Final Fantasy XII

Preview

Final Fantasy XII will have a development team being headed up by Yasumi Matsuno, the man behind Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Tactics Ogre, and most recently, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. While his games have an ardent following, he's never had the chance to work on anything as huge as a Final Fantasy game. After seeing it unveiled, it's clear that Matsuno and his team are working hard to make this the most successful title they've ever worked on. This is not even to mention that the music scores will be composed by the one-and-only Nobuo Uematsu.

Like all new Final Fantasys, the new combat system is very different from previous Final Fantasy games. You won't see random enemy attacks or quick transitions from the level to combat. Skirmishes in FFXII are seamless. If you see an enemy, you can choose to run away like a coward or engage (much like the old-classic Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest. Unlike past games, the environment plays a significant part of combat. Choosing the best place to attack and defend from can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

When you attack an enemy, a tiny blue arc is displayed between you and your target. The same goes for your party, so you can see who your team is going after. As for your foes, red arcs represent their chosen prey. If you see four red lines pointed at you, then you sure as hell better run to a more advantageous spot in the environment. This all sounds interesting, and we're sure it will take some getting used to.

Now, there are still some commonalities between the fighting system in this game and the ones found in its predecessors. Though you can let battles play out in real time, it's smarter to take pauses in the action to coordinate optimal strategies. Unlike the classics, you MUST use your head when in battle and not just sit there and attack the whole time.

At any given time, you can adventure with three characters. You can swap others from your roster. Control freaks can choose to select every single move their team members make. The more adventurous types can control the main character, while using "gambit" commands for the others. These are general orders, such as attack, heal, defend, etc. The characters AI kicks in under gambit mode and the character acts fairly independently.

The display screen is relatively clean. The map is in the upper-right corner of the screen. The main character's menu is on the bottom-left corner. Basic commands occupy the top portion of the screen.

Overall, the development team said that the main theme of the game is about a young boy growing up to be a man. Vaan will get caught up in events and experiences that are much larger than his dreams of becoming a sky pirate. His adventure becomes one that could change the fate of the world.

Final Fantasy XII looks like it will be one of the most unique games in the series. People are going to love the art and story direction Matsuno's team is taking the game in. That said, I doubt it will measure up to how insanely popular FFVII was, but artistically the game might mean more for the series. The graphics look fantastic and the developers are trying several new things in the game. Whether they succeed or not, it's cool to see Square giving the new kids a chance to take its key franchise in a new direction.