Final Fantasy XII is only the second game in the series I’ve ever completed. And it took me forever to play all the way through. I mean, seriously, I think it took me over two years. I put the game aside for 4-6 months at a time more than once while I was playing through other games, but even taking that into account, my final play time is over 100 hours. Not nearly what I put into Oblivion or Ultima V, but still quite a lot of time.
As I think back on the game, I go back and forth between feeling very fond of the characters and locations and feeling ambivalent about the game overall. I found the game’s plot a bit difficult to follow in the same way that the political machinations of Palpatine in the Star Wars prequel movies was murky. If I really stop and focus on either, I can tell you what’s going on, but it’s so convoluted that I quickly forget when I’m not directly thinking about it. I’d much prefer the more straightforward storytelling you can find in RPGs like Oblivion, Baldur’s Gate, or any of the Ultima series. Perhaps it’s the fact that it’s made in Japan. My personal experience with JRPGs is not extensive. I’ve never played any of the Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Grandia, or Shining Force games. I’ve never played Odin Sphere, Final Fantasy VII, or Dark Cloud. I tried Vagrant Story briefly, and I loved Dragon Quest IV and Phantasy Star I both so much that I later bought and played through the Nintendo DS remakes. But there’s definitely a certain aesthetic that goes along with JRPGs, and it can be a bit off-putting.
Having an entire party of characters but only being able to use three at any given time is a mechanic I remember from having played Final Fantasy IX. It’s odd. But the six main characters in the game are very well fleshed out. Vaan and Penelo are the stereotypical teenaged street kids with a stake in what’s going on. They’re friends, and there’s a hint of something more between them. The game does an excellent job of showing their playful good-natured immature side during cutscenes. Contrast that with Basch, a very serious honor-obsessed type who wouldn’t smile if Penelo’s shirt fell off. Balthier is a dashing Han Solo sky pirate, and his companion is a Viera – a strange magical humanoid with rabbit ears. Yeah – the Japanese have some kind of weird thing with furries. Lastly is Ashe, the woman meant to be queen. She’s obsessed with yet simultaneously afraid of power. The game sets up some excellent character conflicts.
The way magic works in this universe is interesting. I’m not talking about the spells with their lame -ara, -aga, -aja suffixes, I’m talking about the existence of “mist”, “magicite” and “nethicite” as powerful raw magical forces. Obtaining more “mist charges” and using them to enact “quickenings” is a very interesting mechanic, although very Final Fantasy in its presentation and execution. Ditto the summonable “espers” who must first be defeated and can then be summoned at will. While the espers aren’t much use in actual practice, the notion of their existence is an interesting facet of the setting. One of my favorite part of magic are “palings”. In practice in the game, they’re actually a huge pain since they prevent either magic or physical attacks from having any effect on an enemy, or else screw the player over in some other way. But the word “paling” along with its effect somehow brings to mind the kind of magic that would exist in the world of The Wheel of Time.
Another thing that struck me about the game is the sheer amount of content Square Enix was able to fit onto a single DVD. This is a Playstation 2 game, and it has the best graphics I’ve ever seen on the Playstation 2. The fact that all these very long cutscenes as well as the entire game can fit into a single DVD is damned impressive. And although I’ve always heard it said that Metal Gear Solid is the game with crazy long cutscenes, I don’t think it’s got much on Final Fantasy XII.
When the game finally ended, my characters were about level 50, some of them a bit lower. And I didn’t really have much trouble defeating the end bosses. But there was so very much left to do in the game. So many more sidequests, so many more level VI and VII hunts that I never attempted, more espers, more unexplored areas. Were I so inclined, or were I 14 years old again, I could probably spend another 100 hours in the game without repeating things too much.
