Final Fantasy 12
I have finished Final Fantasy 12 in 73 hours!
I have to say it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played, and probably the best RPG I’ve ever played (it’s on a par with FF7 and in all honesty is slightly better, though I’m loathed to admit it!).
I think Square Enix have really nailed the franshise with this one. The new battle system whereby you can see enemies on the playing field and choose (usually) whether or not to engage them really changes the way that the game works. The fact that you can also move around, re-equip, change party members and even learn new skills and magic mid battle makes for a much more enjoyable battle system. Also the introduction of ‘gambits’ (automated actions) makes fights less repetetive.
The story was great, and whilst it had its magical elements and the usual magical creatures, the over-riding story was more mediaeval in tone rather than some sort of weird Japanese manga type story line. This meant that I actually kept up with the plot which helped; in previous games I’ve just lost the plot entirely at some points and had to play through for the action.
There’s also no World Map type section in this game. Each area links onto the next, so there’s no running around on a chocobo or in an airship to do. You also find various orange ‘teleport crystals’ around the game (at least one or two per area) which makes getting back to places that you’ve already been very easy.
I particularly enjoyed the new ‘Hunts’ as well. In each city area there are bars which have a noticeboard containing hunts, or marks. If you accept a hunt from the board you then go to speak to a petitioner who will give you details of the mark, which is a powerful and unique monster. If you hunt out the mark and kill it you can then return to the petitioner for the reward.
I’m now looking forward to FF13 which is going to be released for Xbox 360, hopefully Square will keep these fantastic new elements of gameplay and also take advantage of the increase graphical power of the next gen consoles to make a another stunning game!