I’ve played nearly every Final Fantasy released in America; I can spend at the very least four hours describing each one, but Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings defies my attempts to describe it to my friends and fellow gamers. But, here’s my best attempt at explaining it, so bear with me please: imagine Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII had an illegitimate child, and then that child was mated with a clone of itself. The resulting clone incest baby would be Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. Now, I know that probably makes no sense, but try conceptualizing that for a while, and if that doesn’t work, imbibe some of your spirit of choice and try again.

Now, FFXII: Revenant Wings picks up a few months or so after Final Fantasy XII. Vaan and Penelo now have their own airship and have become sky pirates. At the beginning you meet up with the sky pirates and former comrades in arms, Balthier and Fran, at some old ruins. Each group loots a piece of some mysterious old object, and then the floating continent you’re on breaks up and your airship is lost. The scene switches back to the city of Rabanastre where Vaan and his friends, Penelo, Kytes and newcomer Filo, witness a mysterious ancient airship crash landing outside the city, then ‘accidentally’ hijack it and spend the game on a lost floating continent populated by winged people trying to unlock the secret of the “Cache of Glabados.”

FFXII: Revenant Wings is interesting in that it is divided into chapters, where in each chapter takes place on a different map of varying size, and you are given one or multiple objectives to complete, from rescuing someone to killing a certain enemy or just reaching the end with a certain character still alive. Combat is in real time, making this game more like an RTS than an RPG. Much like FFXII, you can give characters orders to do specific things in specific situations. Though for the most part members of your party just attack whatever’s near them. Also, there are portals on the map that you can capture and summon monsters to fight for you. Fairly eclectic.

It’s a good game, an oddly designed game, but a good game nonetheless. It’s not so much a sequel to Final Fantasy XII as it is the continuing adventures of the main characters. You don’t really need to play the original FFXII to enjoy the game, but it would help. If you’re a Final Fantasy fan you probably already know about this game; if you’re a fan of RPG’s or RTS’s or strategy games give FFXII: Revenant Wings a whirl. If you’re looking for something different, it doesn’t get much different than this.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant WingsSystem: Nintendo DSPublisher: Square EnixPrice: $29.99Rating: E 10 (Everyone 10 and Up)