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> Results: Final Fantasy XII
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The ESRB Says
Alcohol Reference: Gamerdad went in and out of several taverns/bars, and there is one optional quest that involved delivering a special wine, but no actual drinking by the main characters occurs. Fantasy Violence: Much bashing of fantastical beasts of all kinds. Mild Language: I heard a few "Damn!" type expressions, but no one is running around cursing a blue-streak. Partial Nudity: There are some abbreviated costumes on some of the ladies. No actual parts showing, but a lot of backside. Suggestive Themes: Drawing a blank on this one, unless it's the resemblence of the Vierra to living Playboy Bunnies or that flirtatious prince. Final Fantasy XII is the latest installment on a time-honored Japanese RPG series. In most people's eyes it's the gold standard that all other jRPGs are judged on. And this version is a worthy inheritor of that position. Story is key to the success of these games. They often play more almost like novels. And like any good epic novel you've got heavy political intrigue and ambiguous moral choices all over the place. This story isn't about the cliched untried boy who ends up getting sent off to save the world. Well, okay, it is. But it's written on a much larger context. It is very reminiscent of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.  The artwork is lush and detailed. It brings the world of Ivalice alive, vividly drawn with many types of areas to explore. It shines in the little details as well as the large. For example, the height of the characters mattered to the gameplay. One way you recharge your magic power is by taking steps. Our Vierra, Fran, has got legs up to her collarbones. Her stride was twice that of some of the other characters. If you were in tight quarters, sometimes it took forever to get her topped up. There are other little nuances like that all through the game. You can dress it up in pretty art all you like, but for an RPG, the game's combat system is where the rubber hits the road. And Square has taken the tried and true formulas of turn-based combat and given them a good swift kick into real time. Instead of lining up your guys and giving your instruction by turns, you give the commands and move around during combat.  Something that's always annoyed me in these games is the level of micromanagement required to get through a battle. These guys don't do anything to help. They just stand there even if they're dying and don't lift a finger to help. With the Gambit System, my wish to be able to just have these guys automatically take care of themselves and have me just direct the battle has a huge step towards reality. Each character has a set of slots you can program with a set of prioritized instructions with actions they will take depending on the conditions of the battle. If someone's health goes below 50%, for example, I can set it up so they will heal themselves, or one of the other characters will notice and heal them. If the bad guy has a special shield on and someone has the skill that breaks it down, you can set it so they will do that command first so everyone else gets the best shot at the bad guy. It's smart enough to not have everyone do the same thing twice so you can overlap your settings any way you want. You have total control. You can make it as simple or complex as you want, or even shut it off and run the whole thing the old fashioned way if you want. For it's rock-solid presentation and innovations, I consider this game to be a close to perfect for a fan of the genre as you can get 
The game's rating is right on, but not for all the right reasons. RPG's are often some of the best games to bring in younger siblings with, but I'd be careful here.
The female characters can be scantily clad. There is a whole race of ladies called the Vierra running around with giant bunny ears and feet that require them to wear stiletto heels to stand. They even wear a sort of Merry Widow ensemble. They're not running around seducing anyone, though. They're quite aloof, and their realistic proportions are refreshing. One of the main group of characters is one of these and if you have her in your main party you are looking at her backside in what amounts to a deeply French-cut bikini. The princess is wearing a very abbreviated skirt thingy, too. There are a few story points that aren't really covered by the ratings that are not all that out of line for the target age group, but if you're going to be bringing in younger kids might be an issue. The opening sequence involves the treacherous murder of the character you're playing to help cover up the treacherous murder of a king. No one hoses down the throne room with blood. The scene plays out like something out of "The Man in the Iron Mask". What gives it the impact is that it's all done in first person perspective; your character is stabbed and as the bad guy monologues in front of him he literally fades out and breathes his last breath. Others that might be require some explaination would be two patricides, two attempted fratricides, two noble self-sacrifices, one murdered abbot, and a subtly cruel subplot involving the princess. Another thing that would keep me from skewing this game younger is the skill required to use the character development systems effectively. An older kid who got through Algebra has the basic logical skills to use the Gambit system to have his characters act as he'd like them to. A younger kid who doesn't have those is in for a nasty learning curve without some help. Reading skills aren't required for the story, but are a must for the mechanics of the game. The dialog for the story is all voiced but talking to the townspeople or other non-player characters, the License board, menu systems, and in-game text like the Hunt Message Boards and your Clan Primer are not. And the reading level is rather high - the names of stuff on the License board are particularly obscure. The voicing has a minor drawback if your child isn't used to dealing with accents. To make the people from various lands stand out they had several of the characters voiced by people with heavy accents. You have a cultured British accent for the Achadeans, mostly rural Scottish accents for the Bujerbans and the Vierra, and a thick Spanish accent for the Rossarian prince. This also gets written out in some of the non-voiced contact, like in a side-quest that involves talking to some animals who "think" at the characters in a thick Cockney accent reminiscent of Tonks in Harry Potter. I'd wholeheartedly recommend it for the rated age group. If your kid can handle "Lord of the Rings" or the "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" movies, they're up for this. I doubly recommend this for grown ups. You might also enjoy the intriguing story and the possibilities of the battle system. I played, and my children have played it and they've been dragging some of their friends into it, too. Just be sure to support any younger siblings through the rougher patches. Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Final Fantasy XII |
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