Observations on Final Fantasy XII
This is not a review; this is just stuff I wanted to comment on regarding the latest installment of Final Fantasy. There may or may not be spoilers in here, but I'll put it behind a cut regardless.
I see a lot of people (particularly reviewers) saying that the characters in FFXII are bland, uninteresting, or difficult to care about. It's my honest belief that these people don't know what the hell they're talking about.
Sure, the cast of FFXII is neither as emotionally overwrought nor as hip-and-trendy as the characters from, say, FFX... but I find them quite appropriately written for the setting they're in. Ashe Amalia and Basch are patriots in the truest sense of the word - utterly devoted to king and country, and willing to shoulder great burdens in defense of that devotion. Fran comes across as truly alien in both accent and temper, a characterization which actually dulls her "bunny-girl" edge to great effect.
I'm actually most interested in the male characters so far; I've already mentioned Basch, though I don't know much more about him yet. Vaan is pleasantly complex for a lead character: rather naive for a "thief", as befits his street rat nature, but possessing both a kind heart and a rational mind. His (understandable) anger towards Basch, and subsequent forgiveness following finding out the truth, was very believable... I could have put myself in his shoes quite easily.
Balthier stands out in sharp contrast to both Basch and Vaan. The obvious parallel is to cast him as a sort of Victorian Han Solo, which frankly isn't very fair to him; he actually reminds me more of James Bond, with his suave demeanor and fastidious, no-nonsense nature.
None of this says anything about the minor cast members, some of whom are equally interesting. I'm particularly interested in Vayne, who - in the manner of a true politician - went from sinner to saint in the span of a single oration.
A brief comment on the setting - I don't care if it's cheating to take Ivalice through its third iteration in a mainstream Final Fantasy, it was a good choice. FFXII's setting is unreservedly fantasy, and unlike the lost technology of FFX, the neo-Victorian architecture and Babylon 5-inspired airship designs of FFXII enhance the fantasy feel. I might be a bit biased, though; I'm a big fan of "gaslamp fantasy", and this is a good incarnation of just that.
The gameplay is something I'm still undecided on. I've adapted to it quickly enough, but I think it's still too early in the game to really decide if, for example, Gambits really aren't as hot as everyone seems to think they are, or the License Board system is actually badly implemented because it makes it too easy to make every character the same... but it's stuff that's going to be in my thought for the next ten hours.
I see a lot of people (particularly reviewers) saying that the characters in FFXII are bland, uninteresting, or difficult to care about. It's my honest belief that these people don't know what the hell they're talking about.
Sure, the cast of FFXII is neither as emotionally overwrought nor as hip-and-trendy as the characters from, say, FFX... but I find them quite appropriately written for the setting they're in. Ashe Amalia and Basch are patriots in the truest sense of the word - utterly devoted to king and country, and willing to shoulder great burdens in defense of that devotion. Fran comes across as truly alien in both accent and temper, a characterization which actually dulls her "bunny-girl" edge to great effect.
I'm actually most interested in the male characters so far; I've already mentioned Basch, though I don't know much more about him yet. Vaan is pleasantly complex for a lead character: rather naive for a "thief", as befits his street rat nature, but possessing both a kind heart and a rational mind. His (understandable) anger towards Basch, and subsequent forgiveness following finding out the truth, was very believable... I could have put myself in his shoes quite easily.
Balthier stands out in sharp contrast to both Basch and Vaan. The obvious parallel is to cast him as a sort of Victorian Han Solo, which frankly isn't very fair to him; he actually reminds me more of James Bond, with his suave demeanor and fastidious, no-nonsense nature.
None of this says anything about the minor cast members, some of whom are equally interesting. I'm particularly interested in Vayne, who - in the manner of a true politician - went from sinner to saint in the span of a single oration.
A brief comment on the setting - I don't care if it's cheating to take Ivalice through its third iteration in a mainstream Final Fantasy, it was a good choice. FFXII's setting is unreservedly fantasy, and unlike the lost technology of FFX, the neo-Victorian architecture and Babylon 5-inspired airship designs of FFXII enhance the fantasy feel. I might be a bit biased, though; I'm a big fan of "gaslamp fantasy", and this is a good incarnation of just that.
The gameplay is something I'm still undecided on. I've adapted to it quickly enough, but I think it's still too early in the game to really decide if, for example, Gambits really aren't as hot as everyone seems to think they are, or the License Board system is actually badly implemented because it makes it too easy to make every character the same... but it's stuff that's going to be in my thought for the next ten hours.