Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

Let's first take a step back to the year two thousand, when Yasumi Matsuno, the mastermind behind Ivalice, and Hiroyuki Ito started working on what would become the title with the longest development time in video game history. Since then, and for the next six years, things within the team changed a lot, starting from the abandonment of Matsuno himself, and led Square to publish a title as much for the times as it was for the fans, who experienced what was a Final Fantasy that for the first time, really, had little to do with the other Final Fantasy.

The story of Vaan, Ashe, Penelo, Basch, Balthier and Fran is different from the others, and it is understandable from the beginning: the themes around which it revolves are more political than amorous, and yet, as usual, having growth of the protagonists and their relationships at the center of the whole aspect is that of the war romance rather than the pink one. On the other hand, even if not for the whole production, the concept is still Matsuno's. Already from the very first lines in Rabanastre it can be understood that the discontinuity with the past is evident, and it is in (almost) everything that matters: we have talked about the main themes of the narrative, but what we usually refer to, talking about Final Fantasy XII, is the fact that it is a game almost entirely in real time, in which the fights are therefore not confined to an instance but occupying a space and time shared within the game world. In short, a modern stuff and, for the year in which it came out, decidedly avant-garde.

The first to pay the price of this small revolution is obviously the chance encounter: in a world where the enemies are always in sight there is no longer the anguish of meeting the random enemy every three steps, and if this seems the norm was certainly not so almost fifteen years ago, and certainly not for a Final Fantasy, so much so that even the thirteenth chapter has taken a step back returning to the instantiated combat. The technological challenge to bring such a different and complex world to PlayStation 2 was unlikely, but it allowed Ito to be able to do never-before-seen things like Gambit, which exploited its so dynamic nature in an original and profound way. The Gambit is that series of indications that allow to automate almost everything related to combat: situations are set that activate specific triggers (such as "if the allies are below 50% of life then use Curaga"), they try in battle, they are modified again according to the type of battle and they are tried again until everything is perfectly automated. Soon you will learn, or remember, how much everything that revolves around this system is central to the economics of the game.

From the point of view of the evolution of the character, it can be said that we remain in perfect continuity with Final Fantasy X, with the Licenses replacing the spherography spheres. This edition also offers the Zodiac Age variant, which in fact limits the licenses that the characters can take to two jobs, adding a certain strategy to the evolution of the characters and that job system taste that, at least if you ask me , it never hurts.

In short, between the areas in real time and the Gambit, playing Final Fantasy XII was for the times a small look at what the future would have been, as well as an almost definitive greeting of the saga to the classic way of interpreting the JRPG: the series has no never had particular fear in renewing from chapter to chapter and experimenting with new solutions, but with the twelfth game the natural evolution of the mechanics was far exceeded, going right into the field of revolution, exactly like that of which the game's plot speaks. This being so different and innovative allows it, much better than other (often more appreciated) chapters to be still current and enjoyable: playing Final Fantasy XII today has less effect, for example, than playing Final Fantasy X, of which you he may perhaps appreciate better writing and more characterized characters, but whose mechanics are more dated being in fact the last of the "classic" Final Fantasy.

The novelties brought by the Zodiac Age edition on Switch and Xbox One, the same in substance of the PS4 version, then make the gaming experience even more rewarding and help a lot to buffer the different game settings of more than ten years ago . Sure, there are new licenses, the ability to reset them, new gambits and the New Game Plus with two different modes, but the one that really changes the way you play a Final Fantasy is the Speed Mode, which allows you to speed up the game of two or four times. Now, it seems like a trifle, but how many times maybe the only thing that stopped you from picking up a role-playing game of this size was the lack of time to bring all the characters to the maximum, farm or grind equipment for the last, complicated quest? Here, in doing so, and by coupling this warp speed with a system such as the Gambit that automates these phases, you can devote more time to the decisive and topical clashes, derubricating the grinding (or palm-to-palm exploration of the areas) to a truly secondary activity that will it will take a quarter of the time compared to what really matters.

Worth seeing, Final Fantasy XII is always pleasant, thanks to the excellent recovery work of the remaster, even if it always remains a game of almost two generations ago, so calibrate your expectations on this too. If you ask me, his death is playing it on Switch (personally I find it a perfect platform for this kind of recovery, also because the smaller display helps to notice the shortcomings), but it must also be said that for Xbox One it is a debut absolute, and above all on Xbox One X (and only there), you can play it at 60fps. Not that they are essential, but they are there. In short, as you do, you do well.

MODUS OPERANDI
I played Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age on Switch both in docked and portable mode noting any substantial difference, except that portability is a significant added value in this type of production.

You could move both the heroes and the camera freely in the battles, but you had to wait until the attack bar had filled up and the fighter could finally launch a dagger. It was a mix of tradition and modernity that not everyone liked.

Another generation of HD

Before we get to the graphic innovations, a brief introduction to the history of the game: It revolves around street boy Vaan and his girlfriend Penelo. Vaan has been orphaned by the war and is now rebelling against the occupation of his hometown by the great power Archadia. He would like to run away and leave his life as a thief behind.

One day he happens to meet the pirates Balthier and Fran and joins them. At the same time, he encounters a conspiracy to kill the king and finds himself a little later in the war between the two great empires. The story corresponds to the original, but it is visually much more stylish.

The most striking improvement is of course the heavily pretted graphics . The game still looks a bit old-fashioned at first glance, but in a direct comparison at the latest the revised textures and the higher resolution are noticeable. Everything looks sharper and a little more detailed.

There are still a few washed-out pixel wallpapers, especially the desert areas still yawn at us with bleak emptiness. In addition, pop-up effects occur especially in the busy cities when figures suddenly appear nearby.

Since it is also a remaster and not a complete remake, the developers used the original 3D models and only drilled them out slightly, so the heroes appear subtly angular. In return, the characters cast nicer shadows and the rendering videos, which were already impressive at that time, were subsequently scaled and sharpened to Full HD resolution. This means that FF12 can really be seen on the PC after more than eleven years, but of course you shouldn't expect a graphics miracle.

On the other hand, it was a sound miracle, because the already impressive sound carpet by Hitoshi Sakimoto was recorded by an orchestra again from scratch and even booms out of the speakers with 7.1 surround. Of course, this benefits the atmosphere. By the way, you can switch between the old and the new soundtrack in the menu. If necessary, you can also activate the English or Japanese voice output here, however, a German setting is missing.

Time for a new job

A gameplay enrichment is the new Zodiac job system. In the original version, all heroes shared a license board, on which you could unlock new skills, spells and equipment with points earned in combat (LP). This inevitably led to sophisticated superheroes, because theoretically all characters could learn all skills. The fights became very monotonous.

In Zodiac Age, however, you can only teach one character two professions . So you have to deal specifically with the individual license boards and set a focus for each party member.

Some players may find this a limitation, but the battles benefit immensely from the new job system, as you now have to weigh up your specific skills depending on the situation. For example, if you were attacked by flying opponents in the past, your favorite fighters could simply blow them up.

Now you may need to trade your favorite warrior for a hunter you rarely use. This reaction and variation makes the battles more varied and exciting, especially since you continue to have an incredible number of options with the well-known Gambit system (see box).

Comfortable adventure life

In addition to the improvements that are visible at first glance, the developers have given the remaster a number of convenience functions that make the adventure life more pleasant. The map can now be faded in transparently at all times. This greatly facilitates quick orientation without slowing down the flow of the game.

Thanks to the automatic storage function, the potential for frustration is also reduced. If you bite the grass, you no longer have to fight your way through the entire area, but start at the zone transition. Of course, you can still manually back up the storage crystals.

Detail improvements and more replayability

The balancing was also screwed on. Getting started is a little easier, so that you no longer have to suck the healing potions as often. The boss opponents, on the other hand, require more tactics and are no longer easily impressed with stupid attacks because they are blocked more often.

Veterans are happy about the new exam mode , which you can control via the main menu. 100 battle challenges await you in which you compete with your hero group. It is imperative to master the gambit system, otherwise you won't get very far. A few newly added side quests and hunting assignments ensure even more replayability.

Furthermore, a few detail improvements have been made. So you can invert the camera perspective, you can actively control guest characters and of course you can collect all kinds of achievements. As a result, the pirate nest in the Zodiac Age remaster no longer exists, which simulated a successful system in the original PS2.

The bottom line is that the new edition offers all kinds of improvements that not only make the old PS2 original prettier, but also playfully more attractive. If you missed Final Fantasy 12 at the time and like JRPGs, you won't go wrong.

Innovations in PC version

Square Enix has expanded the PC version of Final Fantasy 12 with additional graphics settings. For example, we can now experience the adventure in 60 frames per second . However, if you select 30 frames and activated V-Sync at the same time, you will encounter an annoying bug. Among other things, it allows cutscenes to be played at twice the speed, while the sound continues at normal tempo.

In addition to this error, we did not notice any problems with the PC version. The control with mouse and keyboard is quick after a short familiarization phase. We can also reassign all keys . The PC version also supports gamepad control.

In addition, "New Game +" (you start at level 90) and "New Game-" (you stay permanently at level 1) are now available from the start, in the console version you had to unlock them first. And if you're in a hurry, you can even maximize Gil and license points immediately with a button in the menu.