For Fami's Consideration:
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Final Fantasy XII was a radical departure from the previous games, made possible by people who worked on classic games like Vagrant Story and Tactics games. It went through a troubled development cycle that started in late 2000, which makes it even more impressive how great this entry turned out to be.
The story is fairly mature by Final Fantasy standards, and it doesn't focus on tropes like love stories/romances. It in fact deals with heavy, political subjects like freedom, patriotism, casualties of war, etc. The cast is overall very good, with a main focus on a princess that wants to deal with the corrupted that are currently in power.
The gameplay is kinda similar to how an MMO plays, as well as Xenoblade Chronicles. You can upgrade your character through License Boards, which grant you abilities. The easy-to-use Gambit system makes it possible to automate actions in-battle, arranging them in order prioritizes these actions.
The world of Ivalice is stunning and has a lot of variety and landmarks. From desert plains to forests, from big cities to ancient ruins. And there's a lot of quests to keep yourself occupied for a while.
The
soundtrack, composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto is sublime. The Zodiac Age contains
a fully orchestrated arrangement that can be chosen at will.
This game is my personal favorite entry in the entire Final Fantasy franchise.
My personal favorite composition: