Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings - hands-on

Although it's full of familiar faces, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is unlike any Final Fantasy you've ever played. Say goodbye to turn-based battles, isometric grids, and almost everything else you've come to expect from Final Fantasy gameplay. While Revenant Wings retains the flavor ofFFXII in its story and characters, fans of the series may find themselves taken out of their comfort zone.

Above: The summons you know and love appear in Revenant Wings as Espers, units you can summon into battle to fight for you.Pictured here areShiva and Ifrit

Taking a cue from FFXII's real-time combat system, Revenant Wings employs a real-time strategy battle system that diverges completely from FF's turn-based roots. Using only the stylus, players throw their units against enemies in real-time across expansive battle fields. Although you can pre-program units with Gambits (similar to FFXII) so that they automatically act according to preset conditions (like setting them to attack enemies or heal allies as a default when you're not controlling them directly), it still takes some quick stylus work to stay on top of all aspects of a battle.

There are three types of offensive units: melee, ranged, and flying. The relationship among these units is like rock-paper-scissors: melee is strong against ranged, ranged is strong against flying, and flying is strong against melee. As long as you're mindful of this relationship, battles early on are fairly easy. Forget this rule, and you don't stand a chance.