Final Fantasy XII in-depth

If you have any interest in the game at all, you've probably already heard plenty about the gambit system and, to a lesser extend, the seamless battle system. Personally, I found the gambits tons of fun. More importantly, though, the seamless battle/encounter did wonders for the overall level of immersion.

As much as I liked the new game mechanics, the plot is where it really shines. The game is officially in the world of Ivalice from Final Fantasy: Tactics (details in comments). More importantly however, plot-wise it follows in the stylistic footsteps of Tactics. That is, individuals struggling to do what they can in an involved and rapidly changing political climate, driven by the complex motivations of those who are in power at the time. On top of that, there is a ton of additional background text that shows up in game (each page of the bestiary typically unlocks some additional page of random background text -- a gem that is easy to miss!), making a very colorful and self-consistent game world.

Two of the main characters were fairly uninteresting -- alright, and at times even cool, but disposable for the most part. There only purpose seemed to be to have a couple of normal people in the cast that players could relate to. Beyond that, the cast is great. The remainder of the playable characters are all excellent, and the (major) NPCs range from good to fantastic.

The interface is very well polished, but a few frustrations managed to slip through. Most equipment you can buy in shops affects your stats in ways you can't see until it is purchased. I have incredibly minor gripes about the organization of the license grid and the rate at which you pick up new gambit possibilities, but meh.

There are also some timing issues that crop up in combat, almost exclusively late-game though -- basically, some combinations of moves / spells have visual effects that are mutually exclusive. The result is that if two characters try to cast, say, Scathe (the highest level black magic), the second can't cast until the first is completed, and will stand around waiting in the interim -- most lower level effects do not have this problem, and can be used in parallel. This has consequences in both directions -- I could easily double the length of this post analyzing this in more depth, but I'll spare you.

The ending sequence (from the point you commit to the final dungeon) is absolutely fantastic. There are a number of things I'd love to praise the game for, but I can't say them without spoiling something here or there. For shame!

Hanging out on Internet messages boards (what I go through for you!), massive love for FF-XII is highly correlated with love for FF:T, FF-VI and, to a lesser extend, FF-IX. I guess I'm three for three (never finished IX, lost my save file).

There's a bit of bonus candy for long-term fans of the Final Fantasy games. Old bosses and some recurring characters make the expected appearance, usually in side quests -- I appreciate this quite a bit, since I enjoy the homages, and they pull it off without ever giving you the feeling that they're cheapening the central plot of the game. You'll find moogles and chocobos aplenty. Familiar summon names appear in a slightly non-standard fashion -- the imperial airship appearing very early in the games is christened the "Ifrit". If you've played Tactics, you might recognize the names of the Lucavi, or even a certain prophet who gets a subtle mention. Apparently I missed the Biggs and Wedge appearance entirely, and almost let Ultros (Orthros -- "Don't tease the... Flan?") slip by unnoticed as well. A certain swordsman makes an appearance, earning a chuckle or two with his usual repartee.

I'm still waiting the obligatory cool-down period before I start comparing it in Raw Goodness to other FF games, but it certainly didn't disappoint (if anything, it "blew my mind"). I had to exert a great deal of self control not to immediately start a new game after the end credits finished rolling by.

Oh, and there's one more important thing to say: DON'T LISTEN TO ONDORE'S LIES!