The recent lowdown of Final Fantasy XII? It's being developed for the DS! Called Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, it is supposedly a spin-off of XII.

Revenant Wings tells the story of Vaan and Panelo, two of the main characters from FFXII. Vaan is 18 years old in the game, and has just fulfilled his dream of getting his own plane. He keeps himself free of politics and family life and travels the skies as an air pirate. The 17-year-old Panelo serves as his navigator.

Directing the game is Motome Torishima, who was event planner on Final Fantasy VII, event director for Final Fantasy X and director for FFX-2. He's also working as director on Final Fantasy XIII for the PS3, so he's got some strong ties to the FF series.

Torishima explained to Famitsu the reason for adding this spin-off on the DS. Torishima and all his FF buddies had noticed one thing all across Japan; everyone plays the DS. So they then began considering ideas for games designed for people who aren't gamers. Thats when the idea of a "My first Final Fantasy" came up.

To make a game suitable for inexperienced gamers, Torishima and his FF buddies planned to make something that uses the stylus for control. They also decided to get rid of overly complicated elements from the battle system. While Torishima wouldn't provide specifics, he said we can expect a system that will allow you to defeat your enemies with minimal controls.

As well as this vague promise regarding the battle system, we know just one detail on Revenant Wings. Flight will be a central part of the game. You'll be able to take to an air ship and travel through the land from the very start of the game, Torishima said. Sounds pretty cool. =P

Yokoyama and Torishima's details on the storyline were just as vague... The time frame of Revenant Wings in relation to the main FFXII story isn't important, said Torishima, adding that the game's timeframe is merely an era when Vaan and Panelo were air pirates. The story of XII was, he admitted, that of Vaan and Panelo getting caught up in a storyline that was already taking place with Ashe and the other characters. In Revenant Wings, Vaan has the main character role all to himself.

They also added that the game isn't a sequel to FFXII. It's not like FFXII-2 or anything.

Teaser and trailer: