While digital swashbucklers have gorged themselves on inferior spin-offs bearing the Final Fantasy label recently, it feels like an age since 2001s FFX awed players with its sweeping story, inspired characters and stunning, Hollywood-style production values; and while the stellar presentation of this latest instalment will be familiar to fans, an overhauled combat system helps make this Fantasy one of the freshest, most engaging quests in Square Enixs evergreen franchise.
Unlike previous escapades where your exploration was hampered by the sudden appearance of random monsters that forced you into combat, whether you liked it or not enemies are now visible on the battlefield, allowing you to sidestep skirmishes and making the action flow seamlessly. The new gambit system, where you teach your heroes to behave in certain ways during battle, also makes for more strategic fights, and even though old hands will have to learn new tricks to keep up with this magical mash-up, the subtle tweaks help FFXII feel like a true evolution of this groundbreaking series.