Marcel Winatschek

Into Revenant Wings Blind

Square Enix launched the European site for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings ahead of its mid-February DS release, and I’ve been circling it with the specific anxiety of a Final Fantasy fan who never played the parent game. I’ve been in the series since the beginning, more or less, but Final Fantasy XII slipped past me—the political story, the open-world structure, the gambit system that reviewers either loved or found completely alienating. I meant to get to it. I didn’t.

So Revenant Wings is an odd entry point: a DS real-time strategy sequel to a mainline game I haven’t touched, with a cast whose previous arc I know nothing about. The early word on the US version wasn’t encouraging—something about the pacing feeling off, combat that flattens out over time. I’m holding that lightly. Western critical reception to Japanese RPGs has a spotty track record in both directions.

The website is genuinely good, which is at least evidence someone cared about presentation. Trailer, downloads, RSS feed, all wrapped in that particular Square Enix aesthetic—ornate, blue-tinged, slightly melancholy. If the game has half that atmosphere, I’ll probably forgive whatever the mechanics get wrong.