Gaming Steve Review: Final Fantasy XII

Final Fantasy XII
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Price: $19.99
Platform: PlayStation 2
Category: Role-Playing
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Release Date: October 31, 2006

Hi everyone, Chuck here, on board for my first review at Gaming Steve. For my first time out, I thought I'd touch base on a slightly older game that's gotten a bit lost in the shuffle of all the shiny new consoles hitting the market in the last year or so: Final Fantasy XII.

It was asked about by a caller on the most recent podcast, and as I am playing through the game for the third time by chance, and am supposed to be covering the console RPG beat, it seems fate has decreed this is where I should start, sort of like a spiky-haired androgynous young man who stumbles on a huge adventure.

The Final Fantasy series is one of the most venerable console RPG franchises whose roots extend back to the original Nintendo console. The series is known for three main gameplay elements: a long, deep RPG experience that can last 100 hours or more if all the optional sidequests are performed; a large cast of detailed and interesting characters; and numerous, super-pretty cutscenes that blur the lines between game and interactive movie.

Final Fantasy XII delivers on all these fronts and adds an element new to the series: a single-player RPG experience informed by the latest trend in RPGs, the Massively Multiplayer RPG.

Pluses
With that out of the way, let's look at the game's positive qualities, which I have given the stunningly original name of "pluses".

First, the game has really stunning cinematics that tell a great story through the game's cut-scenes. These cut-scenes really show just what the PS2 is capable of in the hands of a technically proficient game design crew that knows the hardware they're designing for intimately. Final Fantasy XII ranks with God of War II as the best-looking games ever to grace the best-selling console of all time.

Second, the game has a really solid mechanical structure that make it a joy to play. Combat is interesting, requires a lot of tactical management and can be intense, both visually and in that "if that doesn't work I'm dead meat" sort of way.

Similarly, the game allows for interesting and varied character advancement, that follows a more freeform path than other offerings in the Final Fantasy series. You can tailor your characters to the way you like to play the game. While generally speaking a balanced party is most effective, the game doesn't force you to play that way. If you want to have an entire party of black mages blasting away with damage dealing spells, an entire party of tough fighters wearing heavy armor, or a party of lightly armed skirmishers, you can.

The world of the game, Ivalice, is an enormous, fascinating backdrop for your adventures and feels like a living, breathing place. Some NPCs will only be in a given city for a short while, while others are permanent residents you can visit again and again and whose dialogue changes as you advance through the game. For a series not known for true sequels, the Final Fantasy franchise has now visited Ivalice three times, in Final Fantasy Tactics (an original Playstation classic which has been remade for the GameBoy Advance and soon for the Nintendo DS), Final Fantasy XII and FF XII: Revenant Wings. The creative folks at Square can't seem to get enough of Ivalice and I'm inclined to agree.

Then there's the story and especially the characters. Final Fantasy XII lags a bit behind FF X in the quality of its story, but that game had the best story of any console RPG, ever so matching it would be a bit tough. Where the story really shines, and the writing behind it, is in the characters. Each main character of Final Fantasy XII (6 in all) and several of the minor characters are interesting and detailed enough to carry their own game. They're people you want to root for (or against) and that you're interested in enough that you want to see how it all turns out for them.

Finally there's the overall feel of the game, which I really like. It's a very old school RPG. There's a lot of killing things and taking their stuff, treks through unexplored deserts and jungles and dungeons. Lots and lots of dungeons. Tombs, mines, cave complexes, temples, ruins and star destroyers ... err, Imperial Dreadnought-class Airships.

Minuses
Now for the game's drawbacks, which we'll call "minuses" for the sake of consistency. Most of these drawbacks fall under the "too much of a good thing" heading.

For example, while the cut-scenes look amazing and have the fine voice-acting, cinematic direction and dramatic musical score we've come to expect from the series, there's too many of them and they tend to come in waves. When the story advances, for example, first there will be a cut-scene about our heroes. Since we know them well, have been playing them for the entire game and since they're interesting characters, these tend to be extremely interesting.

These are usually followed, however, by touching base with the villains and their machinations. These aren't nearly so interesting. For starters, the villains are much less interesting as the heroes. They don't have motivations you can sympathize with or understand. They're eeeeeeeeeevil. 70's comic book evil.

Also, unlike many other Final Fantasy games, the villains aren't even anyone you've interacted with. Seymour, one of the main villains of Final Fantasy X, was someone you came to hate gradually, as you fought him again and again. The villains of FF XII are characters you get to know through repeated cut scenes, but don't ever actually interact with before you fight them and kill them. For the main villain of course, this is the end of the game. Meaning you'll have spent hours watching the exploits of someone you don't particularly care about, even in a "man I really want to kill that guy" way.

Often, this second cut-scene is then followed by a third cut-scene. In all it becomes too much, it's too long a break away from the action and if you hit a wave of cut-scenes at 4 a.m. at the end of a marathon game session, dozing off during the cut-scenes is a distinct possibility.

Next there's the grinding and camping. These are terms familiar to any MMO player and likely familiar to most RPG players. Power levelling is a great thing in an RPG. It's that happy time when the monsters are powerful enough to be really challenging, you're gaining levels regularly but you're not being overwhelmed by the opposition. That's as close to Diablo-esque RPG perfection as you're going to encounter.

Grinding on the other hand, is when you really need to be higher level to fight that next boss but the monsters that give you the most experience aren't particularly interesting, or challenging. While there are several side missions that can help mask the grinding, or at least make you feel like you're doing something (other than grinding), the middle of the game especially has long periods where you are either grinding for experience or grinding for gold to upgrade needed equipment. The difficulty curve of the bosses spikes well beyond the typical monsters, meaning you need to kill lots and lots of them in order to be an appropriate level for the bosses.

Finally, there's the fact that the game's two main drawbacks, the grinding and cut-scene waves, show up at different times. Early and late in the game, when the gameplay is just about perfect, you're going to be sitting through waves of cut-scenes. In the mid-game, the cut-scenes are relatively rare, but you're going to be grinding for XP or cash. At least they help you out if you're playing the game for a second time by letting you skip the cut-scenes.

So what's the final verdict? FF XII is an excellent game with some serious flaws. The gameplay ranks with the best of the series and delivers a compelling old-school RPG experience that feels more like Final Fantasy III for the DS than Final Fantasy X. The middle period of the game can be a tough slog at times but if you watch for areas you like, that give you good XP or loot and spend a little more time there, you can minimize the pain and breeze through areas you find boring.

The characters are first-rate and the writing is superior. The cut-scenes are just grouped together in waves and focus a little too much on a group of villains that weren't worthy of the amount of screen time they were given. Either seeing the villains less or giving them a point of view other than "I want power so I can conquer the world, duh" would have made a huge difference in how interesting the story was. A little more Magneto, a little less 70's Lex Luthor would go a long, long way here.

Still, despite its flaws, Final Fantasy XII is a worthy entry for the franchise and a game worth keeping your PS2 plugged in (and off eBay) to play.

PLUSES: Super-pretty cut-scenes; great characters; rich, compelling old-school RPG gameplay.

MINUSES: Too many cut-scenes focusing on stock villains; level grind occasionally feels forced.

FINAL VERDICT: 8.5 BUY IT!

Posted by cwrice at 12:00 PM | Comments (9) | Posted to PlayStation 2 | Review |