from the ops2 magazine, Australia
Here is an artical i read 8 times to get it to sink in from ops2 mag augest '05, australia.
'Final Fantasy has never been just another game to throw into your ps2 and play for a couple of hours. It's alwasys been an experience that you immerse yourself in for weeks at a time. Final Fantasy XII will be no different. However, that's the only thing that'll it has in common with the rest of the series. Everything else is gone, gone, gone.
For starters the camera is no longer fixed in the worst position possible. It's now fully rotational and can be moved on the fly. If you're not happy with the veiw you're getting of FFXII leading lady Penelo's abilities, you can just flick the right analogue stick for a better peek.
That's just the begginning though. The combat system from previous games has also been hurled on the scrap heap like an unwanted christmas present. The new system, known as gambit, it allows you to give commands to your Al buddies instead of going through the list of every single charater to find the smart move. For example, you can now hoave one member of your party mirror every command you do or order them to to only execute defensive moves to protect the group. You can even have them act as medic on the battlefield, reviving your health any time your charater starts seeing the white light at the end of the tunnel.
There are so many options and cobinations to choose from you could spend hours organising your 'A team'. You'll be putting in the hours regardless, because strategy is going to be vital to survive the combat in FFXII. You'll need to mix up more than ever, and knowing when to use short and long distance attacks will be the only way to keep foes off balance.
Perhaps the biggest change to the series though is the absence of the random battles, which should be the best news since Grand Theft Auto for psp. We lost count of how many times we criged whenever the screen would shatter and leave us staring at some hidious beast resembling Tristan at 9am without a coffee. In FFXII you will now see your enemy as you're traveling and can decide whether or not to run for the mountains or kick some ass. Obviously it's good to pick a fight a fight every now and then, but at least now you have the option to avoid a confrotation if your team's stats are dangerously low.
Ater 11 games that played almost identically, it looks like FFXII has 'finally' made a serious evolution. In short, FFXII looks great, plays even more intuitively and, best of all, it'll give us a chance to swoop in a and date your girlfriend while you're busy putting in the long hours on your ps2. Talk about ticking every box off. The only downside is that we don't know how long we'll have tohold out for. We're sure it'll be worth the wait though. Paul Frew.
How's that, huh?
