Final Fantasy XII - PS2 Playstation NTSC-J Japan Square RPG Game

The Final Fantasy series' PS2 opus is set in Ivalice, a land of swords and sorcery familiar to veterans of Final Fantasy Tactics. Here, magic and technology coexist, as do humans and other intelligent races such a s the leporine viera and the scaly skinned bangaa. Airships, in the form of high-tech hovercraft, are also common in this land of Ivalice, and players will pilot these sky-speeders for transportation, warfare, and (perhaps) even a little privateering.

Character development is designed to be as engaging and empowering as in any Final Fantasy game, and is accomplished by making strategic "license" choices in a chessboard-like graphic interface. Through the game's new "Active Dimension Battle" system, combat progresses in a pause-able real-time flow, offering a sense of action while retaining tactical options. Companion characters can be assigned customizable battle behaviors ahead of time, through the game's "gambit" system.

Two powerful empires, Archadia and Rozaria, are at war. All they care for is victory over the opponent. In order to achieve it more quickly, Archadia invades the small kingdom of Dalmasca. The young prince of Dalmasca falls in battle shortly after his marriage to the beautiful princess Ashe. The king is murdered under mysterious circumstances just before signing a peace treaty with Archadia. The iron rule of the empire is established in the small country.

The player takes control of a young thief named Vaan who lives in Rabanastre, the capital city of Dalmasca. Through a series of events Vaan finds himself involved in the political struggle, hoping to avenge the death of his treacherously murdered brother.

Ashe, the princess of a small kingdom called Dalmasca, is the star of the story, although she is joined by several other driven and distinctly skilled characters. The nearby Archadian Empire is in a period of reckless, vicious expansion, and as heir to the throne of Dalmasca, it falls to Ashe and her companions to save the sovereignty of their tiny nation from imperial usurpers.

Features:

* Assign your characters with customizable battle behaviors using the game's "gambit" system

* Help Princess Ashe save Dalmasca from the Archadian Empire

* Pilot hovercraft for transportation and warfare

An international version of the game called Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System was announced on May 10, 2007. It would be released in Japan on August 9, 2007 as part of both Final Fantasy 20th anniversary and Ivalice Alliance. The game includes twelve License Boards available (instead of the original one), each corresponding to a different Zodiac sign and job. The battle system as a whole has been tweaked; guest characters and summons are controllable by the player, and holding the L1 button doubles the game's running speed. Additionally, the game features the English voices and the widescreen 16:9 ratio support of the North American version, along with a bonus disc based on the one initially released with the North American version. There is also a "New Game+" option, "New Game- (minus)" (where characters do not gain experience), and a "Trial Mode" which allows the player to hunt monsters in 100 different maps to gain items and money.

  MANUFACTURER'S DESCRIPTION:

The story of FINAL FANTASY XII takes place in a world called "Ivalice," in an age when magic was commonplace and airships plied the skies, crowding out the heavens. A world of many races, the humes, bangaa, viera and, of course, moogles, all call Ivalice home.

War was on the horizon. Seeking to strengthen its base of power, the great Archadian Empire had been invading and subjugating its neighboring kingdoms one by one. The small Kingdom of Dalmasca was one such kingdom.

When the occupying Archadian forces established a new consul in Dalmasca's Royal City of Rabanastre, it caught the attention of Vaan, an urchin living on the streets. To Vaan, the Empire was a hated enemy who had taken the life of his brother—his last surviving family member. Vaan hatched a plan to sneak into the castle housing the new consul and unburden him of one or two of his treasures. But before he would have the chance, Vaan got far more than he bargained for; a resistance movement of former Dalmascan soldiers rising up against the Archadian Empire was launching an assault! Amid the ensuing confusion that engulfed the castle, Vaan saw something he could scarcely believe. There, among the members of the resistance, was the figure of the sole remaining heir to the Dalmascan throne, the Princess Ashe, who'd been given up for missing...

Our story follows Vaan, Ashe, Vaan's friend Penelo, the sky pirate Balthier, his partner Fran and many more on an adventure through Ivalice that traces the mysteries behind the Archadian Empire's invasion. Since 1987, the FINAL FANTASY series has sold over 60 million units. FINAL FANTASY XII carries on the proud tradition, bringing new ideas to the series and innovation to the RPG genre.

* Every aspect of the graphics brings color to the world of Ivalice—blues and oranges reminiscent of the Mediterranean evoke a landscape alive with a mix of European and Arabian imagery.

* Airships feature prominently in FINAL FANTASY XII. They come in all shapes and sizes—the main airship in this story is a medium-sized craft that measures over 1,000 feet from bow to stern. Airships are used for everything from the trading of goods to the waging of war.

* The story isn't all that's new—experience an evolved battle system with numerous features never before seen in the FINAL FANTASY series.

* 1. ADB – Active Dimension Battle is a shift from ATB (Active Time Battle), lending more realism to the battle by allowing seamless switching between the field and the battle scene.

* 2. Load time between the field and the battle scene that is unrelated to actual gameplay has been eliminated, ensuring smoother gaming.

* 3. Besides time elements, such as the attack timing, the player can fully utilize the field geography in terms of differences in ground level, intricate terrain, places with low visibility and the like.

* 4. Enemy monsters can also take advantage of the varied tactics that ADB offers, possessing sophisticated AI to ambush parties, back up their comrades and restore HP.

* Ivalice sounds better, too, with in-game events and movie scenes presented in Dolby Pro Logic II.