Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is a game for the Nintendo DS. It is an adventure based on Final Fantasy XII. It chronicles a period of time in which Vaan and Penelo, two of the main characters from Final Fantasy XII, are sky pirates.

Ivalice Alliance
Revenant Wings is just one of the many games in the Ivalice Alliance, others including Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions and Final Fantasy Tactics A2.

Story
Set one year after the events of Final Fantasy XII, on the Sky Continent of Lemurés, Vaan and Penelo are treasure hunting in unknown ruins and find the Cache of Glabados, which includes an airship and a piece of Auracite. Upon getting on said derelict, it takes them to the sky continent, where they meet the Aegyl, Llyud. Defying his race's traditions, he accepts their help and requests their assistance in stopping the sky pirates from defiling Lemurés.

Thousands of years ago, a man called Feolthanos was the chief of the Aegyl when they still lived on Ivalice. Feolthanos took a Viera wife and started a family, and their descendants are the Feol Viera. He revolted against the Occuria and took the Aegyl to Lemurés, using the Auraliths to create a barrier around Lemurés and to keep the Occuria out while trapping the Aegyl there. It was maintained until about a year ago when a massive amount of Mist from the Sun-Cryst was released on Ivalice.

Feolthanos left the Cache of Glabados and a book as a gift for his family (who didn't have wings), in the hopes that one day they would use them to come to him in Lemurés. The Cache is actually three shards of Auracite which each serve as a beacon to call the Galbana, an airship built by Feolthanos that picks up the one who finds the Cache and bring them to Lemurés.

Characters
Unlike Final Fantasy XII, Revenant Wings has a large cast, consisting of over 12 characters. The game also introduces a new race, the Aegyl, a race of Hume-like people with wings on their backs.

Playable Characters

 * Vaan
 * Penelo
 * Llyud
 * Balthier
 * Fran
 * Kytes
 * Filo
 * Ashe
 * Basch
 * Ba'Gamnan (temporary)

Non-Playable Characters

 * Feolthanos
 * Judge of Wings
 * Cu Sith
 * Larsa Ferrinas Solidor
 * Nono
 * Tomaj
 * Velis
 * Mydia

Locations
Set on the Sky Continent of Lemurés, Revenant Wings seems to be exploring the floating continent in more detail. Unlike Final Fantasy X-2, it seems the player will explore a whole host of new areas. The game starts on the Glabados Ruins. When Basch and Ashe join, your team go to mainland Ivalice to investigate some locations from Final Fantasy XII.

Gameplay
Revenant Wings features gameplay similar to its predecessor. However, it has a simpler gambit system, with only one gambit per character, possibly to accommodate the Nintendo DS but also to make it easier to play.

The Stylus
Revenant Wings is played using mainly the stylus, with the optional exception of using the X button to conveniently combine all active characters and espers into one group, and using the A button to select and move the camera to one of your nearest summoning gates. Area effect spells work by targeting an enemy, while any other enemy surrounding that target within a reasonable distance will receive the effect of the spell used. Drawing a box around two or more allies makes them a party. After setting up a party by clicking on a character or drawing a box around a group, you click on their destination to move them. Dragging the stylus does NOT make them move continually. Clicking on an enemy makes the party attack that enemy. The arrow controls move the camera. Holding L allows the player to move the camera with the stylus, but the action goes up to the top screen and is uncontrollable as a result. After ordering a party to do anything, move, attack etc, they are immediately unselected.

Summons
Summons are featured heavily in Revenant Wings. There are 50 summons in Revenant Wings, from the Espers of Final Fantasy XII, to the Yarhi of Lemurés, composed primarily of enemies from Final Fantasy XII, and including some returning originals like Shiva and Ifrit. They incorporate 6 elements; Fire, Ice, Thunder, Earth, Holy, and None. From the 6 elements, summons are further categorized into 3 groups: Flying, Melee, and Ranged. Finally, each group comes in 3 ranks, with higher ranks being more powerful, but being more expensive to summon.

Quickenings
Quickenings also return. Only Vaan and Balthier keep their original Quickenings, whilst new characters will have all new animations. Unlike Final Fantasy XII, Quickenings are obtained by defeating a given Esper.

Special Edition DS
DS Lite released in Japan only with the FFXII:RW logo and a few of the main characters emblazoned on the front.