November 18, 2006

• Review: Final Fantasy XII

  I was sitting there in Couch Potato Heaven (an actual place, not a
  metaphor, with my back propped against one arm of a soft old sofa next
  to the woodstove, feet stretched out under two blankets and a cat,
  facing the PS2 monitor at the opposite end of the couch).  I was
  playing Final Fantasy XII, thinking that I really should write a review
  of this game.  I said I’d do it, and that thought has intruded on
  my play off and on for a week or so.  When it became necessary to
  get up for food and a bathroom break, I decided to get this thing done
  and over with so I can guiltlessly go back to FFXII.

  First, a
  little history and my credentials:  I’m a gamer from ‘way
  back.  I played electric shuffleboard in the 1940s and pinball
  machines in the ‘fifties and ‘sixties.  I have been video gaming
  and loving it since the 1970s.  First, it was on the first
  generation arcade consoles, until I got a Fairchild home system with
  cartridges for things like Pong, Cat and Mouse, ESP (I was good 
  at that one), and Nim.  That’s when I first got carpal tunnel
  syndrome from the joystick action.  Fortunately, I found the
  nutritional supplement solution to that problem (and, no, I won’t prescribe it for you
  because that would be a crime — you can probably find it with a
  websearch), so I can play hour after hour for days and daze, pain-free.

  FF
  III was the first game we bought for Doug’s first Game Boy, back when
  he was in elementary school and on Ritalin.   We both found
  it to be much more fun than Tetris, which had come with the
  device.  It helped him withdraw from Ritalin, strapped down in the
  passenger seat of Gina, our Fiat X-1/9, on the 18,000-mile road trip we
  took for that purpose.  It helped me pass many hours in our tent
  in
  various campgrounds along the way, in the early mornings while he
  slept.  Before the trip was over, I’d bought a Game Boy for
  myself, so I wouldn’t have to wait for him to fall asleep before I
  could play.  When we got home, Doug borrowed the first two GB FF
  games and we played them for a while.

  When Doug’s friend, Sephiroth,
  moved in with us, he brought his PlayStation, and some games including
  Chrono Trigger.  It really hooked me on the new generation of
  consoles.  At the time, he was waiting for the release of FF
  VII.  When we got it, I formed a love/hate relationship with it,
  hating that filthy post-apocalyptic city in which it starts, whose name
  I’ve blocked from my mind, and loving chocobos and Cosmo Canyon. 
  I’d move to Cosmo Canyon if I could.  I bred a line of chocobos so
  fast that nothing could beat them, by keeping a somewhat standard
  stud-book record of my matings.  In the process, I gained a high
  level of respect for the knowledge and skills of the game’s
  designers. 

  Squaresoft, and then Square-Enix, became
  heroes of mine.  On the day that FF VIII was released, I bought
  it, and the player’s guide to go with it.  We bought nine as soon
  as it came out, and had Ten and Ten-Two pre-ordered months in
  advance.  When the “golden oldies” of FF were re-released, we
  got  Five, Six, and TACTICS
  (!).  Affectionately known as Tic Tacs to its loyal fans, it
  remains the premier game of its class and type for its time.  The
  only thing about it that I did not like was that clunky old turn-based
  battle system where the hero party stands there and takes turns beating
  on a bunch of unrealistically well-behaved monsters that politely wait
  their turns to retaliate.

  Twelve has fixed that for those of
  us who prefer more versimilitude in our battles.  (Doug says the
  new system began with Eleven online, which we haven’t played.) 
  Setting up “gambits” for our characters beforehand allows them to
  initiate battles, move around, fight multiple enemies at once, and do
  healing and buffing support magic while the player sits and watches,
  has a snack, or carries on a conversation.  I have done all three,
  and played the game, all at the same time, thanks to a speaker phone.

  Fuddy-duddy
  old reactionary turn-based purists have no just cause for complaint
  however (though some of them are complaining), because there is a
  simple one-click way to turn off gambits completely and revert to the
  old system.  One can also turn each character’s gambits on and off
  separately, so that, for example, two members of the party can be
  directed in battle the old-fashioned way while a healer automatically
  provides the HP recovery and status-effect relief they need.  I
  play it with gambits on, and buy as many new gambits as I can as soon
  as they become available in shops.  They are cheap, only 50 Gil
  each, and you only need to buy each one once for all characters to have
  access to it as soon as they get the license for it.

  The
  License Grid is similar to the grid for abilities in Ten, but different
  in that there is just one grid-form for all characters instead of 
  Ten’s separate tracks for each.  Basch, the brawny ex-soldier, can
  be trained as a cleric, while the more feminine characters can be
  buffed up as fighters if that suits the whimsy of the player. 
  Eventually, with enough experience and LP (License Points, earned in
  battle), all characters can fill in the entire grid and use whatever
  skills the player chooses.

  If I have any objection at all to the features of this game, it’s a minor
  one:  I have had to learn how to flee from battle.  Doug has
  often commented on my stubborn unwillingness to run from enemies. 
  I prefer to stand and fight, even to Game Over, then go and buff up
  before approaching that enemy again.  After all, it’s only a
  game and Game Over is not actually death in any real sense.  Even
  if it were, isn’t there something dishonorable about running from
  battle?  Death before dishonor, I say…or, I said.  One
  battle, early in Twelve, can only be “won” by running away, so I am
  forced to compromise.

  Fleeing for short distances can also be a
  good tactical move while power leveling and accumulating Gil for
  important purchases.  Enemies drop loot that is only good for
  being sold to merchants (another touch of relative realism, over having
  monsters without pockets drop money all the time).  More and
  better loot can be obtained by defeating “chains” of same-class
  monsters.  My longest chain so far was 169 skeleton-types in the
  mines.  Such long chains can only be achieved by avoiding enemies
  of other types, and by leaving an area you’ve cleared out, crossing TWO
  area transitions, then returning to the previously cleared out area,
  upon which your chosen enemies will have respawned.  Getting
  through the neighboring area without breaking the chain often requires you to hold down R2 and flee.

  Okay,
  now I can get back to the game without feeling guilty for leaving this
  commitment unfulfilled.  I said I’d review it, and I have. 
  If I have any further comments on the game as I go on, I’ll be
  back.  Meanwhile, it’s back to Ivalice and Couch Potato Heaven for me.

  

  • 3:08 pm
  • 8 Comments