Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings Review (DS)

Real Time Strategy Final Fantasy Style

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is the direct sequel of Final Fantasy XII for the PS2. Instead of releasing it on the PS2, Square-Enix released it for the Nintendo DS as a real-time strategy game.
 

STORY

FFXII:RW takes place a year after the ending of FFXII. Balthier and Fran took back their airship without telling Vaan and Penelo. The two sky pirates left a letter saying that the four of them should meet up in a ruin where the Cache of Glabados is kept. Vaan already have an airship of his own, went on another adventure with Penelo and their destination is in the Sky Continent of Lemures.

The story and art style is good and intended for younger players. It doesn't have a complicated plot and it's a standalone game so you can jump in FFXII:RW's story without knowing FFXII's story. And finally Vaan is the main character in this game and not an "extra character" like in the original FFXII.

GAMEPLAY

Instead of playing it safe and develop FFXII's sequel on PS2 or PS3 with slightly new gameplay and new story like FFX-2, Square-Enix decided to put the game on a handheld gaming console drastically changing its gameplay turning it into a top-down RTS game with JRPG elements.

The gameplay feels like a mix of Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII. You control your main characters and the Espers they summon. Yes you can summon Espers (monsters/eidolons whatever) via captured summoning gates and use them in battle. The game can be very easy or extremely difficult.

The controls are pretty easy enough, the devs optimized it for the handheld console with few buttons and a touch screen. The tutorial mission easily explains how to do everything by using the touch screen so you'll quickly get accustomed to the game's controls and mechanics. The top screen only displays the mini map while everything is done on the touch screen. The game also have a primer if you want to learn the advanced controls.

Select units by dragging the stylus on the touch screen (kinda similar to how you select units on an RTS game on a PC) then you can tap on any accessible place on the map to move your units. To attack, select your units then tap an enemy unit. Only the main characters (leaders) can interact to objects on the map (treasure, ores/materials, food) by selecting any leader(s) then tapping on an object.

The game have a rock-paper-scissors type mechanic. The leaders (main characters) and Espers have unit types: Melee, Ranged and Flying. Melee is stronger than Ranged, Ranged is stronger than Flying and Flying is stronger than Melee units. In addition to their unit types the Espers have elemental types and they have elemental resistances/weaknesses. You leaders can have an elemental type, resistance and weakness depending on their equipment.

Your leaders have different unique magicks/skills and one Quickening move. For example Vaan is a Warrior/Thief hybrid, Penelo is a healer. Gambits are dumbed-down in this game, it's just an "Auto-skill". You can only assign one Gambit per leader, but you can change them easily in battle but that's micromanaging. Only leaders can equip armors, weapons and accessories, and each leader wear/equip specific types of armors and weapons.

Summoned units have ranks: Rank I to III, the higher the rank the stronger the unit. Rank I and II units are common monsters while Rank III units are FFXII Epsers (Belias, Mateus, Shemhazai etc) with the classic ones (Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, Bahamut etc.) You can only summon these units on a summoning gate if they're unlocked them on the Ring of Pacts that plays similar to FFXII's License Board. You'll need Auracites to register a pact on summoned units.

There are plenty of maps on this game. These maps are designed pretty well and have variety (ruins, caves, forests etc.) and elevation which encourages the player to plan a strategy to win. The battles can be chaotic when there lots units attacking, making it very hard to micromanage units and use your leader's skills. Your leaders/units also tend to follow the escaping (or nearby) enemy which may lead to their deaths so better watch your and take care of your units, especially your leaders, because there are no phoenix downs here, just a Revive spell that's only exclusive to two leaders: Penelo and Llyud.

GRAPHICS

Being on a handheld console that have lower specs, FFXII:RW have 2D handrawn sprites on a 3D environment. The 3D environment looks pretty good actually and the 2D sprites blends well in the environment. The 2D sprites gets super pixelated and distorted depending on if they're close or far away. They sprites have nice animation but they're limited.

The game slows down when there are lots of stuff going on like too many units and effects.

There are CG cutscenes as well but there are few of them and only reserved for intro, ending and special scenarios.

MUSIC/AUDIO

The soundtrack is the same as FFXII which is nice, but there are few of them. What's cool is the music changes from normal music to battle music when your units are in combat. The sound effects are good but not super epic and some them sounded like chiptunes.

No voice acting in this game.

REPLAY VALUE

The game last for about 40+ hours and no new game plus and multiplayer. But if you're a completionist, there are lots of stuff to do in this game, by "lots to do", I mean there are lots of side missions to complete and lots of equipment to craft. You can also revisit almost all locations in the Sky Continent of Lemures and Ivalice to do some level grinding and material gathering.

It's still fun to start a new game. This is the type of game that you'll want to play again and again till the game gets boring to you. The only downside is that you can only have up to two game saves.

CLOSING REMARKS

FFXII:RW is an odd sequel to FFXII but its story and gameplay is good and fun. The game can be very difficult though. The game have optimized and user friendly controls even though they felt intimidating at first. The game also have great looking graphics for a weaker handheld console and an awesome soundtrack. I definitely recommend this game for dedicated Final Fantasy fan and casual gamers that likes the RTS genre.