Omake » Game Review

Here, I give my own opinions on the game. I won't say that you'll agree with me, but you're not the one who's running this website.

Story and Plot

Okay, so Final Fantasy the series, especially after Final Fantasy VII, has been expected to have grand and epic storylines that immerse the players into their worlds, to fascinate and awe gamers for years after their release. Final Fantasy VII was about humanity harming the planet, and realizing its mistake. Final Fantasy VIII was an epic love story between a hardened mercenary and a spoiled slutty princess-like whore. Final Fantasy IX was about a lowly street thief who found out that he was an alien life form, and his own awakening into a hero who defeated some random-butt boss monster who appeared out of nowhere at the end of the game.

Well, okay, so the PSX-generation Final Fantasies haven't been perfect. But Final Fantasy X... wow, that got a lot of gamers' attention. While not perfect, it was popular enough to spawn a sequel. But would the next installment in the series live up and surpass it? The online-only FFXI alienated some gamers, but rumors of the final PS2 Final Fantasy title persisted around the community.

For years fans have speculated this. Finally, after so many delays, Final Fantasy XII graced store shelves in Japan, and eventually later that year in North America. Was the wait worth it? Was this batch of characters including this girly main character and a strong female lead wielding a sword and shield make Final Fantasy history?

Meh. In my opinion, no.

Quite honestly, this game was a huge letdown in terms of story and characters. For one thing, the story pacing is offset by the sheer amount of powerlevelling you must do in order to even get enough money for the next sets of equipment. Another thing, the game story is very short when compared to Final Fantasy X; the amount of story scenes are lacking, and character interaction is a rare glimpse.

For instance, Vaan and Penelo have absolutely no real reason whatsoever to be tagging along with the main party other than "LOLZ I WANNA BE A PIRATE TOO!". The only character who really gets any real development whatsoever is Ashe, and even that is rather sudden and also erratic; one moent she considers Vaan a friend, and the next since he can't see Rasler anymore she shuns him like yesterday's news.

The flow of the main scenario is also very poorly paced. While you basically get to explore all of Ivalice aside from Rozarria, not only are you constantly going from north to south with some ridiculously overpowered monsters just one map away from a wrong turn, you're constantly frustrated because just when something seems interesting, you need to move along to the next area. Rather than delving into what the world is like and having the characters interact, a lot of the game is just running back and forth in one giant fetch quest.

All in all, the world of Ivalice and the characters within it seem just underrealized. No wonder why they put in more scenes in the North American release; there weren't enough to begin with.

Gameplay and Graphics

Okay, in this aspect, this game is absolutely gorgeous. The graphics are the best that any Final Fantasy has seen yet. Anything to how Fran's hair gently floats about her face to how Balthier's eye slightly winks as he shrugs his shoulder is absolutely wonderful. I also love how the eyes were animated.

Gameplay, this is an awesome and addicting game. Even when you level up, you don't mind most of the time (unless you're frustrated about money) because the Gambit system makes that part painless, once you get your Gambits off of the ground. The only irritating part of the License Board I found was the lower half, with all of the equipment. However, even that was interesting in itself.

The options for customizing your characters are endless, and very flexible. It's never too late to switch a character's role in battle if you want to; just get them the licenses they need and equip another class of armor. While time-consuming, each person of your battle party can become more than capable to handle any foe in your path. I remember just powerlevelling without much thought and soon I was ten levels higher than the next three bosses to come!

The environments are also very huge, and very gorgeous. Even Rabanastre is a huge city, and actually feels populated! With all of the races and NPCs in this world, it actually does feel like a world that's worth saving. This has to be one of the most stunning of Final Fantasy XII's features.

Sound and Music

Hitoshi Sakimoto did an absolutely awesome job on the game's soundtrack. But of course, it's Ivalice. Nobody else could do it.

As for the voices, there is no denying that they are very different from the Japanese originals. In my opinion, some of the olde-ifying of the language distracted me from the game, especially Ondore's speech pattern. I just can't take him seriously. And I swear, Al-Cid should've been voiced by Mike Meyers. He is so Austin Powers.

As much as I adore Angela Aki, Kiss Me Good-Bye seems a bit out of place on this soundtrack. If they worked up to it by doing instrumental variations of the song sprinkled throughout the story, it might've worked, but just plugging it in the end wasn't a good way to go about it.

Although I don't have much to say about this, it certainly did add to the experience instead of just being there or, worse yet, distracting from the game.

Overall

Overall, I was disappointed in this installment in the Final Fantasy series. I play games mostly for storyline and characters, and when I found that lacking I was severely peeved. I waited in line at 11:00 PM on October 30 and shelled out money for the Collector's Edition along with the special edition of the strategy guide, and was expecting something epic. I got a half-baked idea wrapped in prettiness.

While it is fun to play, the aftermath doens't leave things very satisfying. The journey was more fun than the destination.