“Yiazmat – Final Fantasy XII: Oh boy another Zodiac Game”
Final Fantasy XII is a game I felt like writing a lot about for the fact that, I mean, when you start the game you GET that giant history lesson on the world and are invited to be enveloped in it more than anything really. Unlike my previous reviews, I will pretty much be focusing less on just on a deliberate vibe I had while playing it and I will be digging into what specifically made this game interesting/disappointing/okay to me. This might be the only time I do this for this website because like I said it just works with Final Fantasy XII more than anything.
I wrote “A sunday morning before school back when going to school was that thing you had to do in your life: the video game” for the original Final Fantasy XII specifically because that was exactly the kind of environment I had when I played that version, but I will at least show how this version divulges from the original.
Gameplay:
Final Fantasy XII’s combat system is something that I’ve always wanted from the series, and it is the best part about this game as it was a revolutionary attempt to make the ATB system modern and fun, yet like other “black sheep” Final Fantasy entries it alienated those with preconceived notions of how a Final Fantasy or JRPG should work. Using the Active Dimension Battle (ADB) system, the valley between combat encounters and dungeons was thrown out the window completely, in fact there are no random encounters at all. The ADB system essentially is how combat worked in Final Fantasy IV through IX with timing on every command acting as a sort of “race” to execute said commands (I believe there’s even a direct quote about ATB being inspired by racing in general really). Now while ADB eliminates random battles, this doesn’t solve the issue of battles being tedious no matter how difficult they are because the player still has to manually input commands right? Well, there’s another system that absolutely deadlifts this entire game that solves this problem, the gambit system. If there is one common complaint I have seen with JRPGs (and especially every PS1 FF game with ATB) it is the lack of an auto battler and the excessive repetitive execution of commands or long waiting times in combat (I love Final Fantasy VIII but it is the best example of how bad the ATB system is), in fact a series by the name of “Megami Tensei” created by Atlus had been running circles around Final Fantasy for years in this area with even the Famicom titles having an auto battler while also having way more challenging gameplay that rewarded hardcore rpg fans. With the gambit system, what determines the difficulty for combat scenarios to where player input is required is in the hands of the player themselves. The gambit system is composed of commands that character’s cycle through with a command being played out based on a specific criterion that the player has set to initiate that action, essentially the player is programming a set of tactics but because of how simplified the conditionals are there’s still enough opening to where the player can step in if the gambits don’t fit the situation. I want to start the gameplay section with these two systems because it is absolutely the best change that could have been made at this point in the franchise, as it is a retooling of a previous idea (the ATB system) into something that creates strategy and tension. If the ATB system was like going through paperwork for every enemy you faced, the ADB and gambit system is like becoming John Madden if he knew more about Cactuars than turduckens and maybe signing a paper here or there when the situation gets tense.
No RPG can solely rely on a good combat system if the progression system is absolute garbage cobbled together by middle school math. While Final Fantasy XII doesn’t drastically change how progression works with the series, the addition of the license board creates an interesting dynamic of progression (especially compared to previous entries). While characters still level up and increase their stats through experience points, the license board acts as a way for the player to manually build their character through using points to use specific equipment, gain abilities/spells, and to gain stat perks (like gaining MP from taking/dealing damage) that are vital for specific fights. Through cashing in license points earned in combat for specific spots on the board, other paths open creating new ways to grow your character. I’m sure on paper it seems like it would just be fine if there wasn’t any license board at all and you just had to get better equipment for your characters in the next town like previous Final Fantasy games, but this design choice is absolutely one of the biggest hooks in the game for me personally (note: I do have Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 on my list of favorite games currently). It’s one thing seeing your characters growing while being able to take down tough enemies that you had to run away from, but it’s another to build up points and cash them in to see the kind of party layout you planned in your head. An even smarter design choice the developers made later down the road when it came to the license board in this Zodiac Age edition was the addition of the job system. In the original version of Final Fantasy XII, the license board was the same for every character while also hiding what each path created if you went down them so investing points was an act of blind faith (or buying a guide). Based on my experience of playing the original edition and my time with the Zodiac edition, the job system is a fantastic and smart addition which adds onto letting the player imagine how they want to build their characters while (not so) subtly showing which characters fit into certain jobs with the starting equipment/skills they have for newer players. It’s one thing to build a strategy with the gambit system and having good fights, but it’s another thing for me to build up enough points so that I can have my dream build of Ashe being a black mage knight tank who wipes out everyone while Fran supports her with archery and white magic.
Now finally the weakest link in FFXII’s game design chain: the dungeons/exploring. I don’t entirely dislike it here, but I must say having a single button toggle for fast forwarding in this Zodiac Age release was basically painting a big “we screwed up when we designed this game” sign on the title screen when it came to traversal. I don’t have an issue with speeding up a game, trust me I am in college right now I have things to do also like spending my free time like, writing this thing, but it’s one thing having it be a direct button on the controller and another having it be a button that the player isn’t really going to push unless you show them where it is. The overworld and dungeon traversal in FFXII offers unique locations visually while providing MANY secret locations, they not only took out the traditional overworld map of the old Final Fantasy games, they made it a virtual space to hang out in. The dungeons while being as simplistic as Final Fantasy dungeons can get, are actual labyrinths and because you’re not going back and forth between dungeon and battle screens like in other JRPGs, you can take in how those enemies fit into the environment. I will say, one lazy challenge the player faces when it comes to traversal in my opinion is common usage of traps, there are so many traps in this game that for the first 5 hours I got jump scared by the constant loud popping. Sometimes traps are used at times to create tense environments to prevent the (now powerful) running away mechanic that can trivialize the powerful enemies in an area (specifically at the Necrohol of Nabudis) but it also feels a bit like a deliberate time waster at times. Of course, you can use Libra to see said traps but it’s just something extra you must add as a gambit or something you can just push through and heal because your gambit machine can do that. I’d like to add here that the puzzle designs in FFXII are on the light end of Final Fantasy dungeons really with a specific dungeon towards the end being a bit annoying to traverse through and very evidently feeling like a final stretch. I can’t really say any dungeon in a Final Fantasy game has blown me away that much (besides very specific rare examples that are not in this game) so in retrospect it makes some sense that they aren’t necessarily the best part of the gameplay I guess.
In my opinion, Final Fantasy after a certain point really emphasizes hanging out in the world with bonus content be that with extra dungeons, mini games, or recruitable characters. Final Fantasy XII is absolutely a game where the side content is arguably better than the main content, specifically when it comes to the hunts. Hunts are optional bosses that can be found in specific locations based on the weather or being in one of the (shockingly many) optional areas and let me tell you every boss fight I’ve had in the main story is worse than any hunt I’ve done. One of the earliest hunts in the game, the Ring Wyrm, is the best example of this. The Ring Wyrm is a giant colossal beast hiding in a sandstorm that essentially works to dismantle your party through strong physical attacks, status effects (like making you unable to move), restoring its health, and then casting magic after a certain point. The fight took me 20 minutes and it was so rewarding to plan out how to fight this boss, I really haven’t fought anything in the main story that even compares to just this ONE optional boss (there are way more bosses that pull stuff like this). You could state the obvious fact that yes, I would be over-leveled after doing these hunts but trust me if any main story boss pulled out health restoring moves or different techniques to mess with your party composition that would at least be something that could make every boss last more than 3 minutes on the screen.
I also want to add one final thing, this game repurposes the classic Final Fantasy victory animation for when you defeat bosses in the main story (and a handful of side bosses that aren’t hunts) so imagine a video game just congratulating you 5 times back to back in an hour session, I think I got more praise from this game than any person I’ve met and it’s hard not to at least feel a bit of sarcasm just from seeing “CONGRATULATIONS” over and over.
Looking back on all I’ve laid out here with the gameplay: Final Fantasy XII has been chastised as “a single player mmo” which is something I think makes this title’s gameplay the strongest more than anything really. Because having a single player mmo means you can play whenever you want, you can quickly strategize with the whole party at your beck and call (these guys made a video game before this with “Tactics” in the title), and ultimately a Final Fantasy setting that feels lived in to where you can just hang out in it more than any other single-player entry. The gameplay in Final Fantasy XII is the best in the series, it builds on the ideas and hopes the series had with strategic combat from the ATB entries while rewarding people who want to actively seek out a challenge. If there’s any issue with the gameplay more than anything, it is the broad picture of the game design as it feels like the hunts specifically were pushed onto the side as an attempt to not steer away casual fans of the series while also having to wrestle with players being able to just run away from battles. Final Fantasy XII’s gameplay at the very least is a solid foundation that could’ve been built upon especially if it was a lot bolder with challenging the player, because evidently there was a desire to bring said challenge as I’ve heard more about this game having an hour-long hunt boss than any plot element, any song, or anything else in this game.
Story:
An old memory surfaces in my mind, a chart I saw in English class about “the hero’s journey”. I always hear people talking about how it’s something used from Greek epics to Marvel movies, wow isn’t it cool how you can just follow this template and suddenly you’re on your way towards being one of the best writers ever? It’s that easy?
If there’s anything I can say here it’s that playing FFXII made me want to just, play the other Ivalice games. Final Fantasy XII is a game where at times you’re moving from different perspectives and seeing a world grappling with war, poverty, oppression, and so much more that is tangible when you’re walking around but then you have this basic “hero’s journey” framework set on top of it. When we start Final Fantasy XII, we see a nation having to conform with an invading empire, soldiers dying or being left behind in pain, and apprehension with world leaders and people as another conflict seems to be on the horizon. It's just strange to me how we have so many political things happening and a plot happening also with our main party, but we don’t FEEL anything.
Clearly the writers were excited to be writing a story in Ivalice, there’s loving detail in how magic and technology works, the most interesting infighting on the villain side I’ve seen in a Final Fantasy game (FF7 might be the only game that even goes in this direction), and even small side quests that align with the themes of the story or create small moments, but the people feel so insignificant besides making things happen in the story, following a basic template to make PLOT happen so we get closer to the end.
Our main cast consists of a group of people from different backgrounds: street kids, royalty, former military, and even a cool knowledgeable forest rabbit girl which could create an interesting dynamic of characters coming to terms with their own past or reasons for wanting to bring back the country they are proud of, but we only arrive at the reason and (depending on the character) not that much.
At some point I liked at least something about every character. I was annoyed with Vaan because the game felt like it had to justify him being the kid on the box but there were at least some attempts to give him gameplay moments where you were him on the street talking to people, a sliver of potential to play into the setting and bring a cohesion of gameplay and story together which could have worked wonderfully if it wasn’t so obvious that these were spurs of the moment. There was potential, there was a sheet with character motives, backstory, personality, and all that but making them more than character concepts into actual people requires us to sit with them more besides when something is happening on the screen. Sometimes we got a moment to understand a character and how they were feeling at a certain point in time, but compared to previous Final Fantasy games it leaves so much that’s barren.
It’s less of an issue of the plot being weak and more like it is just going through the motions with only a sliver of potential peaking through from time to time. Final Fantasy XII isn’t Star Wars, it’s just a regular fantasy story that feels like it cares more about you knowing how the world runs than making you surprised by things that happen (as I’ve said before, yeah I want to play Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story), even in the prequels the appeal of Star Wars was from seeing characters grow, changing, reacting (for more than 2 lines of dialogue) and realizing what was happening and less about filing Wikipedia pages.
Overall:
Secretly I’ve kind of wanted a single player mmorpg kind of game really and I think Final Fantasy XII is about as close to that as I got really. What do I mean by single player mmorpg? I mean I get to play out those stories I see or hear about online about mega bosses where you have to coordinate everyone just so you don’t die in one hit, I’m talking about stupidly sprawling (yet not really in the Shin Megami Tensei way) labyrinths, and ultimately hey sometimes I can just see a plot thing happen.
With praise and disappointment, Final Fantasy XII offers something that I at least enjoyed playing even if it somehow ended up being mostly for the gameplay in a series where I’ve always felt the gameplay felt lackluster. This game has an obvious love for Final Fantasy itself with so many references and parallels to previous games that I would argue that this was more of a Final Fantasy game you play as a fan than Final Fantasy IX even.
Final Fantasy XII is a game I felt like writing a lot about for the fact that, I mean, when you start the game you GET that giant history lesson on the world and are invited to be enveloped in it more than anything really. Unlike my previous reviews, I will pretty much be focusing less on just on a deliberate vibe I had while playing it and I will be digging into what specifically made this game interesting/disappointing/okay to me. This might be the only time I do this for this website because like I said it just works with Final Fantasy XII more than anything.
I wrote “A sunday morning before school back when going to school was that thing you had to do in your life: the video game” for the original Final Fantasy XII specifically because that was exactly the kind of environment I had when I played that version, but I will at least show how this version divulges from the original.
Gameplay:
Final Fantasy XII’s combat system is something that I’ve always wanted from the series, and it is the best part about this game as it was a revolutionary attempt to make the ATB system modern and fun, yet like other “black sheep” Final Fantasy entries it alienated those with preconceived notions of how a Final Fantasy or JRPG should work. Using the Active Dimension Battle (ADB) system, the valley between combat encounters and dungeons was thrown out the window completely, in fact there are no random encounters at all. The ADB system essentially is how combat worked in Final Fantasy IV through IX with timing on every command acting as a sort of “race” to execute said commands (I believe there’s even a direct quote about ATB being inspired by racing in general really). Now while ADB eliminates random battles, this doesn’t solve the issue of battles being tedious no matter how difficult they are because the player still has to manually input commands right? Well, there’s another system that absolutely deadlifts this entire game that solves this problem, the gambit system. If there is one common complaint I have seen with JRPGs (and especially every PS1 FF game with ATB) it is the lack of an auto battler and the excessive repetitive execution of commands or long waiting times in combat (I love Final Fantasy VIII but it is the best example of how bad the ATB system is), in fact a series by the name of “Megami Tensei” created by Atlus had been running circles around Final Fantasy for years in this area with even the Famicom titles having an auto battler while also having way more challenging gameplay that rewarded hardcore rpg fans. With the gambit system, what determines the difficulty for combat scenarios to where player input is required is in the hands of the player themselves. The gambit system is composed of commands that character’s cycle through with a command being played out based on a specific criterion that the player has set to initiate that action, essentially the player is programming a set of tactics but because of how simplified the conditionals are there’s still enough opening to where the player can step in if the gambits don’t fit the situation. I want to start the gameplay section with these two systems because it is absolutely the best change that could have been made at this point in the franchise, as it is a retooling of a previous idea (the ATB system) into something that creates strategy and tension. If the ATB system was like going through paperwork for every enemy you faced, the ADB and gambit system is like becoming John Madden if he knew more about Cactuars than turduckens and maybe signing a paper here or there when the situation gets tense.
No RPG can solely rely on a good combat system if the progression system is absolute garbage cobbled together by middle school math. While Final Fantasy XII doesn’t drastically change how progression works with the series, the addition of the license board creates an interesting dynamic of progression (especially compared to previous entries). While characters still level up and increase their stats through experience points, the license board acts as a way for the player to manually build their character through using points to use specific equipment, gain abilities/spells, and to gain stat perks (like gaining MP from taking/dealing damage) that are vital for specific fights. Through cashing in license points earned in combat for specific spots on the board, other paths open creating new ways to grow your character. I’m sure on paper it seems like it would just be fine if there wasn’t any license board at all and you just had to get better equipment for your characters in the next town like previous Final Fantasy games, but this design choice is absolutely one of the biggest hooks in the game for me personally (note: I do have Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 on my list of favorite games currently). It’s one thing seeing your characters growing while being able to take down tough enemies that you had to run away from, but it’s another to build up points and cash them in to see the kind of party layout you planned in your head. An even smarter design choice the developers made later down the road when it came to the license board in this Zodiac Age edition was the addition of the job system. In the original version of Final Fantasy XII, the license board was the same for every character while also hiding what each path created if you went down them so investing points was an act of blind faith (or buying a guide). Based on my experience of playing the original edition and my time with the Zodiac edition, the job system is a fantastic and smart addition which adds onto letting the player imagine how they want to build their characters while (not so) subtly showing which characters fit into certain jobs with the starting equipment/skills they have for newer players. It’s one thing to build a strategy with the gambit system and having good fights, but it’s another thing for me to build up enough points so that I can have my dream build of Ashe being a black mage knight tank who wipes out everyone while Fran supports her with archery and white magic.
Now finally the weakest link in FFXII’s game design chain: the dungeons/exploring. I don’t entirely dislike it here, but I must say having a single button toggle for fast forwarding in this Zodiac Age release was basically painting a big “we screwed up when we designed this game” sign on the title screen when it came to traversal. I don’t have an issue with speeding up a game, trust me I am in college right now I have things to do also like spending my free time like, writing this thing, but it’s one thing having it be a direct button on the controller and another having it be a button that the player isn’t really going to push unless you show them where it is. The overworld and dungeon traversal in FFXII offers unique locations visually while providing MANY secret locations, they not only took out the traditional overworld map of the old Final Fantasy games, they made it a virtual space to hang out in. The dungeons while being as simplistic as Final Fantasy dungeons can get, are actual labyrinths and because you’re not going back and forth between dungeon and battle screens like in other JRPGs, you can take in how those enemies fit into the environment. I will say, one lazy challenge the player faces when it comes to traversal in my opinion is common usage of traps, there are so many traps in this game that for the first 5 hours I got jump scared by the constant loud popping. Sometimes traps are used at times to create tense environments to prevent the (now powerful) running away mechanic that can trivialize the powerful enemies in an area (specifically at the Necrohol of Nabudis) but it also feels a bit like a deliberate time waster at times. Of course, you can use Libra to see said traps but it’s just something extra you must add as a gambit or something you can just push through and heal because your gambit machine can do that. I’d like to add here that the puzzle designs in FFXII are on the light end of Final Fantasy dungeons really with a specific dungeon towards the end being a bit annoying to traverse through and very evidently feeling like a final stretch. I can’t really say any dungeon in a Final Fantasy game has blown me away that much (besides very specific rare examples that are not in this game) so in retrospect it makes some sense that they aren’t necessarily the best part of the gameplay I guess.
In my opinion, Final Fantasy after a certain point really emphasizes hanging out in the world with bonus content be that with extra dungeons, mini games, or recruitable characters. Final Fantasy XII is absolutely a game where the side content is arguably better than the main content, specifically when it comes to the hunts. Hunts are optional bosses that can be found in specific locations based on the weather or being in one of the (shockingly many) optional areas and let me tell you every boss fight I’ve had in the main story is worse than any hunt I’ve done. One of the earliest hunts in the game, the Ring Wyrm, is the best example of this. The Ring Wyrm is a giant colossal beast hiding in a sandstorm that essentially works to dismantle your party through strong physical attacks, status effects (like making you unable to move), restoring its health, and then casting magic after a certain point. The fight took me 20 minutes and it was so rewarding to plan out how to fight this boss, I really haven’t fought anything in the main story that even compares to just this ONE optional boss (there are way more bosses that pull stuff like this). You could state the obvious fact that yes, I would be over-leveled after doing these hunts but trust me if any main story boss pulled out health restoring moves or different techniques to mess with your party composition that would at least be something that could make every boss last more than 3 minutes on the screen.
I also want to add one final thing, this game repurposes the classic Final Fantasy victory animation for when you defeat bosses in the main story (and a handful of side bosses that aren’t hunts) so imagine a video game just congratulating you 5 times back to back in an hour session, I think I got more praise from this game than any person I’ve met and it’s hard not to at least feel a bit of sarcasm just from seeing “CONGRATULATIONS” over and over.
Looking back on all I’ve laid out here with the gameplay: Final Fantasy XII has been chastised as “a single player mmo” which is something I think makes this title’s gameplay the strongest more than anything really. Because having a single player mmo means you can play whenever you want, you can quickly strategize with the whole party at your beck and call (these guys made a video game before this with “Tactics” in the title), and ultimately a Final Fantasy setting that feels lived in to where you can just hang out in it more than any other single-player entry. The gameplay in Final Fantasy XII is the best in the series, it builds on the ideas and hopes the series had with strategic combat from the ATB entries while rewarding people who want to actively seek out a challenge. If there’s any issue with the gameplay more than anything, it is the broad picture of the game design as it feels like the hunts specifically were pushed onto the side as an attempt to not steer away casual fans of the series while also having to wrestle with players being able to just run away from battles. Final Fantasy XII’s gameplay at the very least is a solid foundation that could’ve been built upon especially if it was a lot bolder with challenging the player, because evidently there was a desire to bring said challenge as I’ve heard more about this game having an hour-long hunt boss than any plot element, any song, or anything else in this game.
Story:
An old memory surfaces in my mind, a chart I saw in English class about “the hero’s journey”. I always hear people talking about how it’s something used from Greek epics to Marvel movies, wow isn’t it cool how you can just follow this template and suddenly you’re on your way towards being one of the best writers ever? It’s that easy?
If there’s anything I can say here it’s that playing FFXII made me want to just, play the other Ivalice games. Final Fantasy XII is a game where at times you’re moving from different perspectives and seeing a world grappling with war, poverty, oppression, and so much more that is tangible when you’re walking around but then you have this basic “hero’s journey” framework set on top of it. When we start Final Fantasy XII, we see a nation having to conform with an invading empire, soldiers dying or being left behind in pain, and apprehension with world leaders and people as another conflict seems to be on the horizon. It's just strange to me how we have so many political things happening and a plot happening also with our main party, but we don’t FEEL anything.
Clearly the writers were excited to be writing a story in Ivalice, there’s loving detail in how magic and technology works, the most interesting infighting on the villain side I’ve seen in a Final Fantasy game (FF7 might be the only game that even goes in this direction), and even small side quests that align with the themes of the story or create small moments, but the people feel so insignificant besides making things happen in the story, following a basic template to make PLOT happen so we get closer to the end.
Our main cast consists of a group of people from different backgrounds: street kids, royalty, former military, and even a cool knowledgeable forest rabbit girl which could create an interesting dynamic of characters coming to terms with their own past or reasons for wanting to bring back the country they are proud of, but we only arrive at the reason and (depending on the character) not that much.
At some point I liked at least something about every character. I was annoyed with Vaan because the game felt like it had to justify him being the kid on the box but there were at least some attempts to give him gameplay moments where you were him on the street talking to people, a sliver of potential to play into the setting and bring a cohesion of gameplay and story together which could have worked wonderfully if it wasn’t so obvious that these were spurs of the moment. There was potential, there was a sheet with character motives, backstory, personality, and all that but making them more than character concepts into actual people requires us to sit with them more besides when something is happening on the screen. Sometimes we got a moment to understand a character and how they were feeling at a certain point in time, but compared to previous Final Fantasy games it leaves so much that’s barren.
It’s less of an issue of the plot being weak and more like it is just going through the motions with only a sliver of potential peaking through from time to time. Final Fantasy XII isn’t Star Wars, it’s just a regular fantasy story that feels like it cares more about you knowing how the world runs than making you surprised by things that happen (as I’ve said before, yeah I want to play Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story), even in the prequels the appeal of Star Wars was from seeing characters grow, changing, reacting (for more than 2 lines of dialogue) and realizing what was happening and less about filing Wikipedia pages.
Overall:
Secretly I’ve kind of wanted a single player mmorpg kind of game really and I think Final Fantasy XII is about as close to that as I got really. What do I mean by single player mmorpg? I mean I get to play out those stories I see or hear about online about mega bosses where you have to coordinate everyone just so you don’t die in one hit, I’m talking about stupidly sprawling (yet not really in the Shin Megami Tensei way) labyrinths, and ultimately hey sometimes I can just see a plot thing happen.
With praise and disappointment, Final Fantasy XII offers something that I at least enjoyed playing even if it somehow ended up being mostly for the gameplay in a series where I’ve always felt the gameplay felt lackluster. This game has an obvious love for Final Fantasy itself with so many references and parallels to previous games that I would argue that this was more of a Final Fantasy game you play as a fan than Final Fantasy IX even.