Final Fantasy 12 -- Licensed to Kill.

I am about twenty-four hours into Final Fantasy 12. I'm currently saved just before the Tomb of Raithwall with my main party characters all roughly level twenty-one. To say that the battle and class systems of Final Fantasy 12 are a radical departure would be an understatement. I'm using the word class here referring to how your character develops their skills. In Final Fantasy 3 and five you had the job system. Six had Espers and seven had Materia while eight had drawing. Final Fantasy 12 uses a variation on ten's board. Each character has their own specific board with slightly randomized item locations. No two boards are identical but they all follow the basic pattern. Magic flows from the middle to the upper left quadrant on all of them for example. As you defeat creatures you earn license points. These points are spent on the license board to unlock new skills and abilities. As you purchase licenses new ones open off the square you've purchased. In other words, you have to chain the squares together to advance around the board. You can't just select a square at the far edge from the starting middle. You can't just jump to the good stuff. Everything you do in the world of Ivalice is licensed. To be able to use potions or equip a certain type of weapon or armor or use a spell, you must first be licensed to do so. And this is how you turn one character into a tank and another into an extraordinary wizard or what have you. There are levels to everything. So buying heavy armor 1 allows you to use specific armors while heavy armor 2 furthers that along. And just because you buy time magic 8 it doesn't mean you're able to run right out and use whatever spells you've just unlocked. It means you're able to use them, when you eventually find them for purchase. You'll only have to purchase them once. One you have Esuna for example, you have it. Everyone who is licensed to use it can now use it. Those who aren't licensed to use it obviously can't use it. The license board system works wonderfully in my opinion. It allows you to build each character however you want them to be. Be it very specific specialists or a Jack-of-all-trades character. If you put in the time, you can have it all. I'm liking this system a lot. Even more than five's job system. It's fun and rewarding. Next time will cover the battle system and gambits.