Final Fantasy XII

Final Fantasy XII
The Regular Edition cover of Final Fantasy XII.
Developer(s)	Square Enix
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Yasumi Matsuno (original concept) Hiroyuki Itō (director) Hiroshi Minagawa (director) Akihiko Yoshida (character designs) Hitoshi Sakimoto (music composer)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release	March 16, 2006 October 31, 2006 Early 2007 Late 2006
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player

Final Fantasy XII (ファイナルファンタジーXII, Fainaru Fantajī Towerubu) is a console role-playing game produced by Square Enix for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. The game was released on March 16, 2006, in Japan. The North American release is scheduled for October 31,2006. The European and Australasian releases are unknown at this time. On November 15, 2005, a playable demo of the game was shipped with the North American release of Dragon Quest VIII.

The story takes place in the world of Ivalice, where the kingdome of Arcadia and Rosaria are waging a bitter war against one another, and caught in the middle is the kingdom of Dalmaska. When Arcadia invades Dalmaska, the princess Ashe joins a resistance movement, and during the struggle meets Vaan, and young adventurer who dreams of commanding an airshop, and soon they fall in love as their struggles against the Arcadian empires continue.

On March 16, 2006, Final Fantasy XII became only the sixth game ever to receive a perfect 40/40 score from the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, as well as the first Final Fantasy game and the first PlayStation 2 title to do so.. The game has already been critically acclaimed in several non-Japanese prerelease reviews such as GamesAreFun, Deeko, and Eurogamer.

Gameplay

In battle (English version demo)

Like previous games of the Final Fantasy series, combat is menu-based. However, unlike the first ten games of the series, it adopts a battle system similar to that of Final Fantasy XI where combat takes place on the same screen as regular exploration (in a Chrono Trigger fashion), with a seamless transition from exploration to combat mode. Combat unfolds in real time, using a new battle system called active dimension battle (ADB). There is also not a different musical score during combat; the track that is played during exploration will be heard throughout the battle as well. The traditional fanfare featured in all Final Fantasy titles reappears after dungeon bosses along with a "Congratulations" text. The player may assume control of any of the three characters in the battle party at will and issue commands for the characters at any time. Battle commands include Attack, Magic, Skill, Mist Cart, Gambits, and Item. The game also features a system of chain bonuses. If the party kills a particular type of monster multiple times, it will gain the chance to earn improved (or simply more) items after battle.

Chocobos are traditionally featured in all Final Fantasy Titles. In FFXII, whenever a player rents a Chocobo, he/she has a certain amount of time to make his/her travels through the wilderness. When the time is completely depleted, the Chocobo returns to its stall in the city and the player is left on foot. Chocobos now look more war-like and savage than in previous Final Fantasy Titles. While on a Chocobo, enemies ignore the player.

The game also features an extended Clan report, a summarization of the player's progress so far, including detailed descriptions of enemies defeated, A catalogue of Wanted monsters defeated, and other more or less interesting information. The section is reminiscent of the Encyclopedias featured in Vagrant Story.

Battle system

Battles are carried out in much the same way as Final Fantasy XI. Battles are initiated in the field screen by engaging visible wandering enemies. There is no transition to a separate battle screen. Party members can move around freely during battle. The battle menu can be accessed at any time, but after commanding a character to perform an action, there is a wait time before the action is actually performed. Unlike Final Fantasy XI, there is a visible "Wait Time Gauge" which indicates wait time. Wait time varies depending on the action. A regular attack takes a couple of seconds, a powerful spell can take several seconds, and item use is instantaneous. Battle flow is as follows:

• Party engages enemy
• Player either brings up the Command Window and selects an action (Attack, Magic, Summon etc.) or, if the player has set up a character's gambits to cause them to react to the presence of an enemy, the character will select the appropriate action automatically with no need of command input
• When the Wait Time Gauge fills up, the character performs the selected action
• A chosen command can be cancelled by opening the Command Window and choosing another command before the Wait Time Gauge has filled up completely.

There is a common misconception that this system has eliminated "random battles" from the game. However, there are still random battles in the form of surprise ambush attacks from unseen enemies suddenly springing from tall grass, water, sand etc, when the party is near. Enemies can now detect the party through several means, such as sight, sound, and smell. Some enemies are more hostile towards the party than others, and some can even attack other monsters rather than the party. Sometimes the player may even encounter citizens or monster hunters actively fighting, occasionally presenting the party with minor healing.

A maximum of three party members can fight simultaneously, and they are sometimes accompanied by a special Guest character which temporarily joins the party. Guest characters cannot be designated as the party leader or controlled by the player in any way. When current party members get knocked out, the player is given the chance to reorganize the party in the Menu, substituting active K.O.'d members with other inactive characters. The player is free to switch between characters at any time. The player can also limit their party to two or one characters if they wish. Guest characters cannot be substituted. Given the game mechanics, characters cannot be healed in the menu this time around.

Money is no longer dropped by monsters, much like Final Fantasy VIII. It can be acquired by performing tasks, hunting wanted monsters, or selling acquired treasures, which have no other benefits than to financially profit from (selling these may also unlock rare goods in shops). One notable exception is the item "Telepo Stone", used to instantly transport the party from one place to another, using specific, golden Save Crystals. These, like regular Save Crystals (of blue color), also fully restore the party's HP/MP and Status. MP is also recovered slowly with walking.

The Mist Cart command is short for "Mist Cartridge". In a nod to Final Fantasy IX, a mysterious phenomenon known as "Mist" exists in the story, and it is the key to two special abilities in the game: Summon magic and "Mist Knacks".

Summoning magic appears once more with creatures known as Espers (as in Final Fantasy VI.) In order to acquire an Esper, the creature must first be defeated in battle. Afterward, one character must sign a pact with the Esper, and that character will be the only one who may summon it. Similar to Final Fantasy X, summon spells become active participants in battle; unlike Final Fantasy X, the summoner remains an active member in the fight, instead of leaving the party or standing idle while the summon fights alone. While the Esper is present, the Summon command in the menu becomes the Dismiss command, which the player can use to send the Esper away at any time. The Esper will remain in the party for a limited time, indicated by a row of spheres that gradually disappear over the course of a minute or two. If the Esper survives until the time limit reaches zero and is not dismissed by the player, it will perform a very powerful special attack before leaving the party. The player can use curative magic and items to aid the Esper. Espers are controlled by A.I. and cannot be controlled by the player.

While these have practically replaced all of the traditional Final Fantasy summons, it may be noted that many of these Espers have origins in the two installments of the Final Fantasy Tactics series, as either Zodiac Braves (in Final Fantasy Tactics) or Totema (in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance). Final Fantasy XII does however feature several airships bearing familiar names, including Alexander, Shiva, Ifrit, Carbuncle, Valefor, Leviathan, Catoblepas, Remora, and Atomos. It is also noted that 3 of the new Espers are the final bosses for Final Fantasy I, IV, and V -- Chaos, Zeromus, and Exdeath, respectively.

File:Vlcsnap-597738.png

One of Vaan's Mist Knack attacks

Like the last several installments in the series, Final Fantasy XII introduces a new Limit Break system: Mist Knacks. The Official English Translation of Mist Knacks is "Mist Quickening". Characters learn Mist Knacks by progressing to specific squares on the License Board, usually at the edges or corners. Upon activation, the corresponding square will disappear from the License Boards of all five of the other characters. Each character can learn a total of three Mist Knacks. When a character learns their initial level 1 Mist Knack, it requires a full 100% MP bar to use it. Upon learning their level 2 Mist Knack, the character's MP bar is divided into two sections, and it requires only 50% of the bar to use the level 1 Mist Knack, and a full bar to use the level 2. When level 3 is learned, the MP bar is divided into three. Now level 1 will require one third of the bar, level 2 requires two thirds, and the level 3 Mist Knack requires the full bar. The name Mist Knack and all other names given for the Limit Breaks apply only to the Japanese version of the game; it may be renamed in the English version.

Each character can also string together their Mist Knacks into one combo, dealing in heavy damage. However, the more combos they pull off, the faster the timer will decrease which makes it difficult to perform more combo attacks. Also, you must need 7 or more hits to make a finishing move visible.

License system

Vaan's License Board

Learning and using abilities (magic spells, use of equipment, special skills, HP bonuses etc.) is done via the new License system. Each playable character begins with their own License Board, which looks like an oddly shaped chess board. The squares on the board contain various abilities which the character may use. Basically, one character's Board is split into two different parts with no intersection. The upper one contains Magical, Stats-raising and other character-specific abilities, while the bottom one is largely filled with Equipment Licences. Mist Knack abilities are scattered randomly across both Boards. Every single character gets a starting point on each of the two. In order to learn an ability, the character must first spend the required amount of LP (License Points) to permit its use. LP are earned in battle along with the usual experience points. When a square is activated, any empty squares adjacent to it also become available for activation. A square cannot be activated if there are no activated squares adjacent to it. While similar in some ways to Final Fantasy X's Sphere Grid, the License Board allows far more freedom; there are no restrictions on how the player may develop their characters. In practice, the License Board system is simply another in a long line of systems where ability points are earned and exchanged for new abilities.

The magic system is divided into five different schools. White magic includes spells that heal the party's HP, cure status ailments and resurrect dead party members. The holy-elemental attack spell Holy is also part of the white magic school. Black magic includes elemental and non-elemental spells that directly damage one or more enemies. Green magic consists of supportive or debilitating spells that alter party members or enemies' statistics. Time magic includes spells that alter the target's speed, or cause damage over time. The fifth and last school of magic, arcane magic, includes dark-elemental attack spells, as well as spells that cause status ailments, drain, and gravity spells which were previously included in the black magic school. Magic spells are bought from shops as in many previous Final Fantasy titles.

The playable characters can equip any kind of weapon after they acquire the corresponding ability on the License Board. Depending on what category a weapon falls into (e.g. swords, two-handed staffs), the game may use a different method to calculate the damage that weapon deals. The amount of damage inflicted by a bo staff, for example, is dependent on the strength of the enemy's magic defense, whereas other weapons may damage the enemy in accordance with the enemy's physical defense. Guns are actually two-handed weapons, requiring the player to equip different purchased ammo types (leaving no opportunity to hold a shield), which ultimately defines the weapon's power. Same applies to bows; the player may acquire stronger and stronger arrow types over time. Ammo is otherwise unlimited.

Gambit System

The Gambit System is a new type of AI which works similar to an easier version of programming language. Using a set of pre-programmed commands, a player is able to set specific reactions to battle for each character. Each Gambit consists of two component variables: a target, and an action. For example, the game initially gives players two commands for use in their Gambit instructions. One reads, "Leader's enemy: Attack" and the other reads "Party member [HP less than 70%]: Cure". The Gambits are listed in order of priority, and changing their order in the list will cause the character to act differently. If the first command is "Leader's enemy: Attack" and the second is "Party member [HP less than 70%]: Cure", the character will attack with the party leader as long as they are engaged in battle. Once the party leader's target has been eliminated or the leader disengages from battle, the second command will come into play. If any party member is below 70% health, the character with the aforementioned Gambit will cast Cure on them. Different battle procedures would follow if the two commands were switched around, as the character will cease their attack and cast Cure on any party member with less than 70% health, and then resume attacking once all party members are at 70% health or more. There will be many different Gambits in the game to facilitate choosing any specific target, friend or foe, and then performing any action on it. Each character has a maximum of twelve available Gambit slots, which must be unlocked one at a time on the License board. Gambits are most often bought in Gambit shops, but they can also be found in chests.

This Gambit setting makes keeping all party members alive and in good fighting condition the highest priority; reviving fallen characters, keeping the party's HP at a safe level, and removing status ailments. The next priority is the character supporting themself with Protect and Haste spells and MP replenishment. The final priority is attacking enemies. Giving undead and flying enemies special priority over all others ensures that the character will always treat them differently than "normal" enemies. If this character encounters a flying enemy which is also undead, they will treat them as undead, as the Undead Enemy Gambit is given a higher priority than the Flying Enemy Gambit. By giving attacking enemies the lowest priority, this character will cease attacking in the midst of battle the instant any other parameter arises and they will not resume attacking until that parameter has been rectified. Note that there is no specific qualifier following "Yourself" in the Protect and Haste Gambits. Therefore this character will cast Protect and Haste on themself the instant their Protect and Haste status wears off.

Plot and setting

File:Ff12cast.jpg

Cast of Final Fantasy XII

Characters

See also: List of Final Fantasy XII characters

Vaan is an orphaned Hume street urchin who lost his parents in a plague when he was 12 years old and his only brother Reks 2 years after the Archadian Invasion of Dalmasca. He makes a living as Migelo's assistant, helping to distribute food rations to the Archadian soldiers, while stealing some for his own in the process. He is a cheerful and energetic and among his friends he is considered their leader. Vaan always dreams of someday becoming a sky pirate in command of his own airship. During the beginning of the game, he is still resentful of his brother's death at the supposed hands of Basch. Vaan remains largely unimportant to the plot, acting more like a narrator or viewpoint to the story of Ashe and the resistance. He eventually gets his own small (one-man) airship in the end, after Fran and Balthier take the Strahl airship.

Ashe Vanalgan Dalmasca (アーシェ Āshe) is a determined and independent 19-year-old Hume princess fighting to liberate her kingdom, Dalmasca, from the Archadian Empire. In addition to being the leader of the Dalmascan resistance movement, she is the sole heir to the throne, her father and eight brothers having been killed during the Archadian invasion. Ashe seeks not only freedom for her country, but also vengeance against the Archadian invaders and the former Dalmascan general Basch, who assassinated the king shortly after the Archadian army stormed the royal castle in Rabanastre. When meeting Vaan and co. she used the alias Amalia. Ashe was married to a man named Rasler — she wears a wedding band on her left ring finger, and her wedding parade is featured in several game trailers. However, the opening sequence of the game shows the death of Lord Rasler in battle, making her a young widow. Regarding the possibility of a relationship between Ashe and Vaan, the game developers have stated in an interview that while Ashe and Vaan might fall in love, they may not necessarily fall in love with one another. Despite assumptions from fans, there is no romance between Vaan and Ashe. Akihiko Yoshida, the character designer of Final Fantasy XII, states that Ashe's physical features were designed with the intent of making her look vaguely French: "the base of her bone structure is a French person's. We were given orders from the start to not make her look like an Asian. But we modified her a bit to look more like a Japanese for the sake of the Japanese audience, and also since a character that looks completely French makes some of the CG expressions difficult." When asked about her rather revealing clothing, Yoshida commented that "Dalmasca is supposed to have a hot climate." Ashe is the female lead in the game. She is a descendant of the Tyrant King Raithwall and is supposed to conquer the world and take revenge via Nethicite shards from the Sun Coccoon offered by the Oquelia. She resisted this and instead destroyed the Coccoon.

Balthier Bunanza is a 22-year-old Hume sky pirate who pilots a small airship around the skies of Ivalice. He and his companion, Fran, prefer to remain outside of the war between the kingdoms of Ivalice. Balthier claims to be the main character of the story many times throughout the game, and insists that this status makes him invincible - because "the hero never dies". This was furthered by his near-death experience when the flying fortress Bahamut was destroyed. Though presumed dead, Ashe later received a letter from Balthier himself, confirming that he was alive and well. He is the son of Dr. Cid, however, tensions arise since his father was obsessed with his research on the Nethicite, even to the extent of forcing Balthier to become a Judge. Sadly, Cid was in fact corrupted by Venas with the help of Vayne.

Basch von Rosenberg is a 36-year-old Hume who formerly served as a general in the Dalmascan army. During the Archadian assault on the royal castle, he discovered that the Dalmascan king had actually sold his people to the Archadians, and subsequently slew both the king and then Vaan's older brother, Reks, who found out about the crime. He is now regarded by the Dalmascans as a traitor. It was later revealed that Basch had actually been set up by his twin brother, the true murderer, who is now one of the Archadian Judges. Rikiya Koyama provides the voice of Basch in the Japanese version of the game.

Fran is a member of the rabbit-like Viera race and Balthier's partner aboard his airship. Although her preferred weapon is the bow and arrow, she is also quite competent with a variety of other weapons and is notably proficient in grappling and fencing. Rika Fukami supplies the voice of Fran in the Japanese version of the game. Fran is the only non-Hume (human) character in the main cast.

Penelo is a Hume orphan who works as a dancer in a Rabanastre bazaar. She learned martial arts from her now-deceased older brother, a soldier, and though small in stature, she is perfectly capable of handling herself in sticky situations. She has known Vaan since childhood, and seems to secretly have romantic feelings towards him. Her parents, having took him in to care for him after his own parents died, encouraged Penelo and sort of put the two together, as a result they care about each other a lot. It is unclear if this relationship will go any further, but the ending of the game does heavily imply a possible romance between the two in the future since they intend to travel together as sky pirates. It is apparent that she is the main dedicated magic user in the game, and she seems to be better at using Summon magic than any of the other characters. She prefers to use either a bow & arrow or a magical staff. She still carries sad feelings about the death of her parents.

Vayne Cardas Solidor is the 27-year-old crown prince of Archadia and first in line to inherit the throne from his father, Emperor Gramis. At the age of 16, Emperor Gramis ordered him to kill his two older brothers who were plotting treason, although officially it was said that they both died in battle. Though he wields a considerable amount of authority, Vayne does not abuse his power; rather, he makes an effort to foster a positive relationship with the conquered Dalmascans and insists that the welfare of the people is his foremost concern.

In truth, Vayne, who is arguably the main villain, wishes to be the new Tyrant King to force his ideals of peace at the cost of those in his way. To that end, he sought out the power of the rogue Oquelia Venas. Vayne does not like how the Oquelia essentially control the Humes history and future. Having become the consul of the Empire, Vayne poisons his father and frames the Senate for this, so he can get full control over the Empire. Vayne is the final boss of the game and is fought three times, once on his own (using his fists), once with the power of Artificial Nethicite (complete with summoned magic swords) and finally with the power of Venas.

Larsa Ferrinas Solidor is the younger brother of Vayne Solidor and the fourth son of Gramis, eleventh emperor of Archadia. He is second in line to succeed Gramis as emperor and tries hard to gain the respect of his father and older brother. Larsa travels on occasion disguised as a commoner, adopting the alias Ramon so as to remain incognito. He joins the party midgame as a guest, but is not a playable character, however. Yuka Imai provides the voice of Larsa in the Japanese version of the game.

The Archadian Judges are the supreme enforcers of Archadian law in the world of Ivalice. Each wields extraordinary legal power in his or her own right over lower-ranked Archadian officers. In addition to functioning as legal administrators, they are also charged with the task of guarding the royal family.

Judge Master Gabranth: The leader of the Judges whose image is on the game logo. He is also Basch's twin brother, Noah von Rosenberg, the man truly responsible for the deaths of Reks and King Raminas. Unlike Basch, he wholeheartedly supports the Archadian Empire, serving as Larsa's protector and Vayne's second in command. Despite these facts, Gabranth loathes himself for the framing of his brother and the horrible tasks Vayne has commanded him to do. Towards the end of the game, after fighting him, he decides to make up for his wrongs by protecting Larsa and helping the Resistance kill Vayne. He is fatally injured in the process, and dies in Basch's arms in the ending of the game.

Plot

Template:Spoiler Final Fantasy XII takes place mostly in the kingdom of Dalmasca, a small city-state in the world of Ivalice. A neutral party in the past wars between its neighboring kingdoms of Archadia and Rosaria, Dalmasca was ultimately conquered by Archadia and reduced to the status of an occupied state under Archadian rule. Vaan, a street urchin living in the Dalmascan capital of Rabanastre, joins the underground Dalmascan resistance movement and participates in an assault on the royal castle, now occupied by Archadian troops. His involvement in the attack eventually brings him face to face with Ashe, the deposed princess of Dalmasca and the leader of the resistance faction.

Other major characters include Balthier, a sky pirate struggling to remain neutral in the conflict between Archadia and Dalmasca; his companion Fran, a Viera warrior; Penelo, an item shopkeeper in Rabanastre and Vaan's best friend; Basch, a former general of Dalmasca turned traitor during the conflict between Archadia and Rosaria; Reks, Vaan's older brother and formerly a soldier of the Dalmascan army under Basch's command; Larsa Solidor (known as Ramon when traveling incognito among the common folk), a young prince who has a mysterious connection with Nethicite, a rare counterpart of Magicite (the substance from which all magical energy is derived); and Vayne Solidor, the royal heir of Archadia, consul of Dalmasca, the Judges' commanding lord, and Larsa's elder brother.

Archadian Judge Masters, leaders of the Judges who first appeared in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, are featured prominently in the story. They are the supreme enforcers of Archadian law, and number five total: Gabranth, Ghis, Drace, Zargabaath, and Bergan. Template:Spoiler-end

Development

All of the summoned creatures in Final Fantasy XII are named after boss enemies or other entities from other Final Fantasy games, most notably Final Fantasy Tactics and its spinoff Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Queklain, Belias, Zalera, Adrammelech, Hashmalim, and Ultima are all names of various Lucavi demons in Final Fantasy Tactics, though some of their names vary slightly from those of the Final Fantasy XII espers due to errors in translation i.e. Ultima's name is spelled in Final Fantasy Tactics as "Altima". Zodiac also made an appearance in the game as a summoned creature. Similarly, Famfrit, Adrammelech, Ultima, and Mateus all appear in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance as Totema, guardians of the Five Crystals of Ivalice. Chaos, Zeromus, and Exdeath are all named after the final bosses of Final Fantasy I, IV, and V, respectively.

Final Fantasy XII contains a mob quest battle featuring Gilgamesh, an entity typically a summoned creature or other similar being, seen previously in many other games in the series. The battle is set to his musical theme "Clash on the Big Bridge" from Final Fantasy V and he wields eight replicas of swords from previous Final Fantasy titles, which are Cloud Strife's Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII, Squall Leonheart's Revolver Gunblade from Final Fantasy VIII, Tidus's Brotherhood sword from Final Fantasy X, Odin's Zantetsuken, the Orichalcon, and Final Fantasy V version of the Excalibur and the Excalipoor. As a special surprise for fans, Gilgamesh's final sword is the iconic Sword of Loto, also known as the Sword of Kings or Erdrick's Sword, from the first Dragon Quest trilogy.

The tradition of assigning a certain Esper to a specific zodiac sign in Final Fantasy XII originated in Final Fantasy Tactics; where each Zodiac Braves are assigned to each Zodiac stones. In anticipation of Final Fantasy XII release, vendors at Comic Con 2006 passed out temporary tattoos with designs of the game's espers.

Though not a direct sequel to any previous Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy XII features several concepts introduced in the Final Fantasy Tactics series.

Yasumi Matsuno, originally announced as both producer and director, was forced to bow out of both roles midway through production due to health concerns. In his place, Hiroyuki Ito and Hiroshi Minagawa took over directorial duties, with Akitoshi Kawazu assuming the role of the executive producer. Matsuno remains credited for "Original Work/Scenario Plot/Supervision". Hitoshi Sakimoto was the music composer for the game, and series veteran Nobuo Uematsu contributed one new composition — the vocal theme, "Kiss Me Good-Bye", performed by Angela Aki. Renowned violinist Taro Hakase provided performances for Symphonic Poem "Hope", which served as a promotional theme along with "Kiss Me Good-Bye".

Square Enix officially confirmed that the game will be available in North America on October 31, 2006. The game will be available in two versions — the standalone game (with an MSRP of $49.99) and a "Collector's Edition" for an additional $10. This edition includes the game packaged in a steel case along with a variety of trailers and featurettes about the Final Fantasy series.

Reception

According to Media Create, Final Fantasy XII sold 1,764,266 copies on its first week in Japan, breaking the 2,000,000 copies on the following week. The total number of copies sold stood at 2,150,671 after 5 weeks of release. A Square-Enix conference report stated that Final Fantasy XII has sold more than 2.38 million copies in Japan as of March 31.

Critical response

On March 16, 2006, Final Fantasy XII became only the sixth game ever to receive a perfect 40/40 score from the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, as well as the first Final Fantasy game and the first PlayStation 2 title to do so. It is also the second Yasumi Matsuno title to garner a perfect score, the first being Vagrant Story. The game has also been critically acclaimed by many reviewers outside of Japan despite not having been released yet. It was praised for its seemless intercutting between FMV segments and the in-game engine.

Audio

Voice-overs

Only 4 English language voice actors have been announced as of August 8, 2006. Square Enix is currently working on localizing the game for the U.S. Noted translator Alexander O. Smith has been confirmed to be involved with the English North American localization of the script. Smith had also previously worked on the localization for Vagrant Story. The first English language trailer was shown at E3 in May of 2006. Most of the main characters were shown with their English voices, though only some english cast members have been announced.

Musical score

Main article: Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack

The vast majority of the game's soundtrack was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, with vocals (both English and Japanese) for "Kiss Me Good-Bye" by Angela Aki. The soundtrack was released on the 31st of May, 2006 in Japan with a price of ¥3,990 bearing the catalog number, SVWC-7351~4. The soundtrack consists of 4 CDs with 100 tracks. The soundtrack also includes some tracks which were featured promotional material, but not in the final version of the game. The recording comes in a DVD-style package, complete with images from the game printed on each disk. The box also includes a 28-page informational booklet.

The CD single for Aki's single for the game, "Kiss Me Good-Bye", was released on the 15th of March, 2006 with a price of ¥1,223 bearing the catalog number ESCL-2810. A limited edition was also released with a price of ¥1,500 bearing the catalog number ESCL-2808 and featuring a DVD containing the "Kiss Me Good-Bye" music video.

Merchandise

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The Final Fantasy XII "Potion" drink.

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan have released a special Final Fantasy XII package, which included a PlayStation 2 game system, model: SCPH-75000 FF, the Final Fantasy XII game, a standard DualShock controller, and a vertical console stand. The special edition package was released in Japan alongside the game on March 16, 2006.

There is also a Final Fantasy XII Collector's Edition, which features special packaging, a DVD with promotional trailers from both Japan and America, developer interviews, featurettes on the Final Fantasy franchise, and an art gallery.

The renowned Japanese third-party manufacturer Hori also released Final Fantasy XII memory cards on the same day as the game's release. The memory card is a standard 8MB card, coloured white and will have its own case priced ¥ 3,660. Stickers of various Final Fantasy XII characters are included.

Suntory Limited have also produced "Final Fantasy Potion" — a drink containing such ingredients as royal jelly, chamomile, sage, thyme, and marjoram. The drink has a unique taste; it is very sweet, but at the same time possesses a bitter herbal aftertaste.

The drinks became commercially available on March 7, 2006 in Japan and come in 120ml bottles with a retail price of ¥ 191. Suntory also released a Final Fantasy XII Premium Box priced at ¥ 600, each containing a 100ml bottle with a decorative plastic topper and a Final Fantasy XII collectors card. There are a total of six tops and twenty-seven cards to collect. Final Fantasy XII Potion was a limited edition product, and is no longer available.

Game peripheral maker Logicool (the Japanese version of Logitech) has also released a special edition Final Fantasy XII controller alongside the title on March 16th. This white cordless controller comes stamped with the Final Fantasy XII logo and includes a convenient LCD cleaner.

Book publishers Studio BentStuff will also be releasing two ULTIMANIA books — Final Fantasy XII Battle Ultimania and the Final Fantasy XII Scenario Ultimania on June 16, 2006. The Battle Ultimania provides a complete analysis of the new battle system, explanations of all the licenses attainable, every item, every monster and a hand catalogue with all conditions. The Scenario Ultimania on the other hand provides a walkthrough chart of the main scenarios in the game, profiles on all of the characters and areas of the world, along with walkthroughs of all the sub-events and a full map marked with all hidden items. As a bonus, both the books also include separate interviews with the developers of the game.

External links

• Template:En icon Official Final Fantasy XII site
• Template:Playstation.com
• Official Japanese Final Fantasy XII Site
• European Final Fantasy XII Site
• Final Fantasy Wiki category list for Final Fantasy XII