“As war looms on the horizon, the mighty Archadian Empire begins a campaign to subjugate it’s neighbors. The small kingdom of Dalmasca was one such neighbor, and it’s here that our tale begins” - Square Enix.

For any RPG fans out there the name “Final Fantasy” implies deep detailed characters and an expansive story. “Final Fantasy XII” does not disappoint in this. With over 100 hours of solid game play even the most hardcore dedicated players will find plenty to do in this title.

Story - The story begins with the young man named Reks whose a knight in service to Dalmasca, as the story unfolds you take control of Vahn, Reks’s younger brother who is now an orphan. Sound a little cliche? Perhaps it is, perhaps not, depends on how you look at it. The story arc may not be the strongest but Final Fantasy XII does something incredibly right here, they pace well.

The game never has a rushed feel to it. There is of course the main story but behind that lays so many side quests it’s hard to keep track of them all. Yet, for all the quests one can undertake they’re nothing without a viable believable cast of characters and this is another thing Final Fantasy XII does well. From a desperate fallen knight, to a not-so-dead princess, even a charismatic sky pirate all lend their aid to your ever expanding mission.

Audio - Asides from being able to pen some of the most renowned stories in video game history Square Enix also takes video game audio to the next level. Final Fantasy XII shines in this regard. Every sound in this title is done near perfectly as well as having some of the best voice-over work done in the RPG genre of video games.

V.O. actors Bobby Edner, Cat Taber & Gideon Emery give stellar performances as well as the rest of the cast. Along with these great actors is the musical score. From fast paced chase themes to emotional symphonic scores the music truly delivers.

Combat - Combat could’ve been a tad better in this reviewers opinion. Instead of creating a new combat system Square Enix decided to use a system that’s strikingly familiar to the combat from Final Fantasy Eleven Online. The player has control over on character, typically Vahn while the computer has control over the rest of your team. Now you do have limited control over these characters as you can issue commands but the bulk of the work is done by the system.

This can be both a blessing and a curse depending on your play style. To help though, Square Enix has created the “Gambit System“. This system allows the player to assign certain pre-ordained actions to their characters which they will execute when certain criteria have been met. For example you can have a supporting character cast the “heal” spell once an ally has hit 50% of their max health. The gambit system can be a little daunting to RPG newcomers but the more dedicated RPG gamers out there will take right to it and will more than likely set up their own complex combat system for each and every character.

Artificial Intelligence - When it comes to the A.I. of your enemies in this game. nothing spectacular happens. In fact it seems that Square Enix would much rather toss sheer numbers at you rather than have enemies who think on their own. Thankfully the numbers the game will toss at you isn’t daunting in the sense of sheer hopelessness rather it feels sort of annoying to be attacked by 6-7 of the same enemy every 20-30 steps. Did I mention there is no combat screen? That’s right all the combat happens on the same screen. This does allow players to see their enemies beforehand and possibly slip by them but the aggro range of said monsters is rather large.

Replayability - Typically once you’ve conquered an RPG there is no reason to go back to it other than for sheer enjoyment of the story. Final Fantasy XII seems to want to break that mentality. I’ve personally logged over 120+ hours into this title and still not found every single thing in the game. So is it worth it to go back enjoy this game after you’ve beaten the main story-line? Absolutely, from monster hunting to rare & epic weapons that require a vast amount of work to obtain Final Fantasy XII has plenty of reasons to return to it once it’s been completed.

Final Thoughts - If you enjoy Final Fantasy as a series or simply love a good a story than I highly recommend picking up Final Fantasy XII for the Playstation 2 console.

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