Final Fantasy XII has aged very well indeed – and that's not something you can say about a lot of role-playing games that launched over ten years ago. Following on from the admirable remastered collection that is Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster, Square Enix has seen fit to rework one of the most divisive mainline Final Fantasy games in its portfolio. Enter Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age.
Right off the bat, it's clear that the company's taken great care with the rebirth of this grand adventure. The original PlayStation 2 title certainly looked the part back in the day, but touched up CG sequences, smoother character models, and enhanced texture work and resolution across the board make for a surprisingly pretty release even in 2017. What's more, a freshly composed orchestral soundtrack breathes new life into what was already a stunning musical score. In short, Square Enix has knocked this one out of the park in terms of presentation.
Meanwhile, on the gameplay side of things, The Zodiac Age transports us back to a time when Final Fantasy games asked much more of the player than simply holding down a couple of buttons. XII is an unashamedly intricate RPG, and all of its many complexities have been preserved here. From the sheer depth of the gambit system to the newly worked job system, the release slings you into a sea of gameplay mechanics and expects you to find your own way back to shore.
In the early hours of the game, this approach can be overwhelming. Those who missed out on the original release likely won't have any real grasp on what they're doing until they've fumbled around with almost every option available to them. Of course, there's nothing inherently wrong with gameplay depth, especially when it offers so much room for personalisation and experimentation, but The Zodiac Age could have done much more to lend a helping hand in understanding the opportunities that it presents.
Having said all that, even veteran players will need to open their minds to the aforementioned refreshed job system. Building on the job system introduced in the Japanese-only Final Fantasy XII: International Edition, The Zodiac Age lets you assign two different jobs to each permanent party member. Essentially defining a character's role in combat, jobs range from magical spell-slingers to heavily armoured knights, and as you can imagine, forming a balanced team that can handle any situation is the key to success.
With access to a second job for each character, the system truly blossoms. The ability to combine the skill sets of two potentially disparate roles changes everything. Suddenly, you're able to patch up specific weaknesses that apply to certain jobs or meaningfully build upon a character's existing role. Second jobs add a ridiculous amount of depth and rewrite the book on how to develop a seemingly invincible adventuring party. They're nothing short of a game-changing addition.
However, this major alteration may not be enough to sway those who disliked the gambit system the first time around. Gambits are basically automatic commands that can be assigned to each party member. They're fully customisable and demand to be tinkered with if you don't want to micromanage every little detail during battle. Set gambits up right, and your team will be able to tackle hordes of enemies without the need for any direct action, essentially resulting in the game playing itself.
This didn't sit well with some players back in 2006 and we doubt that it'll be to everyone's taste today. There's definite satisfaction to be found in watching your automated party make mincemeat out of anything that dares cross their path, knowing that your gambits are in full effect, but at the same time, repetition can start to creep in as you wipe areas clean of monsters. Divided opinion aside, though, there's no denying that gambits help define Final Fantasy XII. It's a relatively unique system that works well in practice, even if it's not universally appreciated.
Outside of combat and the exploration of bustling cities and expansive wilderness, The Zodiac Age tells a sweeping tale about an all-conquering empire and its march across lesser nations. Naturally, the narrative follows a ragtag group of characters who eventually come together to undo the empire's ambitions. The plot's long and winding with plenty of cutscenes and CG movies to keep you up to speed, and for the most part, it makes for a very entertaining story full of political intrigue and interesting characters.
As is usually the case, however, some members of the cast are better implemented than others. Widowed princess Ashe is headstrong and stubborn in her pursuit of justice, but there's an endearing softness to her character. Silver-tongued rogue Balthier is a smug sky pirate who steals the spotlight throughout the title, and wronged military commander Basch is a stern warrior who forms the backbone of the group with his calm and collected perspective. Any of these three characters could be called the protagonist, but Final Fantasy XII predominantly puts you in the shoes of Vaan – a pickpocketing youth plucked from the streets of his home by a series of events largely outside of his control.
Vaan's a decent enough character – he's not quite as despicable as some players may have you believe – but it does often feel like he's been shoehorned into the plot so that you can see the world of Ivalice from an angle of inexperience. He and childhood friend Penelo just don't link into the narrative as well as everyone else, and are never able to really establish themselves as important personalities.
Speaking of Ivalice, Final Fantasy XII's fantasy setting is one of the series' best realised worlds. There's a distinct richness to the game's environments that very few RPGs are able to match, and the release does an excellent job of making each location feel alive. This isn't a true open world title since areas are sectioned off into different zones, but journeying from one side of a map to the other gives off a palpable sense of adventure.
And then there are the hunts. The game's main side activity sees you track down powerful beasts in order to slay them and claim the bounties on their heads. Some hunts provide a real challenge, while others lay out enjoyable little side stories for you to follow. They're a fantastic way to further detail the title's world, and they're great fun to discover and complete.
Conclusion
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is a near perfect reworking of a PS2 masterpiece. The game's not without its minor flaws, but overall, this is a startling reminder of how magical Square's beloved series can be.
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Great review!
As I have mentioned on the forum, I'm loving FF12 this time round. I feel like I'm a bit too early in the game to gush too much about it just in case I suddenly get bored but I've been really taken with what I've played so far.
Walking round the towns watching the kids do hand stands against walls and the busy shops and markets, it's hard to believe this is a PS2 game! I suppose the only thing that does bother me is some of the "classic PS2" looking rigid geometry in the towns and dungeons.
Edit: I'd say the story is still kinda confusing though, at least up to the point I've played. I'm just about following it, but I tend to get thrown off easily by the odd kingdom names, character names and weird use of capital letters for normal words in the "memoirs" that get narrated occasionally. I'm sat listening to the guy speak but not actually listening to what he's saying while I wonder why "effort" has a capital E mid-sentence lol. A lot of people look quite similar too which makes it a bit hard to follow in the early hours when you're getting to grips with everything.
Once I'm a bit further I'll read a detailed summary online to make sure I've not missed anything.
I do struggle generally with remembering names of people and places though.
Ugh, why did this have to come out around the same time as Stormblood..... I was never a huge fan of XII back in the day, but I somewhat feel like it was just too far ahead of it's time maybe.
One of the best games I've ever played. I didn't like it at first but gave it another shot about a year after I originally played it at launch and loved it that time around. It doesn't particularly feel like a FF game, though. Even the terrible entries like (IMO) X, XIII, and XV feel comfortably like FF. This, for a certain obvious reason, feels more like a somewhat open world follow-up to Vagrant Story with some FFT mixed in.
I didn't mind Vaan and Penelo. People always pick on those two, but anyone outside of Basch and Ashe are pretty much irrelevant to the core plot, like Fran's only connection to anything is she's friends with Balthier and he himself is barely related to the plot. FF has often done this, like how in VI you have totally core characters like Terra and then totally irrelevant ones like Gao.
Anyway, a fantastic game with loads to do and figure out. You can do areas way above your level of you're clever and use your skills and Gambits intelligently. There are great touches, unique to FF IIRC, like the seasonal changes of that swamp area. Can't wait to pick it up.
Looks like I'll be diving into this game once I finish Crash.
I can't wait to get this. I had it pre ordered since last year but had to cancel because of a recent lack of funds. Love this game, love all the characters, love the gambit system, love the entire journey across Ivalice.
An yes final fantasy 12 the only game in the series to make me quit while trying to get a summon
I have a question.
How is the difficulty in this game? I hear it's easier than the western version from back in the day. Since party members can have 2 jobs now.
But is it too easy?
@OrangeBagels Hopefully you get a more specific answer but I suppose it can be as difficult as you want to make it generally since you can be as flexible or rigid with your builds as you want. There are experience restricting accessories I've found to keep your character level low and you don't need to make use of multiple jobs. Plus you can persue higher level hunts if you want a challenge?
2017. A legendary year.
@OrangeBagels Like @kyleforrester87 says the difficulty can vary based on how you decide to play. It's a complex RPG and can seem quite hard at first, but much of it does get easier as you unlock more spells/abilities and eventually get your second jobs opened up.
That said, there are still some very challenging fights throughout the game. I wouldn't say it's an out-and-out difficult title, but it's not easy either.
I hated this at the time because the gambit system makes your party fight automatically and the story is basically one massive fetch quest, but since the bar for Final Fantasy has been lowered in recent years I might go back and try this on again to see if it's been retroactively improved.
I don't like this ff when I played it on ps2 before, maybe I'll try it on ps4 to see if I like it now, if I can find the steelcase version.
Today gamers should be able to know what it means for a game to play itself - seriously, we have such literal games now, - so jabs will hold even less water and dignity than back when XII and XIII first got them. I suppose Tales and Star Ocean series were only spared this parody of "critique" due to their sporadic localisation history.
I'm looking forward to Ashe and Fran first and foremost (their short biographies in FFRK alone evoke enough interest, and Revenant Wings I ended up playing in advance reintroduces them both just shortly before I managed to put the brakes on my save file), but if the aforesaid Revenant Wings and his presentation in Dissidia 012 are any indication... I really don't see what's the big deal to loathe about the character. He feels like just a Final Fantasy character for me, nothing more and nothing less, most reminiscent of Zidane in some of his attitudes. This impression may be subject to change, of course - I remember how I hardly expected all that much from XIII's Vanille who then blew me away and landed among my favourites in the series. But if it doesn't? Oh well. So far only two males have ever scored big with me in FF flagships anyway, and only one of them was his game's protagonist (and no, it's Squall, not Cloud). But opinions are like buttholes and all that - gamers dramatized their disappointments with Tidus as well, and he proved to be nowhere near the abomination they painted.
"The Zodiac Age transports us back to a time when Final Fantasy games asked much more of the player than simply holding down a couple of buttons."
Every Final Fantasy game normally asks more than that unless you outlevel the enemy big time. Except maybe I and II where not many classes had much variety to commands anyway.
@johncalmc isn't the gambit system optional in the first place?
Still one of my favorites FF, if not the favorite!
Can't wait to explore Ivalice again and kill those damn judges!
@Kidfried Personally I think XII is easily the better game. The characters are better, the story's better, the gameplay's better, the world's better... But then I'm a huge fan of past Final Fantasy games.
I think XV is a good game - hell it was my Game of the Year for 2016 - but it's not a great Final Fantasy game to me. In other words, it really depends on what you're looking for.
As the review alludes, XII is much more of a traditional RPG experience. It's got some very deep systems and really pulls you into its world. XV is much more of an open world title with RPG elements sewn into it.
The way you worded your comment, I think XII is the easier recommendation. XIII and XV are a far cry from what the series once was, and although XII is certainly different, it's still a grand RPG that demands investment, much like the games that came before XI.
Why is the international edition Japan only? Makes no sense other than "it's japan." Off topic, but good god that is annoying.
In my honest opinion the original ff12 was better, I liked the fact in the original game everyone could use black/white magic. Using the classes locks characters to certain abilities, so it makes the game harder but adds more depth to characters . hard one to judge
@ShogunRok Great review! Quick question - can you change the jobs when you like or are you stuck with them?
Awesome game. I can't wait to play it and enjoy the new additions. Setting up proper gambits is so rewarding especially for some of the more challenging hunts!
@mookysam You're stuck with them - there's no going back at all. That goes for second jobs, too.
Oh nice. Love the sub headline. Reminds me of running into Ba'Gamnan the bounty hunter the first time.
I've been watching streams of people playing this and the new orchestral score sounds so good.
I like the FF titles but I never really seem to be that good at them but I'll go for it as it looks like an interesting title.
Great review as always @ShogunRok I read this review yesterday in work (so glad such a terrible day) and with the guys on the ff forum I've decided to pick it up. Good job.
@themcnoisy Hopefully you enjoy it!
The Zodiac Age can be a tactical breeze if you know what you're doing.
Last couple of days I did some research about assigning jobs (for the first but also the second job) and how it affects the game. First quarter of the game you're stuck with one job, then the second can be picked. Some jobs have better synergy with each other and others don't. Also taking in consideration which dual job works best for each character. If that's not enough there's also Espers, which unlock extra stuff on the licence board which is different for each class. So assigning Espers to the right character can provide extra benefits. Each assigned Esper unlocks stuff for both classes on the character. Same goes for unlocking stuff on license boards. Unlocked on one board automatically unlocks it on the 2nd class' boards. But you can pick jobs what you feel is most fun to play and still beat the game, it can make end-game hunts and bosses a lot tougher. In short, picking good jobs for each character can go a long way in making the game easier.
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