Summary: Final thoughts on Final Fantasy XII.
Protagonists
Ashe: The true protagonist. Much as FFX was Yuna’s story without her technically being the protagonist, FFXII is Ashe’s story. Her character is brilliant, her arc is brilliant, her moral dilemmas and temptation for power and desire to free her kingdom was just so beautiful.
By genesis682.
I’d love more games with her. Idc what kind of games. Maybe a politics simulator where you play as Ashe trying to rule Dalmasca in the post-war era.
Basch: Loved the portrayal of his stoic nobility, his loyalty. He was loyal to Ashe and Dalmasca, to Larsa, and most touchingly to his brother. And to his brother. Even after his brother served the Empire, he kept trying to redeem him.
Vaan: A cool “everyman.” My favorite part of Vaan’s character is how the game doesn’t try to make him more than he is. He’s a supporting character. He wants to become a sky pirate. He cares about and helps his friends. He fights to free his home kingdom. He’s just a really sweet, good kid.
I have a disproportionate love for games that don’t force their main characters into romantic relationships. (HI FFV ) They never went that route with with Vaan/Penelo or Vaan/Ashe. The fact that the game didn’t go this route is a major positive.
By strawhatfarm, posted by djinn87.
Penelo: I wanted more from her. She’s a good friend to Vaan, but doesn’t really get her own story arc beyond supporting him. Loved her physical character design – the pigtails and that onesie kind of thing, whatever her garb is called.
Balthier: Somehow, he managed to fulfill the classic pirate role WITHOUT being an asshole to those around him. BUWHAAAA? Is that… is that legal?
By zarpinart, posted by djinn87.
Fran: Her relationship to the rest of the viera fascinates me. It’s both particular to this game and world and race – and yet, the decision whether to stay with your family and home or whether to go strike out on your own. What responsibility you have to the place you come from.
Again, I can’t help but think about the road-not-traveled by the FFXII developers. They COULD have made her just a sexy bunny sidekick. (Not the biggest fan of her art design.) They didn’t. Yes, she has a relationship with Balthier – and because both are fully fleshed-out characters, the relationship is all the more powerful.
I’m SO HAPPY they made it out of the Bahamut.
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Antagonists
Vayne: An Archadian patriot. Not kidding on that. I honestly believe he did what he did for the sake of the Archadian Empire. Don’t get me wrong – he’s still a major villain. He leads wars of conquest against Dalmasca and Nabudis, committing major war crimes against civilian populations.
But unlike Kefka who does those things out of sadistic glee and a desire for power, I believe Vaan does all he does for Archades. Even patricide. He wanted Archades to be as strong as possible – and not only was he fighting Rozarria and the Resistance. He was fighting the gods themselves.
Protagonists
Ashe: The true protagonist. Much as FFX was Yuna’s story without her technically being the protagonist, FFXII is Ashe’s story. Her character is brilliant, her arc is brilliant, her moral dilemmas and temptation for power and desire to free her kingdom was just so beautiful.
By genesis682.
I’d love more games with her. Idc what kind of games. Maybe a politics simulator where you play as Ashe trying to rule Dalmasca in the post-war era.
Basch: Loved the portrayal of his stoic nobility, his loyalty. He was loyal to Ashe and Dalmasca, to Larsa, and most touchingly to his brother. And to his brother. Even after his brother served the Empire, he kept trying to redeem him.
Vaan: A cool “everyman.” My favorite part of Vaan’s character is how the game doesn’t try to make him more than he is. He’s a supporting character. He wants to become a sky pirate. He cares about and helps his friends. He fights to free his home kingdom. He’s just a really sweet, good kid.
I have a disproportionate love for games that don’t force their main characters into romantic relationships. (HI FFV ) They never went that route with with Vaan/Penelo or Vaan/Ashe. The fact that the game didn’t go this route is a major positive.
By strawhatfarm, posted by djinn87.
Penelo: I wanted more from her. She’s a good friend to Vaan, but doesn’t really get her own story arc beyond supporting him. Loved her physical character design – the pigtails and that onesie kind of thing, whatever her garb is called.
Balthier: Somehow, he managed to fulfill the classic pirate role WITHOUT being an asshole to those around him. BUWHAAAA? Is that… is that legal?
By zarpinart, posted by djinn87.
Fran: Her relationship to the rest of the viera fascinates me. It’s both particular to this game and world and race – and yet, the decision whether to stay with your family and home or whether to go strike out on your own. What responsibility you have to the place you come from.
Again, I can’t help but think about the road-not-traveled by the FFXII developers. They COULD have made her just a sexy bunny sidekick. (Not the biggest fan of her art design.) They didn’t. Yes, she has a relationship with Balthier – and because both are fully fleshed-out characters, the relationship is all the more powerful.
I’m SO HAPPY they made it out of the Bahamut.
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Antagonists
Vayne: An Archadian patriot. Not kidding on that. I honestly believe he did what he did for the sake of the Archadian Empire. Don’t get me wrong – he’s still a major villain. He leads wars of conquest against Dalmasca and Nabudis, committing major war crimes against civilian populations.
But unlike Kefka who does those things out of sadistic glee and a desire for power, I believe Vaan does all he does for Archades. Even patricide. He wanted Archades to be as strong as possible – and not only was he fighting Rozarria and the Resistance. He was fighting the gods themselves.
Cid: I’ve only thought this twice, in FFVII and now. FUCK CID. Ugh he’s the woooorst.
And yet, his villainy is so gleefully over the top that it almost swings back around to hilarious. It’s just weird seeing Cid in this position in an FF game. I wonder how else they’ll play with his role. Maybe he’ll become the main protagonist in a future game.
Ooh, I’d love that! It’s rare that the protag is a full-on adult in an FF game, like Cecil in FFIV. Would be awesome if we got an old/middle-aged main character.
The Judges: Great variance here. The game does a great job emphasizing how even the upper-echelons of the Archadian military is not a monolith of thought. We saw empathetic judges, reluctant judges, sadistic judges, judges only focused on
Judge Drace art by leahsdoodling.
Venat & the Occuria: YESSS!! Venat and the Occuria fascinate me so much. It’s not a benevolent cosmology on either end. Venat wants freedom for humanity, but finds his champions in monsters like Cid. The Occuria want to exert violent control of humanity, but in righteous causes.
Beyond that, I just loved how Venat seemed to command honest respect from both Cid and Vayne. She didn’t treat them as mere tools. Both knew what they signed up for, and bid her fond farewells as their deaths approached. There’s something beautiful there.
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A Few Side Characters
Al-Cid: I wonder if he’ll show up in other Ivalice stories, if we see more things on the Rozarrian side.
Migelo & Old Dalan: They weren’t around that much, but helped set up Rabanastre’s worldbuilding. Both have so much personality stuffed into so little screen time.
Reddas: Reddas, our time together was too short. You are a beautiful soul and should not have died.
Larsa: The best hope of the Archadian Empire. Grew up in privilege and power, and using all of that to effect change. Awesome character.
I can’t help but thinking about other Ivalice games, and wondering if we’ll see him again as an older character. Perhaps as the leader of a friendly Archadian Empire against a hostile Rozarria.
Montblanc: I like him as the centerpiece around the hunts. A dapper and vengeful little moogle.
A more general note on the FFXII moogle design: it took some time to grow on me. Less bear and more rabbit, clothes instead of naked, and technically savvy instead of… not. But it did grow on me! I like their new role.
Judge Gabranth: Big fan of Gabranth. His backstory is heartbreaking, his choices are heartbreaking, his relationship with Basch is heartbreaking. Like… yeah, he served the Empire, but still. Poor Noah.
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Story
Something I commented on early that stuck with me through the game is how this isn’t a story about one land conquering another. It’s not from the perspect of one good kingdom fighting one bad kingdom. It’s from the perspective of the tiny nation caught between two six hundred pound gorillas.
This makes all the difference.
Ashe doesn’t want conquest. She wants Dalmasca to be free. How much is she willing to pay for it? Her soul? It’s not just her life at stake; it’s her people’s.
Plus, she’s not just bound by Archadia’s chains. She’s bound by the more seemingly benevolent chains of the Occuria, chains which offer her freedom from Archadia if only she’s willing to proliferate weapons of mass destruction.
I just love this a lot, okay? It’s so totally Ashe’s story, and the various twists it takes and choices she sees hit me hard.
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Setting
There are two setting elements I want to praise.
First, the art style seems to draw on Persian, Indian, and other south Asian/middle Eastern influences. It creates a new and creative setting that fits the story and is entrancing.
Second, the way the game braids realism into some of the prior FF names and tropes, especially past summons. For all I know, Shiva and Alexander and the like could have existed in some past time of legends. In FFXII’s world, that’s all long past. Those names are now legends, taken as names for military machinery.
It was a bold move to replace the main line-up of traditional FF summons with the new espers (even those espers that reference past games, like Chaos and Mateus). I’m a huge fan of the series trying new things, and this works for me.
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Gameplay
Gambits: This is the kind of systemic change like FFX’s turn-based combat that I didn’t know I needed until I saw it, and now I don’t want anything else. I just want more! More gambits, more options, more slots, maybe party-specific set-ups.
Elimination of Random Battles: YESSSSSSS!! This is absolutely a plus. Made things feel smooth, much less of a pain in the butt. A similar system to FFXI.
Espers: The positive: the lore around the espers and their failed rebellion. The fights to get them were also great. Restricting the party in various ways per fight made each one a unique puzzle. The toughest for me were Cuchulainn and Zeromus. Zodiark was higher level but he was a straightforward fight. Cuchulainn and Zeromus required me to rethink things.
Plus, the esper design was SO FUCKING COOL!!
Zodiark.
The negative: I hardly ever used them. Something about having them replace non-summoner party members felt clunky in a way that it didn’t in FFX. Can’t put my finger on this.
Because it felt clunky early on, I didn’t end up using espers often. I regret this. I’m going to try to get better at pushing through awkward systems in future games to give them fuller tests.
Job System: I’m a big fan of the jobs and license boards. Job systems always run a spectrum between pre-set (like FFIV) and wide-open (like FFVIII). I much prefer games that lean towards the pre-set side of the spectrum, and this was a perfect fit.
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Side Stuff
Hunts: YES!!!! These are great. Purely optional content that mixes story, humor (still not over the Rogue Tomato lol), and challenge.
My one minor complaint with it is how doing the hunts trivialized the main story. I don’t know the solution for this or if there is a solution, but the fact that I did this series of in-game side quests leveled my party up to the point that
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Music
The soundtrack fit this oil painting of a world well, but more as background music. It’s nothing against this soundtrack – I’m just not well-versed in classical music and have a hard time appreciating as something to sit down and listen to intentionally. I have a hard time thinking of pieces that I immediately needed to listen to on repeat the way I did with “Battle on the Big Bridge” or “You’re Not Alone.”
Some favorites that jump out at me:
“Training in the Sewers”
“Dalmasca Estersand”
“Clan Headquarters” – These first few have playful/adventurous elements I like.
“Theme of the Empire” – I know I’ve been on a Star Wars kick but does this remind anyone else of the SW empire them?
“Giza Plains”
All that said, music often takes time to grow on me. I’ll be listening ot the soundtrack a bunch this week.
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Art
-I loved it! The look was unlike any prior FF series. Some games were more realistic, others were cartoony. This was something altogether different. It leaned more towards realism, but it had this style that made it look like an oil painting.
The enemy art styles tended to look more serious and creepy, such as Venat or the ornately-designed espers. These were great. But my favorites may have been the goofier designs.
Designs like the cockatrices, the seeq (BU-WHEEEE!), or – shockingly – the malboros with their crowns and jewelry and magnificent mustaches.
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Length
I don’t have an accurate number on played time. There were so many times when I thought I’d turned the game off when it was still running on the PS4, so nto sure.
The length felt a bit on the short side compared with prior entries. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing! The story was direct, closer to a novella than an epic. I’m curious if y’all felt this. It could easily be just me coming off Final Fantasy XI.
It mainly felt shorter to me because of the amount of contact we had with Vayne. He just didn’t get a lot of screentime relative to other villains.
All in all, this is a minor complaint. I’d MUUUUCH rather have a game erring on the short side than the long side, and this was more personal feel than anything tangible.
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Replayability
Pretty high! Aside from the story/side-quests I’ve missed, I want to go back to XII to try different (and better) job picks. I want to complete the Great Crystal. I want to beat Yiazmat and the Great Crystal. I want to beat those Phon Coast hunt quests.
More than any of that, I want to spend more time with these characters.
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A Brief Ranking of the Main FF Games I’ve Played It’s Just One Small Opinion Please Don’t Kill Me
1. FFIX
2. FFX
3. FFVI
4. Chrono Trigger
5. FFXII
6. FFV
7. FFVIII
Note: This is the first time I’m changing games in the ranking after having played them. FFVIII used to be above FFV, but I find that I often have the urge to go back to FFV. I don’t have the same urge with FFVIII (much as I still love it!). So… I swapped them!
8. [TIE] FFVII and FFIV. I like the FFIV story more and FFVII gameplay more.
10. FFIII
11. FFXI
12. FFII
13. FFI
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Final Thoughts
A strong entry in the FF series. It’s not my favorite game. The story’s great, the character’s are great. Something about it seems smaller than prior FFs. Maybe it’s that the whole game world is usually open to explore while here it’s just a relatively small section of it.
It works, and gives FFXII a unique flavor. I’m excited to explore more of Ivalice.
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Next time: Continuing to play some Final Fantasy XIV this week. Next week, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions eeeeeeee I’m SO EXCITED!
