Final Fantasy XII – A Comprehensive Review
INTRODUCTION, or a foreword and some brief nostalgic ramblings
Final Fantasy XII was released for the PlayStation 2 sixteen years ago. Coincidentally, at that time, I was sixteen years old and eagerly awaiting a new single-player Final Fantasy romp to satisfy my adderall-addled brain; always hungry for more fantasy worlds to get lost in. Back then, I didn't care who wrote the story or created the world of a particular game. I knew some trivia, such as Nobuo Uematsu being the composer for most of the series (and thinking it was cool to say he was the best composer of all time), Hironobu Sakaguchi creating the series, and Yoshitaka Amano being the artist behind most of the concept art (and still my favorite artist to date). As a teenager, I assumed these fundamental Final Fantasy truths were still the case here, but I was (mostly) wrong. This, I believe, encapsulates the typical frustrations around Final Fantasy XII – everything's different. Fans, including myself, expected more of the same with familiar monsters, concepts, and themes ... but what we got instead was Final Fantasy XII.
Whether intentional or not, being “different” is what Final Fantasy XII is all about. Although many big names at Square were involved in its creation, its setting and plot were spearheaded by Yasumi Matsuno, who is famous for “Ogre Battle” and “Final Fantasy Tactics'' and infused his brand of “down-to-earth” settings and politically driven narratives into everything he worked on. As such, the protagonist is no longer some brooding jerk or mysterious youth with a dreary backstory; instead, they might be a fallen knight framed for murdering a king, a secret princess with conflicting thoughts of revenge, or a homeless thief with dreams of becoming a pirate. The plot no longer involves traversing space/time to kill a sorceress or injecting people with alien sperm; rather, it focuses on countries at war and the politics involved in such affairs. The music is no longer poppy with elements of prog-rock and upbeat catchy tunes; it's orchestral, moody, and atmospheric. The battle system is no longer based on random encounters and turn-based combat; instead, it's automated and MMORPG-esque. No longer is there a world map but a sprawling interconnected series of environments all linked together to form almost an open-world of sorts. I think you get the point: Final Fantasy XII is very different from what came before; and while Final Fantasy XII features familiar crystals, magic, and summons, it only does so in the most subtle of ways; like a weird Final Fantasy fever dream.
So, is being “different” bad? Obviously not. Final Fantasy XII is very good for some of those very same reasons, but it is not without its flaws. For everything Final Fantasy XII does right, it seems to do a few things wrong. Throughout the body of this review, I will attempt to cover all elements of the game, including the plot, setting, characters, battle systems, and overall gameplay loop. Surely, I will miss some things, and of course, this is all my opinion, so feel free to take everything written here with a grain of salt. Ultimately, this is an exercise to try and make sense of my experience with the game so mileage may vary. Also worth noting that all screenshots and footage found within this review come from my recent February – March 2023 playthrough of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age for Nintendo Switch. Lastly, if you don’t want to read through 9000 words of text, skip to the conclusion section for my final thoughts. Enough with the disclaimer.
PLOT, or can I get a brief rundown?
While I could analyze and criticize the entire plot, that would be far too time-consuming; so, for the purposes of this review, I will only be providing a brief rundown. Final Fantasy XII is like a blend of Final Fantasy II and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. It takes place in the world of Ivalice, made famous by Final Fantasy Tactics, and revolves around an evil empire, the Archadian Empire, that aims to (essentially) conquer the world. Before the events of the game, the Empire seized control of Dalmasca, the homeland of our heroes, and overthrew its political body. At the start of the game, you are thrown into Rabanastre, Dalmasca's capital under Archadian occupation, and take charge of what amounts to a resistance group; it's all very patriotic and in this way is similar to Final Fantasy II's plot. As you progress, you confront a seemingly benevolent but actually wicked man who later becomes the emperor of the Archadian Empire, much like Star Wars' Palpatine, and his Judges, who are committed to serving and protecting him, designed to look a lot like Stormtroopers of Star Wars fame. Many of these influences are evident in the plot's structure, world-building, and overall design.
The setting of Ivalice and the impending war provides the backdrop for our heroes to venture through numerous cities, fight various uglies, and perform in their own dramas. The story explores themes of togetherness, revenge, overcoming adversity in the face of overwhelming odds, dealing with grief, and being one part of a whole to accomplish seemingly impossible things. Final Fantasy XII is unique in that the characters themselves typically take the bench in favor of the overarching plot and themes; but, of course, some characters are more important than others, which we’ll explore later on.
While the plot of Final Fantasy XII may not have significant depth, it is still enjoyable to watch unfold on screen, despite its cliched nature. Like Final Fantasy games before it, XII does not skimp on the cutscenes, but many of them are only there to showcase some of the beautiful cities and environments; almost as if the directors were showing off; a lot of the action sequences happen within the confines of the game’s engine, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the game looks amazing overall (especially for a PlayStation 2 game). There are two cutscenes in particular that are really fun to watch, one of which being the final cutscene of the game (or close to it), so if you’re a cutscene aficionado you have something to look forward to.
SETTING, or the bustle of the capital and the necessity of fast-travel
Final Fantasy XII takes place in Yasumi Matsuno's famous world of Ivalice, which is also the setting for Final Fantasy Tactics. However, XII is set far before the events of Tactics, making Ivalice an “ancient civilization” within the overall lore. This is an interesting piece of trivia, but ultimately meaningless since there are no direct ties to events from either game. While there are some tenuous links between the two, including certain names and places, the connection is weak at best.
*A distant view of Rabanastre
The setting of Final Fantasy XII is a mix of ancient Greek and Middle-Eastern influenced cities, classical castles, and magic-powered technology with a more sandy-natural look (unlike the cyberpunk-influenced technology of FF6 or 7), all separated by vast plains and deserts, and populated by several distinct races. It’s important to note that XII is not a sequel or prequel to Final Fantasy Tactics, so going into the game with those expectations will only lead to disappointment. While there are differences between the two games, such as the absence of airships, flying cars, and non-human races in Tactics, these changes were made to incorporate new themes and concepts that are more in line with what series regulars expect. Ultimately, Final Fantasy XII benefits from these additions overall.
In recreating Ivalice, Final Fantasy XII builds upon the foundation laid by Tactics, adding many additional layers of world-building to create something new and exciting. It’s like a phoenix being reborn – a summon that does not appear in either game. That said, let’s move on from Final Fantasy Tactics and focus on what makes Final Fantasy XII so unique.
Final Fantasy XII’s world of Ivalice has three major cities: Rabanastre, Bhujerba, and Archades. Each city has its own unique theme and place within the plot; however, much like an MMORPG, there is one city you will be spending the majority of your time in, and that is Rabanastre.
Stuck between the Giza Plains, the Estersand, and the Westersand — Rabanastre is the quintessential “hub city” of Final Fantasy XII; likened to Bastok, Sandoria, or Windurst of Final Fantasy XI. Rabanastre has all the hallmarks of a “Triple A” role playing game city: multiple zones, shops, npcs, and a sprawling underworld that is fully explorable. To top it off, there is a robust sewer system that you will end up hating by game’s end. Rabanastre’s overall aesthetic design seems to be influenced by middle-eastern architecture with bazaars aplenty and a big brutal cathedral-like castle stuck in the middle. The musical theme of the city fits so perfectly it feels like you’re actually there. A nice plus is the moogle service allowing you to teleport throughout the city. Rabanastre is easily one of the best cities in the entire franchise.
*The bazaar of Rabanastre
Our next main city is Bhujerba, a sprawling island city floating in the sky. Home to sky pirates and rough looking people in general — for some reason several NPCs are wearing a loin-cloth or very little clothing, not just unique to Bhujerba. The city has the same “brown” and “dusty” feeling as Rabanastre, just with less going on. The music isn't as memorable and ultimately the city functions as a waypoint before a major dungeon you will be revisiting several times. While this city is floating in the sky, you don't get that impression from how the actual visuals are designed while exploring on the ground-floor; there may be one part of the city that overlooks clouds but the majority looks and feels grounded, leaving Bhujerba unspectacular as a result. Like all the cities in this game, there are multiple connecting zones; however, unlike Rabanastre, there is no teleport service to facilitate fast travel between these large zones, which makes traveling through Bhujerba a chore after the first few times.
Last but not least: Archades. This city is teased throughout the entire game, mentioned multiple times and shown in multiple cutscenes. A foreboding specter that sparks endless curiosity; ultimately built up as a “must see'' location. Archades is a marvel of modern Ivalician technology, and home to the game's evil Empire. A sprawling city with sky-scrappers and personal flying ships akin to cars. The city is so obviously based on Coruscant that you would be forgiven mistaking some cutscenes as coming straight from the Star Wars Prequel trilogy. Unfortunately upon actually arriving in game, Archades does not live up to its name, as the visuals for each section of the city are underwhelming at best — barely outlining what made the city look so cool and enticing in the cutscenes. It ends up feeling like another brown dusty city, not dissimilar from the cities we've already visited. Archades on the ground floor feels like an afterthought, perhaps added toward the end of development — a major missed opportunity. And there's a total of only one flying vehicle (a taxi), which is a travesty.
*A vertical slice of Archades
Archades explores themes of class division and rampant capitalism. There is an “undercity” where the destitute live, and a lavish main area where the upper class reside. This theme is mirrored in Rabanastre, which is similarly oppressed by the Evil Empire. Given the political nature of the overall plot, Final Fantasy XII had a great opportunity to delve into themes of poverty, class, and status. However, it ultimately uses these ideas only to reinforce the notion that the Archadian Empire is evil. A more in-depth exploration of these themes would have added some much needed philosophical depth to the narrative, something it is sorely lacking.
*Archades undercity; showcasing the class divide
A key aspect of Final Fantasy XII's setting is the presence of races other than humans (or Humes, to be precise), including Seeq (pig people), Bangaa (lizard people), Viera (bunny women), Moogles (Kupo!), and Nu Mou (dog people). While the presence of different races makes the world feel more lively and robust, more depth around each race's culture and how they interact with the world would have been appreciated. One might expect there to be a breadth of themes and concepts to be explored by the inclusion of new races, such as their relations with each other and their cultures. However, outside of the reclusive bunny race, Final Fantasy XII fails to explore themes around cultural or racial disharmony, perhaps choosing the safe route instead of trying to champion a message. This is fine, but ultimately the races end up feeling like different-looking humanoids representing different personality types, which I do not think is a good overall message. The fact that there is only one non-Hume playable character reinforces the idea that most of the races are simply there to make the world seem more interesting. While I am not asking for Elder Scrolls-level racial detail, something more than what we got would have gone a long way in helping to flesh out the world a bit more. Really I would have just been happy with a Moogle playable character, but who am I kidding.
*Bangaas and Seeqs, oh my! Not playable characters
Final Fantasy XII contains a number of beautiful overworld zones filled with monsters, traps, and various dangers. Similar to an MMORPG, the main overworld areas are sprawling environments that must be traversed to accomplish your tasks, often composed of multiple interconnected sections sometimes connected by intricate cave and tunnel systems. The majority of these areas are deserts, mines, and nondescript grasslands, which makes the overworld feel very real and livable. There are a few weird places that you would expect from a Final Fantasy game, like an ethereal crystal dungeon and the insides of various airships; however, these are few and far between and typically you can’t return to these areas.
Final Fantasy XII does a great job of immersing you in its large world, and while the sheer size and count of these zones help with that, it cannot be understated how sprawling these overworld zones actually are. One area in particular, the Sandsea, takes over an hour to traverse in full, and while it may be fun the first time, having to backtrack through this zone later on makes the entire experience a chore. This also highlights one of the main gripes I have with Final Fantasy XII: backtracking and travel in general — and the fact that your party never avoids traps on the ground, constantly killing themselves, but that’s beside the point.
*Aforementioned weird crystal dungeon, a cool zone that you can actually return to
Ivalice is an interesting world to get lost in by choice. The art direction plus world building is top-tier, even if the environments feel the same here and there. After all, environments in the real world can feel a bit repetitive too. However, Final Fantasy XII seems too aware of this fact as it forces the player to backtrack through every environment multiple times. Unlike Super Metroid, where backtracking is fun because you’re unlocking secrets and hidden passages after acquiring new weapons and equipment, Final Fantasy XII has you return to the same areas with very little changes outside of a new mark to kill or a new shiny on the ground to collect. A quick way to solve this problem is with the addition of more robust fast travel options. And yes, I am aware this sounds like petulant post-Oblivion criticism. While some fast travel options do exist, it is simply not enough, and Final Fantasy XII suffers from it. At the very least, the option to teleport back to a homepoint after a long trip would have been immensely helpful. Instead, you have to walk all the way back to where you came from or to the nearest crystal — in a game that overemphasizes the process of obtaining tasks from NPCs, traveling to a far-off destination to complete said task, and then returning to the NPC for a reward, this is not a fun system.
Final Fantasy XII is not an MMO that aims to milk players of all their time and money under the guise of immersion, yet it ends up feeling that way. Watching your character’s back for ten minutes straight while they run through the Giza Plains for the tenth time is the opposite of exciting gameplay. One may forgive this drawback due to its original release date (March 16, 2006 – four days before The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion). However, the simple fact remains that travel is a chore that detracts from the overall experience. While there is a honeymoon period where each new zone is exciting and fresh, the issue arises after having to traverse the same areas time and time again. Thankfully, the Zodiac Edition adds a 2x and 4x speed-up option, and unless you are a principled purist, you will be using this feature a lot, especially at endgame. Sadly, Final Fantasy XII feels like it needs this speed-up option to prevent becoming a slog, and that is a shame.
*backtracking with 4x speed enabled after hunting a mark
CHARACTERS, or the six scions of staleness and the villain ladder
Final Fantasy XII features a cast of six main characters and multiple guest characters, who are more interesting than any of our protagonists. For the first time in the history of the Final Fantasy series, none of these six playable characters can be seen as the true main character. Although some vie for this position, such as Ashe, the Princess of Dalmasca, or Basch, the fallen knight, each character is so devoid of presence and personality that the whole thing ends up feeling like a bunch of people just doing stuff to advance the plot. The characters do have their own motivations, goals, and aspirations; however, they are so clichéd that it’s hard to see them as anything more than plot pawns or odd business decisions to entice specific demographics to purchase the game. On the plus side, Final Fantasy XII allows you to pilot any character as your “main character” in overworld environments, which helps drive the idea that there is no single main character. On the other hand, the game forces you to play as Vaan in every city and town, which negates that idea completely. Regardless, we will explore each character in the order of meeting them throughout this section.
*Our six heroes, staring off into the blue yonder
The first character we meet on our journey isn’t technically Vaan, but it might as well be. Vaan is a thieving street teen who dreams of piloting his own airship and becoming a sky pirate. His outfit and personality are reminiscent of Zidane Tribal, the protagonist of Final Fantasy IX fame, with the major difference being that Zidane was given a last name due to being a fully fleshed-out character. Like Zidane, he is loyal and has a strong sense of right and wrong. Zidane also has a vivid backstory explaining how he lived, where he lived, and what he was doing before the events of the game, whereas Vaan seemingly just didn’t exist until he first popped up on your screen. The majority of Vaan’s depth comes from his brother dying at the hands of the Empire and, initially, a drive for revenge that inspires him to steal from the castle, getting him involved with the rest of the cast. Around the game’s halfway point, Vaan becomes completely irrelevant to the plot and feels more like a player-inset than anything else.
Next, we have Penelo, a bubbly teen girl with pigtails and Vaan’s best and (maybe) only friend. While she also lacks a last name, she has far more personality and is easily more endearing than Vaan. And while Vaan dreams of becoming a sky pirate, Penelo dreams of becoming a dancer. This is obvious from her very detailed and unique battle animations in which she spins to attack and idly bounces up and down. She (like many other female Final Fantasy characters) is often used as the damsel in distress to advance the plot. In general, Penelo is one of the better characters, not because of her importance to the plot, but because of the little details around her personality. Like Vaan, she becomes completely irrelevant to the plot after she is rescued from bandits very early on.
Next up is Balthier, a character with an actual full name, Ffamran mied Bunansa, which makes him one of the few direct links to Final Fantasy Tactics as an ancestor of Mustadio Bunansa, a character from that game. However, that’s as far as the connection goes. Balthier is a sky pirate and one of the few characters with a fully fleshed-out backstory that relates to several key points of the plot. His sarcastic Wilde-like wit and mysterious motivations make him easily the most interesting character in the cast. Vaan clearly looks up to Balthier as a role-model, as he’s achieved Vaan’s dream of becoming a sky pirate and even has his own airship; but this dynamic is only explored briefly. Always partnered with his Viera companion Fran, they make up an intriguing duo that is always fun to watch. Balthier’s absence in a scene is truly felt, but this is a very rare occurrence as the writers wisely knew this and rarely removed him from the action. All this, on top of being the son of a main antagonist, makes it easy to mistake him for Final Fantasy XII’s main character — he is the leading man, after all.
Fran, Balthier’s ever-present companion and possible lover, is interesting by virtue of being the only non-Hume playable character in the game, and Balthier’s sidekick. As a Viera, her bunny ears make her immediately recognizable from the rest of the cast, as do her lack of clothes and over-sexualized mannerisms. While most Viera are reclusive beings that live in the forests, Fran left that world early in life and lives among the rest of Ivalice. Fran is the “sage” of the cast, rarely speaking outside of providing wisdom through brief generic idioms. While this may seem cool and mysterious at first, upon closer inspection, it highlights how little personality Fran actually has, which is a shame because there was a lot of potential here. Unfortunately, Fran ends up feeling like Balthier’s accessory more than anything else — making Balthier more interesting simply by virtue of being attached to him, which is just a little problematic.
Moving on to Basch fon Ronsenburg, a fallen knight accused of murdering a king and Vaan’s brother. Basch is a fairly likable character, wise and stoic with age, but with glimpses of humor that hint at him being a fun guy to have a drink with. Overall, his design is a bit basic for a Final Fantasy character, with a slightly unkempt slicked-back blonde mullet and facial scruff. The most outlandish thing about him, like Vaan, is his odd outfit consisting of an uneven sleeveless jacket adorned with seemingly unnecessary belts. After saving Basch from a dungeon, Vaan wrestles with the fact that Basch may have killed his brother, but very quickly comes to realize that Basch is a good man who would not commit those crimes simply because Basch said so. I am not sure if this is a stroke of genius commenting on Vaan’s young naivety or just lazy writing. Regardless, Basch is a good and honorable man, a knight for all intents and purposes, but that’s all he is. Like much of the cast, Basch fits into a specific character archetype and does not deviate from it. Being 36 years of age during the events of the game makes him one of the oldest playable characters in recent Final Fantasy games, even surpassing Auron from Final Fantasy X by one year.
When it comes to selecting the true main character for Final Fantasy XII, the top choice undoubtedly would be Ashelia B’nargin Dalmasca, commonly known as Ashe. This theory is supported by the fact that she faces numerous character-defining choices throughout the game, has the most screen time, and undergoes the most development out of any of the cast (although this isn’t saying much). As the former princess of Dalmasca, she is the last true descendant to the throne and thus the most significant character in the game. Although you are required to explore towns as Vaan, Ashe is the true main character, as most of the plot revolves around her decisions. Ashe is a determined, slow-to-trust, stubborn, and somewhat tomboyish character who reminds one of Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII. In many ways, Lightning probably would not exist without Ashe, as they both share similar personalities, outfits, and even facial features. In fact, Lightning is likely a combination of Cloud and Ashe, borrowing from Cloud’s undeniable rule of cool demeanor and Ashe’s overall femininity and personality. Ultimately, I always choose Ashe to lead my main party, as it feels natural for her to be leading the charge. Overall, I like her, even if she comes off as a bit bland and one-dimensional at times.
*Ashe, Fran, and Vaan celebrate a tough victory; their win poses highlighting a bit of their personalities
Enough about the protagonists, what about the villains? And how do they stack up compared to other Final Fantasy villains? Final Fantasy XII has, in my estimation, two main antagonists, and a number of less important ones. We will explore each main antagonist and briefly touch on some of the others as well.
Vayne Carudas Solidor serves as the primary antagonist of Final Fantasy XII. He is driven solely by his desire for power, preferring treachery and political maneuvering over outright violence. Vayne is more akin to a Final Fantasy Tactics villain than a Classic Final Fantasy villain. He is more concerned with politics than anything else and is much more willing to bide his time than, for example, Kefka from Final Fantasy VI. If we had to draw parallels to previous Classic Final Fantasy villains, Vayne would be most similar to Seymour from Final Fantasy X, and to a lesser extent, Kuja from Final Fantasy IX. Like Seymour, Vayne will lie and manipulate his way through the ranks, only revealing his true colors when absolutely necessary. And like Kuja, he is willing to put up with lesser beings and annoyances if they serve his end-goal.
In terms of “coolness,” Vayne sits lower on the Final Fantasy villain ladder, with Exdeath at the top (of course, a tree wizard can’t NOT be at the top of the ladder), followed by Sephiroth (yes, Sephiroth is cool, stop being a contrarian), and then Kuja or Kefka. Vayne Solidor is somewhere in the middle, like many of the character designs in Final Fantasy XII. There is nothing overtly cool about him, and even his long black hair, parted to the side, is strikingly uncool. If he succeeds at anything, it is being very punchable. From the moment he is introduced, you are rooting for his downfall, which, to me, is the opposite of a good villain as there’s nothing to think about or sympathize with. Like all main antagonists, he has several forms when you do end up battling against him, culminating in a “Safer Sephiroth”-like form where Vayne is basically a magic-infused mecha with a Megaman buster cannon and flying swords; the forms are cool but not nearly as awesome as Kefka’s angel form or Sephiroth’s various otherworldly forms. And unfortunately, by the time you actually get to fight him, you’ll likely be overleveled and far too powerful to take him seriously, resulting in a boring snooze fest of a battle.
**Vayne in the middle; who’s cooler?
The second main antagonist is Vayne’s (seemingly) right-hand man, Doctor Cidolfus. It is an interesting choice to make the primary Cid in a Final Fantasy game a villain, but there you have it. Cidolfus is an average-looking middle-aged man of extreme intelligence, similar to previous Cids in the series. Pioneer of using ancient relics to create powerful airships and other advanced technology, responsible for much of the cool Star Wars stuff you see in Archades, as well as making horrifying death bombs out of magicite. Throughout the game, he is seen scheming with Vayne about how to essentially take over the world (or something), and he’s constantly muttering to himself under his breath in a way not dissimilar to that crazy family member you try to avoid. Cidolfus is the mad scientist archetype to a tee and doesn’t deviate much from that even later on when you find out his true motivations. Regardless, he’s well-done, and the penultimate fight with him feels like you’re fighting another player as he uses Espers and magic in the same way the player does, which is a neat touch.
*Ashe calls out Cidolfus for what he is; an insane person
There are several minor antagonists who are functionally under Vayne as they report up through him in the evil Empire hierarchy. Many of these minor villains are the Archadian Judges, the guardians of law and order in the Archadian Empire. Modeled loosely on Star Wars stormtroopers, their presence is felt often as you battle countless mook judges and several high-ranking magister judges throughout the whole game. High-ranking magister judges feel very similar to Sith Lords in the Star Wars series, each with a distinct weapon of choice and fighting style. Most importantly, they all scheme for power, which is a key trait of the Sith religion. All magister judges report up to Darth Sidious… I mean, Vayne Solidor, and all secretly hate him and want him dethroned. One of the best scenes in the game revolves around the drama behind this Sith-like dynamic. Out of all the magister judges, one in particular is more important than the rest: Gabranth. While being built up as a serious life-ending threat, Gabranth is so pathetically easy to defeat when you do face him that his coolness factor drops by ten orders of magnitude. Regardless, Gabranth is the only antagonist to have a redemption arc, making him one of the most compelling characters in the entire game.
*Concept art of a judge, as depicted in the game’s promotional material
Aesthetically, all the Magister Judges are strikingly cool in their own way, sporting beautifully intimidating armor equipped with unique helmets and flowing capes. There is a reason they were used in most of the promotional material for Final Fantasy XII. I remember when Final Fantasy XIV added the judge armor into the game; I grinded for hours just to get a glamor set that made me look like these hulking knights. Truly, some of the most iconic imagery in Final Fantasy history, up there with Magitech armor and the Mako Reactor.
THE GAMEPLAY, or the game that plays itself … and that’s a good thing!
Final Fantasy XII shares some similarities with previous games in the series, particularly in terms of its core progression criteria. In essence, players explore environments, converse with NPCs, and complete tasks for them, such as fetching items or defeating monsters. Interwoven within these tasks are cutscenes and other events that drive the plot forward. This is typical of both JRPGs and Final Fantasy games in general. Furthermore, like many RPGs that came before it, Final Fantasy XII includes swords, sorcery, summons, armor, special equipment, and items to aid players in their journey. And surprise surprise, it also contains experience points and a level up system, like all previous Final Fantasy titles.
However, Final Fantasy XII stands out in many ways. For one, the game encourages players to delve into long bouts of side-content that require exploration of a vast pseudo open-world. Additionally, the game features a wholly unique battle system based on building out your own party AI, allowing you to (in theory) put the controller down and have your characters battle for you. In these ways, Final Fantasy XII is a truly unique game compared to many that came before it. In this section, we will delve into the battle system, mechanics, and overall gameplay loop found within the game and what makes it so unique; I’ll also be ragging on it a bit as I tend to do.
Final Fantasy XII allows you to control multiple characters, but only one character is playable as a “driving” character at a time, the others are automated (which we’ll get into later); however, you can cycle between your party members easily with the press of a button. While there are six playable characters in total, parties can only have a maximum of three (four when there is a guest in the party); this means you need to either neglect three characters or level everyone equally so you can switch between party formations. I ended up having a “main party” of Ashe, Basch, and Balthier and a “sub party” of Penelo, Fran, and Vaan; all of which I would level equally throughout the game as there is no “shared” exp for those out of battle.
*The party menu, showing the three active characters and party leader indicated by a flag
The core battle system in Final Fantasy XII borrows heavily from the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, not only in how combat is initiated but also in the underlying framework of how encounters play out. Firstly, there are no random battles; instead, everything is visible in the open world, touching a monster does not initiate a battle like in Chrono Trigger; instead, all monsters are in a constant ready-state to dunk on you with no screen transition needed. Like previous games in the series, Final Fantasy XII uses an Active Time Battle system with several tweaks. This means that time passes as you make battle decisions; however, if you want time to think, there is an option to freeze time when you pull up the battle menu, which I would recommend, as there is just too much going on to actively manage things in real-time (or maybe I’m just stupid).
While you can select character actions from a classic blue menu, once you select “attack,” your character will auto-attack until the monster is dead. Much like in Final Fantasy XI, selecting items or magic from the menu causes your character to stop auto-attacking, perform the action, and then resume auto-attacking. However, this is where comparisons to Final Fantasy XI end. The resulting gameplay is not dissimilar to that of an action game. These changes help make the battling experience smoother compared to previous entries in the series and represent a progressive step forward in many ways, evidenced by the sheer number of JRPGs that copied the formula later on and the fact terms like “random battles” or “turn-based” are virtually unseen in the “Triple A” RPG gaming space today.
*A typical battle sequence, showcasing roaming monsters on the overworld
Final Fantasy is renowned for its impressive limit breaks and summons that have amazed countless players over the years. As a kid, I remember inviting my friend over to witness the effortlessly cool Knights of the Round or Omnislash animations play out on my Grandma’s living room CRT. However, Final Fantasy XII falls short in both departments, particularly when it comes to the rule of cool factor.
Similar to its predecessors, Final Fantasy XII includes summons called “Espers” and super moves referred to as “Quickenings”. These mechanics are powered by a gauge known as the “Mist Gauge”, which fills up over time based on obscure conditions that I was unable to discern. Unlike the classic summons like Ifrit, Shiva, or even Ramuh, Espers in Final Fantasy XII are a new set of beings with unique names and appearances, some of which are based on boss demons from Final Fantasy Tactics. Although this trivia is neat, the lack of familiarity may be somewhat off-putting, especially for a kid who just wants to see Odin cut stuff in half.
Mechanically, summoning an Esper consumes a mist charge and removes everyone except the caster and the Esper from the battlefield, allowing you to control the Esper directly. While this feature is reminiscent of Final Fantasy X, this direct control becomes a mere formality as you typically end up summoning your Esper and immediately using their super move to prevent being zerged by the opponent. Nonetheless, the super move animation of each Esper passes the “rule of cool” test, making it worth watching each one at least once. Additionally, there are certain fights in the game that can be cheesed with Espers (look it up if you’re curious), but that is not so much a feature as an oversight.
*Esper Belias doing his super move
The new “Quickening” system, which replaces “Limit Breaks” of past games, also utilizes the Mist Gauge and is a significant downgrade from Limit Breaks in every way. Quickening are essentially quick-time events that can be chained together with other characters’ Quickening attacks to perform combo finishers for massive damage. The problem with Quickenings is that they are simply not cool to look at and they take too long to chain. Remember when Squall lifted his blade to the heavens, summoning a massive beam that dropped down on his foes, zooming out to show the beam landing on the planet? Or when Zell ran around the world a few times before punching his opponent? Now Vaan just throws a tornado at the monster. Overall, Final Fantasy XII’s Quickenings fail to match the sheer brutality, coolness, and spectacle of the series’ previous entries. Moreover, they take too long to chain together, particularly in the late game, where completing a full chain can take three minutes or more. This makes the process tiresome and repetitive, and you ultimately end up skipping it altogether to save time in battles.
*Vaan throws a tornado at the monster; also showcasing the quick-time-event chaining aspects in the bottom right
A key mechanic of Final Fantasy XII is the Gambit System. Essentially allowing you to program your character to battle automatically as if you had full access to their AI. You can input commands using simplified IF-THEN statements such as “Do (blank) under (blank) condition”. For instance, you can program Vaan to attack when he encounters a monster or to use a potion when his HP drops below 50%. Each character can equip up to 12 gambits at any given time, and there are 3 sets of gambits that can be cycled through for each character. The gambit list itself resembles an Excel sheet and functions from top to bottom, with the topmost gambit taking priority over those beneath it. Consider the following scenario, two gambits: gambit 1, which is “Cast cure when HP is below 50%,” and gambit 2, which is “Cast poisona when poisoned.” If both gambits are active and I am both below 50% HP and poisoned, my character will first cast cure, and then poisona. The brilliance of this system is that, if executed correctly, most fights can be entirely automated. At first, this might seem boring or counter-intuitive, after all … why would someone want to automate the game? However, the fun lies in figuring out the right gambits that enable proper automation, which in essence is all part of playing the game.
Consider the following example: I had one gambit set for Ashe that prioritized casting decoy on Vaan to make him the bosses’ primary target. Then, I prioritized Ashe’s healing gambits over attacking gambits to keep Vaan’s HP topped off. In theory, this keeps the boss on Vaan and keeps Vaan alive. However, the boss would occasionally cast silence on Ashe, preventing her from casting cure on Vaan, resulting in Vaan’s death. To get around this obstacle, I had to add a new gambit to Ashe of “Use echo herb when silenced” so that Ashe would cure herself of silence, enabling her to continue healing Vaan and ensuring his survival thereby allowing the fight to be entirely automated. Since every fight has unique quirks, you constantly need to tweak your gambit sets to fit each situation. Overall, this system is incredibly unique for its time and allows for countless tricks and gimmicks that would be impossible in a normal turn-based battle system.
*Gambit system in action, outlining the classic decoy > cure > attack gambit setup
The Gambit System does have its flaws. For example, some spells cannot be automated at all because the game only allows for one condition per gambit. Take the spell “Dispel” which removes any buff or debuff on the monster when assigned to a gambit; ideally, you would only want to automate dispel if it removed effects that buffed the monster (such as haste or protect). However, since you cannot specify two conditions, such as “use dispel 1) on monster 2) under the effect of haste,” it is impossible to automate dispel without sometimes dispelling harmful effects on the monster as well. This could be easily solved if you could add an extra condition to gambits. Perhaps adding two conditions would be too complicated for the game’s code or maybe it was to prevent full automation of the game entirely. Either way, this addition would have been welcome.
Another point of contention is that while there are three gambit sets for each character, you cannot cycle through them without pausing the game and going through a few menus, making it a pain to switch Penelo from her attacking gambit set to her healing gambit set. Because of this, I focused on making one generalized set that covered every basic situation and used the other two pages for buffs and specific fights.
Although the Gambit System is a stroke of genius, it is underutilized in many ways due to a lack of creativity around many of the boss battles. For such a complex system, it was odd how many boss battles could be easily defeated with a simple gambit set, such as the Ashe-Vaan example I provided earlier. I suspect the developers were aware of this simplicity as well, as they would often try to throw a curveball to specifically counter gambit sets like mine. For instance, battles that couldn’t be won using the typical “decoy > cure > attack” gambits were usually because the monster was immune or absorbed physical damage, in which case I only needed to switch my physical attack gambits to magic attack gambits. This was particularly frustrating in some fights where the monster’s immunities changed mid-battle, requiring me to pause the game, go into the menus, adjust my gambits, and then resume the battle. This resulted in fights designed around going into full-screen system menus to change your gambits entirely, which I would argue is terrible game design as it takes you out of the action entirely. This could be forgiven if it happened only once or twice, but this happens far too often, especially in late game. To be clear, the criticism is not “I should be able to power through the game with one specific strategy,” but rather “there shouldn’t be only two or three specific strategies to beat everything,” which is what ends up happening in Final Fantasy XII. It could be argued that the developers pulled these tricks so often to encourage manual play instead of full-automation. However, my counter argument would be: why? The brilliance of Final Fantasy XII is figuring out how to automate every battle, like a JRPG version of Factorio. Why not embrace it?
*Battle showing a situation in which physical attacking is disabled forcing the player to swap in magic gambits
Character progression in Final Fantasy XII is governed by a system known as the “License System.” This system is essentially a board with various unlockable nodes that govern which weapons, magics, equipment, skills, and other features you can use. Licenses even provide stat boosts like attack and HP bonuses. You gain LP from defeating enemies, which you then use to unlock nodes on the board. Each node costs a certain amount of LP, and the better the license, the more LP it costs. Additionally, licenses are locked behind other licenses, so you have to unlock them in a certain order to build your character in the way you want. Therefore, you cannot immediately unlock the best spells for Vaan by grinding LP early in the game. You have to unlock all the prerequisite licenses first before you can unlock the high-tier stuff. In this way, the system is similar to the Sphere Grid in Final Fantasy X, which suffered from the same problem of all characters eventually becoming the same unless you made a conscious effort to differentiate them. After all, why wouldn’t you want all your characters to have the highest-tier black magic or use the best equipment and weapons? Thankfully, this problem only exists in the original release of Final Fantasy XII as they made major revisions to the License System in the Zodiac Edition.
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Edition utilizes the License System similarly to the original game, but with a twist. Instead of granting unrestricted access to the entire license board for every character, you must now choose a “job” for each character, which unlocks a specialized board for that job. From there, the license system operates essentially the same way as in the original game. At first, this may seem unfortunate since it limits the choices for your characters, but ultimately, it prevents them from being carbon copies, and forces you to decide on specific roles for each character. After all, what is Final Fantasy without a job system? And this is precisely what it is, albeit somewhat tacked on and afterthought-ish. To illustrate this mechanic, in my last playthrough, I assigned Ashe as a Red Mage, Basch as a Foebreaker, and Balthier as a Machinist; Penelo, Vaan, and Fran were assigned as a Red Mage, Shikari, and Time Mage, respectively. Eventually, you can select an additional job board to assign to each character, which can be compared to dual-classing in Dungeons & Dragons or sub-jobbing in Final Fantasy XI. Overall, I appreciate this change since it allows for more guided character role-playing and progression. For instance, I loved the concept of Ashe being a mixed magic/physical attacker with a large greatsword, so I dual-classed her as a Red Mage / Knight to achieve that; in the original release, it would require a lot of planning to figure out the proper path to achieve this specific build, and I would probably end up making her smash stuff with a hammer like everyone else to min-max instead. These license board changes also promote using all six characters more often, since one character cannot do everything as was the case in the original release.
*The License Board, as seen in The Zodiac Age Edition
Now that we understand the overall battle and gameplay mechanics, when do we actually put our mettle to the test and start hitting stuff? This is where we delve into the core gameplay loop of Final Fantasy XII. In many ways, story progression is similar to other Final Fantasy games, where you interact with certain characters, complete specific tasks, defeat enemies, with cutscenes interspersed between these events, all in an effort to advance the plot. However, as mentioned earlier in this review, Final Fantasy XII stands out in a significant way by encouraging you to engage in massive amounts of side content through the game’s “hunt” system. Final Fantasy XII is well aware that it contains a massive world and wants you to explore it — “hunts” are its way of pushing that on the player.
Hunts in Final Fantasy XII are similar to a bounty system where someone posts a bounty on a board, and after reading the bounty, you talk to the petitioner, find the monster, kill it, and bring back proof of your deed to the petitioner for a reward. Typically, hunts are unlocked in a linear fashion after exploring new zones. For instance, after exploring the Giza Plains for the first time, you’ll find the Hunt Board in Rabanastre updated with new hunts for new marks in Giza Plains. In this way, the game encourages you to return to the Giza Plains to complete the new hunts.
*Defeating a hunt mark
All hunts are broken up into “marks” and “elite marks”, which kind of translate to “boss” and “super boss” respectively. Some of the more visually impressive monsters are encountered only by taking up hunts, and some of the best items in the game are obtained from these hunts as well. Therefore, unless you are only rushing through to complete the story, you will want to complete most of the hunts. The typical gameplay loop is as follows: complete story missions involving new zones, return to Rabanastre and check the hunt board, take all new hunts, talk to petitioner for each hunt, then re-explore zones to find and defeat the marks to complete the hunts, then return back to story content, repeat. However, as outlined earlier in this review regarding traveling, this gameplay loop becomes tedious, especially since traveling takes a while back and forth. Additionally, since you must talk to the hunt petitioner after accepting a hunt but BEFORE actually fighting the mark, this adds additional travel time as the petitioner is often located in a different zone.
Take the following example, I would often accept a hunt board request in Rabanastre’s pub, but the petitioner was actually deep in the Estersand. So, I would have to travel through the Estersand, talk to the petitioner, who then tells me the hunt target is in the Sandsea, so I now have to travel through the Sandsea to find the hunt target. After defeating the hunt target, I have to backtrack through the Sandsea to the petitioner to collect my reward. Early on, these trips are fun and welcomed because you’re in the honeymoon phase, but after 60+ hours of playtime, it starts to feel like another job, especially when many of the hunts need to be completed to tackle the actual good hunts that provide endgame rewards. In many ways, this gameplay loop resembles that of an MMORPG, but at least World of Warcraft keeps quest objectives relatively close together.
Moving on from hunts, the Final Fantasy series is known for its robust use of side-quests and mini-games to break up the tedium of normal play. Unfortunately, Final Fantasy XII drops the ball in this respect entirely. Almost all the side-quests are just hunts, which in retrospect, seems like a lazy way to facilitate side-content. Outside of a handful of esoteric side-quests that require a guide to fully complete, there is not much else in terms of side-content going on in the world of Ivalice. This is a shame, as Ivalice is a huge world ripe for deep, engaging stories.
Furthermore, Final Fantasy XII lacks any real mini-games, which is surprising considering the precedent and high bar set by previous games in the series. All despite the presence of airships and chocobos that are ripe for gamification. Often, I found myself growing bored of the repetitive nature of mark hunting and longing for a way to break up the monotony, but there was no way to do this outside of turning the game off. In previous installments, players enjoyed chocobo breeding, chocobo racing, card games, and more, yet in Ivalice we are limited to tedious trivialities such as “match people with similar stories in Archades” or “press A and B to win a potion one time.” It’s truly a travesty — you’ll be doing hunts indefinitely and you’ll like it.
*The dreaded “potion race”; pretty much the extent of the mini-games.
CONCLUSION, or just skip here if you want the quick summary
Final Fantasy XII stands out as a unique addition to the Final Fantasy franchise, but it is not without flaws, much like any other game. Unfortunately, some of these flaws are glaringly obvious, but there are also plenty of enjoyable elements to be found, like diamonds in the rough.
When one thinks of Final Fantasy, the mind usually conjures up images of their favorite beloved characters. Unfortunately, Final Fantasy XII does not feature the most captivating cast in the series’ history. Even the presence of Fran and Balthier cannot compensate for the lackluster cast, which falls seriously short of the standard set by previous entries, particularly when compared to Final Fantasy VII and X. Furthermore, the game lacks a compelling villain to fawn over. The characters fail to captivate on both aesthetic and literary levels, with any semblance of depth only a surface level illusion.
As with the issue of the characters, the overall plot of Final Fantasy XII fails to really hook the player or provoke much thought. Although a few cutscenes, like the final airship scene, are goose-bump inducing cool, there is little else of interest here. The story in general is generic, and the explored themes, such as togetherness, revenge, overcoming adversity, and being part of a whole, are basic and unremarkable. Additionally, there is no room for the sort of wild fan theories found in other Final Fantasy fan communities, such as the ridiculous “Squall is dead” theory or the “Zack is actually Cloud” theory (ok, I made that one up). The point being, Final Fantasy XII’s plot is straightforward and dull, with no mysteries left to engage the player. So, if you’re in it for the story, you might as well back out now.
Setting aside the plot and characters (and the pun), the world-building and overall ambiance of Final Fantasy XII’s setting is outstanding and well worth experiencing at least once. The development team’s dedication to creating a captivating world is evident from the moment the player sets foot in Rabanastre. Hitoshi Sakimoto’s music, while not as instantly catchy as that of Nobuo Uematsu’s, is excellent and complements each area very well. Final Fantasy XII earns top marks for its world design and art direction, even if some in-game cities could have benefited from more development.
A huge plus and another highly recommended aspect of Final Fantasy XII is the battle system. The brilliance of the gambit system is figuring out how to automate every encounter; it’s like Factorio but for weebs. Very much a “love it or hate it” system among the fans; however, this is only because the system is easily misunderstood. Setting up a gambit list that allows you to put the controller down and watch your party defeat a tough opponent is, without question, the coolest aspect of the game — the closest you will ever come to playing God in a JRPG.
Sadly, the overall gameplay loop in Final Fantasy XII isn’t as enjoyable as the battle system. Most of the game entails running back and forth between different locations, often revisiting the same areas multiple times. While there are some fast travel options, it’s just not enough, and ultimately, traveling becomes a dreaded time-sink that gives the player too much time to think about real life (which is a video game NO NO). The Zodiac Edition helps alleviate this issue by introducing a speed-up feature, but no game should have to rely on such a feature to prevent becoming tedious.
In conclusion, Final Fantasy XII should be experienced by all JRPG fans at least once. It contains one of the genre’s most unique battle systems and a beautifully crafted open-world, even if that world is a chore to traverse at times. The plot and characters leave much to be desired, but the overall gameplay is enjoyable for the first 40 hours. If you do play the game, I recommend the Zodiac Age Edition as it ups the resolution, improves the license board system, adds the evil speed up function, and includes a number of other improvements.
Lastly, as a final word of advice that applies not only to Final Fantasy XII but also every computer game ever made: if you start to get bored … turn the game off and do something else.
If you’re not having fun, it’s not worth it.
(originally published on 4/17/2023)
*they really do
