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| Final Fantasy XII | |
|---|---|
 Japanese and European box art for Final Fantasy XII, designed by Yoshitaka Amano | |
| Developer(s) | Square Enix |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Director(s) | |
| Designer(s) | Hiroyuki Ito |
| Programmer(s) | Takashi Katano |
| Artist(s) |
|
| Writer(s) |
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| Composer(s) | |
| Series | Final Fantasy Ivalice Alliance |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | March 16, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Final Fantasy XII[a] is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. The twelfth main installment of the Final Fantasy series, it was first released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It introduced several innovations to the series: an open world; a seamless battle system; a controllable camera; a customizable "gambit" system, which lets the player control the artificial intelligence (AI) of characters in battle; a "license" system, which determines what abilities and equipment can be used by characters; and hunting side quests, which allows the player to find and defeat increasingly difficult monsters in the game's open world. Final Fantasy XII also includes elements from previous games in the series, such as Chocobos and Moogles.
The game takes place in Ivalice, where the empires of Archadia and Rozarria are waging an endless war. Dalmasca, a small kingdom, is caught between the warring nations. When Dalmasca is annexed by Archadia, its princess, Ashe, creates a resistance movement. During the struggle, she meets Vaan, a young adventurer who dreams of becoming a sky pirate in command of an airship. They are quickly joined by a band of allies; together, they rally against the tyranny of the Archadian Empire.
Final Fantasy XII was both a critical and commercial success, earning several Game of the Year awards and selling over six million copies on the PlayStation 2 by November 2009. In 2007, a sequel titled Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings was released for the Nintendo DS and, in that same year, an expanded version of Final Fantasy XII, titled Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System, was released on the PlayStation 2 exclusively in Japan. A high-definition remaster of the International Zodiac Job System version, The Zodiac Age, was released worldwide for the PlayStation 4 in July 2017, for Windows in February 2018, and for the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in April 2019.
Gameplay[edit]
Throughout the game, the player directly controls the on-screen character from a third-person perspective to interact with people, objects, and enemies. Unlike previous games in the series, the player can also control the camera with the right analog stick, allowing for a 360° view of the surroundings.[1] While in towns and cities, the player may only see from the perspective of Vaan, but any character may be controlled in the field. The world of Final Fantasy XII is rendered to scale relative to the characters in it; instead of a caricature of the character roaming around miniature terrain, as found in the earlier Final Fantasy games, every area is represented proportionally. The player navigates the overworld on foot, Chocobo, or by airship.[2] Players may save their game to a memory card using save crystals or gate crystals, and may use the latter to teleport between gate crystals.[3] An in-game bestiary provides incidental information about the world of Final Fantasy XII.[4]
Final Fantasy XII restructures the system of earning gil, the currency of the Final Fantasy games; instead of gil, most enemies drop "loot" which can be sold at shops.[5] This ties into a new battle mechanic which rewards the player with improved loot for slaying a particular type of enemy multiple times in a row.[6] Selling different types of loot also unlocks a bazaar option in shops, which provides items at a lower cost, or items exclusive to the bazaar.[5]
Battle system[edit]
Excluding the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XII is the first entry in the main Final Fantasy series not to include random encounters.[7] Instead, enemies are visible in the overworld and the player may choose to fight or avoid them. Battles unfold in real time using the "Active Dimension Battle" (ADB) system. Battles begin when the party comes within range of an aggressive enemy, the party attacks an enemy, or a story event initiates a confrontation.[7] When a character or enemy begins an action, target lines connect characters to other party members or enemies; different colors represent the different types of action.[8] The player may swap to and issue commands to any of the three characters in the party, but guest characters are controlled by artificial intelligence (AI).[9] Battle commands are initiated through a series of menus, and include Attack, Magicks, Technicks, Mist, Gambits, and Items. The player may switch any active character with an inactive character at any time, unless the active character is targeted by an attack or ability. Characters who are knocked out may also be substituted.
A new feature in the game is the "gambit" system, which allows the player to program each character to perform certain commands in battle in response to specified conditions.[10] Using gambits, the player may set reactions to different stimuli for each character. Each gambit consists of three parts: a target, an action, and a priority. The target specifies which ally or foe to act on and the condition for applying the action. For example, the target "Ally: HP < 70%" causes the character to target any ally whose hit points have fallen below 70%. The action is the command to be performed on the target. The priority determines which gambit to perform when multiple gambits are triggered. These heuristics guide the characters when acting autonomously, though player-directed commands are always given top priority.[10]
In Final Fantasy XII, a mysterious phenomenon known as "Mist" is the key energy which allows characters to cast summoning magic and perform "Quickenings". After defeating an Esper in combat, the player will be able to summon it to the battlefield.[11] Similar to Final Fantasy X, the summoned creatures become active participants in battle,[11] as opposed to the cinematic attacks seen in previous games in the series. Unlike X, however, Espers follow hidden gambits, rather than the player's direct command.[11] The summoner remains an active member in the fight, able to attack and cast support magic, instead of leaving the party or standing idle while the summoned creature fights.[11] An Esper will leave the battle if either the summoner or itself is knocked out, its time limit expires, or it executes its special attack.[11] Some Espers have origins in Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Advance and others are derived from the final bosses of previous Final Fantasy games such as Chaos, the final boss of the first Final Fantasy, and Zeromus, the final boss of Final Fantasy IV.
Final Fantasy XII introduces "Quickenings", a new Limit Break system unique compared to those in previous games in the series.[12] Characters learn Quickenings by progressing to specific panels on the License Board.[12] Each character can learn three Quickenings, which are unique to that character.[12] Characters may string together Quickenings into large combo attacks, called Mist Chains, via timed button presses.[12] If a Mist Chain reaches a certain length, a final strike will be initiated at the end of the Quickening cycle, called a Concurrence.[12]
Growth system[edit]
As in many role-playing games (RPGs), characters "level up" each time they earn a set number of experience points from defeating enemies; each level gained increases the character's statistics and improves performance in battle.[13] Statistics include hit points, the amount of damage a character can receive; strength, the power of the character's physical attacks; and magic, the potency of the character's magical spells.[13]
In addition to leveling up, players may improve their characters via the License Board. The License Board is an array of panels that contain "licenses" which allow a character to perform certain actions.[14] The board is split into two parts; the upper part comprises Magick, Technick, Accessory, and Augment (stat increases and other permanent buffs) licenses, and the bottom part comprises mostly Weapon and Armor licenses.[15] To use a Magick, Technick, or piece of equipment, the character must obtain its corresponding license by spending the required amount of LP (License Points).[14] LP are earned in battle along with the experience points. Like the Sphere Grid in Final Fantasy X, all characters may obtain all licenses on the board, but each Quickening and Esper license may only be activated by a single character.[16]
Plot[edit]
Setting[edit]
Final Fantasy XII is set within the land of Ivalice during an age when "magic was commonplace" and "airships plied the skies, crowding out the heavens". At this time, magicite, a magic-rich mineral, is commonly used in magic spells[17] and in powering airships—a popular form of transportation in Ivalice.[18] Ivalice is divided into three continents:[19] Ordalia, Valendia, and Kerwon.[1] Ordalia is located in the western part of Ivalice. The Rozarrian Empire makes its home in the vast inland plains of this continent as the eastern portion of it is largely desert and "jagd"—lawless regions so rich in Mist, the ethereal manifestation of magicite, that airships cannot function.[20] Valendia is the home of Imperial Archadia, where lush highlands dot the landscape.[21] Central to the story is Dalmasca, a small kingdom between the two continents and empires. Located in the middle of the Galtean Peninsula of Ordalia, Dalmasca is surrounded by an expanse of desert. The temperate climate of Dalmasca differs from the cold environs of Kerwon to the south and the lush plains of Valendia and Ordalia.[22] During this time, Ivalice is beset by the pending war between the forces of Rozarria and Archadia. Caught between the two powerful Empires, Dalmasca and a number of smaller nations have already been subjugated by Archadia two years before the game begins.
Characters[edit]
The six main playable characters in Final Fantasy XII are Vaan (Bobby Edner/Kouhei Takeda), an energetic orphan of Rabanastre who dreams of becoming a sky pirate; Ashe (Kari Wahlgren/Mie Sonozaki), a determined princess of Dalmasca who lost her father and her husband in the Archadian invasion; Basch (Keith Ferguson/Rikiya Koyama), a disgraced knight of Dalmasca charged with treason for slaying the king; Balthier (Gideon Emery/Hiroaki Hirata), a gentlemanly sky pirate who pilots his airship, the Strahl; Fran (Nicole Fantl/Rika Fukami), Balthier's partner and a Viera exile whose knowledge extends to legends and myths; and Penelo (Catherine Taber/Marina Kozawa), Vaan's childhood friend who accompanies him on journeys to "keep an eye on him".[23]
The Archadian Empire is ruled by House Solidor, headed by Emperor Gramis (Roger L. Jackson/Hidekatsu Shibata).[24] The emperor's sons are Vayne (Elijah Alexander/Nobuo Tobita) and Larsa (Johnny McKeown/Yuka Imai), the former a military genius and the game's main antagonist, and the latter a charismatic seeker of peace. Judge Magisters, upholders of Archadian law,[24] protect House Solidor and execute every command issued by the ruling family. The technological marvels of airships and synthetic nethicite—a form of magicite that absorbs Mist—are thanks to Doctor Cid (John Rafter Lee/Chikao Ōtsuka), a prominent researcher from Archadia.[24] The Resistance against Archadia includes Dalmascan knight Vossler (Nolan North/Masaki Terasoma), an ally of Basch; Marquis Halim Ondore IV (Tom Kane/Akio Nojima), the game's narrator and ruler of the skycity Bhujerba; Reddas (Phil LaMarr/Takayuki Sugo), a sky pirate based in the port at Balfonheim; and the Rozarrian Empire, of which Al-Cid Margrace (David Rasner/Norio Wakamoto) is a prince of the ruling family.[24] The mythos of Final Fantasy XII revolves around a character known as Dynast-King Raithwall, a man who once united Ivalice to create the Galtean Alliance in ages past.
Story[edit]
In Dalmasca's capital city of Rabanastre, Princess Ashelia (Ashe) of Dalmasca and Prince Rasler of Nabradia have just wed, as the Archadian Empire invades the two countries. Rasler is killed in the war, the city of Nabudis is destroyed in a single explosion, and the Dalmascan King Raminas is assassinated moments after signing a treaty of surrender. Marquis Ondore announces that the assassin was Dalmascan captain Basch, who has been sentenced to death, and that Princess Ashe has committed suicide.[25]
Two years later, Vaan, a Rabanastre street urchin, ignores his friend Penelo's objections and infiltrates the palace during a dinner celebrating the appointment of Archadian prince Vayne Solidor as consul. In the treasury he finds a piece of magicite, a powerful magical crystal. He is discovered by Balthier and Fran, a pair of sky pirates looking for the magicite. The three escape as Dalmascan Resistance forces assault the palace, and in the sewers they meet the Resistance leader, Amalia, before being captured by Archadian forces. In the dungeons they meet Basch, who was imprisoned but not killed, and who states his twin brother Gabranth was the one to kill the king. The four then escape together back to Rabanastre. There they discover Penelo has been kidnapped and taken to the floating city of Bhujerba.
In Bhujerba, they meet Lamont, a curious boy who is Vayne's younger brother, Larsa, in disguise.[26] After they rescue Penelo, Basch confronts the Marquis over his lies, but the party is captured and detained aboard the Archadian airship Leviathan, headed by Judge Ghis. On the Leviathan, the party is reunited with Amalia, who is revealed to be Princess Ashe.[27] Ghis takes the magicite, which is revealed to be a royal Dalmascan artifact, "deifacted nethicite". The party escapes, but as Ashe had planned to use the magicite as proof that she was the princess,[28] the group journeys to collect another of the pieces of nethicite, the Dawn Shard.[29] They are again captured by Ghis; when he tries to use the Dawn Shard in the Leviathan rather than the "manufacted" (artificially made) magicite it normally uses, his entire airship fleet is destroyed in a mirror of the destruction of Nabudis, and the party flees again.
They encounter Larsa, who seeks a peace treaty between Dalmasca and the empire. The group and Larsa go to Mt. Bur-Omisace to seek the Gran Kiltias Anastasis, Ivalice's religious leader, and beg his approval of Ashe as queen of Dalmasca.[30] There they also meet Al-Cid Margrace, who is in talks with Larsa to avert a war between Rozarria and Archadia.[31][32] Their plans are curtailed when Anastasis is killed by Archadia, and soon afterwards the Archadian emperor Gramis dies and Vayne ascends the throne.[33]
The party journeys to Archadia, where they discover Doctor Cid, the creator of manufacted magicite, who directs them to go to Giruvegan to find the source of nethicite.[34][35] In Giruvegan, Ashe encounters the makers of nethicite, the immortal Occuria, who "pull the strings of history"; they give her the Treaty Blade to cut new pieces from the Sun-cryst, the source of all nethicite and its power.[36] She learns that Venat, one of the Occuria, has defected to put the "reins of History back in the hands of Man", manipulating Vayne in his quest to conquer Ivalice and leading Cid to create manufacted magicite to reduce the relative power of the Occuria.[37][38]
Ashe and the party journey to the Sun-cryst, where she decides not to take her revenge by following the Occuria's wishes, but instead destroy the Sun-cryst.[39] The party defeats Gabranth, who reveals that he killed King Raminas, and destroys the crystal.[40] Al-Cid tells them that the Dalmascan Resistance, led by Ondore, is about to fight Archadia in Rabanastre, but the Archadian forces now include the Sky Fortress Bahamut. They infiltrate the Bahamut, and find Larsa failing to dissuade his brother Vayne from his plans for war.[41] They defeat Vayne and Venat, and Ashe and Larsa announce the end of the conflict to the battlefield.[42] Larsa becomes the Archadian emperor and Ashe the Queen of Dalmasca; Basch replaces his brother Gabranth as Larsa's protector; Vaan and Penelo fly an airship to meet Balthier and Fran for another adventure.[43]
Development[edit]
Development for Final Fantasy XII began in December 2000 and was headed by Final Fantasy Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno and Final Fantasy IX director Hiroyuki Ito.[44][45][46] Matsuno provided the original concept and plot but was forced to bow out a year before release due to health concerns.[47] The team was restructured as a consequence: the new directorial duo consisted of Ito and Hiroshi Minagawa, while Akitoshi Kawazu of SaGa series fame became the game's executive producer.[48][49] Series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi was disappointed by Matsuno's departure and declined to play the game beyond its introduction.[50]
The desire to move away from random encounters was present since the beginning of development.[51] This desire fueled the development of the Active Dimension Battle system so players could seamlessly move from battle to exploration. The gambit system was conceived early on as a way to facilitate this change.[51] Battle system designer Hiroshi Tomomatsu said that it gradually moved away from a complex and rigid formula to the more flexible form seen in the final version of the game.[52] Ito drew inspiration for gambits from plays in American football where each team member has a specific job to do based on the conditions and desired outcome. As for the license system, he explained that needing "licenses" to perform certain actions was a natural extension of the rigid structured society of Archadia, as epitomized by its Judges.[51]
At the early stages of development, Minagawa revealed that numerous ideas and features were planned for the game, but were dropped from the final stages due to certain constraints and hardware limitations. Some of these included the ability for a second player to join in the gameplay, enabling a two-player mode. Another idea that was given a considerable amount of thought was the ability to recruit non-player characters to join in the mob hunts. Due to the technical limitations of the console and multiple number of characters joining the fray, the development phase took longer than expected, causing delays.[53]
Design inspiration came from a mix of medieval Mediterranean countries as demonstrated by the architectural styles found throughout Ivalice along with many of the races populating the region.[54] The art team, led by art directors Hideo Minaba and Isamu Kamikokuryō, visited Turkey, which influenced the game's Mediterranean-style setting.[55] The developers also used styles and deco from other sources including areas in India and New York City.[55][56] Of note is the use of Sanskrit in the city of Bhujerba. Phrases such as "svagatam" (welcome) and titles like "parijanah" (guide) are lifted directly from Sanskrit. Minaba mentions that the team tried to bring out Arabic culture in the design of the game.[57] War is a prominent theme of the game and the developers stated that the cutscene battles are influenced by Ancient Rome.[56] When asked to comment on the fan observation of Star Wars similarities, Minaba replied that although he was a fan of the series, it was not necessarily an influence to the game's designs.[55] It has also been noted that the similarities originate from The Hidden Fortress, the 1958 Akira Kurosawa film that inspired Star Wars.[58][59]
The developers initially planned to return to the "big-headed" character designs of previous Final Fantasy games, but settled on similar proportions as characters in Vagrant Story, the team's previous game, as development progressed.[60] Basch was the first character designed and the developers considered him the "hero" of the story at the time. Vaan and Penelo were added last and became the heroes in the final version of the plot.[60] The developers were motivated by the commercial failure of Vagrant Story, which featured a "strong man in his prime" as the protagonist, and switched the focus to a younger protagonist as a result.[60][61] Vaan's early designs were described as effeminate, but with the casting of Kouhei Takeda as his voice and motion capture actor, Vaan became less feminine and more "active, upbeat, bright and positive".[62] Comments were made about the similarity between character designer Akihiko Yoshida's creations and those of Tetsuya Nomura, another Square Enix character designer. Yoshida felt this comparison was sparked by the choice of color used by both artists, which was based on maintaining consistent color between the characters and the environments.[62] Non-human characters and races play a prominent role in the game,[57] which was influenced by an interest in history among the developers.[55]
Miwa Shoda wrote a storyline for the game premised on the basis of the cutscenes and world setting that had already been finished when she joined the team. Scenario writer Daisuke Watanabe in turn fleshed out Shoda's plot into a script.[63] During the English localization process, Alexander O. Smith, who had previously worked on Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy X, acted as producer and translator.[64] While still preserving the meaning behind the Japanese script, Smith made the decision to use different dialects of English to reproduce the regional differences in pronunciation found in the Japanese version.[65][66] He also tried to distance the game from the "flat reads" found in other dubbed work by casting voice actors who had experience in theatre work.[66] In terms of general changes, the localization team introduced widescreen 16:9 ratio support and reinserted scenes that were left out of the original Japanese version for political reasons and to preserve an "All Ages" CERO rating.[67][68]
A playable demo of the game was shipped with the North American release of Dragon Quest VIII in November 2005.[69] To commemorate the release of Final Fantasy XII, playable demos of the English version were available at DigitalLife's Gaming Pavilion in New York City on October 11, 2006, a day dubbed "Final Fantasy XII Gamer's Day".[70] Additionally, Square Enix gave fans the chance to cosplay as characters from XII. Each person was asked to show Square Enix three photos of his or her costume for a chance to win a trip to New York and participate in the Final Fantasy XII Gamer's Day event.[71]
Final Fantasy XII once held the Guinness World Record for longest development period in a video game production, with a total of five years, spanning from 2001 until its release in 2006.[72] At a Final Fantasy XII "postmortem" at MIT in March 2009, Hiroshi Minagawa mentioned that several years of production were devoted to the creation of