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Final Fantasy XII (PS2)

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Probably one of the most anticipated games that Square Enix is working on lies within their most popular series of games, Final Fantasy. The twelfth installment in the series has been recently delayed but I'm sure that they are going to use that extra time for a good cause, and to use that money that received from X-2 to good use.

The setting of this game might seem somewhat familiar to FF Fanatics, yes that's right, it's a city that you might of heard of before. Ever play Final Fantasy Tactics? If you did then you know that the game is set in Ivalice, well surprisingly this game is set in the same city. But, don't get too excited, there won't be any familiar faces or anything closely related to characters or events in Tactics. The city is the only thing that is the same. As always in new Final Fantasy game, there is new characters. The main character in this game looks just like any other Final Fantasy hero, but just a little more feminine. His name is Vaan, and in trailers I have seen he acts mischievous in the divided city. Characters that accompany Vaan are, Penelo who desperately wants peace in the world. Then, there is the outlaw roguish Balthier who is a sky-pirate and also Basch who seems to be a respected knight in the past but recently became a traitor to the kingdom. Then there is a member of the Vierra race, which Tactics fans might know well, named Fran (she is partners to the sky-pirate). Of course if you have a kingdom, you got to have a princess right? Well there is Princess Ashe, who gets seperated from Vaan and the others at the beginning of the game. So far that is all the information I have picked up about the characters and a little story for this game.

This game doesn't play too much like traditional Role playing games, and it might actually seem more like a Action Adventure game then a rpg. The action never loads in this all 3-D environment, in fact there are no shattering screens to enter random battles and there is no order to where people stand in a fight. The only time you are taking out of the gameplay is if you go into the menu or if you pause the game. Basically, it doesn't have the ancient roleplaying random battles and switches in between fighting and exploring. All of the action happens all the time, not wait time and no transitions. This might be good and it might be bad for the series, long time loyal fans might not like this new addition, but extreme new players and FF players that are longing for something different will like this change. I think if you liked FFX, then you will probably like this battle system.

The graphics look incredible in these early stages. The cutscenes and trailers, that I have seen, make you blink a few times at the beauty of Ivalice. In the trailers and cutscenes released I have noticed the distinct personalities of all of the characters and the emotional faces were impressive. These beautiful CG are rumored to be put into the game as much as possible, making gameplay graphics amazing.

As usual every Final Fantasy game has to have some sort of confusing but great gameplay system. FF8 had guardian forces, FF7 had Materia, and so on. This one has things called "gambits" which is basically like tactical orders that the lead characters gives to his supporters. The characters with certain gambits give different strategies to each character, though not much is known about this system yet, there is rumored to be about 10 of them. They are also just like items, you can pick them up from dead monsters or buy them from merchants and so on. Spells are still a main part of the battle system, what would be a FF without spells, as well as summoning spells. The fighting can be pretty tactical to where you can hold your ranged fighters back, and the sword baring fighters can attack the front lines. This system sounds very interesting but maybe a little confusing, just a little more tactical then other FF games. The game is mainly focused on its story and roleplaying, just like any other game in the series; even though rumors are starting up about online-like components. No, I didn't say it will be online, just said it will have elements like an online game. You also get to command up to three characters at a time, instead of just one, and you actually get to see the three characters walking around on the screen.

This is most of the information I have gotten from reading and watching. This game is one of the games I'm looking forward to, even though it got delayed. I believe it will be one of the best games in the series and will probably start a trend of a new type of RPG. More information when it becomes available.

Reviewed By:ShadowRayne Reviewed On: Tue, 21 June 2005 19:20:53 Read: 463

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