Final Fantasy XII was one of 2007's forgotten classics when it came to the Game of the Year awards, despite how close the game came to RPG perfection. As the most recent numerical entry in the multi-million selling RPG series to be released, the epic struggle of Dhalmasca and its people was thought to be the last time that players would encounter characters like Vaan and Penelo in a Final Fantasy game. This assumption was wrong however, as Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is set to take us back to Ivalice for another grand adventure. But is the sequel anywhere near as good as the original?

As a sequel to Final Fantasy XII that takes place one year after the events of the previous game (which is surprisingly the same amount of time between each of the game's release dates), prior knowledge of the prose is advisable. Whether this means spending ten minutes reading a Wikipedia summary of the plot or spending close to fifty hours ploughing through the actual game, this knowledge will help you to understand the relationships between the characters better, while also becoming aware of the events that have already occurred in the game's world. Taking on the role of a marauding Sky Pirate, Vaan has finally got what he has always dreamed of: his very own airship. With his trusty navigator and lifetime companion Penelo by his side, the pair set off to find their own adventures - and, as can be expected, they find what they're looking for; their journey takes them out of the comfortable city of Rabenastre and into uncharted territory. Encountering the Aegyls, a legendary winged race who are under threat from other Sky Pirates, the motley crew of orphaned kids must decide whether to help these people or to search the land for the treasures it holds.

As a story, Revenant Wings is surprisingly deep, with plot twists and intrigue around every corner. As a continuation of FF XII, fans will lap up all of the subtle nods to the events that took place a year previously. Revenant Wings does have a vastly different tone to the original game, notably feeling a lot more light-hearted, despite the grave danger that the heroes are constantly in. Characters from the original can be found popping up constantly, even if Balthier does take a step down from his self-proclaimed 'leading man' role. As a story for a handheld game, Revenant Wings is brilliant and it comes as a surprise that Square-Enix has managed to convey such a good narrative on the DS, something that few developers have been able to do; even Nintendo's own Zelda falls short of the narrative on offer here.

Before you rush off to buy your copy though, there are some major changes to the Final Fantasy formula that you need to know about first. The first and biggest change of all is that this is not a standard RPG. Yes, you can find stat-driven battles, levelling up, monsters to defeat and Espers to summon here, but the primary form of gameplay has more in common with an RTS than a Final Fantasy game. Rather than having a team of four combatants in a one-on-one match with a set of foes, you issue commands to a small army using the stylus. Tapping a unit allows you to make a decision as to what action it should take, which could be to use magic, a special skill or just run away, depending on the options available to you at the time. All of the gameplay revolves around this, even if, rather than ordering a single unit to attack, you can be in control of close to twenty at a time. Dragging the stylus across the touch screen creates a box to select all units within the area and, once you've made a selection, tapping an enemy or object commands the group to attack or investigate respectively. This basic gameplay mechanic, along with pressing the X button to select all friendly units, is all you need to get through the early missions in Revenant Wings. However, to proceed further with little difficulty, you'll need to use the advanced elements of the battle system.

Along the top of the screen are portraits of the group leaders in your party. When you touch one of these, all members of that group are selected, allowing you to move different types of units into battle separately, a skill that can be used to exploit the rock-paper-scissors style elements of the units. Ranged units, such as mages and archers, are weak against melee units, while melee units are weak against flying ones, who are unpredictably weak against ranged units. This triangle becomes vital to your arsenal, as exploiting a foe's weakness becomes much more complicated than casting fire on an ice enemy. Even so, this level of tactical play is often impossible to pull off, thanks to the occasionally wonky stylus control and the sheer amount of enemies you have to defeat. You may not pull off a perfect tactical stealth strike every time, but when you do, the rewarding feeling you get is very satisfying. Most of the time I found myself sending all of my units into battle at once, rather than separately, an action that led to the first of many deaths. The RTS-style gameplay has been pulled off by Square-Enix with great aplomb. As the most worrying part of the gameplay early on, the way you control units becomes second nature, depending on your playing style. The developers may have slipped up with Heroes of Mana along the way, but we now have the best RTS gameplay available on handheld.

As mentioned earlier, there is a take on the Esper summoning found in the PS2 game here, and while you may recognise the names of some of these beasts, the way you call them to your aid is unlike any other game in the series. Rather than ask for the help of one Esper, you can use summoning gates to utilise multiple Espers at once. This means that you build your army by calling upon Espers rather than soldiers, with each creature having a rank dependant upon how strong they are. You can take a maximum of five different Espers into battle with you at a time, so choosing which ones to summon prior to the mission is an important part of your preparations. Choose the wrong ones and once again you'll see the game over screen, which doesn't actually send you out of the game. Instead, you gain a small amount of experience for your troubles and are asked whether you would like to retry. This works well, as it improves the portability of the game; getting back to what you were doing is instantaneous. It really helps the game seem less difficult than it actually is, something that the Final Fantasy III remake last year failed to do.

The Espers are rallied to your cause through the Ring of Pacts, surprisingly close to the title of the latest DS Final Fantasy game, Ring of Fates. This is similar to FF XII's licence board, which allowed you to gain the licence for certain weapons and abilities. Here, the Ring of Pacts lets you unlock new Espers in exchange for the rare material Auracite, a substance that the game's story centres around. It works just as well as it can do, being a board of Espers, and the layout works well on the DS's small screen. This isn't the only console feature that has been translated onto the handheld game; both Gambits and Quickenings are back, even if they are extremely simplified versions. Gambits are automated abilities, or a single ability in this case, which activates when needed. Quickenings on the other hand are hugely powered abilities that take a long time to activate; you have to be hit by enemies to fill a mana gauge before they become available. These techniques both translate into the RTS gameplay of Revenant Wings with success, becoming vitally important in the tougher missions of the game.

Visually, Revenant Wings is similar in style to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance on the GBA in the way it uses animated sprites, rather than polygonal characters. This adds to the light-hearted feel of the game, which in turn helps the journey feel fun rather than daunting. Most of the cut scenes, of which there are may, are in-game. A problem with this is that the camera is often up close to the action, with no change to the size of the character models. This means that they become pixelated all the time, which can be off-putting when you're immersed in the story. But then there are the CG cutscenes, like the one found at the start of FF III. These pop up more regularly than expected and push the DS to its limits once again. Looking at the other side of the game's aesthetics, the music is simply fantastic. Taking themes from Final Fantasy XII and attempting to make the DS screech them out seems impossible, but the impossible has been achieved, with some of the best sound quality on the system to date. Even when fifty different sound effects are layered onto a piece of music, there is no let up whatsoever, an accomplishment that should be applauded. The music is truly breathtaking, making this feel like a true Final Fantasy game, rather than a spin-off. It's the most amazing aspect of the game and maybe even something that should push fans hesitant of the RTS style gameplay into checking it out; it's one of the best handheld soundtracks ever, simply for encompassing everything that was good about the PS2 game's soundtrack.

The obvious comparison to make with Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is the Tactics series. Both games take the idea behind Final Fantasy and put it into a different realm of gameplay. This may be true, but the game that is most like Revenant Wings is another direct series sequel, Final Fantasy X-2. These are basically the same game, albeit with a different plot, characters and gameplay, on a different type of console. This is the handheld equivalent of X-2, following two characters from the previous game on an airship that leads them to another adventure. The RTS gameplay may be different to the standard RPG found in the most Japanese entry in the series, but the light-hearted nature of the game and the fact that it is so different to the original, while still retaining many key elements, makes them feel identical. The sequels may not reach the heights of the original games, but they sure do come close. As a DS game, this is essential for Final Fantasy fans, and as an entry in the Ivalice alliance series of spin-offs, this is the best one so far. This stands above the competition as an example of how one of the most epic games of all time can be followed up by a brilliant DS title. So get ready to venture back to Ivalice once more, for another grand and magical journey into the fantastical realms.

Reviewed by Sam Atkins for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).