Final Fantasy XII

Our full preview for the forthcoming, truly brand new Final Fantasy adventure contains new screens and the awesome, direct feed trailer!

	Version PS2	Developer Square Enix	Publisher Square Enix	Genre RPG

By Neil McPhillips

You can't turn around on the internet without hearing about a Final Fantasy title these days. We've just seen Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles hit our shelves, and we still have the PS2 release of Final Fantasy XI, AND the new Final Fantasy VII Advent Children movie to come. When you look at that list though you notice that it's made up by spin-offs, sequels, online adventures and brand new Final Fantasy series and not one of them continues in the mould of FFVIII, IX or X. Being fans of the series here at Kikizo we're staring to yearn for new adventures in the classic way only a true Final Fantasy game can deliver. Deep characters, deep stories, beautiful worlds and breathtaking music have become a trait of the main series so it's about time Square-Enix chucked the side-dishes and brought on the main course. Please welcome Final Fantasy XII to the table!

In November last year Square-Enix held an exclusive press screening of the Final Fantasy XII trailer (see download at the bottom of this page!), admitting only a select few press and some of Japan's finest developers. It's no wonder details are sparse in the west. Heading over to www.ff12.com now will get you some screenshots from the game engine and some screens from the trailer as well as some character info, but unless you read Japanese you're a bit stuck. Lucky for you though, we here at Kikizo have compiled all the available information on the game - but be warned, this preview will only make you want to play the game more and with about a year to wait for an English release, it could end up killing you.

Those of you who picked up the delightfully addictive Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for your GBAs will notice quite a few similarities between the two games, for example the 'Bangaa' and 'Viera' races are in XII as are the mighty Judge Masters. All the similarities you may notice are there because the two games share the same world: Ivalice. This is yet another first in a Final Fantasy game; to share a world but not a story is odd, but you can guess why it happened.

Put your self in the shoes of the Square-Enix developers, you just created a wonderful new world for your new Gameboy game but you're unable to really show the beauty of that world as you wanted it to be seen. Creating XII in the world of Ivalice is a perfect way to expand and deepen the lands you spent your time in while playing Tactics. Although we were a tad surprised that Ivalice wasn't used for the GameCube Final Fantasy game, as such a choice would have enabled some great link-up features between the two games - but hey, we still don't know what Square has planned for Sony's PSP...

As they seem to love doing, Square-Enix are once again releasing character details one by one over the development period. So far four of the main characters have been revealed, three humans and one leather-clad Viera.

• Vaan: This slightly gay-looking blond haired teen is the main character. He will have some kind of relationship with the main female lead, and he dreams of one day becoming an air pirate so he can travel the skies in the ships that roam the world's airways.

• Ashe: The only daughter of the King of Darmasca, making her the heir to throne. When the kingdom is seized by the Arcadian Empire she wishes to free her homeland and stands against the enemy as leader of the resistance. It is at this point she meets Vaan to lend a helping hand.

• Balflear: Even less is know of the most recently announced two characters. But first up, Balflear is the captain of an air pirate ship and uses pistols as weapons, it seems that Vaan looks up to him as well. Arcadian Empire, air ships, pirates - anyone else thinking of Skies of Arcadia as well?

• Fran: The leather clad Viera mentioned before, Fran is supposedly intended to be a 'cute' character but has somehow ended up looking like some kind of dominatrix. She has however been seen in concept art holding many different weapons including guns and bows and the developers have mentioned that she is trained in sword play as well as hand-to-hand combat, could this mean the characters are no longer confined to one type of combat and weapon? Hmmm.

While the godfather of Final Fantasy (Hironobu Sakaguchi) has been rumoured to be involved with the project, the developers of XII have only confirmed that he has "probably" been asked to help out a bit. After the Final Fantasy movie didn't do as well as many hoped, Sakaguchi was distanced from Square so it has since been the dream of many fans to see the original creator reunited with the series - but it doesn't look like it's happening just yet, despite his appearance at the aforementioned press conference.

Taking over the reigns of this Final Fantasy is the accomplished director of the original Final Fantasy Tactics for the PlayStation and the new Tactics Advance as well as the critically acclaimed Vagrant Story, making him a very qualified person to take over the series. Of course no Final Fantasy game would be complete without the musical talents of one Mr Nobuo Uematsu. Already talking about his plans for the game on his own personal site, Uematsu will be in concert this May to open the years E3 event, so just maybe we'll hear a glimpse of some FFXII music in a couple of months.

According to the developers the game's battle system is very different to that of previous FF games, but in a way it will be a natural progression. The number of characters on a battle team is still unknown, but the whole team will be seen on screen while on the world map which is something never done before in the series. They've also mentioned that the characters' appearance will change when they equip new armour and weapons; you'll be able to see the equipped gear on the characters as they walk around the map and not just in battle.

The camera system has also been taken a step further, with the addition of an optional first person viewpoint and a 360-degree camera view enabling you to see all aspects of the map - not just what the developers want you to see. With all these additions it seems clear that this may be the most powerful game engine seen for a FF game yet, it can only bode well for the future as far as we're concerned.

So far we know that the game is based around a group of freedom fighters out to liberate their country from the grips of an oppressive empire. The princess of the captured country takes centre stage as a head of the freedom movement where she meets Vaan the main male lead of the game. Air ships seem to play a large part in the game as air pirates and air travel have been mentioned frequently, we can't speak for anyone else but the game is starting to sound like a mix between FFIX and Skies Of Arcadia.

While so little is known about this forthcoming FF game there is still a healthy amount of information to work from, we know the world for a start which means we're more than likely to see all of the Ivalice races show up and we know that the Judge Masters play an important role but as enemies or allies? As more information becomes available look back to Kikizo for constant updates and media on what is sure to be one of the biggest games of the year. For now just wipe away the tears and deal with the fact that this game is nearly a year away from release - and be sire to watch the trailer below.