Released by Square-Enix in 2006 on the Playstation
2, Director Hiroyuki Ito, who also directed Final Fantasy 6 and 9, with first-time director
Hiroshi Minagawa, who helped with the Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story games, cooperate
to create another installment in the Ivalice universe, after the original director had
to step down during the project due to illness. Set in the same universe but not world as
the Final Fantasy Tactics trilogy and Vagrant Story, it is also built using the same engine
as the MMO Final Fantasy 11, though adjusted for a single player experience. It features a to-scale open world with immediate
freedom to nearly everywhere making it the largest and most nonlinear adventure in the
main series to date, with enriching features like dynamic weather and monster spawn cycles. For characters, per Ito's style, it features
a group of 6 individuals with their own stories and no actual main protagonist, though it
is often told from the perspective of Vaan more often than not. Each character levels up traditionally and
is customized by the player using a License Board system, which is nonlinear version of
10's Sphere Grid system. Mechanically, it is the only main installment
with seamless transition from encounter to combat, so everything is realtime. As such, the player therefore only actually
controls one character at a time, though they can transition who they play as in the team,
and leave everyone else to the customizable AI programming called the Gambit system. The story only gets larger from here so lets
cut it down to size with a RECAPitation. Set in the world of Ivalice, a magic-rich
world with many races, the city-state of Dalmasca is celebrating the marriage of its own Princess
Ashe and Prince Rasler of Nabradia, in Dalmasca's capital city, Rabanastre. Unfortunately, weeks later, the much larger
Empire of Archadia chooses to invade Nabradia as part of its war march westward. Soon, Nabradia's capital city of Nabudis falls,
and at this time, Dalmasca's King Raminas chooses to aide their new allies and counterattack
the invader's advance at Nalbina Fortress. Dalmasca's Captain of the Knights Basch mobilizes
immediately, and Lord Rasler volunteers as well. Rasler leads the army in the defense of the
fortress, but the Archadian invaders prove overwhelming. As their last line of defense falls, Rasler
takes an arrow to the neck, and Basch just manages to disengage with him in hand. Unfortunately, Rasler does not survive the
wound, and Nabradia falls under the Archadian tide. In the bigger picture, the Empire of Archadia
is really at war with the Empire of Rozarria to the west, and the smaller and recently
allied city-states of Dalmasca and Nabradia are just two victims on the border and in
the way of these giant nations fighting. With Nabradia and most of Dalmasca's forces
falling at the battle of Nalbina Fortress, Dalmasca is now very vulnerable before Archadia. Knowing this, Archadia allows Dalmasca to
surrender peacefully, and set terms. Later, Dalmasca's King Raminas arrives at
the fallen Nalbina fortress to sign the Empire's peace treaty, and a young soldier named Reks
is awoken by an on-site Captain Basch and a small contingent of knights, including Captain
Vossler Azelas. Basch and the remainder of the knights are
still picking themselves up as he helps along Reks. Reks believes he is helping rescue the King
from the Empire, but as he catches up, he sees everyone in the treaty room murdered,
including King Raminas. He is abruptly stabbed by Basch, who calls
out the king as traitor for signing control of Dalmasca over to Archadia. However, as he passes out, Reks witnesses
Basch get captured by Vayne Solidor, third son of the Archadian emperor, and he passes
out thinking of his younger brother Vaan. As these events traspire, they are recordered
by Marquis Ondore, friend of King Raminas, who also reports Princess Ashe's grief-driven
suicide. In addition, Captain Basch was executed on
charges of high treason, sedition, and assassination. As a result, Dalmasca was to surrender without
terms. Two years pass, as we seen Vaan, orphaned
younger brother of Reks, surviving on the streets of Dalmasca's capital city, Rabanastre. He makes a living with petty theft, as he
lives alongside another war orphan friend, Penelo, who urges him to get by on straight
work as she does. Personally, Vaan has a dream of being a sky
pirate with his own airship one day. TO make ends meet, he even opts to take bounties
and jobs off a bill board, and during one job, he finds some Galbana lilies that he
finds particularly precious. Later in the day, there is a parade for a
the appointment of a new consul for Rabanastre, Vayne Solidor, and he quickly wins the frustrated
people over with compassionate and inspiring words. Vaan still harbors resentment for the Archadian
Empire, and so plans that night to sneak in the castle during the banquet, and loot their
treasure room. As Vaan obtains a means in by way of the Garamsythe
Waterways underground, there is actually another group at play, a resistance group including
former captain Azelas and another woman. And at the same time, an elite duo composed
of a distinguised human and co-pilot viera dash in the castle grounds on their jet bike. Vaan navigates his way successfully to the
treasure room with his acquired knowledge of the castle's secret passageways, and as
he is looting, he accidently uncovers a large chunk of valuable nethicite. At the same time, the duo corner him for the
precise piece of nethicite he's holding. When the sounds of a fight breaking out distracts
the duo, Vaan gives the duo the slip, and finds the resistance group engaging the empire's
guards. As a nearby battleship is conveniently nearby
to supress the threat with its cannons, much to the rogue's suspicion, he chooses to help
out Vaan as they are all spotted by the alerted guards. The Viera notes their hoverbike is somehow
losing power rapidly, and they crash nearby the waterways, opting to take that as their
way out. The man introduces his partner as Fran the
viera, a race of bunny women, and himself as Balthier the sky pirate. He takes command of the situation to ensure
they all survive, and they form a temporary alliance. Balthier deduces the Consul knew there would
be an attempt on his life by insurgents, and thus appeared to have a light guard about
but in reality had heavy backup close by, thus snuffing out hiding rebels. As they make their way out, they encounter
the woman leading the resistance and Vaan chooses to help out. The woman introduces herself as Amalia, and
while she opts to accompany them only for their escape, Vaan notes his nethicite chunk
illuminates once more. Though they beat away a menacing flan monster,
they soon walk into a trap that even Consul Vayne is personally present for. As they are arrested and hauled off, Balthier
smoothly drops a handkerchief in the hands of a protesting Penelo for safekeeping. Vaan has a flashback of his visiting his brother
Reks with his favored galbana lilies, who was mentally broken and hospitalized, and
bearing the stigma of being accomplise to the king's murder. Vaan believes his brother innocent and merely
tricked by captain basch, but Reks died, leaving only his signet ring behind. He wakes up to find himself, Balthier, and
Fran tossed in dungeon of Nalbina fortress. Vaan quickly gets in toruble with some of
the other prisoners, and a trio of Seeqs, a race of horned pigmen, encroach upon him
until Balthier jumps in to bail him out of a rough fight. A group of soldiers come in to escort in the
headhunter Ba'Gamnan of the bangaa race of lizard men, hot on the trail of Balthier. As Fran leads them to their escape route,
a Judge now makes his entrance, and Balthier explains they are the authoritarian law enforcers
in archadia, and elite guards of the House of Solidor, which basically makes them commanders
of the imperial army. The judge is actually just passing through
en route to another prisoner, and makes his way as Ba'Gamnan resumes his hunt for Balthier. Balthier decides to reverse the situation,
and take advantage of the Judge's access and let him open doors for them. Their payoff is immediate as they find the
room with their confiscated gear, and still manage to stay a few steps behind the judge. Trailing the judge brings them to his quarry,
which is Captain Basch, who is actually alive after all, despite the public report of his
execution. The judge unmasks himself to reveal he is
Basch's twin brother, and its revealed that Basch is kept alive in the Empire's dungeon
as blackmail for Marquis Ondore's silence and cooperation, though even the judge does
not know why specifically. The judge asks who Amalia's real identity
is, but Basch refuses to answer. As the judge leaves, Balthier steps out, and
Fran indicates that she, sensitive to an ether called Mist, senses there is a exit, if they
follow the Mist trail through here. Basch beseeches them to release him, but Balthier
hears none of it. However, Vaan takes the opportunity to vent
his frustrations and blame his brother's death and this kingdom's problems of Basch. His ruckus alerts the Judge and guards back
their way, and Fran quickly decides to drop Basch's cage, and they all ride it down to
the depths of the dungeon. Always the opportunist, Balthier decides that
since Basch is free he might as well be useful and lend them his sword arm, which Basch firmly
agrees to, much to Vaan's ire. As they get Basch geared up, Vaan repeats
that his brother saw Basch kill the king, and Basch recalls that he must mean Reks. Vaan accuses him of Rek's death too, but Basch
swears it wasn't him. As incredible as it sounds, he explains it
was his twin brother, Gabranth, that committed all those deeds and framed him for it. Balthier believes the story fits, but Vaan
still isn't convinced. Banding together to defeat a queen mimic,
they secure a way out through an old tunnel, where Basch insists he is still a knight loyal
to the throne of Rabanastre, and leaves to join the resistance. Balthier and Fran go on their separate way
too, and Vaan decides he needs to offload his nethicite quickly. He looks for Penelo to let him know he's ok,
but she's nowhere to be found. Next, he shows his treasure to Dalan, the
information broker who showed him the secret passageways around the castle in the first
place, and Dalan now tasks him to deliver a Sword of the old knights order to Azelas
for him. Vaan now finds himself again in the Order's
resistance group, where the old soldiers don't know what to think of Basch's survival and
claims that a judge killed the old king. Basch explains to all that Reks was setup
as a witness to cement the claim that Basch killed the king, so Reks not a liar, which
gives Vaan something to think about. Azelas still doesn't trust Basch, and now
Marquis Ondore, but will let him pursue his mission to protect Amalia. Basch asks Vaan to take him to Balthier, as
he needs the sky pirate to fly him somewhere, and as they talk, Vaan now firmly believes
it wasn't Basch who killed his brother, but rather the Empire. As they find Balthier, they find out Penelo's
been taken hostage in the Bhujerba mines, demanding Balthier's arrival. As Fran figures, an obvious trap by Ba'Gamnan. Vaan jumps to Penelo's rescue, offering the
nethicite as payment to fly him to the sky-city of Bhujerba. Bhujerba happens to be where Basch is going
to, though to speak with its ruler Marquis Ondore. So, the group reunites and moves on. Vaan is enamored with Balthier's airship,
the Strahl, and is bounding with questions for the sky pirate. For some reason, Marquis Ondore gained favor
with the Empire when Princess Ashe and Captain Bashe were purportedly killed, and Basch wants
to know why. As the Stahl takes flight, Penelo was indeed
captured by Ba'Gamnan, who mistakes her for Balthier's mistress. It isn't long before they arrive at the sky
city of Bhujerba, though the note directs them to the Lhusu Mines. They are overheard by a young boy who asks
to tag along with some business of his own in the mines, and Balthier allows him along
too. The boy introduces himself as Lamont, and
though Balthier and Basch groan when Vaan lets slip their real names, they are both
curious how Lamont knows so much about the Imperial Army and politics. As they spy on, they see another Judge talking
with Marquis Ondore, who apparantly was at the Dalmascan King's surrender as the mediator,
though after the murder fell in line with serving the Empire, even though rumors say
he still helps the resistance. As they journey further in the mines, Lamont
stops for the real reason he's here, and that is to observe the nethicite, the crystal ore
that absorbs magick. Apparantly, this mine is where Draklor lab,
where nethicite is being artificially made, is coming from. Balthier suddenly hard presses Lamont with
some direct questioning, but they are interrupted by Ba'Gamnan. Lamont makes a run for it, and the group soon
behind, leaving the headhunters in their dust. Tailing Lamont, he returns to the judge they
saw earlier, Judge Ghis, and his real identity as the young Lord Larsa comes out. Penelo was captured by Judge Ghis in the mines
right from being kidbnapped, but Larsa accompanies her to the Marquis's home. Balthier then specifies that he's Larsa Solidor,
the 4th son to Emperor Gramis, and younger brother to Consul Vayne. Seeing the Marquis host the empire, they choose
to root out Bhujerba's resistance by refuting Ondore's claims of Basch's death. Vaan goes around town making a clamor, and
they attract the attention of this town's resistance movement. One of Ondore's guardians, of the cat-man
race called the Rev, arranges a meeting for Basch with Ondore, and when they talk, Basch
understands that while his very existence threatens Ondore's standing with the Empire,
he still needs his help to rescue Amalia. Also, Penelo, though in good care of Larsa,
was still taken back to the Empire. Finally, Ondore chooses not to negotiate,
and captures Basch for the Empire, though gives him to Judge Ghis and not Vayne who
was holding Basch over his head. As Vayne recieves word of this, he meets with
Doctor Cid, a renowned scientist in the Empire, who also seems to be talking to a mysterious
shadow. Meanwhile, the group is in chains again as
this time they are transported to the airship dreadnought Leviathan. Within, they find Amalia, who is less than
thrilled to see her father's alleged killer, and its revealed then she's really princess
Ashe. However, because she bears no royal proof
of her claimed identity, she is to be executed for that. Basch interjects that the Dusk Shard can verify
those of royal blood, and knows where it is located, so they should not kill her, but
suddenly the magicite shard on Vaan glows again, and it turns out THAT is the Dusk Shard. Unfortunately, he is forced to hand it over
to Judge Ghis even though he himself does not know what it is. They defeat their guard escort, with one of
them being Captain Azelas in diguise, who is never far from Ashe, and he requests their
help to free the princess. As they all escape, they run into Larsa, who
returns Penelo back to Vaan, and says he'll help them if only to find out how this no-good
plot unravels, for the sake of both their countries. He hands Penelo a piece of nethicite and takes
Captain Azelas with him to secure an escape route for them. In the hangar however, Judge Ghis stands ready
and blasts them all with magick, though Larsa's nehticite does indeed absorb the full effect. They fight and beat the Judge, and secure
a skiff to flee the Leviathan, returning to Bhujerba. They talk heatedly with Ondore, who realizes
Vayne was playing them against each other this whole time since the assassination, but
cannot aide Ashe as even if they beat Vayne, she won't be placed as heir without proper
proof of sovreignty. Thinking to obtain the Dawn Shard which will
validate her royal blood, Ashe moves to steal Balthier's ship, but she's caught by both
Vaan and the sky pirate. Undeterred, she offers them the dynast-king's
treasure, as the Dawn Shard she seeks is but one relic in King Raithwall's Tomb, where
they must take her. Naturally, Basch follows Ashe, Fran with Balthier,
and Penelo with Vaan, so they are banded once more as they head off to King Raithwall's
tomb. Meanwhile, in the city of Archades, the capital
of Archadia, Judge Gabranth reports to the Emperor himself on Doctor Cid and his activities
with Vayne, whom is also tied to the fall of Nabudis
though there is still the issue of Judge Zecht that went missing there. This all matters as the Emperor is deathly
ill, and a successor must be chosen soon. The senate of Archadia actually fears Vayne,
and the emperor himself is actually leaning more towards Larsa as the next Emperor. Though, to ensure Larsa's safety, he asks
Gabranth to keep Larsa safe, especially from his older brother Vayne, whom Gabranth is
now serving, and whom Larsa innocently idolizes. Back with the group, they fly to the edge
of the jagd, a land thick with mist and prevents airships from flying within, and thus make
their way to the tomb on foot across the Ogir-Yensa sandsea, quite literally a flowing sea of
sand. As they cross westward along the abandoned
oil rigs that bridge the sandsea, which are part of the Rozzarian Empire, they are met
by Vossler as he chased them down. However, this sandsea territory here has long
been claimed by the Urutan-Yensa, a goblin-like tribe of desert-faring raiders. Crossing that and the desert beyond, they
find the tomb as well as defeat the guardian to it to gain entry. Ashe explains King Raithwall handed down three
relics to his straight descendants. The midlight shard to House Nabradia, the
Dusk Shard to her own ancestors in Dalmasca, and the Dawn shard, hidden here in his tomb
for any of royal blood. As they survive the beasts and traps within,
they note the Mist is so thick in here its even visible by eye. While it inherently garners stronger and more
dangerous monsters, it also supercharges their own magicks. They encounter a unique being, the esper Belias,
which once was a thrall to King Raithwall, and bound in servitude to those who could
defeat it. Doing so, they gain the actual treasure of
the dynast-king, and beyond is the Dawn Shard. As she claims the Dawn Shard, Ashe suddenly
sees the ghost of Rasler, but somehow Vaan does too. However, as soon as they leave, Judge Ghis
and the Leviathan are waiting outside for them. He demands the nethicite, but not the artificial
one Larsa gave to Penelo, and they learn Vossler has sold them all out. In exchange for the Dawn Shard, Ashe will
be permitted to reclaim the throne and the kingdom of Dalmasca will be restored, though
still under the Empire's rule. He holds her companions at sword point to
hurry the decision, and Ashe submits. Judge Ghis says this deifacted nethicite will
be going to doctor cid, and he has it tested for authenticity immediately. The rapid release of mist during testing drives
Fran feral, and during the distraction they overwhelm the guards though Vossler seeks
to stand in their way. As they overpower him and make their escape
the Dawn Shard begins draining all of the power of the Leviathan, and then crushing
the entire ship under its power. As the dreadnought explodes, the manifested
mist destroys the entire fleet at once, and the party only barely escapes. After things calm down, the dawn shard is
seen still hovering in the middle of it, so they circle around and claim it. In the wake of the calamity, Marquis Ondore
steps down from his position and begins work on unifiying the scattered anti-imperial forces
across the kingdom. In addition, the Rozarria Empire has noticed
and begun stirring, which makes the Archadian senate nervous and eager to pin it on Vayne
for being reckless with the fleet. As they seek to pit Larsa against Vayne, they
call back Vayne to Archades for punishment. Meanwhile, Basch says he's seen the same destructive
power once before, at Nabudis, in which a single division of imperials entered the city,
then there was a devastating explosion not unlike what they just saw. Given how the Midlight Shard was in Nabradia
its likely something similiar happened then, too. Ashe decides to use the Dawn Shard to fight
the empire, but Vaan points out she doesn't know how to properly use it, and Fran suggest
consulting a race of poeple called the Garif, who live by ancient customs and know much
magicite lore. Doing so, they learn they cannot wield the
nethicite partly because no one actually knows how to, including them, but mostly because
the stone is devoid of power, and needs to be recharged. They are soon met by Larsa, who urges her
to take the stone and go to the Gran Kiltias, get ordained as Queen, and stop Ondore and
the anti-empire reistance, before Rozarria uses it as a pretext for war and Dalmasca
becomes the site for yet another tragedy. After thinking about, she agrees, and their
next stop is Mt. Bur-Omisace. At the same time, the remaining judges, Bergan,
Zargabath, and Drace are divided on what party they are loyal to for the coming succession,
as Bergan is loyal to Vayne, Drace supports Larsa, Zargabath supports the Empire as a
whole regardless of who's in charge, and Gabranth is loyal to the current emperor which puts
him in Larsa's corner. Back with the group, their route through Golmore
jungle is barred as Fran is denied passage through the jungle. What this means is a detour through Fran's
home village in the same wood. There her older sister Jote says thier younger
sister Mjrn has disappeared among soldiers in a nearby mine. Larsa knows nearby there are the Henne mines,
so they move there where they find the dead bodies of imperial soldiers and researchers
from Draklor Laboratory on their arrival. Mjrn is spotted within, acting strange and
erratic, and after they defeat a powerful dragon within the mines, they see Mjrn with
some sort of being possessing her. It leaves as soon as the artificial nethicite
shard breaks, and she comes to her senses. Mjrn explains she was captured by the soldiers
when she got too curious following them into the mine, and was possessed as they poisoned
her with nethicite. Afterwards, Larsa thinks to take back the
shard he gave Penelo, they return Mjrn to the village, and gain an item to allow them
past the wards in the Jungle. Meanwhile, Vayne asserts that the Senate hates
House Solidor in general, not just him, and they should silence the dissenters. As the group reaches the peak of Mt. Bur-Omisace, they are about to ask the blessing
of the Gran Kiltias on recognizing Ashe's right to rule, when they are suddenly interrupted
by a suave man of the ruling House Margrace of the Rozarrian Empire, Al-Cid. The Gran Kiltias acknowledges Larsa and Al-Cid's
vision of a unified Ivalice and joining of the two largest, formerly rival, empires. However, Al-cid reports that circumstances
have just changed and Archadia cannot wage peace because Emperor Gramis was just killed. Over in Archadia, Vayne is present as he claims
the head of the Senate committed a murder-suicide of the emperor and conspired with many other
senators who are all being arrested. As such, he lays claim to emergency autocracy
of Archadia, and once more the Judges are split on this. Gabranth is silent on this, Drace outright
accuses Vayne of fabricating all of this, Bergan sides with Vayne, and Zargabath stands
with Vayne only because Archadia needs a leader on this eve to war. The situation escalates where Drace clashes
with Bergan, though he overpowers her with noticeably inhuman strength. Zargabath is now charged with retrieving Larsa,
relieving Gabranth as Vayne knew Gabranth was just spying on him while he served the
Emperor. He orders Gabranth to prove his loyalty by
executing Drace, and he reluctantly does so. Back with the group, Ashe is still firm to
fight for Dalmasca as queen, and is told in order to do so would require the other relic
King Raithwall left, the Sword of Kings, which can cut through nethicite. As they leave a shocked Larsa in the care
of Al-Cid and the Gran Kiltias, their journey takes them next to the stilshrine of Miriam. After meeting and defeating a fiery warden
of the shrine, they then encounter the esper of water Mateus, and defeat her to gain her
servitude as a summon. As they make their way to the legendary blade,
Ashe claims the heavy sword of kings, and Vaan suggests testing its effect on the defunct
dawn shard. While she makes a last second decision not
to split the stone, Fran notes the stone seems more docile now. As they leave the shrine, they note another
imperial fleet, headed by Judge Zargabath, flies away from the direction of a smoking
Mt. Bur-Omisace peak. Their fears confirmed, when they arrive, they
find the place in ruins, and Judge Bergan there having just slain the Gran Kiltias. Behind him, they see Bergan is also possessed
by a phantasm through a piece of manufactured nethicite, like Mjrn was before. As they clash with the Judge fervently loyal
to Vayne Solidor, they win, and the nethicite he implanted all along his body ruptures and
breaks down. After the fight Al-Cid limps in, explaining
that all three Judges all came here to tear things up, and it was Gabranth that went off
with Larsa. He asks Ashe to come back with him to Rozarria
to convince their leaders not to respond to all this provocation with war. Ashe has to refuse him, as she still needs
to end the Dusk Shard Vayne has first, and Balthier believes he knows where the stone
truly is, in Draklor Laboratories in Archedes, the capital of Archadia. As Archadia's Navy and Air Force are mobilizing
for war, the group chooses to sneak into the city on foot. As they get closer, Balthier questions Ashe
is she will really destroy the Dusk Shard, or return it to Dalmasca and use its power. He further elaborates that she reminds him
of his father, who once suddenly became obsessed with the power of nethicite, and so he researched
it, mumbled constantly about someone called Venat, invented airships that can fly in the
jagd, gained noteriety, and even made him a minor Judge. Balthier didnt want that life, and left it,
and his power-hungry father, Dr. Cid of Draklor Laboratories. He reveals all this to give her a warning
not to walk the same path. As they enter through old Archades, the poor
and destitute corner of the city, they make their way up to the imperial city proper. Even Vaan, with his hatred of the empire,
is impressed by the grandeur of it all. Using Balthier's underworld connections to
get into Draklor Labs, they make their way to Cid's office, and find they are not the
first intruders on the scene. Taking advantage of the confusion, they find
Cid, and are nearly attacked by his attacker, but they sort it out and go straight for the
doctor together. Cid recognizes the princess and they see him
talking to some unseen precense as he attacks them with his latest nethicite weaponry. During the fight, they see Cid is protected
by another phantasm, the one he calls Venat, and he taunts them by showing them the Dawn
Shard and Midlight Shard in his grasp while leaving and goes to Giruvegan where he claims
another stone lies. Their newfound ally is Reddas, another sky-pirate
and leader of the anti-empire resistance, and as they leave Archades, Ondore leads a
fully funded resistance army to engage the Empire. Reddas reveals Ondore seeks the midlight shard
and wants to use it to defeat the empire, but will request Rozarrian aide if they cannot
secure it. Basch objects and asserts that if Ondore has
both the resistance and rozarria on the field at once, then Vyane, who does have weaponized
nethicite, will crush both at once. Balthier points out Cid has the weaponized
stone, not Vayne, and if they stop Cid, they stop Vayne's decisive advantage. The group decides to go for Cid, and Reddas
chooses to investigate another lead, and he too warns Ashe not to induce another Nabudis
disaster with her nethicite. As they make it to the ancient city of Giruvegan,
Ashe continues to see the ghost of Rasler, though Vaan no longer can. As they descend the depths of the city, they
find an impossibly colossal piece of nethicite, which even Ashe finds herself wondering the
amount of sheer power it contains. Beyond, they battle and capture the esper
Shemhazai, and Ashe finds herself spirited away to speak with the Occuria, the most-powerful
beings that exist in Ivalice, and they direct her to the Sun-cryst, the mother of nethicite
from which King Raithwall's treasures are actually just small chips scraped from it. They entreat her to save Ivalice, and grant
her a new sword, the treaty-blade which deigns Ashe as their new chosen one to destroy Venat,
a rogue Occurian they want killed for disobeying their rules of selective enlightenment, as
well as Archadia, whom he patrons. Though she takes the sword, she is still unsure
of commiting to the task of revenge. The group wonders why Cid still isn't here
yet, and Balthier realizes they've taken his bait. After all, Cid had no way into Giruvegan like
they did, so he used them to obtain the treaty-blade. At the same time, Cid indeed is still in Archades,
with Vayne and Larsa, and Larsa is still sueing for peace. Vayne insists Ashe will wage war herself,
and they both ask Gabranth to seek out Ashe and ascertain what her motives are. Venat makes its appearance to praise both
Cid and Vayne, and in the meanwhile, the Party thinks to ask Reddas what his lead was as
they search for the Sun-cryst. When they return, they wonder that if they
find the Sun-Cryst, whether they should break it and end the power of nethicite, or cut
a new shard for themselves to wield. Vaan asks about a clue the Occuria said as
to where the Sun-Cryst is, and Reddas recognizes is as the lead he was following, but it turns
out to be beyond a jagd. He tosses them a skystone taken from Cid's
lab that the empire's ships use to fly in jagds, and offers to come along as they trek
to the sun-cryst. When questioned why, he answers its because
of the Nabudis tragedy, and so the group uses the new stone in the strahl to fly to the
Pharos Lighthouse. As they move inward, Balthier forebodingly
tells Vaan that should something happen to him, Vaan can have the Strahl, just in case
Balthier should end up doing something dramatic. As they ascend the incredibly high tower,
they defeat three guardian beasts within, and afterwards, fight and gain the servitude
of the esper Hashmal. As they pass all trials, they make their way
to the legendary sun-cryst and the time has come for a decision. In one hand she has the blade once used to
carve power from the Sun-Cryst, but she chooses to hold up her new treaty-blade and approach
the crystal. Judge Gabranth steps out, and urges her to
use the crystal for revenge, and confesses it really was him who posed as Basch and killed
King Raminas years ago. His approach is blocked by Reddas who reminds
Gabranth that once Judge Magister Zecht took the Midlight Shard in Nabudis, and used it,
accidently destroying Nalbradia's capital city. This was also an order of Cid to learn the
power of the nethicite, and since then he, once Judge Zecht, swore never to see nethicite
used that way again. Ashe chooses to let go of her past, Rasler,
and mass murder for the sake of revenge, and cuts down the ghost of Rasler, who turns out
was just a fabrication of the Occuria to string her along. She vows to break the sun-cryst, and Basch
now faces down his brother, fighting and matching his strength. At this moment, Cid comes out and reminds
Gabranth, he was to observe the Princess and not overstep those bounds, and thus dismisses
him. He attempts to strike Cid, but Venat's power
flings him away effortlessly. Cid agrees with Ashe's move to ignore the
Occurians, but urges her not to destroy the Sun-cryst in the name of human progress. Balthier stands forward to stop his father,
but Cid even calls him out by his real name, FFamran, to express his disappointment. Discharging his newest weaponry, Cid sets
to power up the mighty sky fortress, Bahamut, and even calls forth his own esper, Famfrit,
and continues the artillery assault. Winning the esper from him, they defeat the
doctor, and as he dissolves into Mist, Cid has no regrets of his 6 year partnership with
Venat, as it too takes its leave. The SUn-cryst now surges out of control, and
as Ashe struggles to get close to destroy it. Reddas takes the old Sword of the king from
her and charges ahead as the party escapes, atoning for his crime in Nabudis by destroying
the sun-cryst and blowing up with it. The effects are felt around the world, and
Al-Cid comes in to unfortunately tell them he was unsucessful in preventing war, and
several of his countries general ignored him and joined Ondore's fleet to attack the Arcadian
empire over old Nabradia and Dalmasca. Though Rozarria plans to use this intentional
incident, and use Ondore's resources before their own, Vayne will still crush them despite
losing the Dusk Shard. Reason being, Cid did succeed in powering
up Bahamut, though thankfully the destruction of the sun-cryst prevented it from gaining
much power. He moves to delay Rozarria's involvement for
as long as he can, and the group moves for a partially powered Bahamut. Regardless, the power is plenty strong enough,
as Vayne himself is in the fortress, with Venat at his side, and Larsa still there begging
his brother to make peace. A single shot from the fortress is enough
to destroy an entire battleship, and Vayne has no intentions of taking prisoners, rationalizing
any rebellion must be put out ruthlessly and definitively. Each side is primed and ready to go under
this precursor to war, and as they release their fighters and engage, Marquis Ondore
cannot compete with firepower of the magnitude of the Bahamut. In the midst of this, the strahl flies in
low and under to behind enemy lines and into the Bahamut. Docking in the sky fortress, they make for
the command center, and gun straight for Vayne. They are met by Gabranth, who did really survive
the blow dealt to him by Venat, and as Basch beats him once more, he urges him to forsake
being a judge and go back to being his brother Noah again. The group then encounters Larsa and Vayne,
and Larsa takes this time to finally give up trying to convince his brother with words,
and stand against him despite their difference in power. They clash, and though Vayne by himself is
a force to be reckoned with, the party still prevails against the iron fist of the dictator. Larsa rushes to his brother's side but is
knocked aside, for Vayne is not alone, as Venat possesses him to a monstrous degree
now, empowered by the manufacted nethicite within him. At this time, a wounded Gabranth limps in,
and Vayne still cares for his younger brother so he orders the Judge to defend Larsa. However, Gabranth agrees and complies with
the order by directing his sword to Vayne. The nethicite-fueled vayne wields immense
power, and during another bout of combat, Gabranth lays a strong blow against Vayne,
which is firmly countered. Vaan then lands a blow that sends Vayne reeling,
but now Venat interjects, allowing Vayne to retreat. Vayne apologizes to Venat for failing, but
Venat corrects him, stating he wanted the sun-cryst sundered, and close the age of stones
and the grip the occuria had over man. Venat now completely merges with Vayne, whose
very whisps of power can tear ships from the sky. Pieces of the the fortress meld onto him,
channeling an armor to turn this Vayne into an mist-fueled, mechanically-winged monster. The party does not back down from this living
apocalypse, and together the group of outcasts, Vaan and Penelo, the war torn orphans, Basch,
the disgraced knight, Ashe, the princess of a fallen kingdom, Balthier the disowned sky
pirate, and Fran, the forsaken viera, defeat the despot demi-god. However, their victory does not end the war. Their clash has damaged the Bahamut to such
a degree it begins to fall from the sky, but the strahl won't start up. Balthier and Fran set Vaan and Penelo to pilot
the ship as they go to fix the engines below. They succeed, and the strahl is off, where
a dying Gabranth, Larsa, and Ashe quickly work together to convince the warring sides
to stop the attack. Their words work, but unfortunately the Bahamut
is about to crash and destroy the city of Rabanastre below. Acting quickly, Judge Zargabath orders everyone
to fire on the Bahamut as soon as his warship, the Alexander, rams it off-course. However, just in time they then get word from
Balthier, who stole away onto the falling fortress, to quick-fix the Bahamut and drift
it away from the city. He succeeds in restoring power enough, carries
out an injured Fran, and reminds Vaan to watch his ship until he comes back as the sky fortress
crashes safely outside Rabanastre. As the game concludes, its been one year since
the party split. Ashe is coronated Queen of Dalmasca, and Basch
has taken up his departed brother's role as Judge Magistrate and protector for Larsa in
Archades to futher the relations between their two nations. Balthier and Fran return to take back the
Strahl, with Balthier returning Ashe's ring he took, and invite Vaan and Penelo over to
visit them. As the game ends, Vaan is finally a true a
sky pirate with his own airship, and with Penelo as his partner, they head off to visit
with their friends and seek the next adenture. Final Fantasy 12 has enjoyed the success of
selling over 6 million copies worldwide.
