Issue 12 Reviews

 Every month you can watch reviews and read our thoughts on the games we've been playing, old and new. This month, it’s all about FFXII baby.

Trudge on just a bit further - there are a few hours in a sewer I’d rather forget - and Final Fantasy XII opens up its systems, its world and its heart to you. Vaan’s first encounter with cocky sky pirate Balthier and elf/rabbit Fran is the point where licenses and gambits and everything else start to come together and make sense. It can be a bit complicated to try and explain, but basically every character can choose a job license - knight, monk, mage etc. - and start earning abilities and equipment for their chosen job using the license board.

In the original PS2 version, every character had access to every possible square on one big license board, but in this Switch re-release the narrowed scope of giving each character a job means characters have to specialise and be used in smart combinations to overcome foes. It sounds overwhelming but it actually results in a great sense of personalisation, as if you’re truly crafting a party of your own characters instead of accepting whatever the story dictates the characters do. This is true role-playing, like rolling characters before a D&D session except you also get the advantage of wonderfully drawn and written characters to go with their customised attributes.

We’ll talk about the characters and story and all that in a bit, but first: Gambits.

JRPG battles are almost always a case of action and reaction: baddies hurt you, you heal; baddies are weak to fire, you use fire; baddies charge for a big move, you defend. In FFXII, you *can* go into the menu for every character one at a time during a fight and play in the way you’d usually do, but it’s not the smart thing to do. Instead, the game gently nudges you towards using gambits.

With gambits, you set up a series of little logic functions for each character. I know, I know - it sounds dull but stick with me. You can tell your mage to attack with ice if the enemy is weak to it, and your muscle to back up with whatever the party leader’s target is to finish them off quickly. You can set potions to be used if an ally’s health falls below a certain percentage, or add buffs if they need a helping hand. Setting up gambits requires a bit of time spent in the menu, working out the logic of how your team works together, but it save so much hassle when it comes time to battle.

Of course, all of this wouldn’t mean anything if the story, world and characters were rubbish. Nobody cares about a battle or job system if a JRPG just isn’t a fun and enchanting place to be. FFXII’s other reputation is of a confused game with a troubled development, resulting in an unfinished plot and weak characters. This is where I have to admit I haven’t finished the game yet, but in my opinion so far both the plot and the characters are wonderful. Yes, even Vaan.

It helps that the game is set in Ivalice, Matsuno’s fantasy creation used in Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story. This is a rich, sumptuous world full of detail and history. The central city of Rabanastre alone can be explored for hours, just poking around nooks and crannies and getting lost in its endless details. It reminds me of Shenmue 2’s Kowloon, simultaneously grubby and beautiful, and full of interesting characters to meet around every corner. And the tale that takes place in this wonderful world is just as enthralling.

Final Fantasy XII tells a complex story, and on a surface level it can seem quite dry. This cast of characters doesn’t really fall into anime archetypes like other JRPG characters do, and they’re a bit less keen on wearing their emotions on their sleeves. Vaan doesn’t even feel like a protagonist for the most part. But this is an ensemble cast, being used to tell a larger story about nations, wars, faith and different cultures sharing a world. Teenage anime fans might get tired of the story and go back to another Final Fantasy game instead, but I really feel that, so far anyway, Final Fantasy XII’s story is written by adults, for adults. I don’t mean that in a belittling way; there’s a place for all types of story, but I get the genuine feeling that an attempt was made here to tell something grander and more complex than the usual JRPG fare.

More than anything, it’s the world that makes Final Fantasy XII so great. Every great review I read of the original release and every fan who still holds onto it as their favourite mentions the world of Ivalice, and I have to admit I’ve fallen for it too. Ivalice is a wonderful world to lose yourself in, and the cast of characters and deep, complex role-playing within it make Final Fantasy XII one of the all time greats.