Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

This game is a few years old now, and I only picked it up because the price dropped to $12; there was no way I'd pick up a Final Fantasy handheld sequel for full price.

After Square-Enix's success with Final Fantasy X-2 and Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, it became inevitable that SE would start producing sequels for the "numbered" Final Fantasy games. Other than X-2, VII's movie sequel, and its game sequel, SE has also made Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and is currently developing Final Fantasy XIII-2. So far, none of these sequels have been particularly bad and have been very easy to produce, turning them into a cashcow for Square-Enix, similar to their multiple game remakes and re-releases. Today, I'm going to focus on Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, a game that was actually planned at the same time as Final Fantasy XII, but not as a sequel to XII. To fully experience XII's story, you must also experience Revenant Wings to get the full picture.

Revenant Wings is similar to the X-2 and Dirge of Cerberus in that it does not use the same battle system as the original game. Rather than have real-time turn based combat, FFXII:RW is a Real Time Strategy game, somewhat similar to Starcraft or Age of Empires. The basic premise of combat is you have 5 group leaders (the main party members) and their summoned espers who are the main fighting units. Each group leader starts battles with 2 espers, but various conditions allow you to summon more espers or allocate all your espers to 1 leader. Units are divided in three types: Melee, Ranged, and Flying, in a "rock-paper-scissors" battle system. Melee units easily dispatch Ranged units, but are weak to Flyers. Ranged are good against Flying, but are weak to Melee. Flyers are good against Melee, but weak to Ranged. In order to make strategy even more diverse, some units also have elemental strengths and weaknesses, causing you to carefully select which espers and party members to bring before a battle.

The story of Revenant Wings picks up immediately after the end of Final Fantasy XII, which takes place a year after the liberation of Dalmasca. I can't really give away too much of RW's story since it almost immediately spoils events from the end of FFXII. Needless to say, there are evil forces at work and just because the threat of the Archadian Empire has ceased doesn't mean there will be everlasting peace (we can look to Final Fantasy Tactics as a huge example of that).

Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Presentation: 9/10
Replay Value: 7/10

Average Score: 8.25/10

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is by no means perfect or groundbreaking, but it's still a really fun game. If you enjoyed Final Fantasy XII's story and want more or you want a great RTS title on a portable system, you should look into Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings.


My next game reviews will be for Donkey Kong Country Returns and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.