I got into the FINAL FANTASY series starting with Kingdom Hearts, and it took off from there. FINAL FANTASY XII, my first real FINAL FANTASY purchase, is a great game. Here's the synopsis from the manual, since it's hard for me to explain personally- "A WORLD CALLED IVALICE... AN AGE WHEN MAGICK WAS COMMONPLACE AND AIRSHIPS PLIED THE SKIES... OUR TALE BEGINS. As was looms on the horizon, the mighty Archadian Empire begins a campaign to subjugate its neighbors. The small kingdom of Dalmasca shares their fate. Two years after its fall, in the capital city of Rabanastre, the people line the streets to wait for the appointment of the new consul from Archadia. To Vaan, a young man living on the streets of Rabanastre, the Empire is a hated enemy who took the life of his brother, the only family he had left. Vaan hatches a plot to break into the palace and take back the spoils of conquest from Dalmasca's occupiers. He gets more than he bargained for when he meets Princess Ashe, the sole surviving heir to the Dalmascan throne, thought dead since war. Our story follows Ashe, Vaan, and his friend Penelo, the sky pirate Balthier, and his partner Fran. Accompanying them is Basch, a captain of the Dalmscan army who turned traitor and slew his king. Join them on an adventure spanning Ivalice that traces the mysteries behind the Archadian Empire's invasion." Great plot, right? Well, yes. The game is based around fighting off the Empire's soldiers and leaders, as well as monsters, but there's also side quests to, well, kill monsters for stuff. But hey, what do you expect from a FINAL FANTASY game? There are lots of cut scenes that bring you back to the story, and have lots of meaning. Fran, a creature called a viera, is a little scantily clad, and you can see her toosh, but it's covered with a sort of swimsuit bottom. Some of the girls wear "bikini" type tops, but full bottoms, while others where completee tops and short skirts. This may not be appropriate for little kids and immature ones too. The gameplay mechanics were a good try, but there's so much "leveling up to do" you can get really bored. Good thing for side quests! Some monsters are so tough to beat you have to run from them, which really took away the gameplay experience from me. There's the Gambit system, which allows you to prioritize attacks and magicks in order of which is most important, which really helps in a fight and must be used if you want to get anywhere far in the game.
Quick note- to anyone new to FINAL FANTASY, the game can take 40-50 hours to beat thoroughly.