When one thinks of the RPG genre, the first name that comes to mind is Final Fantasy. In 20 years, the series went from an obscure title from a company on the brink of extinction to one of the most decorated franchises in video game history. Each iteration and spin off has introduced gamers to new worlds, characters and stories that have the ability to hook gamers time and time again. With the next game in the series, Final Fantasy XIII, quickly approaching, let's take a look back at the evolution of the series that put RPG's and Square on the map.

Final Fantasy’s tenure on the PS2 had been a strange one indeed. FFX changed many of the traditions the games before it had followed, and FFXI was a subscription based multiplayer game that was bundled with an expensive HDD drive which fizzled out as soon as it launched. Each console has gotten three major releases in the series before it moved on to the next generation, which meant that this next title had a lot to live up to. With Final Fantasy XII, Square put the game back into a single player setting, but took a variety of chances that made the game like no other. These risks have generated endless amounts of controversy that are still debated today, giving the twelfth (and most recent) game in the series a legacy all its own.

Each Final Fantasy game has established a unique, self contained world that is generally untouched by the other games, save for a few references here and there. FFXII changes this by placing the story in the world of Ivalice, which is where Vagrant Story and the Final Fantasy Tactics spin-off games took place. The start of the game shows the kingdom of Dalmasca celebrating the wedding of Princess Ashe. Behind the scenes, the surrounding empires of Archadia and Rozarria were constantly at war, and Dalmasca, a neutral party in the conflict, were conquered and occupied by the Archadians. As a result, there is a revolt against the Dalmascan king after he signed the kingdom away, and the young knight Reks fights his way through the enemy forces to protect the fallen ruler. When he arrives, Basche fon Ronsenberg, leader of the Dalmascan knights, slays the king by his own hand before silencing Reks who witnessed the event. Basche goes on to be tried and executed for treason, and Princess Ashe commits suicide due to the ordeal. That’s a lot of events for only the first hour of the game!

Fast forward to two years later where players take control of Vaan, a young thief and aspiring sky pirate with his friend Pinello constantly at his side. Vaan decides to sneak into the Dalmascan castle in an attempt to find treasure. While navigating the underbelly of the castle, he runs into the sky pirate Balthier and his partner Fran, who are looking for their own treasure inside the castle walls. The trio eventually meets Amalia, a resistance group leader who is attempting to gain independence for Dalmasca and an imprisoned knight who claims to be Basche fon Ronsenberg before the group makes their grand escape. Vaan just happens to be Reks’ younger brother, and has trouble trusting Basche, while trying to learn what it takes to be sky pirates from Balthier and Fran. Over time, the group gets sucked into a political conflict that endangers all of Dalmasca thanks to the plotting of the newly named counselor, Vayne Carudas Solidor.

FFXII’s story is unlike any the series had seen, considering that the game revolves around political conflict rather than an end of the world scenario that every other game has been molded after. The majority of the story centers around the events of the warring empires rather than the individual playable characters, and the main character has very little to do with the events surrounding him. When it’s eventually revealed that Balthier is a former Judge (some of the highest ranking officials in the empire) who is running from his past, that Amalia is secretly the same Princess Ashe that was thought to be dead, and that Basche was framed for the murder of the king by his twin brother, Judge Gabranth, Vaan starts to seem awfully unimportant. As a matter of fact, the only person who has even less to do with the major events of the story is Pinello, who kind of just tags along because Vann is there. Once you take into account that the story is being told through Vaan’s eyes to put the player into the role of spectator, (much like FFX,) it puts the brand of storytelling in a better light, but at least in Tidus’ case, he still has some kind of bearing on the story. Fans seem to be split on their opinions, but the way Vaan was presented has been hotly contested since the game was released.

Even though the story telling is a hot topic when it comes down to the twelfth game, the game play seems to be even more hit and miss among gamers. In a way, FFXII plays like an offline version of FFXI. Random battles are replaced with on screen enemies, which can be engaged or ignored depending on the player’s choice. Engaging monsters is a cross between IV and XI because the ATB bar determines when your selected actions will take place, but casting spells and using abilities adds a new bar that fills up at different speeds depending on the strength of the move. Since you can’t play with real people, your party of three can be equipped with Gambits, which are preset commands that the AI initiates depending on the situation. For example, I can set Ashe to attack who I’m attacking, but to automatically heal party members below 50% HP. You can take control of individual party members at any time, but trying to manage the whole party in real time becomes tedious, making the Gambits a life saver. Lazy gamers can set Gambits to everybody and let the game play itself, but what’s the fun in that?

Traditional experience points and gil accumulation return since you’re awarded both by beating enemies, but the majority of gil is received from taking side missions. The biggest flaw with this is that there are times where you can’t go back into town, so good luck fighting monster after monster gaining minuscule amounts of cash. The other incentives for fighting are building up chains by beating enemies in succession (which makes them drop items more frequently) and earning license points. License points can be spent at the license board, which is similar to the sphere grid in FFX. Leveling up through experience gives stat boosts, but the license board is far more important since this is where the characters gain skills. Black magic, white magic, summons, (or Espers) special abilities and even which weapons can be equipped can’t be used until you obtain the “license” for it. What makes it way more frustrating than the Sphere Grid is that the license board doesn’t let you see the entire board. Sure, nearby squares will give you a clue to what license lies ahead, and you can see any adjacent licenses to your current location, but you’re only able to buy licenses next to the one you’re on. It’s very easy to venture off into skills that you had no intention of leveling up, and once those points are spent, they’re spent for good. Every character has a starting point, but with no clue as to what path to stick to like X did, so it can take much trial and error to actually develop a thieving Vaan or a Balthier that’s competent with guns. As strange as it is to say, many people feel XII suffers from TOO MUCH customization.

With all of the alterations XII made to the system, it’s no surprise that limit breaks (called Quickenings) and summoning have been overhauled as well. Quickenings need to be purchased on the license board and can be bought by anyone, taking away personalized moves for each character. Each one can only be purchased once, locking it away for the rest of the cast and making it so two members can’t have the same ability. Depending on the strength, each Quickening takes a segment of the MP bar rather than having its own dedicated meter, and each character can learn up to three. Summons work the same way in regards to only one party member being able to purchase and use them, as well as using a segment of the MP bar depending on their power. The difference is that the creature now fights side by side with the player, replacing the other two party members. On the subject of summons, one of their quirks is that most of them reference or are named after previous bosses of the series, such as Exdeath and Zeromus. The traditional summons like Bahamut and Leviathan are now the names of most of the empire’s airships, which is another contentious point among fans. With so many liberties taken with the foundation of the game, it’s easy to see why opinions of the game are so split.

Despite the issues some have with the game, there are some parts that are generally loved. The fact that most of the villains of the game are powerful warriors instead of super powered beasts is a nice change of pace to go with the more political storyline. Balthier has become the poster boy for cool among FF fans, with his charismatic attitude, witty dialogue and all around likable personality (so much so that he replaced Cloud as the secret character in the PSP remake of Final Fantasy Tactics). The relationship between Basche and his brother are also a driving point in the story, managing to intertwine all of the events like only Square can. Following Ashe’s rise back to the Dalmascan throne and the tragic fall of Judge Gabranth round off some of what truly makes XII a tale worthy of the name Final Fantasy. Even Vaan and Pinelo have their chance to shine, after becoming full fledged Sky Pirates at the closing moments of the game. These highlights alone are enough to see the game through to the end, and have made FFXII one of the most successful games in the series to date despite its criticisms.

Final Fantasy’s tenure on the Playstation 2 was one marred with controversial choices, but it seems as if XII was one of the most contested of all. The level up system was different to say the least, the combat mirrored what you would expect from a multiplayer game, the story and character development did a complete 180 compared to previous FF titles, it took place in an established world rather than a new one, and while the acting was good, the voices sound like they were recorded through cellophane wrap. Regardless, XII has had the most releases next to VII by being of the few games to get a sequel with Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings for the DS, numerous tie-ins through Final Fantasy Tactics, and still has rumored sequels that have yet to be released. Love it or hate it, it’s hard to deny the success this particular game in the series has enjoyed, and it served as a unique game in a series that is constantly evolving.

22 years, 12 main games, more than 40 releases and spin-offs across various media and over 15 consoles later, Final Fantasy has become a legendary series that few can rival. Each title over the last two decades has found a way to keep audiences enthralled in the adventures they present, and Square has constantly pushed the envelope in regards to what an RPG and a video game can be. As of now, Final Fantasy XIII’s release is a mere week away, and is poised to take its place as another important chapter in the evolution of one of gaming’s greatest treasures. While gamers around the world anticipate its release, we’re only left to wonder what the new adventure has in store for us. One thing is for sure, if history has anything to say about it, Final Fantasy will continue to carry us into the spectacular unknown and revolutionize what we expect out of our games, not just on March 9th, but for many years to come.