Review: Final Fantasy XII
Since this is a games site (my own in fact) I thought I'd review my favorite game of all time so far: Final Fantasy XII.
I must say this review will definitely not be objective, since I have a deeper love for this game than I have for my best friend, or any present, past or future friend for that matter. Anyway let's get started.
The game starts with an introduction story, read by the voice of an old man, or so it sounds (later in the game I realise the guy looks a bit younger than I thought, or at least a lot different). This whole narrative is quite good, creating the atmosphere for the game, as an intro should. After this, like all Final Fantasy titles I know, it continues on with a cut-scene, but not for too long though, You get to start playing early after that, moving the camera, walking around, pressing X and so on. As soon as you get the basics done, you get thrown into a battle, which is normal in these types of games. From here on you glide into the rest of the game without you actually knowing it, which is one of the things I love about Final Fantasy.
The whole franchise seem to be able to pull certain things off, things that have attracted me and countless others to it. These things include the battle systems, the turn-based combat, the emotion-heavy stories... (Yeah, I literally cried for days when I finished FF VIII). But the most attractive thing about these games is their ability to take you away from reality, a trait millions of people cherish. The fact is, sometimes you need to break away from your work, your everyday chores, the hustle and bustle of life, and go to a place far off, a place that can only exist in one's imagination. Ivalice is one of those places.
Once you get settled into the game, you come across a nifty little invention called gambits. These are little rules you can set for each one of your controlled characters, so that they can fight on their own. This for me was a huge improvement over the previous games in the franchise, because not only do the characters do their own thing, which gives a sense of liveliness to the whole game, but also allows you to focus on more important things, such as deciding which technick to use. It also allows for more things to happen at once, because you have more time on your hands, not having to worry about each character. This also works nicely when parading through a strong area, because as soon as one of your characters hp goes below 30 percent, for example, another character can automatically heal him / her, while you focus on killing the wraith teleporting all over the place trying to doom your cat sitting on your lap.
Then there are hunts. Now these fit into the game and the whole franchise perfectly. I say this because ever since the beginning of my FF days, I longed for the game to be open world, meaning one is free to explore the world and go where one wishes, when one wishes. In FF XII there exists this functionality, and hunts give one the motivation to do it. At a very early stage in the game, you can join a clan. A hunting clan. The cool thing about it, apart from all the cute Moogles, Nu mou's and Bangaas, is the fact that you aren't hunting a duck or a deer, you are hunting legendary monsters, usually hiding in the most mysterious of places. Of course, you have to get there first. There are a variety of ways to do this, but the fastest and mostly used way is via teleport crystals. Yup, Final Fantasy sure loves their crystals! As soon as you reach a certain point in the game, you will be free to travel where you want, using your already unlocked crystals, or your one, two, three or four pairs of feet. The last-mentioned method is the main way of unlocking new places, but nevertheless, you can go where you need in order to get to these infamous hunts. Some of these hunts, or as some would call these types of anomalies in RPG games: side-quests, are a lot harder to beat than the actual story's bosses. Like Omega Shenron in Final Fantasy VIII, these bosses, require more than the average amount of effort to beat, or sometimes even to get to. But what would a game be if not challenging?
Apart from the glorious side missions in this game, the main story is also very enticing, unlike most RPG's in the market. But such is the way of Square Enix, forgive me, I'm a big fan. From the interesting characters you meet, to the way down yonder places you go, every part of it is enjoyable. Even the 'grinding' parts are fun! The main characters each have a very unique and likeable personality as well (yes, I like Vaan too!).
Last but not least, what would a Final Fantasy game be without music? Still brilliant, but the music though... I mean, Nobuo Uematsu is a genius, I think everybody has figured that out by now, but it is almost 2018 now, and I still listen to the soundtrack while I work. I listen to it when I want to relax. I listen to it while I study. I listen to it while I drive. I even listen to it when I feel a bit sad (this game's music has carried me through some very tough times in my life!). But this is the case with each and every Final Fantasy game I ever played, even Tactics Advanced on the Nintento Gameboy Advanced. I could go on about this topic, but then you would stay up way past your bed-time, and I don't want that kind of weight on my conscience...
Bottom line? Well I can just say that I would give this game 10 out of 10. I could not find anything not to like about it. Maybe it's just me, but I don't care, according to me that's the truth. Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this review, so thanks for reading!
I must say this review will definitely not be objective, since I have a deeper love for this game than I have for my best friend, or any present, past or future friend for that matter. Anyway let's get started.
The game starts with an introduction story, read by the voice of an old man, or so it sounds (later in the game I realise the guy looks a bit younger than I thought, or at least a lot different). This whole narrative is quite good, creating the atmosphere for the game, as an intro should. After this, like all Final Fantasy titles I know, it continues on with a cut-scene, but not for too long though, You get to start playing early after that, moving the camera, walking around, pressing X and so on. As soon as you get the basics done, you get thrown into a battle, which is normal in these types of games. From here on you glide into the rest of the game without you actually knowing it, which is one of the things I love about Final Fantasy.
The whole franchise seem to be able to pull certain things off, things that have attracted me and countless others to it. These things include the battle systems, the turn-based combat, the emotion-heavy stories... (Yeah, I literally cried for days when I finished FF VIII). But the most attractive thing about these games is their ability to take you away from reality, a trait millions of people cherish. The fact is, sometimes you need to break away from your work, your everyday chores, the hustle and bustle of life, and go to a place far off, a place that can only exist in one's imagination. Ivalice is one of those places.
Once you get settled into the game, you come across a nifty little invention called gambits. These are little rules you can set for each one of your controlled characters, so that they can fight on their own. This for me was a huge improvement over the previous games in the franchise, because not only do the characters do their own thing, which gives a sense of liveliness to the whole game, but also allows you to focus on more important things, such as deciding which technick to use. It also allows for more things to happen at once, because you have more time on your hands, not having to worry about each character. This also works nicely when parading through a strong area, because as soon as one of your characters hp goes below 30 percent, for example, another character can automatically heal him / her, while you focus on killing the wraith teleporting all over the place trying to doom your cat sitting on your lap.
Then there are hunts. Now these fit into the game and the whole franchise perfectly. I say this because ever since the beginning of my FF days, I longed for the game to be open world, meaning one is free to explore the world and go where one wishes, when one wishes. In FF XII there exists this functionality, and hunts give one the motivation to do it. At a very early stage in the game, you can join a clan. A hunting clan. The cool thing about it, apart from all the cute Moogles, Nu mou's and Bangaas, is the fact that you aren't hunting a duck or a deer, you are hunting legendary monsters, usually hiding in the most mysterious of places. Of course, you have to get there first. There are a variety of ways to do this, but the fastest and mostly used way is via teleport crystals. Yup, Final Fantasy sure loves their crystals! As soon as you reach a certain point in the game, you will be free to travel where you want, using your already unlocked crystals, or your one, two, three or four pairs of feet. The last-mentioned method is the main way of unlocking new places, but nevertheless, you can go where you need in order to get to these infamous hunts. Some of these hunts, or as some would call these types of anomalies in RPG games: side-quests, are a lot harder to beat than the actual story's bosses. Like Omega Shenron in Final Fantasy VIII, these bosses, require more than the average amount of effort to beat, or sometimes even to get to. But what would a game be if not challenging?
Apart from the glorious side missions in this game, the main story is also very enticing, unlike most RPG's in the market. But such is the way of Square Enix, forgive me, I'm a big fan. From the interesting characters you meet, to the way down yonder places you go, every part of it is enjoyable. Even the 'grinding' parts are fun! The main characters each have a very unique and likeable personality as well (yes, I like Vaan too!).
Last but not least, what would a Final Fantasy game be without music? Still brilliant, but the music though... I mean, Nobuo Uematsu is a genius, I think everybody has figured that out by now, but it is almost 2018 now, and I still listen to the soundtrack while I work. I listen to it when I want to relax. I listen to it while I study. I listen to it while I drive. I even listen to it when I feel a bit sad (this game's music has carried me through some very tough times in my life!). But this is the case with each and every Final Fantasy game I ever played, even Tactics Advanced on the Nintento Gameboy Advanced. I could go on about this topic, but then you would stay up way past your bed-time, and I don't want that kind of weight on my conscience...
Bottom line? Well I can just say that I would give this game 10 out of 10. I could not find anything not to like about it. Maybe it's just me, but I don't care, according to me that's the truth. Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this review, so thanks for reading!
Comments
Post a Comment