Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age: The Kotaku Review. One of the strangest features in Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, which comes out today, is called the gambit system. This system allows you to write out a sequence of if- then statements, like “if you see an enemy, then attack it” or “if your HP goes below 1. Potion.” You can assign these gambits to your entire party, scripting them to automatically fight, cast spells, and heal one another at optimal times. In other words, you can teach the game to play itself. Final Fantasy has spawned numerous spin-offs and metaseries. Several are, in fact, not Final Fantasy games, but were rebranded for North American release. Square Enix will celebrate the 30th anniversary in the Final Fantasy series with new releases and stunning Final Fantasy compilation editions. Find great deals on eBay for final fantasy 7 and final fantasy 7 ps1. Shop with confidence. Now here's a weird scenario: the Chief Executive Officer of Square Enix is literally on PC thanks to Nier: Automata. He's a real man, inside a computer. But the Final. ![]() Today’s Kotaku Splitscreen is made just the way you like it: heavy on the Fahey and the Final Fantasy. Job select screen in Final Fantasy V. Many games offer different systems to allow more freedom when growing characters' abilities and stats beginning as early as. What to make of a system like this? Is Final Fantasy XII trying to train us all to become programmers? Are the developers trying to automate the menial parts of traditional role- playing game combat? Are the creators suggesting that RPG combat requires so little thought, you can create AIs to handle it for you? Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is a remastered version of the original 2. PS2 game, and it takes things further by adding a fast- forward button. ![]() Find your favorite retro and classic video games and consoles at GameStop. Choose from NES, Super NES, SEGA Genesis, SEGA Dreamcast, PlayStation and N64!The game still mostly involves you controlling a party of three characters as you roam fantasy terrain and fight monsters. It’s a third- person game, much like all other FFs, but you can see every enemy on screen before fighting it. That was a more radical departure from series standards in 2. With the fast- forward button, you can double or even quadruple the game’s speed while you’re exploring and fighting. Fast forwarding makes Final Fantasy XII significantly better, but something also feels off about it, as if the developers are apologizing for making such a slow, tedious game. Are they trying to make up for the sluggish pace of a JRPG by letting you speed through it all? I’ve spent nearly 4. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age over the past two weeks, and I keep thinking about all these questions. Why, I keep asking myself, am I having so much fun playing a game in which most battles play out while I merely watch? Why do I have the urge to complete all 4. I almost never do in video games? Why has my opinion on Final Fantasy XII evolved from “this is just fine” in 2. I’ve come up with a bunch of possible answers. Here are, oh, eight of them. The world is charming. Final Fantasy XII is set in Ivalice, a world full of Game of Thronesy political conflict, high fantasy, and the never- ending backstabbing you might expect from the minds that brought us Final Fantasy Tactics. The game’s story revolves around a war between an evil empire called Archades and a resistance group led by the princess of Dalmasca, Ashe, and Final Fantasy XII does a good job of keeping things interesting even as it deluges you with proper nouns. Over the years, many critics have compared the game’s story to Star Wars, which is fair, because the game’s story is basically Star Wars. You’ve got a central conflict between a nasty imperial force and scrappy rebels. You’ve got a suave mercenary who claims to only be helping the heroes because he’s after money. There are no accidental brother- sister kisses, but there is a masked villain with a surprising familial connection to one of the protagonists. Final Fantasy XII’s story loses steam toward the end, but the characters—namely, the princess Ashe, the tortured knight Basch, the sky pirate Balthier, and the rebellious bunny- lady Fran—stay interesting throughout. The other protagonists are Vaan and Penelo, two clingers- on who have no real purpose and spend most of the game goofing around while the rest of the party is doing interesting things. But hey, the six of them make for an entertaining crew, and it’s fun to watch them explore Ivalice’s massive deserts, frozen mountains, and hidden caverns. It lets you turn your heroic party into a well- oiled death machine. Here’s the fun thing about the gambit system: You can use it to make your characters do just about anything. As you progress further in the game and teach your characters more skills, your gambit options will open up, allowing you to play with the system in creative ways. For example, you can script your party to drench an enemy in Oil, a status effect that makes characters weaker to fire, and then cast Firaga to set that enemy ablaze. Or you can teach your characters to use Poach to convert weakened enemies into useful items. Or you can combine Berserk, Haste, and Bubble to turn one of your party members into a mindless killing machine. The combinations go on and on. It has the better kind of RPG grinding. There are two different types of grinding in role- playing games. Let’s call them the good kind and the bad kind. It’s often criticized for all of the reasons you might expect—doing the same thing over and over again isn’t very fun. It is not a worthwhile use of time to face a difficulty spike in, say, Dragon Quest VII and then feel forced to exit a dungeon and run around in circles, mashing buttons to make your party attack the same enemies over and over again until you’re strong enough to beat the boss. There’s something different about Final Fantasy XII. Grinding in this game is like entering a meditative trance. Because so much of the combat is automated, you’ll likely find yourself enjoying the process of walking into a new zone, smashing into enemies, and watching your characters do all of the work without pressing a button. The economy is set up to leave you always wanting more money so you can afford that shiny new weapon or powerful new spell. Grinding in Final Fantasy XII doesn’t feel punishing—it feels soothing. And that soundtrack never gets old. The production values are tremendous. As with many JRPGs, Final Fantasy XII is elevated by its soundtrack. Composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto and re- recorded for the PS4 remaster, the tunes of FFXII are more sweeping and orchestral than Nobuo Uematsu’s melody- heavy soundtracks in previous Final Fantasy games. Even when you hit the fast- forward button, you hear the incredible music at normal speed. Highlights include tracks in Rabanastre and the Giza Plains. This is a game with great grand spectacle as well as terrific tiny flourishes, like the sound of a sword clash or the appealing blue lines that connect your party members to whomever they’re attacking. The writing is stellar, thanks to some very good localization work by editor Alexander O. Smith and team, whose script takes itself seriously but never too seriously. The vocal performances are also top- notch, aside from Vaan, who’s sort of like an anime Aladdin. Sadly, there’s no way to mute him and only him. The quality of writing in Final Fantasy XII makes it stand out from other Final Fantasys. It’s up there with the likes of the excellent Trails in the Sky for sharp, well- crafted dialogue. This is a game where it’s worth taking the time to talk to every NPC. The new job system is a blast. In Final Fantasy XII, your characters grow more powerful by acquiring License Points (LP) from defeated enemies and then using those LP to unlock nodes on what’s called a License Board. Whereas in the PS2 version this board was a mess, in Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age it’s been neatly carved up into jobs. Each character can pick two jobs, giving him or her access to those jobs’ boards. Make Balthier a Machinist and White Mage, for example, and he’ll be perfectly suited for blasting enemy dragons in between Curaga runs, although he won’t be able to equip the Heavy Armor you’d get from a Knight or Foebreaker board. You’re always making interesting decisions: Which jobs should I use? Which nodes should I unlock? What should my party balance be? This helps justify Final Fantasy XII’s automation of the less interesting decisions in JRPGs, like who your characters should target and when they should heal. Bosses require you to switch up your strategies. Both the mandatory and optional bosses of Final Fantasy XII come with all sorts of wrinkles that force you to reevaluate your gambit strategies. Try to take on the Trickster or King Bomb with your standard gambits and Final Fantasy XII will laugh at you. Beating them takes a lot of thought. This time around, I’ve happily discovered that hunts—optional sidequests that involve tracking down and defeating tough monsters—are the best part of the game. There are around 4. As of this writing, I’ve got 2. It all just clicks. Midway through the development of Final Fantasy XII, director Yasumi Matsuno suddenly departed. On another game (like, say, Final Fantasy XV) this might have led to a reboot or a jarring shift in tone, but new director Hiroyuki Ito picked up where Matsuno left off, and the game feels sufficiently Matsuno- esque. If you’ve played Final Fantasy Tactics or Vagrant Story you know what you’re getting: a certain vibe, heavy on the politics, that delves into high fantasy but always feels grounded. Although things fizzle a bit in the final act, as the story moves into the realm of crystals and gods and other JRPG nonsense, the game never stops feeling consistent. Even the random NPCs never stop getting old. This second time around, Final Fantasy XII has surprised me. I can credit some of my improved regard for the game to this remastered version’s visual polish and convenient fast- forward button. I credit more of it to the game’s innate quality. It holds up. It works well. It functions like no Final Fantasy before it or since. And it is interesting in its world and its characters. Final Fantasy Games That Needed To Be Censored. The Final Fantasy series has undergone censorship since the games first left Japan. Final Fantasy for the Nintendo Entertainment System needed to have crosses removed and spell names altered in order to make them less offensive. These were the first in a long series of changes that were imposed upon the series by Nintendo, which was one of the reasons that Squaresoft jumped ship to the Play. Station. While Sony offered more freedom for the games, they were still censored from time to time. Even the latest games in the Final Fantasy series needed to be changed in order to meet industry standards, which has led to the games being censored in Japan. We are here today to look into the parts of the Final Fantasy series that made the ESRB nervous. From the religious iconography, which needed to be covered during Zack Fair’s adventures, to the medieval swear words, which Tifa Lockhart used to yell at other women. Here are the 1. 5 Final Fantasy Games That Needed To Be Censored! The Virgin Minerva. In Final Fantasy VII, it is revealed that all life returns to the planet when it dies. There is no afterlife awaiting the souls of humans and animals. Instead, all beings are reborn into an endless cycle of reincarnation. There are some who were able to cheat death and maintain their consciousness in the Lifestream (such as Aerith and Sephiroth), but most spirits simply return to the Earth. Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core established that there is some sort of higher power out there. Her name is Minerva and she is a being of almost god- like power who exists within the Lifestream. She restored Genesis Rhapsodos to life after he died, because he is so important to the franchise that he cannot be allowed to remain dead. However, Aerith didn’t deserve a resurrection, as she doesn’t look like a famous Japanese rock star. It is possible to find statues of Minerva in the Banora Underground. These were changed for the international release of the game, as the statues originally resembled the Virgin Mary. The updated version of the statues now looked more like Joan of Arc. The Dress Of The Dancing Girl. The need for a video games rating system first appeared in the ’9. Games like Mortal Kombat and Doom helped create the ESRB, as parents across America grew concerned about all of the blood that was appearing in titles meant for children. Sexual content in games was never as big an issue and it certainly never caused the same level of controversy that violence did. The 1. 6- bit consoles of the ’9. Despite this, the American version of Final Fantasy IV (known as Final Fantasy II) toned down the dancing girls that appeared in some of the towns. In the Japanese version of the game, the girls would remove their red dress, revealing a white bikini underneath. The American version of the game changed the programming, so that the dancers never took off the dress. An entire generation of gamers was denied three pixels worth of bare skin. Peeling Off The Onion Knight. The Final Fantasy series has needed to censor the bare skin of numerous female characters over the years, as we will see later on the list, but it isn’t just women who have had clothes added onto their bodies during localization. As fans of the Dissidia Final Fantasy series can attest, the folks at Square Enix are just as eager to strip down the guys as they are the girls. When Mobius Final Fantasy was first in development, the main character’s outfit was shown to be very skimpy. The protagonist of the game is an Onion Knight, named Wol, whose default outfit originally seemed to have had the sides cut off, revealing his muscular physique. When footage of the game next appeared, Wol’s outfit had been extended. The producers of the game had responded to online feedback about the design and the consensus among fans was that it was “too sexy.” They decided to extend the outfit in order to cover his skin. Teenage Mutant Ninja Selphie. The United Kingdom used to have strict censorship laws concerning the portrayal of ninja weapons in the media. Movies like Enter the Dragon had the famous nunchaku scene removed entirely. The most well- known victim of this law was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, as it was called Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in England (with its own specially recorded version of the title sequence). Most of the episodes that had scenes of Michelangelo using his nunchaku were removed completely. These strict censorship rules have long since been written out of English law and are no longer in effect. In Final Fantasy VIII, Selphie uses a massive pair of nunchaku in combat. In the European version of the game, these were referred to as Shinobou instead. A similar change also happened in the original version of Soul Blade for the Play. Station, as Li Long’s nunchaku were changed into a three- section staff for the European version of the game. Cid The Alcoholic. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance has one of the most peculiar tales of morality in the series. The cast of the game is a group of children who are sent to a magical world where all of their problems no longer exist. In the real world, Marche is mostly ignored by his parents, as his disabled brother requires a lot of care. When he is sent to the world of Ivalice, he becomes the leader of a powerful guild, where he ends up the center of attention. His brother is also sent to Ivalice, where he is no longer ill and can now walk. Marche’s friend, Mewt, has it the worst back in the real world. His mother is dead and his father, Cid, is a deadbeat. In Ivalice, his mother is alive once more and Cid is the respected leader of the Judges. The American version of the game totally changed the original encounter with Cid. In the Japanese version of the game, Cid has become an alcoholic and he is encountered in a drunken state on the streets. This was changed to him being insulted by his boss at the cab company, unable to stand up for himself. Covering Up The Cast. The second most popular Final Fantasy game in Japan is the fourth one. Final Fantasy IV is mainly loved for historical reasons, as it represents a huge technical leap forward for the series. This is why IV has received so many different ports and remakes over the years, while games like V and VI are overlooked. Final Fantasy IV. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is set seventeen years after the original game and follows a large cast of playable characters, as they attempt to stop the destruction of their world. The official artwork for Final Fantasy IV: The After Years was changed for the international release of the game. Rydia had her outfit totally redesigned, in order to show less skin. Porom’s outfit was altered to hide the curves of her body, which was visible in the initial version. Ursula’s outfit had a pair of shorts added to it, in order to show off less of her thighs. The Scythe & Ball. Final Fantasy IV might be the most censored game in the series. The Final Fantasy II version that was released in America had numerous character abilities removed, in order to simplify the game. As previously mentioned, the bikini outfits of the dancing girls were erased from the game. Any overt references to death or the sexual relationship between Cecil and Rosa were toned down, as well as any religious icons being changed. One of the most unusual alterations made to Final Fantasy II involves the kidnapping of Rosa. She is held within the Tower of Zot and it is up to the party to rescue her. In the Japanese version of the game, Rosa is being held beneath a giant scythe that threatens to drop and decapitate her if she is freed from her bonds. This was changed into a giant metal ball for the international version of the game, that would fall and crush her if she tried to escape. Nintendo of America felt that being crushed to death was more appealing than being cut in the half. Banana Drugs. Square Enix owns numerous video game franchises. The two most well- known are Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, which both continue to receive regular new instalments and spinoffs. Square Enix have also created franchises that have been abandoned, like the Mana and Parasite Eve series, which drifted off after a few games. One Square Enix property that has drifted in and out of relevance is the Saga series, which has had numerous revivals over the years. The Game Boy titles in the series actually saw a release in the West, though they were renamed Final Fantasy Legend in order to cash in on a more recognizable name. Final Fantasy Legend II is one of the few games in the series to deal with the topic of drugs, as the player visits a town that is hiding an opium smuggling operation. This was changed to a banana smuggling operation, due to Nintendo of America’s strict rules on censorship. Bananas were likely chosen in order to be as ridiculous as possible. Swimsuits Type Zero. It seemed for a while that Final Fantasy Type- 0 was going to be the most high- profile game in the series to have never left Japan. Final Fantasy Type- 0 was released for the PSP in 2. It was originally going to be part of a shared series with Final Fantasy XIII, though these plans were scrapped. Despite the rave reviews and incredible looking graphics, there were no announced plans to release Final Fantasy Type- 0 in the West. Fans believe this is due to concerns about the rampant piracy on the PSP. The game finally received an HD update that was released worldwide on the Play. Station 4 and Xbox One in 2. One of the most unusual changes to Final Fantasy Type- 0 HD was the removal of some of the costumes. It was possible to unlock swimsuit outfits for Kazusa and Emina by completing quests, which could be viewed in the game’s compendium. These costumes were removed from the game, despite the fact that it had a Mature rating. Blue Guts. Final Fantasy VII had no problem with showing blood; for example when Sephiroth bleeds in the cutscene following his final battle with Cloud in the Lifestream. Final Fantasy XV . The world's last crystal is gone, taken by Niflheim agents as they launch simultaneous attacks on their neighbor nations. Noctis, Prince of Lucis, sets out to stop the empire and reclaim his home's crystal, the source of their magical power and protection. Will he and his friends be successful in their quest? What will this dark, new world reveal before the final act? Active Cross Battle System: Final Fantasy XV integrates battle scenes into the game's open world environment, allowing you to control the flow of. Combat commands correspond to button mapping on your controller, giving you instant control of the battleground and tactics. World- Influenced Magic: Magic used by Noctis differs from spells used by his companions and can change the outcome of battle based on the environment. Fire spells used on a clear day can spread more quickly, potentially hurting your companions, while lightning cast during a rainstorm might strike more targets. Summoned Monsters Returned: Summoning mythical creatures to fight at your side is a staple of the Final Fantasy franchise, and the fifteenth installment is no different. Noctis must defeat summoned monsters before they will come to his aid, presenting new challenges. Available for the Playstation. Xbox One, Final Fantasy XV promises to bring a darker, real world tinge to the long- running series. Explore cities, take on intricate quests, and progress through a compelling storyline to save your home and the world itself.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
October 2017
Categories |