The world of Ivalice has been an oft-tapped vein for the Final Fantasy series, with the world showing up in titles like Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, and even popping up in non-Final Fantasy games like Vagrant Story. The reasoning is pretty obvious, as the land of Ivalice has a rich universe and plenty of great characters and art direction already available from previous games. Square-Enix has announced their Ivalice Alliance, offering an upcoming series of games that will take place in the world, with Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions for the PSP currently being available. The next title to hit the US is Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings.

A sequel of sorts to last year’s phenomenal Final Fantasy XII on the PS2, Revenant Wings is a bit more of a ballsy title, opting for a fast-paced RTS style of gameplay as opposed to the series’ tried-and-true turn-based mechanics. However, the gamble has ultimately paid off, as the game is a great direction for the series, and fits well on the Nintendo DS. While the controls themselves are a little hard to get used to, the game is a deep and complex handheld game that will keep Final Fantasy fanatics entertained for a long while.

As I’ve already established, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings takes place in Ivalice shortly after the events that took place in Final Fantasy XII. The game centers on the two leads from FFXII, Vaan and Penello, as they commandeer an airship and leave their hometown of Rabanastre and head for the land of Lemure. Upon arrival, they meet up with Llyud, a member of the winged Aegyl race, who are falling upon hard times due to treasure hunters. With the help of Rabanastrean buddies Kytes and Filo, they embark on a quest to discover what is happening on Lemure and help the Aegyl race with their plight.

On a certain level, the game has a lot of elements of the Final Fantasy Tactics series. The checks and balances between your characters and their abilities (as in magic users or flight-capable fighters) are in place here. Some of your characters will be better suited for close combat while others will work best at long range, and it’s up to you to properly manage your units and their gambits (basically AI instructions) to ensure that they don’t get creamed on the battlefield.

You’ll also be able to up your troop numbers by summoning Espers to fight by your side. This allows you to either summon a ton of small Espers to fight with your crew, or fewer large Espers, depending on your play style and the situation at hand.

While the RTS action is a nice touch for the series, the game’s controls are possibly the weakest element of the game. The stylus simplifies things a lot and makes it easier to get into for fans who aren’t terribly proficient with strategy interfaces. However, I had a few grumbles with it. It doesn’t do much for lefties, as the D-Pad has to be used to move the camera around the map and cannot be remapped to the face buttons, making it tough for southpaws to hold the stylus and still try to control their units.

Secondly, selecting between units on the battle field is not terribly intuitive, since the characters all seem to cluster together frequently and picking one out of the crowd is awkward. My last problem with the controls is more of an annoyance than a problem with the game. When you select a unit or a number of units and then order them to perform an action, the game will suddenly unselect them, requiring you to re-highlight them with the stylus should you change your mind. This can be problematic when you have many troops on the field, and are trying to micromanage and have to put everything else on hold so you can reselect a bunch of soldiers.

Graphically, the game is pretty good. The world of Ivalice and the phenomenal art direction behind it is well represented in the game’s lavish 3D backgrounds, which boast a great amount of detail for a Nintendo DS game. However, the character models could’ve been done better, as the 2D sprites look blocky and lack a lot of detail. The music is fantastic, bringing back the wonderful score from Final Fantasy XII and applying it nicely to the DS.

Revenant Wings is a pretty different Final Fantasy title, and the control scheme might take some getting used to, but the game offers deep and complex gameplay that will keep you enthralled for hours on end.

Gameplay: 8.5
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings brings the series to new heights by offering up some interesting RTS-style gameplay. The control scheme uses the stylus almost exclusively, but selecting your troops feels somewhat clumsy. Still, the game is very deep and quite complex, and will have you playing for many hours.

Graphics: 8.0
The 3D backgrounds look great and have tons of detail and great art direction. However, the blocky sprites are pretty ugly and lack detail.

Sound: 9.0
The great soundtrack from Final Fantasy XII on PS2 has been ported nicely to the DS and sounds great, even changing with the mood of the game.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.5
Taking the series away from its tried and true turn-based mechanics was a gamble, but the game has an extraordinary amount of depth for a handheld game. The story isn’t quite as coherent as the actual FF games.

Overall: 8.5
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is a great addition to the DS’s library and an interesting entry to the Final Fantasy universe. While the controls take some getting used to (especially if you’re a southpaw), there is plenty of fun to be had in Revenant Wings.