Final Fantasy XII changed the series for the better when it was released. It had a compelling story and characters, great voice acting, music, and graphics, and a completely fresh take on the core elements of Final Fantasy game play.

Up until Final Fantasy XII was released, standalone Final Fantasy games were turn-based and all included separate, off-screen encounters. While that battle system certainly has it's appeal, Final Fantasy XI utilized an MMORPG-style real time battle system that was in turn built into Final Fantasy XII. This means that instead of isolated, separate encounters where each member of the battle takes a turn attacking, you control a single member of the party and govern the actions of the other team using "gambits" which dictate which actions party members take based on certain conditions. The outcome is a very fluid, lifelike battle experience that was revolutionary for the Final Fantasy series. It requires you to constantly think on your feet as battles can turn south in an instant. Danger is impending and requires you to make split-second decisions instead of planning out your strategy turns ahead like previous entries.

The story line is a classic struggle of underdog rebel kingdom vs. imperial powers. Ashe and her party fight to preserve the integrity Dalmasca and refuse to give in to the oppressive Archadian army. Throughout the game, you're constantly rooting for the underdog rag-tag group of heroes and celebrating each victory they gain against Vayne and the council of Judge knights. Filled with political backstabbing, greed, and personal vendettas, the story line in no way disappoints. It should be understood that while the story is viewed from the eyes of the young street urchin Vaan, he should not be regarded as the "main character", rather the group of heroes he becomes entwined with each experience their own arcs and developments throughout the story.

The level development system takes a cue from Final Fantasy X where you earn points by defeating enemies and afterward spend them to gain "licenses" to wear new gear and use new weapons, gain more health, or cast new spells and summon Espers. The focus of leveling is not so much on building base stats, but on acquiring the ability to use upgraded gear and further define characters into their selected "job".

The environments are beautiful. Often you'll be caught just admiring the landscape as you step along a mountain path, through a vast desert, a flowered meadow, or climb a steep snowed mountain while trekking on quests.

In addition to the main quest, several side quests promise you'll be spending hours of additional playtime exploring everything the game has to offer. From unique legendary weapons to rare monster hunts and even collecting massively powerful Espers beyond those encountered in the main game, the extra content is engaging.

Final Fantasy XII is highly recommended as an experience any fan of RPG's should have. Now out for the Switch, there are more platforms than ever to experience this incredibly entry.

I could not finish playing this game. Its so god damn boring that it made me question why i even play video games. Im confused on why the gambit system was even made. Its literally the antithesis of gameplay. most of the game is spent just walking around giant empty wastelands and having you guys auto kill anything they aggro onto. Its not the worse game ever but so much of the game is just a nothing burger. The story is something that i feel like if you were trying to write a story to be objectively good. Art, however is subjective, so that why something like ffx would be a more enjoyable story. X has more emotion and evokes more feeling from the player with memorable characters. XII doesnt really have memorable characters, everyone looks the same besides the bunny lady. Nobody is intriguing or have any real compelling reasons for doing anything. The princess is such a empty character. The entire game she just spouts "I must restore dalmasca" and has no real substance. She has a dead husband who dies at the literal beginning of the game, and i feel nothing for this character i know absolutely nothing about. Nor do i feel sad for the character in my party who i know nothing about besides that she wants to restore dalmasca. Gameplay is literally just holding the left stick forward. While it is cathartic to kill a boss by doing nothing, its also tiring to not do anything. At this point, just have the character move themselves. Theres not really any banger tracks in this because there no random encounters. The everything being green thing really start to drag down on you. The reason i talked mostly about the characters and story is because there really isnt anything to say about the gameplay. It just plays itself and i imagine that if you played this game on the base version without the fast forward button, i'd probably end myself.

Me cuesta realmente creer que este juego fuera tan extremadamente mal recibido cuando se publicó pues, es, definitivamente, un completo juegazo. Gráficamente está fácilmente en el top de la PS2 y musicalmente es bastante bueno, sus personajes son entrañables y en la conclusión, el grupo principal se siente realmente como un equipo esto se consigue gracias a la historia, que definitivamente es muy buena de inicio a fin y concluye de manera adecuada. Su jugabilidad es solida aunque avaces se puede volver tedioso la cantidad de estados alterados que te puede meter un enemigo o un grupo de enemigos, se puede sobrellevar y no mancha al completo el juego. Un absoluto clasico, quizá el mejor Final Fantasy que jugaré y definitivamente un recomendable absoluto.

Final Fantasy as a franchise is know for its deep characters, rich worlds and wonderful soundtrack. XII is a good game but not a good Final Fantasy, because it lacks one of its most fundamental pillars: The characters.
By the end of the game, the ones that stick with you will mainly be Bash, Balthier and Ash. You can clearly see that the game wasn't build with Vaan being the protagonist since the beginning. I don't have a problem with self insert characters, but the game fails to make me care when isn't about the main trio I mention it earlier.

The real strength of this game is Ivalice. This world is so beautiful. The maps are vast, with diverse nature and well populated, monsters and society's alike. Each place has its own culture, manner of speech a architecture, not only building of the mithos left by what came before XII with Vangrant Story and Final Fantasy Tatctics, it expands its lore with great detail.

For me XII will be something I come back to when I miss The Salikawood.