I first played Final Fantasy 12 after receiving it as an Easter holiday present back in 2007. At that time of year, you would normally get a bunch of delicious chocolate eggs to munch on as a celebration of our boy Jesus coming back to life, but for some reason my parents came to an absurd conclusion that my siblings and I were now too old for confectionery, and thus required video games.
So, as a little kid with all the time in the world and a growing love for JRPGs, I asked for the newly released Final Fantasy 12 and knew this would bring me far more joy than chocolate I could procure through other means anyway. I’d fooled my parents and could now spend the two-week holiday falling deeply in love with the world of Ivalice. Unfortunately, it took quite a bit of time for me to warm to this new take on the series that, since its inception, had been a traditional turn-based affair. FF12 was different in ways I don’t think anyone expected.
As the PS2 classic celebrates its 20th anniversary, I want to briefly look back at its history, how the game was perceived at the time, and the legacy it has left in its wake.
What Made Final Fantasy 12 So Different?
Directed by Hiroyuki Ito (who also helmed Final Fantasy 6 & 9) and Hiroshi Minagawa (Vagrant Story), these names alone were enough to set Final Fantasy 12 apart from what came before. An early trailer from E3 2004 presented a sophisticated world filled with graphical splendour, dense political intrigue, and a cast of lovable characters that were aiming to be the JRPG genre equivalent of Star Wars as our motley crew find themselves caught in the middle of a dire conflict between two massive empires.
Even at this stage, it looked nothing like the Final Fantasy of old with its gorgeous watercolour aesthetic that gleefully abandoned the vibes we’d come to expect from the series in the early 2000s. It was wonderfully unique, and would continue to express this identity as the international release drew closer.
For years, it was reported that Basch was intended as the original main character of Final Fantasy 12, but writer Yasumi Matsuno debunked this rumour back in 2023. I’ve long believed that this game doesn’t have a true protagonist, with the focus on each character being equal in its grand narrative.
After a handful of delays and almost a full year after the Japanese release date (worldwide launches simply weren’t a thing back then), the West finally got Final Fantasy 12 in 2007 as the game was subject to critical and commercial acclaim. Greg Kasavin’s review (now known to many of us as creative director at Supergiant Games), gave ample praise to its nuanced yet beautiful world filled with complicated characters that strove to be more mature and complicated than anything that came before.
The melodramatic dialogue was swapped out for something that was more traditional English theatre than Japanese anime, while the combat system exchanged turn-based mechanics for real-time MMO encounters and a focus on managing the abilities of your party to form a single cohesive unit.
The Gambit System essentially allows you to control the artificial intelligence of your party and determine what actions they will take and when, allowing them to react to conditions on the battlefield whether you need healing at a crucial moment or a certain spell should be used to take advantage of an enemy’s weakness.
Random encounters weren’t a thing in Final Fantasy 12 either, with monsters instead exploring open zones akin to MMORPGs you could either engage in combat with or avoid altogether. This made constant grinding easy to get lost in, while switching between characters and figuring out their individual qualities was endlessly fun and unpredictable.
But the original version of Final Fantasy 12 was also rather slow and meandering, a flaw which would be addressed in the eventual Zodiac Age, which would also add the means to adopt multiple classes while using the License Board instead of locking your characters in a single role for the entire game. A
t the time, the abandonment of turn-based combat turned a lot of people off. It felt like a spiritual successor to Vagrant Story instead of an entry in the Final Fantasy series. Personally, I found it too hard at the time too, and would not return to and complete the game until the remaster came around a decade later.
And Why Final Fantasy 12 Has Aged Like A Fine Wine
Yet even two decades later, I struggle to think of a world in the Final Fantasy series that feels more alive than Ivalice. As Vaan walks the streets and alleyways of Rabanastre in the first few hours, it truly feels like he grew up in this place and is known by everyone he passes by on the street, whether they be guards who hurl him away from market stalls or local elders who are trying to make ends meet just like he and Penelo are. He wants to make it big and become a Sky Pirate so he can leave this dusty place behind — yet another clear Star Wars comparison — but doing so will sweep him up on an epic pilgrimage to save the world.
It’s undeniably cliché in its intentions, but there are few things more compelling than a story where the hero’s journey feels personal yet grand in its execution. Vaan wants to be the sky pirate he has spent his entire life hearing described in legend, but the reality is much more complicated as he’s forced to make hard decisions to both save the ones he loves and to leave this world that raised him behind. Final Fantasy is filled with stories like this, but so little are as well written as the twelfth mainline instalment.
Huge shoutout to Larsa Ferrinas Solidor for making me question my gender identity before I even knew that was a thing. The androgynous prince is an absolute icon.
As the series was hurtling towards an increasingly linear future that prioritised lush graphics instead of complicated characters and mechanics, Final Fantasy 12 felt like a brief detour with an unmistakable creative vision. It wanted to play, look, and tell its story in a certain way we’ve only seen this series express a handful of times since.
I understand why, even today, it feels like the black sheep of a franchise. There will never be a Final Fantasy quite like it, but that’s the exact thing that makes it so special. Final Fantasy is at its best when each new entry feels like a bold reinvention of what came before while keeping the core identity intact, and very few do it better than this PS2 classic.
Final Fantasy 12
- Released
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October 31, 2006
- ESRB
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T For Teen due to Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes
- Engine
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Zodiac Engine 2.0
