Our main character is Vaan, a homeless boy on the streets, who is looking to avenge his brother’s death at the hands of the empire. For Vaan, his brother was his only remaining family member. Now alone, Vaan hatches a plan to relieve the royal consul of a few of his treasures. However, during his plan the Dalmascan soldiers began launching an attack on the Archadian Empire. In the confusion, Vaan sees among the Dalmascan resistance the last heir to the throne. Princess Ashe had been given up for missing…so Vaan, Princess Ashe, Vaan’s friend Penelo, sky pirate Balthier, and his partner Fran team up to reveal the reason for the Archadian Empire’s invasion.
If you thought other Final Fantasy games had dark story lines, each pales in comparison to FFXII. The first hour of the game should make this obvious. Prepare to be shocked, as this game does not travel through moments of maturity mixed with stupid jokes (take that Wakka!). Vaan is a serious character, and he’s got some major beef to take care of. FFXII does not try to cater to a younger audience. Players definitely need to be teens or older to appreciate the seriousness of the plot.
Besides a darker tone, FFXII has many changes to boot. Don’t worry, veteran Final Fantasy players will still know the basics of the game. There are a few bigger changes, such as the battle and leveling up systems, but I sincerely believe Square Enix is heading in a good direction.
The battle system is no longer turn based, which shouldn’t be a big surprise if you’ve been doing your Final Fantasy homework. The change in the battle system has been the biggest news since previews of FFXII were released to the public. In some ways, the new battle system is easier than turn based battle. Players run through the environment and choose which monsters to attack. Blue lines indicate your choice to attack the baddies, red means the baddie wants to attack you. Your party members attack until told to do otherwise. For example: Vaan could attack the bad guy while Penelo uses cure to heal members of the party. When you want the character to go back to attacking or casting spells or whatever, simply choose the character and change what they are doing.
