Why You Shouldn't Overlook Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age - Gameinformer

[Dreamboum]

SOURCE: https://www.gameinformer.com/opinio...dnt-overlook-final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age

Street urchins Vaan and Penelo call the impoverished slums of Rabanastre home. While Penelo attempts to find silver linings in their plight, Vaan looks to the sky with dreams of owning an airship and living freely. After many chance encounters with shady folk, the two youths are flung into a world of political intrigue and clandestine coup d'états. Even so, they learn to find companionship in others: Ashe, a forsaken princess, Basch, an exiled soldier, and Balthier and Fran, wanted bounty hunters.

Despite their oddball mix, each member of Final Fantasy XII's main cast shares similar insecurities – cowardice, loneliness, unresolved grief, and doubts of self-worth. Vaan and his ragtag team of outcasts remain some of the greatest characters in Final Fantasy lore because they're so easy to root for. Despite struggling with personal shortcomings, they continuously discover ways to defy fate.

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Each setting in Final Fantasy XII is aesthetically unique and teeming with secrets. Some areas, like the Skycity of Bhujerba, can only be reached via airship; that's as simple as purchasing a one-way ticket. Other locations must be discovered on foot, but hubs are small-scale and (in some cases) linear, meaning that traversal is simple. What's more, Ivalice houses various ethnic groups. For instance, Fran, with her rabbit-like ears and seven-foot stature, is a Viera who hails from Eruyt Village. Other races like the Nu Mou – bipedal canines – are religious nomads. Despite being a cultural melting pot, Ivalice's racial tensions make intermingling increasingly difficult. To see this negativity reflected in the way strangers react to Fran (and the rest of your human party for even associating with her), makes the game world feel organic and lived-in.

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My favorite RPGs always focus on what matters most: character-driven stories with vibrant locations and fun, captivating gameplay. In 2006, Final Fantasy XII met those standards and it continues to be one of my fondest gaming experiences. The Zodiac Age expanded upon on all the features that made the original great. And now that it'll be available to every console player in a few weeks, I can't help but be excited to dive into its world once again. If you love intuitive gameplay as well as the age-old "Final Fantasy formula" done right – an eccentric cast of relatable characters, an epic-scale odyssey, and grand boss fights – then Final Fantasy XII is for you!

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[chandoog]

I never did, it's one of my favorite games of all time.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I have this on PS4 and have yet to play past the first hour. I really want to give the game the time it deserves.

 

[Deleted member 249]

I love FF12 lol.
About to buy it for the third time on Switch.

 

[Silky]

Still the best modern FF game

 

[Dest]

The second best Final Fantasy, right behind IX. It's truly fucking fantastic. It's coming to Switch and One on the 30th. The Zodiac stuff fixes a lot of problems people had initially with the game. Do NOT miss it.

I'll be picking it up again for the 60FPS mode on X and the amazing reversible cover art.

 

[Transistor]

One of my favorite games of all time. That Matsuno / Sakimoto combination is god tier

 

[Sub Boss]

I already played it on PS4!

though i don't remember much about the story or that it focused on character insecurities 🤔

 

[Deleted member 249]

I already played it on PS4!

though i don't remember much about the story or that it focused on character insecurities 🤔

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To be fair, the story is mostly irrelevant in this game lol

 

[Huey]

I really loved the world and characters when it released on PS2, but the amount of work it requires to progress (hesitant to use the word "grind") is kind of overwhelming if you're not able to commit a huge amount of time to it. The game's average playlength is in the 100 hour range, is it not?

 

[Sub Boss]

To be fair, the story is mostly irrelevant in this game lol

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Yeah but the gameplay was beyond its time , the setting is also one of the best in FF :^D still an easy recommendation for anyone that has not played totally worth the asking price

 

[Deleted member 249]

Yeah but the gameplay was beyond its time , the setting is also one of the best in FF :^D still an easy recommendation for anyone that has not played totally worth the asking price

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Agreed with everything you said lol. It's a masterpiece.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

AKA Hiroyuki Ito's Final Fantasy

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Never overlooked it to begin with. Bought the game 3 times already, probably will skip the Xbox/Switch versions but I might get one of them later when it's cheap if they don't patch the PS4 version at some point.

 

[Habino]

Bought it day 1 and don't regret it, game is a classic

 

[Scuffed]

The Zodiac age changes in particular make this one of the best FF games.

 

[Mr.Vic20]

Its my Favorite FF since VI! I purchased it a total of three times and beat it at least as many times.

 

[Acorn]

How noob friendly is it? Not really played too many jrpgs.

 

[mindatlarge]

I still have this and X in my backlog. Some day...

 

[Swift_Gamer]

FFXVI MUST follow this game's world design.

 

[Sub Boss]

I really loved the world and characters when it released on PS2, but the amount of work it requires to progress (hesitant to use the word "grind") is kind of overwhelming if you're not able to commit a huge amount of time to it. The game's average playlength is in the 100 hour range, is it not?

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Here it will help the speed up 2x and 4x option in the remastered version, still a long game but it helps with the flow of the battle system

 

[Hey Please]

I tried the OG back in the day but could not get into it.

However, I have been meaning to say this for a while now and I will fight anyone who opposes me:

Final Fantasy XII's art style is the most unique of all FF games. It straddles a line between realism, anime and oil painting which makes it timeless. In fact there are only three other games that have their own unique visual identity that has not been replicated by games beyond its own franchise:

1. Prince of Persia 2008
2. Gravity Rush 2
3. Valkyria Chronicles 1

 

[John Harker]

To be fair, the story is mostly irrelevant in this game lol

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Baltheir is not irrelevant , one of FF's best characters

 

[Greatest Ever]

Do I make this my summer game of choice? I went through last summer wishing I had played waaaay more games... until I realized I didn't play any less or more games than normal, I just put so much time into Persona 5 (which I regret). I don't have my Switch so dedicated, sitting down gaming sessions would probably make up most of my time.

 

[Synless]

AKA Hiroyuki Ito's Final Fantasy

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He may have finished it but the game is very much Matsuno's.

 

[The Pet of the Month]

I pre-ordered yesterday. I hope my opinion on it changes, cause the last time I played XII was years back and I wasn't a big fan. >.<

Does this port/remaster have dual audio? And is the Xbox One version the only one with 60FPS?

 

[angelgrievous]

Man, I was playing the hell out of this game and I'm pretty sure I was playing it wrong the entire time. I got pretty far and then hit a wall. I'm at The Feywood and everything seems to have just gotten harder and I've never really understood the combat systems. I've somehow made it this far but yeah, haven't played it in about a year.

Maybe I should just start over. I don't know.

 

[Earvin Infinity]

Played it back on PS2 and loved it. Is it worth revisiting on PC?

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

A timeless classic. But also the end of classic Final Fantasy. I'd only wish they expanded on the gameplay and level design of 12 instead of fucking everything up with 13 and 15 :/

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Final Fantasy XII rules, especially with some of the gameplay changes made in Zodiac Age. I still think it takes a few hours of investment before the Gambit system starts to find its groove and prove its appeal, but once you do, it is an immensely satisfying early take on a console open world RPG that feels like it provides both a ton of options to the player in fine-tuning their strategic approaches to situations, a great cast of characters (I even like Vaan, even if I don't think he was the best possible perspective to experience the game from), a refreshingly "elevated" (for lack of a better term, the plot deep dives into the politics of its world) premise and plot as far as Final Fantasy stakes tend to go, and a ton of content on offer that's pretty satisfying to interact with and actually feels like it is capable of stretching the gameplay closer to its max limits without feeling like it passes a hard burden of learning curve onto the player. There IS a learning curve and the "side" content can start to maximize that, but I never felt like it ever spikes in difficulty or feels like a tough nut to crack -- it just feels like a smooth gradient the whole way through IMO.

Great game, and on balance absolutely one of my favorite Final Fantasy games.

 

[IronicSonic]

So many FF to play. Specially VII and XII on my Switch. Some day...

 

[Dreamboum]

How noob friendly is it? Not really played too many jrpgs.

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It's pretty easy to follow. One of the big draws of this game is that you can program your characters to do stuff for you so you're pretty much designing the AI of your party members. You can put conditional statements in your strategy so you can remove away a lot of the tediousness like always attacking and focus on the most important. It's pretty fun to program killing machines by yourself, you can also play it like a regular Final Fantasy inputting all the commands by yourself if you feel like it.

 

[WGMBY]

This and FFX are both on my to-play list, but I always play about half of a JRPG and get distracted with other stuff. It took me 2 years to finish Trails in the Sky FC, and I'm still only halfway through Tales of Beresia, so IDK when I'll be able to get to FFXII

 

[Rad]

Game is truly god tier with PC's modding scene. Zodiac Age's main problem is that it's too easy but you can mod it to be much more difficult.

 

[Huey]

Here it will help the speed up 2x and 4x option in the remastered version, still a long game but it helps with the flow of the battle system

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oh that's great - i should give it a go again, I loved what i played

 

[Divvy]

Sadly, one of the most disappointing games I've ever played, not that I think the game is bad or anything, I think it just wasn't for me. I had been really looking forward to playing the release since I loved the setting and the aesthetic of it and I never got a chance to play the original release, but it just ended up never clicking for me. I'm glad other people seem to like it since it still feels like one of the most unique FFs.

 

[BriGuy]

I bought the game sight unseen on the PS2 because it was Final Fantasy, and FF games are always good. Or at least they used to be. Getting anywhere and doing anything felt like such a slog that I eventually gave up on it and Vaan's lobster abs.

I tried to give the game a second chance with the updated Steam release, and even with QoL improvements and optional turbo speed, it still felt like a chore. The game just isn't for me.

 

[Acorn]

It's pretty easy to follow. One of the big draws of this game is that you can program your characters to do stuff for you so you're pretty much designing the AI of your party members. You can put conditional statements in your strategy so you can remove away a lot of the tediousness like always attacking and focus on the most important. It's pretty fun to program killing machines by yourself, you can also play it like a regular Final Fantasy inputting all the commands by yourself if you feel like it.

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Nice, I love making preset commands for my party. It was one of my favourite things to do in dragon age origins.

 

[Dark_Castle]

AKA Hiroyuki Ito's Final Fantasy

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[Dreamboum]

Nice, I love making preset commands for my party. It was one of my favourite things to do in dragon age origins.

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You will definitely enjoy it then, the designer of Dragon Age Origins went on record saying it was inspired by FF12.

 

[Jake2byFour]

One of my favorite mineline FF. Copping on switch and if they ever add NG+ on PS4 will play again too.

 

[Acorn]

You will definitely enjoy it then, the designer of Dragon Age Origins went on record saying it was inspired by FF12.

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Perfect, thanks man!

 

[hussien-11]

The best playing Final Fantasy. and i like the original more than the Zodiac version, it was more challenging; the Dark Souls of JRPGs :P

on PS2 most rpg games were very linear and maybe people expected something like FFX, but FFXII proved it had the right design philosophy and the better approach. when you look at video games today, it is clear that the best games out there took an approach similar to FFXII, not FFX/Lost Odyssey or other linear games.

it has the best encounter design and boss battles in the franchise, and i don't think FF will be able to top it again. the person who made the decision to put two of the best rpg designers in Japan in the same team was a genius (Hiroyuki Ito - Yasumi Matsuno).

i can't imaginr how incredible this game would've been if Matsuno didn't leave. no way the story would've took the decisions it ended up taking. even then, the team wanted to put the game on two discs but Square said no.

Nice, I love making preset commands for my party. It was one of my favourite things to do in dragon age origins.

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it is almost copy-paste from Final Fantasy XII's Gambit system, though not as good as FFXII. it remains my favorite system to control/command AI.

 

[Deleted member 11626]

Second only to VI among Final Fantasies

 

[JuiceMan_V]

Liked this game on PS2 and I'll like this game on the Switch.

 

[Megatron]

I bought this when it came out on PS2 and never played it lol. I plan to finally play it on the Switch.

 

[Xtortion]

The world design of FF12 is bonkers with how areas twist and interconnect. Prolly my favorite thing about the game. The sprawling on-foot journey to Archades is splendid.

 

[Vegeto]

Just ordered the steelbook edition this morning and now looking into thia thread confirms my decision :)

 

[Guru_Godzilla]

Buying it for the first time on the Switch when it comes out. Hopefully I'll actually finish it since I've never beaten a final fantasy game yet.

 

[Bananastand]

I have never played a Final Fantasy. I know they aren't connected for the most part but is this a good one to start with? The battle system is very MMO-ish, right?