While Oblivion may be my RPG of the year, I do want to clarify that Final Fantasy XII is pure gaming bliss in its own right. Released nearly five years after the last “legitimate” Final Fantasy title, FFX (since I don’t count Final Fantasy XI as a legit title, as it was online-only and an MMORPG.)

While the wait was longer than any wait between titles in series’ history, the wait was certainly worth it. No burnout on the series when you wait that long for the next installment, that’s for sure, and the extra time gave Square-Enix a change to show a real progression from FFX. Final Fantasy XII is likely to go down as the most beautiful game ever pulled off on the aging PS2 platform, and certainly delivers almost as much eye candy as anything you’ll get on Xbox 360.

Graphically, the game is just outstanding and beautiful. About the only experience I can compare it to is the real-life beauty of the Outer Banks of North Carolina… if you’ve never been, it’s a place to make sure you get to at least once before your traveling days are behind you.

But I digress. Along with the beauty of the game, there’s a deep level of challenges, an immersive game world and plenty of memorable characters. Sure, it may not be quite the mammoth achievement that Oblivion is, but as a long-time series fan dating all the way back to the first Final Fantasy, all I can say is, thank goodness it’s finally here!

It’s been about six months, maybe more, since I first bought and began to play Elder Srolls: Oblivion for my Xbox 360. I never realized just how deep the game would be at the time I bought it. I’m currently on my second character (trashed my first one because I ended up not liking him), and about 80 hours into the game, and I haven’t even touched the main storyline yet, after emerging from that first dungeon. Some folks estimate that to do and see and discover everything in the game could take well over 500 hours.

That’s depth of gameplay! And the amazing thing about it is how well the experience wears on you. Heck, even great Final Fantasy titles get a bit repetitive after about 20 hours and you need some time away from them before going back and doing another 20, then another break before pushing through to the end. But Oblivion is different.

Maybe it’s because the game has so much freedom in it to do whatever you want, outside and away from the main storyline. You can join one of at least eight guilds, buy houses, invest in stores… heck, you can do just about anything in the game that yuo want to, except maybe hang out with a group of house painters and paint houses all day. And now that I’ve said that, just wait… the developers at Bethesda Softworks will find a way to squeeze even that into the upcoming expansion pack! Sure, it may not be the same as hanging out with the pros at CertaPro, but my point is that the game just offers 100s of hours of playable freedom without ever really forcing you to do something you don’t have an interest in doing.

I didn’t get the chance to write the review for Oblivion over at my gig at DigNews.com. And in a way, I’m glad I didn’t. Playing the game has never been a task, only a joy. As much as I love Final Fantasy XII on PS2, Oblivion is certainly looking to be my favorite RPG of 2006.