Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS)

Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: Strategy RPG
Release: November 20, 2007
Platform: Nintendo DS

Reviewer: Eric

Square Enix is known for releasing great games. They’ve had their fair share of mistakes but when it comes to the Final Fantasy series they tend to get things right. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is one of those games that stand out, it’s different and it shows off what the Nintendo DS has to offer.

This action based RTS game was first seen in Square Enix’s game Heroes of Mana, which was released earlier this year. The game seemed like a stepping stone for what was to come in Revenant Wings, Square tweaked with the battle system and made sure everything was in tip top shape.

Revenant Wings takes place right after the Playstation 2 game, Final Fantasy XII. Vaan, Penelo, Balthier and Fran are all back in this game, ready for some new adventures. The story is rather deep for a DS game and the time to complete this game is defiantly longer than most of the games in the Nintendo DS library.

You will notice the designs of the enemies in this game. Most of the guys you will face look a lot like the creators and characters from the classic GBA game Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. This is not really a problem; it just would have been neat to see some new creators added to the Final Fantasy realm.

The graphics in Revenant Wings are truly a treat. Even though this game is on the DS that doesn’t mean it is lacking. All of the graphics are polished to perfection. Rather than seeing the same turn based action we’ve seen on all the Final Fantasy games, on portable systems, Revenant Wings is action based with graphics that fit nicely. There is a problem whenever the game decides to zoom in on the characters, the characters look blocky and very Nintendo like, back from the 8-bit era. Nothing to worry about though, the cut scenes in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings are breath taking. The animations never slow down, there is no hint of choppiness. These cut scenes could have been on Final Fantasy XII for the Playstation 2, that’s how good these cut scenes are.

Just like all Final Fantasy games you get so many characters in the beginning and you get more to join you as you progress through the game. Each character can level up, where they’ll gain new abilities/spells every so often. Each character has summoning espers with them, melee, flying and ranged are the three main choices. You can pick from different types of these characters, which you need to learn from the Ring of Pacts, a new concept added in Revenant Wings.

The Ring of Pacts seems a lot like the grid from Final Fantasy X, but instead of learning your abilities or boosting stats you get to make new esper creators. Each esper has their own strengths and weaknesses to different magic types. You will need to check out the creators you are fighting before each battle so you can bring out the best available characters.

Revenant Wing’s controls work well on the Nintendo DS. In order to move your characters you need to use the stylus to point where ever you want to move. You are also aloud to click and drag a group of your characters, sort of like an RTS game on the computer. It is a pain in the ass clicking and dragging just one group in the game, it’s best to click on the group’s picture on top of the screen. You can set gambits to each of your characters, which just allows your main character to use a certain ability whenever they have the opportunity too.

It is rather difficult to use your abilities whenever your characters are all bunched up. Magic users, ranged heroes, have to be so far away to use their attacks. So if they are bunched up with your attackers they will most likely stand there, waiting to get their asses handed to them. The game in general can be hard to control if there are a bunch of characters bunched up. If you are in a stage where you can’t summon more espers then you may have to replay it one or two more times.

Final Verdict
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is one of the must own games this year for the DS. The game offers a unique battle system that was first seen in Heroes of Mana, but it fixes the problems that game had, notable the story. You will find a lot of game play hours here, there are enough of side quests here to keep you satisfied for hours. If you haven’t played your Nintendo DS for awhile, like myself, then now is the time to blow off the dust and pick up a copy of this game.

Rating
8.75 out of 10

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings Trailer