Final Fantasy XII

***Final Fantasy XII*** is a video game for the PlayStation 2. It was released in 2006 by Square Enix. The 12th main Final Fantasy game, it got an enhanced version in 2017 for the PlayStation 4, named the "Zodiac Age".

## Gameplay

The game is a role-playing game, with the player controlling the movement of one character, and two others moved by AI. At points in the game, a crystal appears, where the game can be saved. Players can earn "gil", money that can buy attacks, weapons and magic. When facing an enemy, characters can set up attacks that happen without input, known as "gambits". For instance, a character may attack when seeing an enemy, or heal when an ally is low on health. After winning a battle, characters can become stronger. The get "exp", which gives the character higher "levels", which make them stronger, and "license points" which allow them to gain more abilities. The license points are used on a "license board" to unlock weapons, armour, attacks and very strong attacks known as "quickenings".

### Characters

_Final Fantasy XII_ has six characters you can play as: Vaan, an orphan who wants to be a pirate of the sky; Ashe, a princess; Basch, who is charged with killing the King; Balthier, a sky pirate who has an airship called the _Strahl_; Fran, Balthier's friend and Penelo, who has been Vaan's friend since they were little children.

### Story

_Final Fantasy XII_ takes place in a land called Dalmasca. Princess Ashe of Dalmasca and Prince Rasler of Nabradia had been married for a short time when the Archadian Empire invaded Dalmasca. A war started and Archadia took over Dalmasca in no time, for the small country of Dalmasca stood no chance against the massive Archadian Empire.  While the war was going on, Prince Rasler died, leaving Princess Ashe alone.  The king of Dalmasca, Ashe's father, decided to surrender to Archadia, clinging to dreams of peace. However, Archadia's ruler wanted him dead as soon as the treaty was signed. Knights from Dalmasca tried to rescue him, but one of the captain of the knights, Basch, was replaced by his twin brother, who then killed the king and the Vaan's older brother Reks.  Basch's twin brother is a "Judge" who works for Archadia. The real Basch is accused of high treason and is supposedly killed. Princess Ashe went into hiding, and was deemed dead.

Two years later, Vaan, sneaks into the royal palace. There was a banquet going on to celebrate the election of a new leader Vayne. Vaan meets the sky pirates Balthier and Fran in the palace as they were trying to steal the same thing he himself had taken. When Resistance forces broke into the palace, Vaan and his new friends had to hide in the sewers beneath the palace. While they were in the sewers, they met the leader of the Resistance - Amalia. Vaan, Balthier and Fran are then put in jail. In the jail, find Basch. They free Basch from the cage he is being held in and they escape back to Rabanastre, which is the capital of Dalmasca.  There, they learn that Vaan's friend Penelo was kidnapped.  The kidnapper is named Ba'Gamnan, and he has taken Penelo to Bhujerba, a city in the sky. Balthier lets Vaan use his airship (like a airplane in the shape of a ship) and fly to rescue Penelo. When they get to Bhujerba, they go to the Lhusu Mines, where they meet the brother of Vayne who rescues Penelo.

Later, captured by the Empire, they are all reunited with Amelia, who is actually Princess Ashe. Ashe has a stone (the _dawn shard_) which shows she is royalty. This is taken by the Empire, forcing the party to seek out another way to prove her family, seeking out the _dusk shard_ from the King's tomb. After leaving the tomb with the shard, they leave to get peace between the two nations.

## Reception

Metacritic, a review gatherer gave _Final Fantasy XII_ "universal acclaim". It sold more than 1,764,000 games in its first week in Japan. By November 2009, over 6,000,000 copies of the game were sold. As of October 2017, the _Zodiac Age_ sold over one million copies.

## Other websites

- _Final Fantasy XII_ official website for Japan
- _Final Fantasy XII_ official website for North America
- _Final Fantasy XII_ official website for Europe
- Final Fantasy XII US - fansite
- Shatter Heart - Fansite

## Infobox (vg)

- **image**: E3 2006 (144309433).jpg
- **caption**: Promotional art for the game
- **title**: Final Fantasy XII
- **developer**: Square Enix, Square Enix PDD 4
- **publisher**: Square Enix
- **designer**: Yasumi Matsuno
Hiroyuki Itō
Hiroshi Minagawa
- **writer**: Daisuke Watanabe
Miwa Shoda
- **artist**: Akihiko Yoshida
Nao Ikeda
- **composer**: _#Music, See Music_
- **series**: _Final Fantasy_

- **genre**: Role-playing video game
- **modes**: Single-player
- **platforms**: PlayStation 2