[DS] Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

So, this was released last week to surprisingly little fanfare here. I've been playing it for the past few days, and I have to say that my opinion of the game has been all over the place.

So, I sat down with it and played for about two hours when I first bought it. Put it down, completely disgusted. The next day, I felt incredibly compelled to pick it back up, so I did. Alright, I guess. It put me back on the fence about it, which saved it from an attempted return to the store. Picked it up this morning. I'm feeling very comfortable with the controls now and've found some neat little shortcuts to get my commands fired off faster, and I haven't been able to put it down since.

The game is simplistic, yes, and combat is all about a rock-paper-scissors kind of format. With the exception of Penelo (who is a healer, which is neutral to everything), the main characters all fall under one of three styles of combat-- melee, ranged and flying. And for these styles, there are various espers that follow the main characters during combat (prior to battle, the game will assign two that best fit each individual squad leader's combat styles). There's more to actually gaining the espers and assigning them, but all they do is attack whatever enemies you tell them to attack.

However, I've been having a lot of fun with this by looking at the opponents I'm going to face in battle and prepare a proper set of espers to fight them. If you're facing some Fire Melee units, then just bring in Aquarius (Water Flying) to properly fight them. It's not incredibly deep, but it's fun getting a proper setup going and seeing the difference it makes in combat.

The game also has Gambits to a very limited degree. For the main characters/squad leaders, you can choose to have them use any one skill they possess as soon as they enter combat and/or as soon as the skill recharges (no MP in this game).

But anyway. Has anyone else bought it? Reviews have been overall positive, but GameFAQs users have been bitching about it since it came out. Personally, I'd say it's worth a purchase at 30 dollars. The only way I can see the absurd $40 pricetag being justified is if you're desperate for a new RTS/Final Fantasy.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I don't really like XII at all. I was off to rescue Penelo and I stopped once that little punk Larsa joined. This game is pretty standalone, though. The characters know each other, but since the majority of the game takes place on Lemures and not in Ivalice proper, it doesn't feel all too connected to its predecessor.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well, the game is a fun little time-waster of a sequel, but it does take a bit of patience to find that point where it becomes enjoyable. I start getting into it once you get some real choices in Leaders and when second/third-tier Espers pop up.

I'm just pissed that Ba'Gamnan isn't a permanent party member.

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