Vaan has much disdain for the empire, after all the war took his whole family. During the final moments of this battle, the king of Dalmasca has agreed to sign a treaty with Archadia, but he is assassinated directly after.Ī couple of years after this, we are introduced to Vaan and Penelo, two orphans living in Rabanastre who both lost their parents in the war, as well as Vaan’s brother, who fought at Nabradia. Why? Perhaps they want Dalmasca to allow them easy passage to a third kingdom, Rozarria in the far west. Archadia is a large kingdom, perhaps the most powerful at this time in Ivalice and they want Dalmasca. The battle I mentioned earlier was between the Dalmascans, protecting Nabradia, the border between them and their attackers from the east, the Archadians. The time of the Dynast-King Raithwall was thousands of years ago and current day Ivalice is on the brink of war. Long ago the Dynast-King Raithwall united all of Ivalice under his rule, with the help of magicite, bestowed to him by the mysterious Occuria, undying, god-like beings. Ivalice is a world built on the foundations of magicite a magical crystal substance that holds power, power that inevitably will end up in the wrong hands. ![]() This blend of swords and soldiers and futuristic sci-fi was an interesting juxtaposition of aesthetics. One of the first cut scenes in the game shows a battle raging with foot soldiers on the ground dressed in armor and swinging swords at each other one side attempting to defend a castle-like structure with the other side attempting to capture it, meanwhile an aerial dogfight is going on between futuristic flying crafts, zipping about. ![]() Even though the game has an antique vibe, technology is everywhere. The vocabulary the characters often spoke with prompted me to look at some words’ meaning more than once and I’m not digging the game for it I enjoyed hearing seemingly archaic words, broadening my own vocabulary it’s something that helped reel me into the setting. Notice the blue line extending from Penelo, telling her who to attack.Īfter reading that the developers had visited Turkey and took an interest in European, Middle Eastern, and Asian cultures for the game, it’s easy to see that the influence has found a place in the game, specifically, much of Ivalice is set in a warmer climate, with Rabanastre being surrounded by deserts on all sides. But Rabanastre isn’t the only large city in the game, there are others, but there is diversity in Final Fantasy XII more common are the small gatherings of people, forming makeshift hubs, or villages in the heart of the wilderness, composed of foreign races. Walking through its many areas, I viewed the beautiful architecture that it was composed of, reminiscent of a Europe of ages past. Rabanastre is large, the largest city I’ve ever seen in a role-playing game, or any video game for that matter. ![]() Smack dab in the center of Ivalice is Dalmasca, home to Rabanastre, the city where much of the game takes place. Passing through these regions, I enjoyed not only the battles that took place in them, but marveling at the amount of work that went into making each location as detailed as they turned out. Ivalice spans many geographical regions, including many deserts, but it’s also home to snow covered mountains, tropical beaches, thick rainforests and more. In general I feel Final Fantasy XII is a staple in the collection of anyone who enjoys role-playing games, and worth a look even for those don’t.įinal Fantasy XII takes place in Ivalice, a familiar environment for the series, home to the Final Fantasy Tactics games, as well as Vagrant Story. ![]() I’ll talk about the world at large in Final Fantasy XII, Ivalice, the characters that form the party, the story very briefly, and the battle system. I spent a month and a half playing through Final Fantasy XII in bits and pieces when I had the time and I’ve thought a lot about the game in the weeks since I beat it, what I’ve written are the my biggest takeaways from the game. While I am knowledgeable about the series, I haven’t played a ton of them, but this is easily my favorite. I’ve completed another Final Fantasy, this time a more modern one, Final Fantasy XII.
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