Final Fantasy XII
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Final Fantasy XII is a fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2 home video console. Released in 2006, it is the twelfth title in the mainline Final Fantasy series.
The game introduced several innovations to the series: an open world split into zones, a seamless battle system, a controllable camera, a customizable "gambit" system which lets the player control the artificial intelligence (AI) of characters in battle; and a "license" system that determines which abilities and equipment are used by characters.
Plot
The game takes place in the fictional land of Ivalice, where the empires of Archadia and Rozarria are waging an endless war. Dalmasca, a small kingdom, is caught between the warring nations. When Dalmasca is annexed by Archadia, its princess, Ashe, creates a resistance movement. During the struggle, she meets Vaan, a young adventurer who dreams of becoming a sky pirate in command of an airship. They are quickly joined by a band of allies; together, they rally against the tyranny of the Archadian Empire.
Why It Rocks
- An immensely vast open world to explore.
- Up to 100 or more hours of epic gameplay.
- Well-written and voice dialogue.
- Hundreds of creatures and bosses to be fought.
- Tons and tons of sidequests, secrets and much more content.
- An all new gambit system which allows the player to control the party's artificial intelligence.
- No random encounters!! The enemies appear on the map, making combat optional.
- An all new license board which allows fill customization for every character.
- The HD remaster addresses several graphics and audio flaws while also introducing the International Zodiac Job System's content to the West. It also has a new re-orchestrated music, the ability to choose between English and Japanese voices, and the addition of a second job choice. A 60fps option is also included in the PC and Xbox One X editions.
Bad Qualities
- Many believe Vaan to be the weakest primary protagonist in the Final Fantasy franchise, with him having little to no role in the game's plot, which focuses on Ashe and Balthier rather than him.
- When compared to the English dub version, the Japanese voice acting is quite poor, with Vaan sounding the worst. It was revealed that the Japanese crew, unlike their English counterparts, did not recruit professional voice actors, but instead hired normal actors with no voice acting expertise.
- While good on paper, the License Board was not exactly planned out well in the vanilla version which ultimately lead to every character becoming carbon copies of each other (i.e characters can equip every weapon and armor, learn every spell, etc) when the players fills the License Board with the only difference being attack animations. This was fixed in the International Version with the game being rebalanced and requiring players to pick a job for each character.
- In the vanilla version, Yiazmat is considered by many fans to be one of the worst superbosses in the Final Fantasy franchise of all time - mainly due to its outrageous HP, many instant death attacks, and taking hours to beat, even with a perfect team.
Reception
Final Fantasy XII received critical acclaim, earning numerous "Game of the Year" awards in various categories from noted video game publications. Selling more than two million copies in Japan, it became the fourth best-selling PlayStation 2 game of 2006 worldwide. As of March 2007, over 5.2 million copies of the game have been shipped worldwide.
Newtype USA named Final Fantasy XII its "Game of the Month" for November 2006, praised the gameplay, graphics, and story, and called it "the best RPG to have been released for any Sony platform".