Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (Nintendo DS, 2007)

It could easily be my pick for the best DS game this year because it seems to have all the right ingredients: A great story, unique gameplay, killer visuals, and a fantastic score. All of these elements combine to create the best gaming experience on the DS this year. The disappointing lack of multiplayer modes aside, this is almost the perfect strategy package. Revenant Wings offers some fresh gameplay for the mammoth RPG series and while the dominant RTS element may not be for everyone, it’s certainly been simplified a lot to offer a good 30 entertaining hours or so. This is well worth a DS owner’s time, and easily one of the best things Square-Enix has published for the system.

True to its roots, FFXII: Revenant Wings continues the stoery of Vaan, Penelo, Fran, and Balthier, as well as many new and familiar faces, from Final Fantasy 12. The one glaring flaw with Revenant Wings is that it relies heavily on the DS stylus; in fact, it is unplayable without one. While this Square Enix game tells a great story and pushes the DS screen to its graphical limits with the CGI scenes, it also employs a similar Gambit system to its predecessor. There are many ways to customize equipment, as well as familiar foes and summons from previous games in the series, however its a bit difficult to immerse oneself when the majority of the combat is done via a simple drag and click method with the stylus. In my humble opinion, this game is simple rock-paper-scissors drag and drop as far as the combat goes, with SE's famous storytelling being its saving grace.

Final Rating would be a 7/10. Great game for those who love story, however the gameplay is somewhat repetitive, and at times flat out boring to true RPG fans.

I absolutely adore this game. What's not to like? When I first picked up this game, I was under the impression that it was a turn based RPG. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Surprisingly enough, it is a real time strategy game that is LOADS of fun! You've got your small team of characters that can summon monsters to help you in your quest to kick butt. It's absolutely fantastic and should not be missed. Beautiful graphics throughout on this amazing game. Pick it up if you're a FF Geek like yours truly.

9.5 OVERALL

For all Final Fans here's another to enjoy and add to the long list of great fantasies created by my favourite developer, the veterans of video RPGs, Square Soft. I'm glad to see that Nintendo has taken them back and look forward to thier upcoming work. This is no FF7 but a game that great is really, REALLY hard to beat but none the less it's a good one. Enjoy!

Final Fantasy is as all rpg gamers some of the best in it's class. Revenant Wings attempts to put real time and army like tactics style fighting into it's story. It does a good job yet it can be tough to organize your team on such a small screen. And lots of times it's not even necessary as bringing your whole troop will mow through everyone anyway. It is also hard to use each troop leaders special abilities in real time as too much is happening too fast often. Lots of upgrading is also part of the game so it will take lots of time to keep your weps in top shape. I would recommend buying this game, beating it and reselling it fast cause replay value is low but resale value is high =)