Goodbye, All: Final Fantasy XII
I never could put my finger on just why I never completed FFXII. While I haven’t finished any Final Fantasy game after the illustrious FFVII, I quite enjoyed both IX and XII. VIII and XIII didn’t interest me, XI and XIV required an online dedication and XV just didn’t sway me with bros and a car, despite its generally-favorable reviews. Oh, and X – I don’t know why I didn’t finish that either. It was enjoyable the two-dozen hours I put into it.
I digress in a bevy of Roman numerals. FFXII had just a different feel to it; its gameplay was a stark departure, its return to Ivalice from the awesome FFT was a rare revisit of an old theme and the artstyle remains one of my favorites in all of gaming (alongside FFIX’s!). But the reason only just became clear to me: children. I got married in January of 2006 and it’s hard to believe I moved to Maine when the PS2 was still the latest and the greatest. (I don’t care that the 360 came out a few months prior.). As much as I liked the twelfth numbered installment, I never gave it enough time. And as literally every other main entry was made playable on current systems, I just waited for #12 to arrive. As the last of the older titles, it finally has and I’m drawn in again by that gameplay and artstyle. If it is as good as they say, and as my memory tells me, I might be MIA for a while. Perhaps that God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta playthrough may have to wait a little bit!!!