|
It's rare when any game is objectively able to live up to its prerelease hype. I remember Molyneaux's (sp?) famous pronouncement that Fable would be the 'best RPG ever made' (which, if it ever was, was easily displaced by Oblivion).
Square Enix's Final Fantasy 12 does all that and more besides. Visually stunning, FFXII shows off some of the very best artwork seen yet in a PS2 game. Coming at the end of that system's lifecycle, it comes as something of a surprise that Square would put forth such effort into a game for what is, arguably, a dying console (not to say that there aren't great PS2 games out there; merely that the console is already being displaced by newer hardware). That said, The environments in FFXII are definitely fully-realized, with superb architecture, sprawling vistas, and a plethora of dark, creepy caves. Everything seems designed with how an actual layout for each environment might be in the real world; cities don't 'automatically make sense', and the exterior, landscape environments are satisfyingly organically built.
The mechanics of this game are something else to be enthused about. Programmable characters (through the use of purchasable condition:reaction setups known as gambits) make the new realtime combat system intriguing and engaging rather than completely unplayable, as such a system could easily have been. Players of the PC's Guild Wars, or perhaps World of Warcraft, will immediately be comfortable with this system, while traditional FF fans will note the inclusion of the character's turn timer bar. These systems work in seamless conjunction to allow more immersion in each battle than any previous Final Fantasy game.
Another innovation to Final Fantasy 12 is something called the License Board. Reminiscent of the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy 10, the License Board allows the player to purchase additional abilities, spells, and summons (in this game, Espers) to aid in the characters' quests and battles. The license board contains every spell and ability in the game, but be warned: you have to have the license for each and every one of them to use them, whether you've bought the weapon, spell, or ability from a merchant or not. And interesting fact not obviously mentioned is that the license board will tell you whether you have a corresponding spell, weapon, or accessory in your inventory by displaying the name of the item in white (when selecting an unpurchased license from the board) rather than grayed out. In this way, the player can easily determine which licenses he should buy and which he should wait on until the appropriate item, spell, or whatnot is in his inventory. In all, it would cost over 13,000 points to buy everything on the License Board, making for a truly incredible level of character customization.
Enemies in Final Fantasy 12 are equally varied, and all of them, from your average, annoying Giza Rabbit to the harrowing optional Espers, are unique in their artwork and animation. Even familiar creatures from previous Final Fantasy games are redone; the Moogles, for example, now have long, rabbit-type ears- but don't let these design tweaks fool you: Final Fantasy 12 is, visually speaking, the best-looking Final Fantasy yet.
Add to all this a charming musical score with memorable tunes and storytelling equal in depth to any popular television drama you care to mention, along with some of the very best voice acting in any RPG across any and all consoles to date, character animation that (for once) comes across as natural, a huge tree of side quests and creature hunts, all set in a magical but decidedly modern world gamers can actually relate to, and you have what is without a doubt the best PS2 RPG this year.
Your PS2 library is not complete until you own Final Fantasy XII.
|