Final Fantasy 12 was playable for the first time at this year's E3 show and despite the long lines in the Square Enix booth as well as at Sony's booth, I managed to put some decent time into the demo. The biggest and most dramatic change seen thus far in FF12 is the battle system. Similar to Chrono Trigger, FF12 doesn't change to a battle screen. Instead, the battles occur in real-time exactly where your characters are standing. This creates a more realistic fighting approach and speeds up the overall battle sequences. By using the right analog stick you can rotate the camera to any angle you like to see the fighting. Also new to the battle system are these different colored arcs that will point out what is currently happening on the screen. When your party attacks enemies, an arc will appear showing which enemies are targeted and vice versa. Selecting an enemy and initiating a fight will start the active timer sequence. Once the bar is filled your character will attack. If you don't press any buttons, the sequence will continue to play out until either you or an enemy dies. The demo had non-controllable characters in the party, but it's not known whether you will be able to control other characters later in the game.
The graphics in FF12 are top-notch, which isn't surprising considering the developer. As usual, there are plenty of cutscenes to propel the story forward, but they have all been fairly short, keeping the game from becoming an interactive movie. The game seems very polished even at this early state and should be a great addition to the Final Fantasy line. From the movies I've seen and having about 15 minutes with the game, Final Fantasy 12 looks to be the most exciting game in the franchise since Final Fantasy 7. FF12 is currently scheduled to hit North America sometime in 2005.
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