FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE

Having played the Final Fantasy series for nearly 30 years I still rank this as the second best (behind only Final Fantasy VI). The battle system is the most addicting being a blend of Final Fantasy XI and the ATB of Final Fantasy VII. It is a huge world with lots of areas to explore, a great story that is more political than usual Final Fantasy and a fantastic group of characters. The freedom to explore the game world is something I wish we would see more of in the series since. Highly recommended for fans of JRPGs and Final Fantasy!

Starts slow but also I discovered the double speed feature. Def does not get as much attention as it should.

I first bought this game all the way back when it came out on console. That one wasn't 'zodiac' edition but just FF 12. I even bought the walk through guide. Anyway, I bought the game on pc just with the Autumn sale of 2024 and with mods giving me a bit of an edge and just the fun of playing it on pc, the game is just as good as I remember.

I was never quite able to finish it, because I got stuck and back then, I didn't think there was any reminder about what you were supposed to do. Especially since a couple of months had passed since I played it back then. This was before I had steady access to the internet and the guides that came with it.

Now, the big question. Should you buy it? Yes. But ONLY during a sale. Even though I have fond memories of this game, It's an outrage that they're asking 50€ of a game this old. I still have my old playstation and the original game discs too.

That said, while I think the game is worth buying (only during sale) I would still strongly suggest looking up gameplay videos and reviews. I think it's aged well, but it doesn't compare to certain other video games.

This game's plot is literally star wars, also, the gameplay feels like a single player party-based MMO, with some QoL stuff like 2x/4x speed and a 'built-in macro' in the form of gambits, where you 'program' the characters to do actions automatically, actually quite interesting, though I felt it lacked some challenge, most of the game I just normal attack blitz anything that stands in my path and they just get destroyed.

Love how this game looks, it's even more astonishing with "The Zodiac Age Remastered" mod.

Sadly, I can't set the lenguage to english :S

An absolute credit to world building. I mean really nothing is as astounding in its play-through. I'm talking from the fantastical plants, animals, creatures, races, magicks, characters, organizations, nations, cities, politics, deities, gods, it just doesn't stop for all the random fleshing out. Details that breathes life into its atmosphere in a way I wish I could constantly see. Cities that are appropriately filled with a ton of citizens, not only with something unique to say to the player, but often words that will change depending on where you're at in the game. Beautiful details, I really can't praise them enough, because it is on the backs of them that I think you can get lost in the idea of the game

Intro too long, proves a hurdle to many.

Music is exceptional, real labor of love their as well.

Combat systems are fun. Gambit systems that you modify overtime are novel, as is the line diagram turn based combat broken up by real time in-between animation. Truly puzzling why something similar hasn't been stolen for a different game.

4x speed mode makes mob clear a dream and playtime of the remake a reasonable and fun pastime.

My only problems are the voice recordings sound like they were recorded from an old phone/3ds and the plot is slightly weird at times, goated aside from that

I love the Final Fantasy games, I was thrilled to learn a while ago you could play them on PC now, and I've been stocking my library with my favourites :) The story, and the game play, are as always engaging and fun.

Incrivel como um jogo de PS2 é tão completo, com classes, mapas, monstros e hunts bem desenvolvidos, o sistema de Gambits até hoje é um dos melhores sistema de gerenciamento de IA no mundo dos jogos. Ainda mais jogando com o mod "Horizontal Progress" que melhora a qualidade de vida.

I know people love ff 8 and 10 and 7(for nostalgia) but 12 is one of my favorites and is great for story and game play. I've played all of the ff games, but i keep coming back to this one lol

remastered version. This is legit beautiful with the HD visuals as well as the new music. The toggle speed controls are great for replay value, (e.g. ...so as to not go through the sandsea without speeding up and having fun with the chainstacking multipliers)

Game mechanics from the PS2 era that still work well today. Zodiac Age, with its job system and a story for its genre finally made more mature than its predecessors, is definitely one of my top 3 in the series.

A few changes have been made compared to the first "International" Japanese version, which unfortunately makes the experience too easy. We are invited to choose comfort rather than the jobistic constraint of role-playing. The original use of summons isn't crazy either. Would'nt have minded to put some features on/off in the options. But mods can be used to change all that, so...

Despite this, the system of gambits is very free and can be really rich at the same time. I spent many hours making different builds, and it was a lot of fun. It's almost unbelievable that this episode and its level design, apart from a few exceptions, was conceived for release in 2006. Ivalice is a well done, huge and beautiful world.

I really don't care what the characters look like or what they're like... I loved this game. For me, clearly a must-play for j-rpg fans.

I got the metal box edition back on ps2, with the guide. I remember one summer grinding for hours trying to take down some of the marks. Love being able to go back, and get to change jobs! Love it! The 4x speed is a life saver for gil grinding!

Best combat Final Fantasy game in the series IMO. Absolutely love it, been playing since Ps2

Best FF game to ever grace the earth. Just do yourself a favor and mod the grind out.

This is a very solid entry in the ff series, with fun characters and an interesting story. It does involve a lot of grinding, however, but at least there's a speed up button. I used it very frequently because the world is MASSIVE.

Best final fantasy game ever. Hours of fun and great story line.

The PC version is the best remastered version of this game.
-60FPS, Unlike RE4 2004 the 60fps dont break the AI behavior
-You can respec like in the Switch version
-The cloths animations been patched unlike some other versions

love ff game tbh, i personally always enjoyed 12s fighting system.

Loved it on PS2 and love it now. This game got me into Final Fantasy and has an AMAZING story. I Cant find and Negatives to this Classic other than a 60 fps cap but who need more than that for an rpg?

FFXII is the last Final Fantasy game in the series that I actually enjoyed, and still enjoy playing. The story is much more down-to-earth than others before, and after, which is a nice change. The characters are interesting, and a couple of them are among my favorites in the series. The gambit system allows you to create a wonderful flow for the gameplay. It nearly eliminates the need for navigating menus during combat, which is extremely refreshing for long time fans of the series. If you're low on health, or if one of your characters gets affected by status, you know what you need to do, and you can program your characters to do it, instead of having to press the same buttons over an over. It creates an instant link between what you're thinking, and what's happening in the game, and you can just fly through each beautifully designed area, and become totally immersed in the world. The gambit system also grows in complexity as the game goes on, especially with optional boss fights. The developers were very creative with new abilities and statuses, that haven't appeared in any other FF game. There's action, sky pirates, revenge, giants, true love, all the makings of an excellent adventure story.

better gameplay than any previous FF titles despite what everyone said about the gambit system

Apart from some annoying grinding to 100% the game, this is, at least for me, the best final fantasy game to date.

The last truly great Final Fantasy game

It's laughable SQUARE Is charging users full price for this game in 2024, when I can get the collector's edition steel box off Ebay for $5

i honestly cannot see how this is worth the purchase. i already have this on PS2 and still working fine.

the "improvements" are nothing more than a porting to PC and minor sound/game tweaks that are not worth it to me.
the zodiak system is more restrictive than the original, which one grid encompassed the entirety of all 12 of these and had easier/better diversity. more a loss than a gain

7 10 and 12 may be the only ones in the series i like (13 (all 3 parts) is only worth playing to watch lightning wiggle her walk) but this port is just indulgence as i will not be playing this again unless i manage to break my PS2 permanently.

I remember spending two hours trying to defeat yiazmat on vanilla PS2, then it cast reflectga on my party, bouncing my renew to replenish its health back to 50 millions. Good game.

I didn't expect to have this great of a time in this JRPG, the story was good enough to grip you through it, and the game play "although simple" is satisfying and rewarding when you have the right party setup, great amount of side content in the endgame.

10 OUT OF 10 VERY DIFFICULT TO PLAY WITH ONE HAND ESPECIALLY BUNNY WOMEN PART
(ONLY RECOMMEND BECAUSE OF WOMEN)

one of my favorite final fantasy games. i like the open world aspect

Absolute Shameful to sell a broken Game like that.
The game runs on 2x Speed even during cutszenes, voice actors talk over each other so you cant understand anything and whenever i minimize the game or switch monitors for a second, the game crashes without saving anything.

Also, its the only Final Fantasy Game where there is NO SETTINGS MENU to turn down sounds, voices or align the sound at all. How is that even possible?!?!?!?!?

DO NOT BUY THIS

The Zodiac Age surprised me in the best way. I didn’t enjoy the original, but this remaster really turns it around. The revamped job system and quality of life improvements make it feel more engaging, while the updated graphics and music breathe new life into the world. It’s a great upgrade that balances strategy with freedom, and I found myself finally invested in the story and characters this time around. Definitely worth a play, even if the original didn’t grab you

Square has severely declined since the days of Hironobu Sakaguchi. With that said, Yasumi Matsuno had the right idea for a game with FF12--and it could have been a smash hit--a Game of Thrones before Game of Thrones. Matsuno, wanted a very political and mature story, featuring an older main character (probably Basch). But instead, the suits at Square forced a huge number of changes onto Matsuno, including Vaan, they basically bullied Matsuno into becoming severely ill, and argued with so many of his creative decisions that the beauty of Matsuno's stories like in FF Tactics and Tactics Ogre is merely a shadow of itself in FF12. Funny how now when Square Enix wants to make an FF with a mature main character (16), they've already ruined their brand's reputation so thoroughly that they can't just coast on the success of FF7 and FF10 anymore. FF12 did coast on the success of the prior ones, and probably doesn't deserve the sales it has on its own merits. However, I do enjoy the RPG elements of this game a lot (a huge shame they want to make FF like ASSassin's Greed and Fallout).

FF12 works really well as a game... generally. The Gambit System is really cool. I love that you can pick two jobs for every character. The world design is a perfect balance between linear and open--it's like Red & Blue Versions, it opens up the world in small segments, and you can wander just far enough that it gets a little dangerous. There's plenty of sidequests (and yes most of them suck) and enough of them are interesting enough that you want to do those ones.

Probably the most unforgivable flaw of this game is the old game design that was centered around selling physical strategy guides. In other words, some equipments and summons are locked behind combinations, codes and patterns of talking to NPCs that you would never guess in 100 hours. And even with a guide this isn't a game that can be 100%ed unless you're crazy.

Flaws that are more forgivable but far more disappointing to the player are problems with the battle system. The gambit system, which is the most interesting part of this game--and basically turns FF into a sort of idle game--is unfortunately thinly fleshed out. There are many gambits you wish they would have put in the game, and because they aren't there, it makes it impossible to use certain abilities effectively--for example there are no useful gambits to automate the abilities that lower the magic, attack and defense of the target. A "use once per enemy" gambit would help with those gambits, as well as for steal. Also, you will get to the point you wish you could have more than 12 gambit slots. This is really the tip of the iceberg. I would have appreciated dual conditional gambits, gambits that have elements of randomness, and more. And moreover, they prove they were just throwing spaghetti, because most of the gambits are unusable.

The equipment has the flaw of many FFs to this day--and I wish they would make expansions for this, like many modders have. The equipment in this game is mostly linear. In other words, you're always going to pick the next sword because the attack is higher. While there are more exceptions in this than other games in the franchise, you generally aren't picking a lower stat sword because it has a really good special ability. You won't be finding swords that support alternative builds like speed, evasion, or magic--they pretty much only increase one stat for the entire game--this is across the board for every weapon type. The weapons that give beneficial status effects are completely useless because there are no gambits that can automate their use effectively. Why do the best maces have no added debuff? Why are there so few armors that have elemental absorption and resistance? Why are there no weapons that give the bearer a buff? Why is the Genji Armor the only armor set with a special effect? What happened to the awesome armor systems they had in 10, 7, 6 and Tactics?

So, yeah, the story is kinda lame. It starts out a lot better than it ends--presumably because they made the game from the beginning to the end, and somewhere in the middle of that Yasumi Matsuno left the production. You honestly may even want to skip it. There's barely even any cool action cutscenes--just people talking mostly.


So the game is worth the play for the world design and the gambit system alone. You're regretably gonna want a guide to unlock the secrets--because it doesn't leave a lot of clues (or even any for some secrets). The game looks good, enemy variety is pretty good, music is usually on point, but I usually play this and turn on a podcast. A fun idle Final Fantasy. The last of it's kind (13 was kinda botched really bad). Why do they think we just want more Western RPG slop? We've got enough of it over here.

Yes, yes and yes.
It's just as good as the original version was years ago.
Back when I played IZJS I couldn't speak Japanese (still can't speak it, never bothered to learn the language), so everything was confusing to me, although I was really impatient back then as well.
I love the job system, the limitations it brings, New Game Plus (and Minus), the fact that you can exceed the 9999 damage soft cap for pretty much everything now and not only from Espers and Quickenings and the possibility of increasing the game speed by 2 or 4 times the normal amount... The game also got a bit easier in a few aspects, but it's definitely worth your time if you liked the past versions.

I love the vibe!
I love the characters!
I love the combat!
I love the story!

If you like game of thrones and politics minded stories, this is for you.

There is an amazing game buried somewhere under the pile of junk that is FFXII. Confusing writing and story (i cant pronounce half the names, let alone remember what or who is what) that has way too much of telling instead of showing, way too many encounters for how slow the battle system is (even with the fast foward, thank god for that), laughably and needlessly large map layouts (not even the fast forward will save you from the pain, I am not joking)... The gambit system is another such feature that sound cool on paper but is poorly implemented. Having to buy them all individually (and god there is a lot of them) is dumb and brings nothing of value to the overall gameplay, on the contrary.

Its not as if the game is downright trash, but there is just too much friction in every aspect of the game for it to be truely enjoyable. And this is taking into account all the improvements brought by the remaster. I shudder just thinking about the poor souls who played this on PS2.

Excellent game, At the beginning a little tedious but you will love the characters and the mechanics at the end.

I remember playing this game on the PS2 and it was incredibly fun.
I HAD to purchase this masterpiece.
The nostalgia is STILL present in this version of the game and the ability to tweak gameplay speed was VERY helpful in my play-through.
In my opinion, one of the best Final Fantasy games TO THIS DAY.
Highly recommend!

It's taken me 18 years to beat (I originally owned the PS2 version when it first came out, but I lost it before I could ever beat it, and it's only recently when I acquired it here on Steam), so I might as well review it.
I love this game! It's my favorite Final Fantasy game and one of my top favorite RPGs to play altogether. It's a real underrated gem!
Zodiac Age is a bit different from the original though, but it doesn't deter much (it's mostly adjusting to how licenses and jobs work). In that case, the original takes a point, but with ZA, it trades well with gameplay options and a trial mode.
FFXII is unique from other Final Fantasy titles though. Mostly because of its plot and battles. The overall objective is to bring peace to all of Ivalice from a current war between empires. And monsters (for the most part) are out in the open to fight instead of battle stages that are typical of FF gameplay. Unpopular opinion, but I actually enjoy that more than the surprise attack tactic.
I will also be playing this again to complete more side quests, hunts, and beating the more obscure espers/bosses. I also want to try out the trials mode in the future.
Overall, I highly recommend this game to any gamer. If you haven't played FFXII, you're really missing out on a really epic game!

Amazing game with an addictive combat system.

A fun and engaging combat system, that borrows a lot from MMO style games. Worlds are fun to explore. Story is bland to my taste, and Vaan and Penelo are some of the most annoying FF characters ever, and you are stuck with them for several hours.

"This game is just a walking simulator" "The auto attack is so easy" lmao

An underrated gem in the franchise. The battle system is different from the its predecessors but it's fun all the same. While the story isn't that compelling to what you'd expect from a Final Fantasy game, its exploration and the hunt system make up for what it lacks and are nothing short of rewarding.

under-dressed hero and team vs. ancient aliens and their fem-boy prince. Combat so evolved you program it before hand and just watch the action take place. Seriously though this is a fun game with a compelling story and lots of side quests that are worthwhile.

I first learned of Vaan and FF12 in general through the Dissidia games and he always felt like a modern Bartz, or
something that felt reminiscent of that crystal chronicles era of FF games and i was both right and wrong.

This game at first glance is a somewhat boring war plot with cutscenes that feel like movies, and thats just my initial time with the game until around the later sections did i start to realize the war shown here is alot more complicated and honestly quite cool. And for the combat system its a little bit of a aquired taste but i think those who love to micro-manage will come to love it as especially in this version of the game it will allow for complex and varied builds between the handful of allies you get allow you to make a crazy powerful build all your own and mismatch that between every playable party member!

I have not completed the game as of writing this review but i will say so far for a remastered game from 2006, it continues to impress me.

Highly Recommend <3

This game is so fun bathier is such a silly goober

1. This game was one of my favourite game of playstation 2 era but now I just couldn't get into it.

2. This remaster only adds updates to the textures, an alternate perk system, a speed modifiers x2 or x4 function and a new game plus (starts with level 90) and minus (no exp) function that's all.

3. If you played the original then don't play this game as it will be pointless.

4. I would not recommend this even for new players as this is one of those games which you either really like or don't like at all.

Final Fantasy XII is a beautifully crafted RPG that offers a rich story and an expansive world to explore. The gameplay features an innovative combat system that blends real-time action with strategic elements, making battles dynamic and engaging. The characters are well-developed, each with their own unique motivations, and the intricate political plot adds depth to the narrative. The graphics and music are stunning, creating an immersive atmosphere that draws you in. While it may feel different from other entries in the series, FF12 stands out with its charm and ambition. If you’re a fan of RPGs, this game is definitely worth experiencing.

FFXII:TZA

FFXII is set within the world of Ivalice at a time when the worlds nations are warring as per usual in these types of games. However XII did what I thought was quite different at the time of it's release and allowed you the see games narrative through another eyes for the first few moments allowing us to form a relationship with Basch and Co. early on only to be shown the plot thicken upon entering the kings quarters. Moving on a few years we are now the younger brother of the once playable Reks and we quickly realise this lads lost everything in his life except Penelo and he is quite literally on the backfoot within his own city both in stature aswell as in terms of wealth.

The Gameplay:
At the time of it's release FFXII was making a slow conversion away from the old ways with the ATB and moving towards a more action oriented game, I believe the system within XII is called the "Dimensional Time Battle" the results were FFXII a game where they never actually got too far away from the ATB at all and actually made a whole new playing experience at least for me for the first time by allowing our party to follow certain scripts shall we say which are all entirely dependent on how well we the players choose to set them up. This opened the game upto either be played in a more traditional way - your ATB filled and you chose yours and your parties commands or you simply chose to set up an auto script allowing the party to steam roll whatever approached should the script be optimised well enough for that.

The gambit system for me personally was a revolutionary idea especially having come off of the success of FFX and FFX-2 and the ways they chose to play FFXII now had it's own opportunity to get itself an identity and I think this is what has allowed it to be so memorable to me after all these years, simply because of how revolutionary the combat system was and how it allowed so many different strategies to be attempted either on bosses or super bosses and if all else fails and your characters didn't do what you wanted them to do you could simply just take over and set a command in place and then they would continue following their scripts all over again, truly genius for a FF game i thought.
This however I think led to most shitting all over FFXII for many years to come and it's only in recent years I have started to see how much the game and it's direction has truly become to be appreciated, what with FFXVI being a full on Action game now the jump has been made after all of these years and I for one am not for it, I prefer the turn based combat even in this modern era of gaming.

The New License board:
So far with my time with FFXII I have enjoyed the new approach to the license board as back in the day I used to just make everyone jack of all trades and masters of none and whilst this approach worked and I beat every Hunt and boss within the game, it felt stale. I like having party members that are unique in their approach to what skills and equipment they have this is what makes a Final Fantasy game a Final Fantasy game. Do you chose to travel with a thief? A Mage, A White Mage? Who knows it is entirely upto the individual and that is what the OG 2006 release missed out with that small bit of FF charm.

The license boards are also totally redesigned allowing you to be more op than you were in the OG 2006 release aswell as having the option to select 2 of the 12 refreshed boards party members can focus on specific license to get ahead early and become super OP.

The Bosses/Hunts:
For me this is where FFXII began to become a gem, the Bosses in this game are some of the best fights in the entire series, take away the fact that once you have faced the bosses before you know where they are and what they are mostly weak too and you have a fresh set of eyes facing these bosses and you have some pretty tough opponents on your hands and I always really liked that about XII even now as a 20 year vet I am coming across Esper boss battles and I can't for the life of me remember who is weak to what or what they use against me and it's enticing and challenging rather than me just steaming over them because of my experience, new players should envy this approach and understand it is okay to lose to a boss and either change up some Gambits or come back later with a new strat.

The Hunts are imo sub-bosses most of the mid level Hunts around marks 20 onwards become sub-bosses, they are all unique and some will absolutely kick your ass either because you need a certain strategy to beat them, they have ample amounts of HP and do tons of damage OR because the terrain in which you find them has enemies that also spawn in giving the hunt an at home advantage. All this adds upto a ridiculously good challenge which requires gambit selection aswell as what Arms and shields to bear if any. Really love the introduction of marks and I love that even today in FFXVI they are still a prominent feature that is still being fleshed out and making the games more challenging and rewarding for taking the time to do these mini bosses, the rewards are sometimes exceptional.

Espers:
FFXII introduced a new type of summoning into the franchise and one I can't say I really use much at all if at all.
After obtaining our first Esper some 10-15 hours into the game we get our first Esper and similar to how it felt near 20 years ago...they're just no good. They run off of their own script of Gambits which I believe get better the further through your license boards you get (I could be wrong) allowing them to have some really powerful spells and defenses in place for when you summon them. An Esper within FFXII removes all of the party except the member which summoned so for example Vaan summons all party is removed and Vaan and the Esper run around the world map either until time is up or the Esper is defeated and upon reaching the limit the Esper will use an Ultimate move that I think has a good radius I can't say I don't use them enough and basically does a metricfuckton of damage to all in range and then you get your party back. It can be good if you wanna sponge some boss damage but all in all it's a waste of a feature.


Quickenings:
What the hell was the point in these, you just watch the same selection of quickenings over and over again depending on how fast you can react to either shuffle the quickening line up or select a follow up from the selection as you watch the same move on repeat over and over and over...such a boring feature and the damage can be bonkers but they can also do jackshit at times too. Weird feature that never came back after XII and I for one can see why...moving on.

Overall:FFXII:TZA
Is a gorgeous remaster of the OG 06' edition of the game with new ways to play aswell as a few changes to stats aswell as treasure layout, which are very welcome. Gameplay is enhanced allowing party members to spam high level spells whereas in the ps2 version there was always a delay probably due to loading and technical issues from the technology.

The story is fantastic, the world is still beautiful, the characters whilst they aren't the most unique the years have been kind to them and you do come to treasure them more (At least I have, I never liked Penelo or Balthier) however both are always in my main party to date due to their skillsets. FFXII seemingly just doesn't get old, the formula is rich and it works even in todays modern era of how games should be and that is what more and more game dev. companies are starting to forget, it's about the quality of the game not the quantity or how fast you can push it out.

9.5/10 would recommend over most titles within FF series.

Played on the PS2 originally with the US version. Was fun then and is fun now even with the international class system. Quality of life features got put in as well to make this single player MMO a bit nicer. Good fun to play the 100 trials especially towards the end.