Final Fantasy Lite

fter sifting through E3 news, I find myself even more interested in Final Fantasy XII. Director Yasumi Matsuno is inserting ideas from his own Vagrant Story into the Final Fantasy battle template, and the result appears to be a welcome change from the standard menu-driven arrangement that fewer and fewer RPGs are using nowadays. Matsuno’s meddling has resulted in some Internet Debate, but a Final Fantasy just isn’t a Final Fantasy without fanboy squabbles.

I can’t really take part in any of those squabbles, as I haven’t played the game. So I’ll just sit back and obsess over Final Fantasy XII characters like Pannero. A cheerful 16-year-old girl, she’s apparently into dancing and flirting with Vaan, one of the protagonists. And, more importantly, she has beer hair.


“Pannero” appears to be the favored translation of her name, though some sources convert it to “Panelo.” I think her name should be “Penelo,” as it would then serve as a shortened reference to the Odyssey. That Matsuno loves him some classical allusions.