Final Fantasy XII: First Impressions
I've played for about two hours, and watched Keri play for about two hours (covering the same ground).
Aesthetically, it seems mostly a cross between Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy Tactics for the PlayStation.
The sweeping political storyline at this point reminds me of FFIX and a bit of The Phantom Menace. The opening is a lot bleaker than the earlier games I've seen. The story at this point is too big for the characters; one big empire against another with the little kingdom caught in between. I presume at some point someone in one of the empires will go batshit and try to destroy the world. There hasn't been much of a "hook" yet though; I assume that will change once I meet Ashe (I dislike how the manual spoils events in the opening of the game, though Ashe still being alive is rather predictable).
The characters so far seem rehashed from earlier games, with a few subtle differences. Vaan is a cross between Zidane and Tidus. Penelo is a less squeaky Rikku/Selphie type. Ashe could pass for Yuna's sister, possibly crossed with Garnet (I hope she doesn't turn out to be the White Mage Love Interest), and Basch as the older knight seems Auron-esque with a little bit of Steiner thrown in. I haven't seen Fran and Balthier, but they seem like Freya and Cid/Setzer, respectively.
On the other hand, I find the characters a bit more believable so far. The main cast is still teenagers, but they're acting like teenagers in a war-torn country that have had to grow up quickly rather than like transplanted mallrats.
The combat system is interesting, and seems more similar to PC RPGs like Baldur's Gate than console RPGs. Basically, you can pause and give orders, or rely on an AI scripting system. I haven't had the chance to try it out with multiple characters (Keri got Penelo in her party; I'm not there yet). I haven't figured out any strategy beyond "try not to let monsters team up on you", which holds true for every RPG or strategy game with a positioning element. I tried the tactic of running away during the recharge time between attacks, but it didn't seem to do much good. (Does positioning affect combat? That is, if I'm not facing an opponent do I get hit for more damage?)
The License Grid is interesting; the skill progression reminds me of Final Fantasy Tactics crossed with the Sphere Grid of FFX. The main drawback at this point is that it seems that to build an effective group, you've got to know ahead of time when characters join or leave your party, and what skills they will bring. I was going to have Vaan focus on daggers and white magic, only to find out that Penelo would join soon and have precisely those abilities. So now I'm back to guessing from the character descriptions what skills they will have (there don't seem to be any dedicated mages this time around).
