"The Treaty would be signed with Steel and Writ in royal Blood."
-Memoirs of Mqs Halim Ondore IV. Chapter 12: Of the Fall of Kingdoms Square-Enix's Final Fantasy XII is, quite obviously, the twelfth installment of their insanely popular RPG series. The last of the main series of games to be seen on the PS2, FFXII kept fans waiting for years. But it was well worth the wait! After the linear nature of FFX, XII literally lets you travel to the ends of the earth and back, gave you full control of your characters, and more. I think it was an all out attempt by the creators to make an amazing last showing on the PS2, and they achieved just that.

So! The game. You're first put in control of Vaan, a young orphan who dreams of becoming a sky pirate. He lives in a city under the streets of Rabanastre, capital of the kingdom of Dalmasca in a land called Ivalice. Two years prior to the start of the game, the kingdom fell to the Archadian empire in a twisted war full of backstabbing, lies, and all that fun stuff. Vaan's older brother, Reks, died after witnessing the death of Dalmasca's King Raminas of at the hands of a supposed traitor. The Empire, under the control of House Solidor, practices a largely oppressive rule, and the imperial desires of the Emperor's son, Vayne Solidor, mark them as a threat to the entirety of Ivalice. This sets the stage for the adventures of Vaan and his childhood friend Penelo, who soon get caught up in the Dalmascan liberation alongside the sky pirates Balthier and Fran, the knight framed for King Raminas' murder, Basch, and the Princess of Dalmasca who was said to have committed suicide at the fall of her kingdom, Ashe. The focus never remains entirely on Vaan, so he really can't be called the main character; he's more of an observer to the events than a catalyst or a leader. As the game progresses, the group finds themselves fighting not only against the Empire but the mysterious beings who determine the fate of mankind. But no matter the enemy, the party fights on for the ultimate goal and major theme of the game: freedom.

I usually find myself urging my visitors to play the game I ramble about on this sort of introduction page at my other character shrines, but I'm pretty damn sure that people have actually played this one. If you haven't, I'd suggest you go pick up a copy and stop living under a rock ;).

Ashe and co. come back to make several appearances in games and other media that have spun-off from FFXII. She appears in both Itadaki Street and Itadaki Street Portable, board game-like titles for the PS2 and PSP, respectively. Ashe also appears in a manga adaption, which you can preview here. Not a big fan of the art, myself. Anyway, in 2007, Square-Enix released Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System, a new version of FFXII with added goodies, like job-class specific License Boards and the ability to control guest characters. Nifty. FFXII also get a full-fledged sequel for the DS, Revenant Wings. The game, set a year after FFXII, focuses on Vaan and Penelo and their sky pirate-y adventures in the hidden land of Lemurés. Ashe, now Queen of Dalmasca, reunites with her old comrades as threatening forces from Lemurés reach Ivalice. The game is a lot lighter and more cheerful than FFXII, which gives it a completely different feel from the original. It's still quite enjoyable, however. And super cute.
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"Final Fantasy XII" and its characters © Square-Enix. All other content belongs to Michelle.