After Final Fantasy was released in 1987 for the Famicom in Japan, the gaming industry would never be the same. It created a large following of fans, which resulted in many sequels spanning over many systems such as the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Playstation. With the release of Final Fantasy XII, it not only redefines the image of Final Fantasy, but it also represents the end of the Playstation 2 era.

     The story is set in the setting of Ivalice or, to be more exact, the setting of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The city state of Dalmasca is ravaged by war due to the invasion of its northerly neighbor the Archadian Empire. The story is deep and mysterious, giving the player only small tidbits of information throughout the game and allowing the player to interpret the information given to them. The story is a major factor in what will keep you hitched, as well as the interesting characters.

     One major difference that any Final Fantasy fan will notice is that the combat has gone from the turn based ATB system to a fast paced real time ATB system similar to any Massively Multiplayer Online RPG you can find today. To sum up this system, you tell your character to attack the target and that character will attack that target with a certain charge up period between attacks until it is defeated. As well, you can cast spells, use items, skills, and quickenings (basically this game’s version of a limit break, overdrive, etc.). Before battle, what you can do as well is set up your party companions' AI with the unique Gambit system. This will make or break your party as it is difficult to juggle all the commands by yourself in the heat of battle.

     The method of powering up your characters is also made unique by using the License system. Each character gets License Points (LP) alongside the standard experience points. With these LPs, you would go a “checkerboard” of hidden licenses and purchase them which allow that certain character to use specific types of weapons, spells, quickenings, augments, and techniks. This means that you can customize each character’s role in the party from being the spellcaster to being the powerhouse.

     The musical score in the game matches up to the epic music hosted in the past Final Fantasy games. Some tunes will stick in your head and will greatly enhance the experience. The voice overs are a bit grainy because of the high data compression, but you get used to it really fast. The graphics of the game pushes the Playstation 2 hardware to the limit, making this game the best looking game for the PS2.

     Final Fantasy XII is a great game for any who loves a game with a good story or any who loves the Final Fantasy series on general. With the release of the PS3 and Wii this month, it can be seen that this is the last great game for the soon to be obsolete sixth generation consoles (Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, and Dreamcast) and it should be seen as a great end for a great console era.