Final Fantasy XII (PlayStation 2, 2006)

I have played almost ten hours now and I cannot say that I am disappointed. By Final Fantasy standards this is an admittedly harder game, yet it is still fun!

First off the battle system is very refreshing. You can see all of the monsters in front of you and choose to fight or sneak around them. Often you must strategize which to attack because if you are not careful they will double team and triple team and so forth on you all at once. The Gambit system also advances gameplay. It consists of automatic commands you can set for your character, such as 'attack nearest foe' or heal when someone's Health Points are 70% below maximum. This way you can sit back and relax while your characters take care of the less important monsters. It is entirely up to the gamer to decide whether to turn the Gambits on or off. Also in battle you can switch your character for another at generally any time, even if they are knocked out! A great and wonderful aspect when you're fighting difficult monsters.

Speaking of difficulty, you can engage in Mob Hunts, which are side quests to defeat extremely hard and challenging monsters. Never before have I encountered such difficulties as these...but it makes the game all more fun.

I can't say much about the characters so far. Vaan, the main character, seems very typical, yet the others have interesting back stories. The story resembles the older Final Fantasy games in a way, very dark and power hungry. Ashe is different than I would have thought her to be; she isn't the typical FF girl character.

Gil, the currency, is very difficult to come by, unfortunately. Monsters will occasionally drop items that you can sell, yet theses rarely yield anything of value. Not to mention that the game gives you the option of buying so many things in the beginning of the game that you find yourself stuck between better armor, a better weapon, or just regular supplies.

Treasure chests are now random, which irk some, but they always reappear, so in that respect, I feel that it is better that way to gain lots of treasure. :)

The graphics are as best as the PS2 can handle, and they look wonderful! All of the areas in the game have their own specific feel and you can tell the designers spent a lot of time on each one.

Overall this game is definately worth it, as you will spend hours and hours playing it, enjoying the gameplay. The creators put a lot of time and effort and it completely shows. Don't miss out on this classic!