Today I set out to buy either Neverwinter Nights 2 or Final Fantasy XII Collector’s Edition, and NWN2 was not yet at the store.

So sitting on the desk in front of me is FFXII CE. ^_^/

It’s significantly different from any of the other FF games, with the possible exception of FF Online.

The similarities between XII and the online grindfest is that XII has no random battles. The monsters in the world are positioned in much the same way as they are in the online version of the game. Additionally, my character has found a few “wind stones” so far.

Also, you begin the game in a desert area and this reminded me a great deal of FFO.

Secondly, characters have an “auto attack”. You do not press the “X” button (or whatever) to swing your character’s weapon. She or he will do that on their own. Unlike FFO, in FF-XII you can freely run around rather than merely standing in one place while trading hits with the target.

Pressing “X”, if I recall correctly, will bring up the menu that allows you to select “magicka” or “techniques”. Magicka is broken into Black & White for Fire, Cure, and so on. “Techniques” is for abilities such as “Steal”, which is a skill that you more-or-less begin the game with.

Before I forget to mention it, abilities - even the ability to wear & wield different types of armor and weapons - are selected on a board that’s vaguely reminiscent of FF-X’s sphere grid. The board in FF-XII is, in my opinion, much better designed and is checkered sort of like a chessboard.

Activating an ability gives your character the “license” that’s required to use that magicka, equip that item, and so on. In order to activate the license, however, you must first have the item in your inventory. In addition to that, you must also have prerequisite licenses unlocked if there are any.

From what I’ve seen so far, not all licenses are visible on the board at once. Activating one will cause related licenses to appear on the board next to the one that you just opened.

Story & The Game’s Opening (without spoilers, of course):

Though I won’t give anything away, the game opens in a very dramatic manner. This is the most cinematic Final Fantasy that I have played - and I’ve played all of them with the possible exception of one Japanese-only release on the Famicon (NES).

The story is told through your typical Square-quality animation/movie, which then gives way to your control, and then goes back to narrative. Indeed, there’s even a break in the action that is nothing but narrative, complete with a fittingly medieval looking book as the background whilst the text appears on screen (which is of course spoken as well).

Though I’ve only played very little of the beginning of the game, FF-XII has already taken the series in an entirely different direction.

One thing concerns me about the game so far: It has only one disc.

Combine this with the fact that the game uses some very impressive visuals - especially the cinematics - and I can’t help but wonder if I didn’t just pay $60 for a “weekend wonder”; something that can be finished over the weekend due to its short length.

I am also concerned that there will be a lack of side quests/story and secrets due to the rather limited storage space that one disc gives the title. After all, much of that storage space will be used up by those pretty visuals and cinematics.

Lastly, no, I am no longer a hardcore fan of Final Fantasy, and I’m kind of surprised in myself that I actually went out and bought this. It was totally unplanned and the idea hit me as I sat in my room as bored as usual. I noticed in an email from Gamestop that FFXII CE was available, and I know that NWN2 is also supposed to be available very soon (…right?). So I set out to the local Gamestop to find one or the other.

Ya know, if I buy FF-XII then I may as well buy the CE.

I’m going to play the Collector’s Edition DVD now. I’ll comment more on the game as well as on the extras at a later time. No, I won’t give away any of the story.

Have fun!

edit note: Use the “email the author” link at the bottom of this post to send me any specific questions about the game or collector’s edition features.

~Steph

edit: All Final Fantasy XII posts can now be accessed from their own sub-category located at http://steph.shadowsinmotion.com/category/games/ff-xii/.