Final Fantasy

Sadly Final Fantasy XIII was just not worth the wait
The creators decided to destroy the game and make instead
an utter load of boring linear nonsense. I don`t think I
shall ever forgive Square..... They have lost the plot

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.......... Fortunately we still have the original game

The greatest game of all

Well... I finished Final Fantasy XII. This was not
anticipated as I did expect there to be much more
to this game. I really don`t know how to rate this
game against the rest. In the end it probably was
the best game of its period, but, it lacked deep
substance that will sustain it over the years.

The game is massive, but not. The start is just
brilliant and I thought that we were going to be
treated to a kinda Shakespeare meets Lord of the
Rings. The blades and armour combined with a 
medieval plot line did suggest an epic saga. Sadly
though this gave way to monotonous levelling up
and less and less interactive story board stuff.
At times I just forgot what the hell the story
was. 

Anyway.. The story is the usual interplay between
ordinary kid fighting for his country; meets 
princess... er doesn't fall in love.. ( strange )
fights with assembled troop against all odds to
win the day. Mixed into this is the usual boss
fights, strange and wonderful creatures and the
odd assortment of side quests. Trouble is there
really isn't that much problem solving. And the
side quests are not character building. 

In terms of strengths, well, its incredibly well
done, and the graphics are breathtaking. The whole
feel is just magical. The fight engine has been
totally revamped and is classic, and the best I
have ever played. Sadly though the intricacy of
armour, weapons, skills etc have been reduced to
a reward process that to be honest is quite pathetic.
There really is no skill here. If you just level up 
and become strong you really don`t need any of the
vast array of magics. Also, all the characters can
do the same thing. What you find is that to seriously 
complete the game you just use three characters.

There is this thing called a gambit which allows you
to set certain tasks during battle, and this works
well. I ploughed through the skills and weapons
section, called Licences in no time, and at Level 50
I could really kill anything in one swipe.

The characters are very similar to all the characters
of old, except they really have tried too hard to
humanise everyone. Its all become very believable.
The old classics are laced through, though the 
' summoning ' is just pointless, and ' quickening '
has to be a last resort, or you are doomed to no MP. 

As to characters, well the final boss was just not
nasty enough. The star was this guy called Balthier
who I would have loved to have had a fling with Ashe.
Poor old Ashe finished up with Basch, and the main
character Vaan, well he just went back to school I
guess. Thing is Balthier kept saying all the way
through he was the main man, and yes he was. 

In the end this game was very very good, but not
brilliant, and I would say that FFX was still the 
most polished of the set. FFVII is classic, but for
being ground breaking. Still worth playing and if
you like gaming then its a must.

And for me.. Well I have started it all over again