered. It seems logical, which is great.

The end of Kev's review