Final Fantasy XII

Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XII logo.
Developer(s)	Square Enix
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release	March 16, 2006 (Japan) Q3 2006 (North America) TBA 2006 (Europe)
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player

Final Fantasy XII (ファイナルファンタジーXII) is an upcoming Billy Smitley is a fuckface that loves to like his mama's hairy pussy. The noises he makes while doing it are horrible. Please if you would like to kill him or just say something awful to him, his email is blinkkidalways@yahoo.comcomputer role-playing game produced by Square Enix for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. The expected release date is March 16, 2006 in Japan. The North American release is unknown at this time, but August, 2006 is the speculated release date. On November 15, 2005, a playable demo of the game was shipped with the North American release of Dragon Quest VIII. Though not a direct sequel to any previous Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy XII features several concepts introduced in Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance respectively.

Yasumi Matsuno, originally announced as both producer and director, was forced to bow out of both roles due to health concerns. In his place, Hiroyuki Ito and Hiroshi Minagawa have taken over directorial duties, with Akitoshi Kawazu filling in as producer. Matsuno will remain credited as "original scenario plot supervisor". Hitoshi Sakimoto has been announced as composer for the game, with series veteran Nobuo Uematsu contributing one track (the main theme, "Kiss Me Good-Bye", performed by Angela Aki) and serving as music producer. Renowned violinist Taro Hakase will provide the theme music titled "Symphony of Hope". Square Enix announced that Suntory Limited will commercialize "Potion" on March 7, 2006 in Japan. [1] [2]

Gameplay

In battle

Like previous games of the Final Fantasy series, combat is menu-based. However, unlike the first ten games of the series, it adopts a battle system similar to that of Final Fantasy XI where combat takes place on the same screen as regular exploration, with a seamless transition from exploration to combat mode. Combat unfolds in real time, using a new battle system called active dimension battle. There will also not be a different musical score during combat; the track that was played during exploration will be heard throughout the battle as well. The player may assume control of any of the three characters in the battle party at will and issue commands for the characters at any time. So far, five distinct battle commands are known: Attack, Magic, Summon, Gambits, and Item. A Gambit is a pre-determined A.I. routine that can be assigned to a party member. Setting a character's Gambit to On will cause that character to act on their own during battles, with no need for player input. It's very similar to the Auto Battle feature as seen in Final Fantasy Tactics. However, the player can still manually issue commands which override the Gambit-determined actions. There will be many different Gambits in the game, each with its own set of behaviors. Gambits will be found as treasure, bought as items, won as rewards after battles and subquests, etc. The game will also feature a system of chain bonuses. If a character kills a particular type of monster multiple times, that character will gain the chance to earn improved (or simply more) items after battle.

Magic

The magic system is augmented by the introduction of a new school of "green magic." Green magic consists of supportive or debilitating spells that alter character statistics. Most of the green magic spells are not new; rather, they are previously known spells that formerly fell under white or black magic, such as Shell, Blind, Berserk, etc. In addition, summoning magic appears once more with creatures known as Espers (as in Final Fantasy VI). Unlike any previous Final Fantasy, summon spells cause only two members of the battle party to withdraw from the battlefield and the Esper replaces them to fight concurrently with the summoner. While the Esper is present, the Summon command in the menu becomes the Dismiss command, which the player can use to send the Esper away at any time. The Esper will remain in the party for a limited time, indicated by a row of spheres that gradually disappear over the course of a minute or two. If the Esper survives until the time limit reaches zero and is not dimissed by the player, it will perform a very powerful special attack before leaving the party. Espers are controlled by A.I. and cannot be controlled by the player. Confirmed summons include Ultima, Hashmal, Belias, Adrammelech, and Queklain. All of these creatures have previously appeared as either Lucavi in Final Fantasy Tactics, or as Totema in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Combat

Battles are carried out in much the same way as Final Fantasy XI. Battles are initiated in the field screen by engaging visible wandering enemies. There is no transition to a separate battle screen. Party members can move around freely during battle. The battle menu can be accessed at any time, but after commanding a character to perform an action, there is a wait time before the action is actually performed. Unlike Final Fantasy XI, there is a visible "Wait Time Gauge" which indicates wait time. Wait time varies depending on the action. A regular attack takes a couple of seconds, a powerful spell can take several seconds, and item use is instantaneous. Battle flow is as follows:

• Party engages enemy
• To attack the enemy, bring up the Command Window (Attack, Magic, Gambit, Summon etc.) and select an action with the Action button
• When the Wait Time Gauge fills up, the character will perform the action

Enemies now can detect and surprise attack the party through several means, such as sight, sound, and smell.

Story

File:Rabanastre.jpg

The city of Rabanastre

Final Fantasy XII takes place mostly in the kingdom of Dalmasca, a small city-state in the world of Ivalice. A neutral party in the past wars between its neighboring kingdoms of Archadia and Rosaria, Dalmasca was ultimately conquered by Archadia and reduced to the status of an occupied state under Archadian rule. Vaan, a street urchin living in the Dalmascan capital of Rabanastre, joins the underground Dalmascan resistance movement and participates in an assault on the royal castle, now occupied by Archadian troops. His involvement in the attack eventually brings him face to face with Ashe, the deposed princess of Dalmasca and the leader of the resistance faction.

Other major characters include Balthier, a sky pirate struggling to remain neutral in the conflict between Archadia and Dalmasca; his companion Fran, a Viera warrior; Penelo, a street performer in Rabanastre and Vaan's best friend; Basch, a former general of Dalmasca turned traitor during the conflict between Archadia and Rosaria; Reks, Vaan's older brother and formerly a soldier of the Dalmascan army under Basch's command; Larsa Solidor (known as Ramon when traveling incognito among the common folk), a young prince who has a mysterious connection with Nethicite, a rare counterpart of Magicite, the substance from which all magical energy is derived; and Vayne Solidor, the royal heir of Archadia, regent of Dalmasca, the Judges' commanding lord, and Larsa's elder brother.

Archadian Judges, who first appeared in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, will be featured prominently in the story. They are the supreme enforcers of Archadian law, and number five total: Gabranth, Ghis, Dreis, Zargabas, and Belga. In addition, all of the races available in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (Bangaa, Viera, Nu Mou, Moogle, and Hume) appear once again, joined by a new race, the pig-like Seeq.

Credits

Development team

• Executive producer: Akitoshi Kawazu
• Original idea/scenario plot/supervisor: Yasumi Matsuno
• Directors: Hiroyuki Ito, Hiroshi Minagawa
• Chief programmer: Takashi Katano
• Art direction: Hideo Minaba, Isamu Kamikokuryou
• Character design: Akihiko Yoshida
• Battle design: Kazutoyo Maehiro
• Event direction: Jun Akiyama
• Movie director: Eiji Fujii
• Supervisor : Taku Murata
• Composer : Hitoshi Sakimoto

• Theme song composer/producer : Nobuo Uematsu
• Theme song vocal & piano: Angela Aki

Voice cast

Character	Japanese	English
Vaan	Kouhei Takeda (武田航平)
Ashe	Mie Sonozaki (園崎未恵)
Fran	Rika Fukami (深見梨加)
Balthier	Hiroaki Hirata (平田広明)
Penelo	Yuna Mikuni (三国由奈)
Basch	Rikiya Koyama (小山力也)
Judge Master Gabranth	Akio Otsuka (大塚明夫)
Larsa	Yuka Imai (今井由香)
Vayne	Nobuo Tobita (飛田展男)

No English language voice actors have been announced as of January 20, 2006. Noted translator Alexander O. Smith has been confirmed to be involved with the English North American localization of the script.

Special Edition

Special FFXII Pack for Japan

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has announced that they will be releasing a special Final Fantasy XII Package, which includes the following:

• PlayStation 2 game system, model: SCPH-75000 FF
• Final Fantasy XII game
• Standard DualShock controller
• Vertical console stand

The special edition package is releasing alongside the stand alone game on March 16, 2006.

Renowned third-party manufacturers Logicool (Logitech in the West) and Hori also have Final Fantasy XII-branded peripherals due to release at the same time as the game, with Logicool producing a gloss white wireless pad and Hori producing a memory card.

References

• "SQUARE ENIX TO SHIP FINAL FANTASY® XII IN JAPAN MARCH 16, 2006". December 13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |publishyear= ignored (help)

External links

• Final Fantasy Wiki category list for Final Fantasy XII
• Official Japanese Final Fantasy XII Site
• Final Fantasy XII US
• FFXII.com
• Final Fantasy 12
• Final Fantasy XII NET
• Final Fantasy 12 NET JP
• FF12 Forum at Gamespot