A game that i feel went in the wrong direction
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.
