Final Fantasy XII

We take a look at the most hotly anticipated PS2 game this year. Is this latest Fantasy as fantastic as we've hoped?

After years of painful waiting and excruciating setbacks, the latest installment in one of the world's greatest gaming franchises is almost here. Having enjoyed its first major stateside debut over two years ago at E3 2004, Final Fantasy XII has been the victim of countless delays and whispered speculation.

But unlike most games, where strings of delays are typically indicative of muddled production schedules and botched game design, the artistic masters at Square Enix have dispelled any lingering doubts about the quality of this soon-to-be classic with the latest playable build of Final Fantasy XII. With a number of bold new features and a completely revamped fighting system, Final Fantasy XII offers an evolution in adventure that still manages to retain the stylistic brilliance and engrossing gameplay that have made this series so enduringly popular.

With the exception of MMO Final Fantasy XI, the series' standard turn-based combat system has remained relatively unchanged for roughly a decade. In a long-overdue move, Final Fantasy XII switches up the experience by offering a new battle system dubbed the "Active Dimension Battle System." Bearing a definite resemblance to the open, real-time combat of the MMO Final Fantasy XI, the new ADB system means you'll see enemies approach as you explore environments -- random encounters, with enemies popping out of nowhere, are a thing of the past. This gives you the freedom to judge whether or not you'll charge into the fight or turn and flee. If you want to avoid an unnecessary random encounter, ADB is a huge blessing: it retains immersion without the distraction of load times and gameplay transitions.

Plus, you can now simply select the "Fight" command once from the battle menu and your character will continue to attack the targeted enemy until another action is selected or the foe is defeated. This makes controlling your party much simpler, and allows you to enter and disengage from combat at will by adjusting your proximity to an enemy (a blue arc marks the distance between targeted enemies as you move across the battlefield).

License to Level-up

In addition to ADB, FFXII also boasts a creative new character development system. Much liked the sphere-grid from FFX, the new "licensing" system lets you select specific attributes you want to develop, in whatever order you please -- that is, provided you have enough earned license points to purchase the new ability. License points allow you to customize the growth and development of your party members down to an almost microscopic scale, and gives you the power to make any party member any class you desire. Moving across the licensing board menu and unlocking skills also reveals new abilities in that class, so it pays to focus on one class and pump it for all it's worth.

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