Knights of the New Final Fantasy Republic XII

I remember my first time playing a title out of a certain Role-Playing Game [RPG] franchise. As silly as I felt playing through the 8th carnation of a title, I gave it a try. The opening cinematic promised an action-packed adventure of biblical proportions and I licked my parched lips as I waited feverishly for the actual gameplay to begin. Then after about 15 minutes of getting accustomed to the controls and whatnot, I began a battle with a tiny blue bug, wondering about the gunblade armed, acrobatic leaps and magical bounds I would unleash upon this poor little creature, whose only sin was encountering me before the rest of the unsuspecting world. Then, after coming face-to-face with the realization that action in the game is in fact turn-based...I merely wanted to see some more of the story before the game would be chucked out the window like an expired laxative. Then I met the storyline.

And I stayed. Oh god did I stay!

Of course, as the more perceptive of you will realize, the game I just finished talking about was a little known title known as Final Fantasy VIII. A gem of a game that, besides introducing the atrocious Junction system, single-handedly changed my perceptions about the media form known as video games. Gone were the days when gaming meant mindlessly eviscerating foes with a cannon in your arms...gone were the days where I thought only America made all the good games...and gone were the days when I couldn't get emotionally attached to a game and its polygonal, digital entities. I was born to the greatness that is Final Fantasy.

It didn't take me long to hunt down Final Fantasy VII and soon, I had fallen behind Cloud and Co's mission to save the Planet from the evil, Aeris-killing blade of Sephiroth. And it was pretty much the greatest game I have ever played, even up to this very moment as I regale you with my adventures.

I have not played Final Fantasy IX, X, X-2 nor XI, as I never owned a console after the 16-bit era. But with the advent of the Ps3, believe me...I will. But besides XI, I have played a little of the others, including ye-olde FFV and FFVI, and Chrono Trigger...and I was convinced that the entity of Square [now Square-Enix] could do no wrong.

Until now.

Haters and the more observant take heed, my following opinions are based on the numerous reports and actual in-game footage I have seen, so keep the "But it hasn't even been released yet lol" card to yourselves. I hope I am proved wrong about this...believe me. God knows I've been wrong [rare] before.

Final Fantasy XII...the latest rendition of the honoured classic franchise. A blend of cutting-edge current-gen graphics, and some of the most sophisticated and detailed CGI ever coded...as well as being the latest in the Final Fantasy series is enough for gaming fanatics to get their stamps of approval out this instance. But as us fans of the series know...things are not always what they seem.

My main gripe with XII is the overall interface. It is basically a tweaked out version of FFXI and I, as well as many others, do not like that. FFXI was an online game, thus the drastic changes in battle mechanics was pardonable. But this...this is an offline game and yet they still decided to stick to the FFXI system, mostly I feel, to draw in the countless newbies and FFXI freaks who have never touched FF before in thier lives and who would be shocked out of their de-sensitized covenant-bashing stupors. Oh woe!

But in doing so, they have stripped away the juicy, almost ethereal soul of the majestic tradition that is Final Fantasy. The ATB battle system, the Junction system, that turn-based thingy FFX used, they were different yes, but the core mechanics were still the same. But with this abomination, they had destroyed that great tradition, the stress-free-yet-so-stressful battles and what did they achieve? What new age wonder and pinnacle of the role-playing universe are they developing? The answer, like so many others, lies in another.

Namely...Knights of the Old Republic.

Now don't get me wrong...KOTOR was a true masterpiece of the very highest standard, and Bioware successfully got me reading more about Star Wars in the space of a few days than I had all my life. But it was no Final Fantasy...which is not really a bad thing. In essence, they had successfully created a battle environment that was unique to KOTOR, much like Square and Enix with their respective Final Fantasies and Dragon Quests. And it was good, but not really the thing I would see the gaming gods at Square-Enix emulate.

Kingdom Hearts was a good game, featuring its own brand of battles which was more action than any Square-Enix game which featured characters from Final Fantasy. But we all hoped that at least after a gruelling day of studies or work or whatever it is we as human beings do...we could sit down and engage in some Final Fantasy...

But what I didnt want was to sit down and see this gay-looking boy who looks barely out of his pre-pubescent coddling, wielding a sword and shield against a monster, in a battle system which is more like FF flavoured KOTOR. Where is the originality there? Is Squenix going to go against the rest of their traditions and make a crappy game for once?

If you are reading this Square-Enix...take notice. Change the battle system. I like having control over all my characters, I like seeing some vestiges of testosterone in my main characters, and I like Limit Breaks. You've spent most of our lifetimes making this one game, I, as well as several others, worry about the quality of your games when you do that.

Then again...if you do not change the system, you had better make sure that this is the greatest piece of gaming software ever to grace our jaded Final Fantasizing eyes, and that we can sing hymns to the greatness of the game as it ascends the throne of Valhalla.

Ciao.