Final Fantasy XII

I just started FF12 last night. I'm not far into it at all. I pretty much spent the first 3 hours just loitering around Rabanastre marvelling at its awesomeness before deciding to anything meaningful. Now I finally decided to pay old Dalan a visit so I can crash a party. I really don't want to leave Rabanastre because it's a desert out there and I loathe RPG deserts. If other towns are as awesome as Rabanastre, I'll be in hog heaven. Rabanastre's already trying to get a spot in my top 3 RPG towns/cities (which are currently Sumaru City, Solaris, and Esthar.)

It's been years since I've played an FF game. The last FF game I played to completion was FF9. Yeah, that's how long it's been.

So far my impressions are positive. I love the music and voice acting. Vaan was very well cast. Penelo's actress delivers her lines flawlessly. The only hiccup is that ethnic characters never really seem sure what accent they should be using. I'm normally not a fan of Sakimoto's music, but the music is awesome in the game so far.

The visuals are gorgeous. I quite like the character designs; much softer than the Nomura stuff with far less goofball junk on the outfits. Yeah, Vaan wears a tiny tank and all, but that's how I'd expect a kid in a desert town to dress.

And the story? I can definitely tell it's a Yasumi Matsuno tale. It's like Tactics Ogre in that the pacing is quite deliberate and there's tons of layers and complexity. The tight political intrigue surrounding the Archadian Empire, the conquering of Dalmasca, and what Lord Vayne's going to do next really has me hooked. And I like that while others are willing to just accept life as it is, Vaan isn't satisfied and his actions are a vehicle to find out the hidden truth that nobody wants to tell.

The battle system takes some getting used to, but fighting solo is not fun. I can't wait till Vaan gets a party. I'm glad S-E decided to go back to the ATB for FF13, because the battles here remind me of Contact's battle system and that was not the most intuitive battle system for me. Though for MMORPGers or PC RPGers, it's probably more intuitive. I do not know how some of you can play this game with battles in Active mode without dying every 3 seconds. If it weren't for Wait mode, I'd be so overwhelmed.

And one thing that others find annoying but I find interesting is that the interface forces me to think differently than I'm used to in an RPG. The Shin Megami Tensei series has always found ways to defy convention and make me think differently in an RPG, so figuring out how to work this newfangled system in FF12 has me working the ol' grey matter.

For example, given the scarcity of money and the structure of the license board, the standard practice of upgrading everything upon entering a new town is not prudent since you may not be able to equip it.

Still, the game gives me the kind of warm fuzzies that Star Wars does. I want to keep playing.