FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE

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.

I love this game. I never got to beat the original, and was skeptical about the TZA version of the game, but its honestly pretty great.
The job system which 'reworks' some of the license boards, and sets them to specific licenses really helped with choice paralysis and helps to narrow down builds and how you want character's to work. I recommend doing some research into gambit setups (programming your character to do certain things in specific scenarios).
Overall 8/10. I have not completed a playthrough on the steam version, but I am about 20 hours or so on the Switch version- and I cannot recommend people to give it a try more.

Zodiac Age is a rebalanced and improved version of the original, and the decisions made are smart ones that improve the experience for customization and encounters.

As for FFXII itself, love it. The story is sufficient - lacks the hammy "opera" or metaphorical feeling of other installments (which I prefer honestly) for a more pragmatic sociological observation - and shows the perspectives of various characters and how they interact with a civil war after an invasion.

Gameplay is supplemented by the Gambit system, where you can pre-program your characters prior to battle so you don't have to smash your knuckles a hundred times using the same moves on high-HP fantasy monsters.

A few examples:

-If Ally HP < 80%, Cast Cura
-If MP < 10%, use Charge (mana restoring ability)
-If Foe: Flying, Cast Thunder
-If 4+ Foes, Cast Thundara
-If Ally: Blind, Cast Blindna
-Enemy HP: Least, Attack

Tons of other options exist. It lets you set your strategy and watch it unfold! Best combat system of the series in my opinion, and I'm a long-time fan.

One of the best Final Fantasy games I have ever played. Final Fantasy X and X2 are my other favorites.

Both as a completionist, and as someone looking for the magic of the PS1 FF titles, I cannot recommend this game.

The combat is pretty fun and unique. In a way feels like coding little programs. But ultimately everything is either too easy and you're just running around on autopilot, or fights are too difficult and you micromanage everything anyway.

Like in true final fantasy fashion its basically impossible to do side quests and achievements without search engines and strategy guides. Which is fine except you're constantly navigating menus and loading screens which lead to more menus and loading screens and so on and so forth. Felt more like data entry than playing a game.

Story wise I just could not feel myself becoming invested in the world, it's inhabitants or the protagonists. Meh.

Final Fantasy XII is straight fire. This game is so lit, packed with depth in every part of the gameplay. The combat feels like you're playing an MMO, with strategy and real-time action perfectly mixed. And the story? Following a kid from Rabanastre through political intrigue and war is just chef’s kiss. If you're looking for something immersive with complex systems and an epic storyline, this game delivers big time. 10/10 Perfect RPG Elements, Having 2 classes is crazy. Amazing game

Brother always talked about this game of the FF franchise, never gave it a shot until 2024 and I totally understand why he loved the game. Even now it's still a lot of fun to play, the battle system is fun and well all round a great game.

Please add an option (or dlc) to use the original PS2 textures

I've played all the versions of this game, and this is my favorite. The job system is a nice change from the original, which allowed you to give all the characters every ability. The game looks good, and plays great on my machine. It's also one of my favorite from the series... it's pretty great.

I got this game for the ps2 back then, i went to buy prince of persia trilogy but it was missing the third game so they told me to choose any game from the store and the art cover looked cool so i picked this game, i hadnt played any final fantasy game before nor any turn based and i couldnt read english for shit back then so i never got to play it that much, so i tried it again and i still dont like this shit.

But back then the cutscenes from this game were fucking beautiful, too bad i can't appreciate it.

A bit of a hot take but this is definitely my favorite mainline Final Fantasy game

While the cast outside of maybe Balthier and Fran are a bit dull, the game more than makes up with it's grand storytelling, rich world building, exploration and unique battle system.

The world of ivalice feels very much alive and not to mention HUGE!! You can clearly see amount of care put into crafting this world with its lore and setting, each area and city feels very much alive and while the game is not open world, the areas are huge and you are free to explore places as you please, especially after a certain dungeon and that's where the game really opens up. This game rewards exploration and it helps to flesh out the world

Combat is also unique and enjoyable, combat is in real time and you can directly control your party's AI with very specific coded commands via gambits.

While the main cast may be a bit bland and dull, the story is amazing. It's a grand tale filled with immersive world building as well as a story centered around geopolitics and war and your party finds themselves in the center of this massive conflict. I found the story very grand and enjoyable, but I do admit those who prefer more character driven stories may not enjoy it as much

Overall Final Fantasy XII is definitely a must play, espcially to any fan of RPGs, 9.5/10 for me

The Zodiac Age is the best update for the license board. It makes the game more fun and challenging. I would buy it.

It's just too old. Trying to get the game to launch was an adventure in and of itself. The gameplay is simply too old to be interesting to me. I've only ever played FF 7 on the original play station, and while it was fun, this is too dated to be fun.

Pretty Good. 3rd best in the series up to it.

Was great for what I was able to play, but after an hour the motion sickness was too much,

Not a very great experience after trying to play it multiple times, kept freezing when I would try to use the menu and then give me a runtime crash report. Hopefully this issue is fixed in the future and I might try this game out again. Already beat it on the console so I have love for this game.

Its story is like Star Wars in a Final Fantasy world.
Its characters are lovable, because its synchronisation is top notch.
Its gameplay is like Final Fantasy XI Online "single player", but you can actually "program" your team members.
Its whole package is one of the best Final Fantasys.

I have 100% this a few years ago, getting impossible-to-get chests and fighting impossible-to-beat super bosses, but I come back to it from time to time to watch the final battle and listen to the sound track... I cannot resist. Clash at the big bridge, anyone?

I absolutely love the gambit system. Combat is quick, seamless, and fun in this installment. Vaan and the storyline in general kind of suck but I really had fun with the combat system and doing the hunts.

Its older school Final Fantasy, you can't really go wrong with that.
Only one I never played through like 20 times.
Only played through once when it released years ago on Playstation.
It's like playing a brand new game after all these years and it has been fun so far.

【English & Spanish】


➥ English review:

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age stands as a masterclass in game design, bringing together a world of political intrigue, vast landscapes, and innovative gameplay mechanics. It’s a game that defies easy categorization, blending traditional JRPG elements with real-time strategy and an open-world ethos that feels both expansive and intimate. The Zodiac Age, a remastered version of the original, refines the experience even further, polishing what was already a groundbreaking title into something that feels timeless.

Set in the war-torn land of Ivalice, the story immerses players in a deeply layered tale of betrayal, ambition, and survival. This isn’t a simple narrative of good versus evil. Instead, Final Fantasy XII invites you into a web of political tension and personal motives, making you question the morality of each character's decisions. At its heart is Ashe, the deposed princess fighting to reclaim her throne, and Vaan, a young man caught up in events far bigger than he ever imagined. However, it’s the broader ensemble cast—characters like Balthier, the sky pirate with charm to spare, and Fran, his mysterious and loyal companion—that truly shine, each bringing depth and diversity to the story. The interplay between personal goals and larger political forces creates a narrative that is as rich as it is unpredictable.

The real star of The Zodiac Age, however, is its battle system. In a departure from previous entries, the game uses a dynamic Gambit system, allowing players to customize their party’s AI, leading to battles that feel smooth, strategic, and highly customizable. The Zodiac Job System adds an even deeper layer of customization, giving players the freedom to assign jobs and abilities in a way that feels personal and tailored to their playstyle. It’s a refreshing take that blends the tactical depth of traditional turn-based systems with the fluidity of real-time combat, striking a balance between control and strategy.

Visually, The Zodiac Age is a marvel. The remaster enhances the already beautiful environments of Ivalice, making its vast cities and sprawling deserts even more breathtaking. The level of detail in each area makes the world feel alive and lived in, from the bustling streets of Rabanastre to the desolate, windswept expanses of the Dalmasca desert. The remastered score by Hitoshi Sakimoto breathes new life into the game, its orchestral arrangements perfectly complementing the game’s epic scale and emotional depth.

In terms of content, The Zodiac Age is overflowing with activities. From hunting rare monsters to exploring hidden dungeons, the game constantly rewards curiosity and exploration. The side quests and hidden challenges add layers of depth that extend the game’s lifespan far beyond the main narrative, ensuring that even after the credits roll, there’s still much to discover.

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is a testament to the power of reinvention. It honors the legacy of the original while refining and expanding its systems, making it one of the most complete and rewarding experiences in the series.

With its political intrigue, complex characters, and revolutionary gameplay, this remaster secures a well-deserved 9.5/10, proving that even after all these years, Final Fantasy XII remains a monumental achievement in gaming.

➥ Reseña en español:

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age es una obra maestra del diseño de videojuegos, que combina una narrativa política profunda, vastos paisajes y mecánicas de juego innovadoras. Este título se aparta de las convenciones típicas de los JRPG, ofreciendo una experiencia que mezcla estrategia en tiempo real con la exploración de un mundo abierto que se siente tan extenso como detallado. La versión remasterizada, The Zodiac Age, eleva aún más esta joya, puliendo lo que ya era un juego revolucionario y haciéndolo sentir eterno.

Ambientado en la turbulenta tierra de Ivalice, el juego introduce al jugador en una trama cargada de traiciones, ambiciones y conflictos. Lejos de ser una simple historia de héroes y villanos, Final Fantasy XII te envuelve en un complejo juego de tensiones políticas y motivaciones personales. En el centro de la trama se encuentra Ashe, la princesa destronada que lucha por recuperar su reino, junto a Vaan, un joven atrapado en una situación mucho más grande de lo que esperaba. Sin embargo, es el elenco más amplio de personajes, como Balthier, el carismático pirata del cielo, y su misteriosa compañera Fran, lo que realmente brilla, aportando profundidad y diversidad a la historia. Las relaciones entre estos personajes y las decisiones morales que enfrentan hacen que la narrativa sea rica y sorprendente.

Pero el verdadero protagonista de The Zodiac Age es su sistema de combate. En una ruptura con las entregas anteriores, el juego introduce el sistema Gambit, que permite personalizar la inteligencia artificial de los compañeros de equipo para que luchen de forma estratégica. El sistema de trabajos Zodiac añade otra capa de personalización, dando a los jugadores la libertad de asignar roles y habilidades a sus personajes de manera flexible y satisfactoria. Esta mecánica logra un equilibrio perfecto entre control táctico y fluidez, lo que resulta en un combate ágil y profundamente estratégico.

Visualmente, The Zodiac Age es espectacular. El remaster mejora los impresionantes entornos de Ivalice, haciendo que las ciudades y desiertos se vean más deslumbrantes que nunca. Cada rincón del mundo está lleno de detalles, desde las bulliciosas calles de Rabanastre hasta las vastas arenas del desierto de Dalmasca. La banda sonora, reimaginada por Hitoshi Sakimoto, aporta una nueva vida al juego con arreglos orquestales que acompañan a la perfección la magnitud épica y la carga emocional de la historia.

El contenido es otro de sus puntos fuertes. Desde la caza de monstruos raros hasta la exploración de mazmorras ocultas, The Zodiac Age recompensa la curiosidad y la exploración. Las misiones secundarias y desafíos ocultos añaden una capa adicional de profundidad que extiende la vida útil del juego mucho más allá de la historia principal, asegurando que siempre haya algo nuevo por descubrir.

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age es un ejemplo claro de cómo reinventar un clásico. Respeta la esencia del original mientras mejora sus sistemas y los expande, haciendo que esta versión sea una de las más completas y satisfactorias de la saga.

Con su intriga política, personajes complejos y un sistema de juego revolucionario, esta remasterización se gana con creces un merecido 9.5/10, demostrando que, incluso después de todos estos años, Final Fantasy XII sigue siendo un logro monumental en el mundo de los videojuegos.