Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings Review

Arguably the quintessential Japanese RPG series, Final Fantasy has certainly broken off into a myriad of different tangents over the years, creating a seemingly never-ending universe of worlds for players to explore and uncover along the way. Recently however, publisher Square-Enix has moved to integrate several releases into wider story arcs culminating in a number of series, such as the upcoming Fabula Nova Crystallis, and The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. A couple of years ago the Japanese RPG giant confirmed another, entitled the 'Ivalice Alliance', which enveloped the stories of Final Fantasy Tactics, and 2006's Final Fantasy XII.

Hot off the presses (for Europe at least) is the latest part of the Alliance, Revenant Wings. Taking place twelve months following the aftermath of FFXII, and continuing the story of Vaan and Penelo, the spin-off title returns to the world of Ivalice - more specifically, several tens of thousands of feet above Ivalice, to the lost floating continent of Lemurés.

TVG glues some wings together Icarus-style and flaps about in the latest Final Fantasy adventure...

Fly Me To The Moon...

If death and taxes are the two certainties in life, then airships and cut-scenes are the two certainties in a Final Fantasy game. What's not a certainty however is that a Final Fantasy game has to be a typical RPG; Final Fantasy Tactics certainly showed that. Joining its ranks of 'not-being-as-expected' is Revenant Wings, which manages to meld the genre with Real-Time Strategy; an 'RTS/RPG', if you like, which brings in the issue of real-time tactical changes to the flow of battle.

The gameplay is broken down into sub-chapters, bite-sized bits of battles, dungeon crawling, and storytelling, all of which are perfectly suited to Final Fantasy on the go. Regular save points are also a welcome feature, creating a rather strangely attractive Final Fantasy title in that it's very pick up and playable. Whilst the story itself is the usual mix of morality tales and dramatic twists, it's not perhaps as compelling as the home console instalments have been. That said, the structure of it does at least mean that you'll find yourself playing through Vaan and Penelo's second adventure for both short and long bursts alike.

Battles are far removed from the bog-standard turn-based combat systems you'd generally expect from the franchise too. Once again taking a lead from Tactics (and the original FFXII for that matter), all combat takes place within the same screens as the exploration. Throw in the fact that combat takes place in real-time too, and the Revenant Wings experience certainly isn't as rigid as regular Japanese RPG titles. Taking a 'rock-paper-scissors' philosophy to combat, where Melee Units are strong against Ranged Units but weak against Flying Units and so on, the game throws in a decent mix of strategy beyond just tank-rushing a group of enemies.

Summoning creatures called 'Espers' to help Vaan and the rest of the airship's crew brings weight to the game's RTS list of features, though it's an expanded feature from Final Fantasy XII, and a legacy that goes as far back as 2001's Final Fantasy X. Enhancing the party's chances against some of the Sky Pirates encountered along the way, the Espers are active during battle and break down in to six different 'Natures', elements that define both their strength and weakness, together with their respective unit type.

Additionally, three different ranks of Espers can be unlocked in the game, using a cut down variant of the License board in Final Fantasy XII called 'The Ring of Pacts'. Using shards of 'Auracite' (a magical rock) to unlock additional Espers throughout the adventure, the Ring of Pacts helps push players into developing stronger relationships with Espers across each Nature as the story progresses. Several 'troupes' of Espers can be saved and quickly 'pre-loaded' before the start of a battle, with additional reinforcements called upon with the Summoning Gates that litter Lemurés. Similar to the likes of Battlefield (or Frontlines: Fuel of War), the Gates can be won or lost if one of the party members activates it over time, effectively creating new spawn points for the Espers to emerge from. Again a shift from the more traditional structure of Final Fantasy, the move means just helps create the aura of 'RTS' around the gameplay to solid effect.

More Goodyear Blimp Than Hindenburg.

As a spin-off, Revenant Wings does include some of the gameplay features - albeit in a limited fashion - of the original Final Fantasy XII. Gambits for instance, those 'if...else' logic statements that semi-automated the decision process for the player's party during combat, make a return, though here they're severely cut down and little more than a preference-based system. For instance, using Vaan's Dual-Wield attack if available ahead of other abilities including his default attack. Limited yes, and certainly a cut back from the list of a dozen or so statements open to develop in the original title, but it's paced and perhaps better suited to the more sedate stylus control system of the DS.

For all the different slants that give the game a different spin however, Revenant Wings remains an RPG at heart, with a complete breakdown of attributes and equipment that will warm the cockles of any J-RPG gamer's heart. Square-Enix's strategy for the game has apparently been to make Revenant Wings an accessible instalment for newcomers to the franchise, something that it inevitably does with the various design decisions made by the team.

Following Tactics' example, Revenant Wings uses an isometric perspective, though it's something of a hybrid beast. Using 3D dungeons with blocky sprites for the band of Sky Pirates, the style may not be to everyone's liking, though it manages to just about blend an atmosphere of nostalgia to proceedings. Additionally, the notion of islands floating in the sky won't be a new idea for any fans of anime, all of whom will have no doubt seen Hayao Miyazaki's Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Here, the continent resembles more of a group of islands, enabling players to fly to each of the rocks at will (disembarking points permitting) in 3D with a sort of aimless wistfulness...it's all a little too serene.

Having an airship from virtually the start of the game is also something novel for a Final Fantasy title, though it serves as a hub for conversation between the characters, a shop, and a place to read a log of diary entries that pad out some of the extraneous thoughts and feelings that each of them have. The synthesis of new weapons is naturally a pretty useful to have, despite the fact that most of the loot already comes in various treasure chests found throughout Lemurés. Requiring recipe books and a veritable shopping trolley of ingredients to create some of the more advanced bits of equipment at least pushes players into exploring completed mission locations - though the variety of side-missions dished out to Vaan (though these revolve around hunting different groups, either Sky Pirates, treasure, or random monsters) can prove a little repetitive to bare.