DS Review: Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

The Final Fantasy franchise has had its ups and downs through its twenty year history, featuring both some of the best and some of the worst games in video game history. Notably, it has had its fair share of bad sequels and spin-offs, with disappointing gameplay mechanics that fall short of the best Final Fantasy qualities [Dirge of Cerberus comes immediately to mind here -- Ed.]. I’m pleased to report, however, that this game is not one of those lamentable spin-offs.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is a direct sequel to the original Playstation 2 classic. Fans of that game will be happy to hear that a familiar cast of characters have returned, including the likes of Vaan, Penelo, Balthier, and many more. While the DS outing features similarities to the original game in those respects, it does not resemble the original in terms of gameplay. Rather than being the expected turn based RPG, Revenant Wings is a real time strategy game, Final Fantasy style. Yes, it sounds strange at first, but as you progress through the game the new mechanic shines in the same way Final Fantasy Tactics did during its groundbreaking release nearly a decade ago.

But before I get into all of that, allow me to enlighten you on the background of the incredible world of Ivalice. The game starts soon after the events of Final Fantasy XII, with Vaan and company chilling in Rabanastre. Only moments later, they find themselves aboard an airship ready to explore the world in search of a sky pirate’s dream: treasure. Unexpectedly, they wind up lost amidst a new, lost continent, Lemures… home of a winged race known as the aegyl. To learn the rest of the story you’ll have to play the game, but I can assure you that the storyline is top notch and will keep you glued to your DS, whether you’ve played the original game or not.

Revenant Wings manages to get its hooks into you from the moment you pick it up. The game does start off rather slow in the first few missions, featuring objectives that have you doing not much more than slaughtering groups of monsters, but as you progress through the game the tactics involved with the gameplay increase drastically along with the various features that are included inside the game. The storyline and missions are well paced for the most part, and the real-time strategy elements couldn’t get much better.

The real-time strategy genre is surely one that has arguably been neglected on the Nintendo DS, a platform which is almost a perfect match for this genre. Other games have made some tepid attempts at getting the formula right on the system, but Revenant Wings is probably the first to execute the mechanics all but flawlessly. To move your characters, you’ll draw a box around them, and tap on the map (you can move the view of the map with the d-pad) to where you’d like them to move to… not unlike most PC real-time strategy games. Most of the gameplay is pretty straightforward; after all, this is the “beginner’s Final Fantasy” as the developers have dubbed it. Even the menus are very easy to navigate, and have a sleek presentation.

The missions themselves are a lot of fun to play through. You have the option of using five of your main characters during battle, along with a slew of ‘espers’, which are monsters summoned by your party members during battle. The espers are where the strategic element of the game comes into play, as the system works in a rock-paper-scissors fashion. Water trumps fire, lightning trumps water, etc. It’s not a new gameplay element by any means, but it adds a layer of strategy that wouldn’t otherwise exist in the game. You gain more espers via the Ring of Pacts, which works similarly to that of the license board in the first Final Fantasy XII. You spend ‘auracite’, a material found in missions that serves as a form of currency, to enlist new espers that are laid out in a branched-out ring. To create your espers in battle, you’ll need to capture various spawning points on the map, which are essential to beating most missions. That isn’t to say that the missions aren’t varied, however, because you’ll find that some of them are quite clever and unique at times.

Really, the only big issue that is very apparent in the game is its strategy-lite gameplay. Yes, you’ll need to use your brain and be strategic to beat a lot of the missions, but essentially most of the combat is settled by sending in all of your troops at once and hoping that their levels and equipment will suffice. In addition to this, the AI can make some odd decisions sometimes with movement and combat, but between the sufficient gambit system and the decent AI it serves its purpose through most of the game.

Visually, the game is stunning. This is easily one of the best efforts from third parties for both 3D and 2D work. The 3D environments look great, between their artistic value and their technical proficiency as DS graphics. The sprites are well animated, despite the fact that they distort a little when the camera zooms in. Visual effects are well done and appealing to watch also. Surprisingly, the game features some high quality CGI cutscenes as well, even if they are rather infrequent during the game. Unfortunately, the game does feature some slowdown during large battles, but it doesn’t take away from the visual experience so much that it changes your experience for the worse.

The audio is also well done; the development team has surprisingly done a great job with transferring the music in the original Final Fantasy XII to the Nintendo DS’s limited audio capabilities. Everything sounds top notch, between the quality music and pleasing sound effects. You’ll be likely to want to watch the opening cutscene repeatedly just to hear the catchy theme music.

Overall, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is a great RPG and real-time strategy game that is successful in being both a new take on the franchise and a sequel to an utter masterpiece. This game screams Final Fantasy in every aspect of its design. Its great dialog, addictive gameplay, lengthy quest, and sleek presentation make this the role-playing game to have on the Nintendo DS. Whether you’ve played the original game or not, this is a game to own for both RPG/RTS veterans and newcomers alike.

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