Final fantasy 12 created in Japan. This is a cult role-playing game, originally created for the Play Station 2 console back in 2006. Developed by Squar Enixe. The twelfth part of the series has a lot of innovations: the player first had the ability to control the character during the battle, the capabilities of the game gambits were improved, and the “License Board” appeared. Thanks to her, you can get new types of weapons and talents.
History of creation
The idea of creating the game came to Yasumito Matsunume back in 2001. He was the director of the passage of Final Fantasy 12 Tactic, as well as Vargant Story. Matsunume was forced to leave the project at the middle stage of game development due to severe deterioration in health. Finishing the game was entrusted to Minoshawa Hiroshito. The producer was Akitoshi Kawadezu, known for a series of short stories Crystal Chronicles and SaGa. Fans of the game noted that the very beginning of the game, to which Yatsumi Matsune was involved, has great differences from its continuation. Even the founder of the Hironobi Sakagushi franchise drew attention to this. The first hours of the passage of Final Fantasy 12 The Zodiac Age are characterized by a high level of saturation of game scenes, when compared with the modifications of the Minoshawa Hiroshito.
Breakthrough in the game industry
The developers of the game were among the first to use a system of random encounters of characters at such a high level. A unique Active Dimensione battle system was developed, thanks to which the hero can explore the dungeon and at the same time get into the battle. The complex battle system has become more flexible, which has opened up a lot of options for leveling the character. The system of gaming gambits, according to the developers, was borrowed from the American socker (each in the squad plays a role).
Passage of the game Final fantasy 12 introduces the player to the world, the image of which is similar to the medieval views of the Mediterranean. The creators of the game made a bet on the customs and cultural heritage of Turkey and India, there were attempts to introduce some elements of the life of the Arab countries. When creating battle scenes, inspiration was drawn from the history of ancient Rome.
Game World Final Fantasy 12 Zodiac Age
All events taking place in the storyline take place in an alternative reality, on the planet Ivalis. In this fictional place, magic is nothing special. Both for witchcraft and household use in all spheres of life, they use a mysterious mineral filled with magical power - magicite.
Ivalis consists of three continents: Valendia in the east, Ordalia in the west, and Cervon between them. Ordalia is filled with infinitely vast plains, and in the west is the desert. Its territory is occupied by an empire called the Rosary. For a thousand years they have been the enemies of the Arcadians - the inhabitants of Valencia - a region entirely of tropical forests.
At the center of events is a small kingdom that divides two huge empires, called Dalmaska. It is located near the peninsula of Ordalia, surrounded by land by desert. This area is characterized by calm climatic conditions. The plot begins with a war between the Arcadians and the Rosaries. Two and a half years before the events in the game, the empire of Arcadia captured Dalmask.
In Arcadia, the Solidar royal family rules, led by Emperor Gramis. The main villain of the series was Wein Karoudes Solidar, his goal is to destroy and enslave the whole world. His brother Larsa Ferrinas Solidor confronts him in this and for some time even joins the group of the protagonist.
The beginning of the game
At the first start, even from the Final Fantasy 12 emulator, we are shown a long video in which there is a narration about the background of the game. In the main city of the kingdom of Dalmaski, Rabanastra, the wedding of the Crown Prince of Narbadia and the beautiful Princess Asha takes place. But suddenly Captain Bash von Rosenburg rushes into the main palace and begins to talk about how the troops of the empire of Narbadia are going to attack. The battle begins for Nalibina, in which Prince Rasler is defeated and dies. King Raminas heads to sign a peace treaty, but falls into a trap. Next begins the gameplay for Rex Knight. The battle begins. The Knights of Dalmask, led by Captain Bish, are trying to get to Nalbin. Rex’s squad is defeated, and we see Bash execute the king, the hero dies of his wounds, and Princess Asha ends her life by suicide.
Defeat of the kingdom
Dalmasque is occupied by the empire of Arcadia. The next scene tells about the events that take place after two years. Vahan - Rex's younger brother, a thief and a dodger, despite Penelo’s fears, infiltrates the royal palace during the inauguration of Wayne Solidar to the post of chief consul. In the castle, Vahan meets two air pirates - Fran and Baltier. Their goal is magic, stolen by the main character from the king’s treasury. At the same moment, the castle is attacked by Dalmaski rebels, and thieves flee through the sewers. Then they get acquainted with the head of resistance - Amalia. As a result, the royal guard catches the pirates with Vaan and sends them to Nalbina prison. In the cell, they meet the half-dead Bash, and the four of them escape from custody.
On the way, the former captain of the Dalmaski guard is trying to prove that it was not he who killed the king, but his twin brother named Gabrant. They manage to get to the village of Boujerb, in which the bounty hunter Ba'Gamnan hunts down Baltier and captures Penelo, mistaking him for an air looter. The heroes go to his aid and meet the way of Wayne's younger brother - Lars Solidar, who was initially introduced by Lamont. Together they save Penelo, but having met with the Marquis Ondor, they again fall into custody. So they get on the aircraft "Leviathan", the captain of which is Judge Gis - the main enemy of this story arch. On the ship, a detachment of heroes meets Amalia again. We are told that she is the surviving princess of Dalmaski Asha - the suicide was staged. Gis takes the magician stolen by Vaan and sends it to Arcadia - it turns out that this is the treasure of King Dalmaski, which is called the Shard of Sunset and is the second of two great artifacts that can destroy the world.
Thanks to Wosler, the team defeats Judge Guis and leaves the ship, but without an ancient artifact. Heroes go for another Shard of Sunset, which is located inside an ancient tomb. Having gone through all kinds of traps, they again meet with Judge Gis, who will get a second fragment. He conducts various experiments with him, resulting in an explosion that destroyed the ship and many of its minions. The heroes manage to escape by taking the Shard of Dawn with them. On a journey to the Great Kilthia, the heroes learn that many rulers also want to end the war. Lars meets Al-Sid Margreis, a member of the royal family of the Rosary Empire, in order to agree on the signing of a peace treaty. The passage of Final Fantasy 12 makes an unexpected turn, and Asha tries to convince Gramis to end the war, but Wayne kills the emperor and takes the throne. Anastasit sends heroes to the Sanctuary of Miriam for the Sword of Kings, which can destroy nephicite. The squad of heroes fails, and Anastasit dies at the hands of Judge Bergan.
Events in Arcadia
Having avenged their comrade, the heroes defeat Bergan and, on the advice of Al-Sidia, go to the main city of the enemy empire - Arkades, but the heroes have to walk almost all the way. In the capital, they are organizing an attack on the laboratory of Dr. Sid, who is studying the properties of nephicit and trying to synthesize it. The attack occurs unexpectedly, but the villain manages to escape, but during the escape he says that his destination will be Giruvegen. Legend has it that there is hidden a huge sample of artificial nephicite - the Crystal of the Sun. Having reached Giruvegen, Asha meets a group of elders. They are the creators of this artifact. These are incorporeal deities called Okuria. They have the ability to control the course of history through their chosen people, including Asha. Okuria gives the Princess the Sword of the Treaty so that she can cut off a new piece of nephicite from the Sun Crystal.
The passage of the game Final Fantasy 12 is briefly interrupted by a video. In it we see that the traitor of Okuria, Venat, helped to study the crystal to Dr. Sid. She joined forces with the professor and Wayne Solidar, capturing their consciousness, in order to return the right to dispose of history to people. Prince Wayne prepares for his coronation. With the help of artificial nephicitis, he is going to capture the entire Ivalis continent. Events unfold in such a way that Baltier is the son of Dr. Sid. The professor lost his mind during the endless research of nephicitis and communication with Venat. The war, which led to the capture of Dalmaski and the burning of its capital, was just an excuse to test the power of neficit.
The ending. Faros Lighthouse
The situation confronts Princess Asha with a choice - to listen to Okkuriy and avenge her family by returning the reins of government to them, or returning power over fate to humanity. Not having time to make a choice, she, along with the Redias pirates, goes to the place of storage of the Crystal of the Sun - to the lighthouse of Faros. At the top of the building, she meets Gabrant, who pleads guilty to the murder of King Dalmaski in order to harden Asha's heart. The team of heroes defeats Gabrant, and then Dr. Sid. The latter, in turn, manages to activate the ancient power of the crystal before his death, but at the last moment Redias pierces the solar artifact with the Sword of the Treaty, but his life turned out to be a payment for it.
After that, Al-Sid tells the princess that the resistance under the command of the Marquis of Ondorea will organize a massive attack on the empire. The huge Bakhmuts airship, having absorbed all the energy of the destroyed Crystal of the Sun, flies towards the city. The princess and her team with the help of rebels fall into the air fortress and attack Gabrant. He is amazed at the dedication of Captain Bash after all these events. The group meets Lars and Wayne Solidarov - in their refuge they argue about the authorities. After meeting with the heroes, Junior Solidar, along with Gabrant, joins Asha's squad and attacks Venat and Wayne. The latter dies, and the princess announces the end of the war. The ship crashes near Rabanastra, but the heroes manage to escape. The full passage of Final Fantasy 12 ends with an epilogue in which Asha becomes the queen, Lars - the ruler of Arcadia, and our main character Vaan goes on a journey in a brand new airship.
Game process
In the twelfth fantasy, the player manages the actions of a team of three heroes, simultaneously interacting with the NPC and enemy units. This game is fundamentally different from the previous parts of the series in that the player can now rotate the camera 360 degrees with the right joystick of the gamepad. In the city, the passage of the secrets of Final Fantasy 12 is available only by one character. In enemy zones, two more heroes join him, controlled by a computer.
This is the first game in the Final Fantasy 12 PC RUS series, which uses a unique turn-based combat system in real time. It is called Activ Dimenshion Battle, shortly ADB. To conduct battles, the player uses a specialized menu in which the battle process stops until each character is assigned an action for the next move. All of them need to be given a command manually, if this is not a guest character who has artificial intelligence. All actions will be divided into five types: attacking, magical, haze abilities, gambits and the use of objects.
The new generation battle system makes random encounters - all opponents are visible on the minimap, and in all cases not provided for by the plot, the player is able to avoid a battle with the enemy. Actions begin when a detachment approaches a sufficient distance to an aggressive opponent or attacks a passive monster. When a player performs an action, directional arrows appear in the game, uniting the attacker and the attacked, and the color of this connection indicates the nature of the attack. A game squad can consist of no more than three characters, and during the battle you can replace the killed or wounded heroes, but only in cases that are not provided for by the storyline. The consequence of a special type of battles was the refusal of developers from the victory scenes traditional for previous games of the Final Fantasy 12 Zodiac series. They survived only in boss battles.
Another update of the gameplay for passing Final Fantasy 12 zodiac job system are gambits. The player was given the opportunity, subject to certain conditions during the battle, to carry out pre-selected actions. The gambit system consists of three parts: priority, target orientation and the action itself. The command to be executed is called an action. Priority is an attribute that selects which gambit will work if there are two or more involved. The goal is the property of the gambit, for example, the restoration of mana, if the health level drops below 50%.
In the twelfth part of the series, a new ability appears - the haze. This is an analogue of mana, with which the player can summon creatures into his squad and inflict special attacking combinations. Weapons Final Fantasy 12 has special ultimate abilities. These attacks are tied to using the quickening system. Using the "License Board" of any character, you can teach these skills. Using the controller, through the use of button combinations, you can make huge attacking combinations, after which the final blow occurs.
Hero Evolution System
The game, as a typical representative of an RPG, has a system of gaining experience and leveling characters. To reach a new stage in development, it is necessary to kill a certain number of enemy units. With each subsequent level, the total number of health points, strength, agility, magic and others increases. Also, as you progress, the secrets of Final Fantasy 12 are unlocked by the same “License Board”. It is divided into two parts. In the first, all licenses are associated with magic abilities, magic rings, as well as constant passive attribute bonuses. The second part of the “License Board” gives you the opportunity to get unique armor and mythical weapons of the ancients. To obtain these gaming capabilities, the player spends a certain amount of resources earned during the passage of the storyline.
Musical accompaniment
A huge part of the work related to the musical design of the game was done by the famous Japanese composer Hitoshi Sakamota. Seven compositions presented in the game were developed by Hayate Matsune, two by Masashira Ivatoi. Hitoshi was previously involved in other projects of this studio - sequels and prequels of various parts of Final Fantasy 12 PC. Initially, Nobu Uzamatsu was elected the main composer. He participated in writing music for all previous parts of the series, but by 2004 he had already quit Squar Enixe and began to engage in musical freelance. It was difficult for Sakamoto to copy the style of Uzamatsu, and so he began to create a unique melody in his style. Uzamatsu admitted that the keyboards of the new composer turned out just fine and reminded him of Elton John's play.
Special Editions
In early March 2006, the company released a special collector's collection, which contained the passage of the game Final Fantasy 12 (a full guide throughout the game universe), a regular controller of the game process and a console stand made in the style of the work. On the day of the release, a special commemorative card was announced, the kit of which included a merch in the form of stickers.
On March 7, a fizzy drink, Final Fantasy 12 Potion, began to be released in a limited edition. It contains various herbs and milk. The premium edition also included the capacity of this drink with a volume of 10 milliliters and collection cards with the heroes of the game.
Based on the work of Amu Jin, a manga (Japanese comic book) was created, which consists of 5 volumes of 12 chapters. In August 2009, its release was completed. BennStuff has also published three books. One of them contains information on the basics of the battle and the data of the developers. The book "Endless Battle" contains the game plot, the life path of the characters and a detailed description of all locations passing the Final Fantasy 12 the Zodiac age. The third book contains data on composers and actors who voted for the heroes of the game. By the 25th anniversary, all books and fan material have been reprinted in the new collector's edition of Ultimania Box.
The best-selling publication in the USA is the Collection Edition. The game in it was in a metal shell and, among other things, contained information about the developers and interviews with the creators. Also, the lucky owners of the collector's version received a short-drive animated disc about the history of the passage of Final Fantasy 12, including in Russian. In January 2007, the game's action figures went on sale.
Who helped in the passage of Final Fantasy 12 in Russian
The localization of the Russian version was carried out by Alexander O. Smith, known for his connection with Final fantasy 10 and Vagrant Story. In the draft of the twelfth part, he was engaged in production and translation. Smith perfectly conveyed the meaning of the plot and was able to introduce a mass of dialect phrases of the translation language, replacing them with Japanese dialectisms. He demanded maximum return from the voice actors and recruited them from among the most eminent theatrical figures.
Popularity
The game is of great importance not only for the inhabitants of Japan, but also for the whole world. A week after the release, more than one and a half million copies were sold. Two weeks later, their number increased to two and a half million. By March, the shelves of gaming stores were empty, five million had already been sold. Thus, Final Fantasy 12 became the fourth buyable game of 2006. By the end of sales, six million copies of the game were sold.
In 2006, it was recognized as the best game in the series, reviews of Final Fantasy 12 critics from various authoritative gaming publications made only positive. Game connoisseurs noted the best graphics at that time and new changes in the gameplay, which only benefited the franchise. Final Fantasy 12 received an award in 2006 for the best visual design on the IGN website. She was named the best game of all that has ever been released for the Sony Play Station 2 console. At the authoritative nomination of Japanese game awards, the game was called outstanding.