If I could summarize the plot of Final Fantasy XII in one sentence, I would tell you it is the fight against ‘Big Brother.’ The game is so straightforward and epic that it got Star Wars vibes all over it. You don’t even have to watch Star Wars to know how iconic it is. Everything from the introduction to the music screams EPIC! Not only that the female characters are strong. It’s Princess Ashe (a young widow) who rose from the grave and saved the day. Of course, she couldn’t do it without Balthier, the cool supporting character who is actually the leading man in the story. He seems to enjoy pulling strings in the background (I did use him a lot as a supporting character. The most frequently used spells I assigned him to were Protect, Shell, and Cura ). So then, you might be puzzled as to why players control Vann instead of Balthier. Well, based on my educated guess, Vann’s existence is there to drive the story. He follows Balthier’s “criminal footsteps” unintentionally–all because he wanted to steal treasures. Thus, Vann becomes his apprentice as the Pirate of the Sky, which is the symbol of liberty and freedom. Thankfully, Vann walked the right path. You see, tough guys don’t always need to validate their strengths by lording over others like Vayne, the ultimate villain in this game!
Orphan he may be, but young people like Vann are the future. The subtleness in acknowledging the player’s existence is quite sweet. Assuming that it’s largely the nameless boys who like to pick up the control to do the saving. But you never know. Behind the controller there is a possibility that it’s a little girl who wishes to save and lead the world.
For a final fantasy game, this game is pretty fast-paced for its time but slow compared to modern games. Thankfully, in the remastered version, you can speed up the characters during battle and when you’re traveling from place to place. Of course, there’s also the Chocobo, which I rarely used because I could just press flee button and speed walk through the area. Regardless, the remastered version is excellent for newcomers who are playing the game for the first time! Could you imagine sending a message via snail mail? That’s what it feels like when I don’t utilize the speed gaming mechanic in the game. It feels like running forever just to get through an area; some of the areas in the game are huge! Oh and thank goodness for the orange Crystal teleportation (save point). It saved a lot of time (Thank you Square Enix for valuing your audience’s time). I can only speculate the reasoning behind these massive areas are for the side quests which largely consist of hunting monsters. I skipped the side quests entirely on my first playthrough. I am still debating whether I should complete them on my 2nd playthrough or just move on.
In addition to gameplay, I love the battle system. You are free to customize your characters. I used all of them in battle–switching party of three out occasionally. I like the fact you can purchase licenses to equip accessories, weapons, and armor with your skill points! It made things more challenging because you had to make some wise choices. On top of that, each character can only have two main licenses. For example, Fran was my favorite character to play. I made her an archer/white mage.
I can shoot afar, heal and buff team members from the distance while assigning melee and tank characters to automatically do the heavy damage. There was one boss where that was all I did, and it worked. So, gameplay customization is creative and fun. But some boss fights were just plain ridiculous. I had to stock up on a lot of antidotes, eye drops, and serum just to survive. If you are poisoned, blind and diseased good luck killing the boss because it doesn’t matter how strong you are. Mother nature doesn’t play favorites when it comes to health. I suppose the battle system sort of balance itself out. It’s a good thing.
If there is one message, I can take from this game is that young people and women can be great leaders. However, sometimes I feel that it’s progressive and wishful thinking. After all, it’s idealistic, and only a minority of people genuinely believe in women’s leadership. Society can only get better when we progress and adapt to changes in our environment. Not be fixed on old outdated ideologies that serve no purpose other than to hinder people’s true potential. Then again, I grew up in a liberal, progressive environment where we were taught to fight for women’s suffrage. For me it feels normal to have a female boss, doctor etc. But in other parts of the world, I can’t say. Even in the U.S, some people still hold onto traditional values. I remember my U.S. history professor struggled with some of her male students and colleagues for having opposing political ideas. I heard that she got lots of nasty messages from them to the point she cried secretly in her office. That was many years ago. And not too long ago, when I was working remotely, I was on the phone with an older female client who assumed my superior was a man. I remember feeling sad that women continue to fight twice as hard as their counterparts to gain the respect they deserve. And the saddest part is that some of us women have no faith in our kind. Instead of questioning a woman’s strength and her leadership ability, we should celebrate and admire her. For all we know, the world might just be a bit less hostile if we can embrace our feminine side. It might seem weak to shed tears from time to time, but at least there is a heart.
Until next time, I hope you enjoy this little message from this Final Fantasy XII videoclip.
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