Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

[Reprise]

My copy of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age just arrived today, 3 days early. Pretty sweet. I'm excited to play it again. I always felt like the game felt way more awesome than X in terms of its world, story and characters but the battle system turned me off massively, since I was so used to turn based combat in RPGs at the time, meaning I never bothered to finish it.

It looks like they made major changes and upgrades in this remaster, so it'll be cool to give it another chance.

Any fans of XII here? Anyone ever finish it and have any thoughts? Anyone excited to play the remaster?

[Kuruwin]

Not really game that i want to replay again. I did kinda like it despite the battle system and the story really taking hit because Matsuno left the production. It's alright but there's not really anything there to warrant a second playthrough for me.

[Xeogred]

I'm very excited about this remaster. FFXII is the Anti-FF13+(15 etc). It has SO much content and customization for party AI control. You can control anyone on the fly. Typical of a Matsuno game, the gameplay is dense. The world is awesome and alive. It's a jam packed PS2 marvel and even the vanilla version to this day looks remarkable.

It is however the one main FF I never finished. It does have pacing issues because Matsuno wasn't around for the entire project, I think. You sometimes go like 10 hours plus in between story segments, so sometimes it was a little hard to keep going.

And that's where the HD fast forward feature comes in! I think that will make it way more manageable and grinding actually fun.

Then there's the whole job system with the international release and this version. Very excited to see the differences.

I believe they basically eliminated a lot of loading screens and such too in this remaster. And did some tweaking on the map.

For all its flaws I still think FFXII is fantastic and destroys a lot of JRPG's that came out afterwards. FFX was a blast a second time around and even made me do a turn around on my opinions on it, now I'm a fan. I think even more work was put into this remaster that will make it an even better and more refined experience than before and I want to finish it this time.

[Reprise]

Well I just finished Nier Automata today and chose the option to wipe my save data at end, so yeah, I'm done. I've nearly finished Persona 5 I believe as well, so it looks like FFXII is my next big RPG I'll be playing through.

I started playing this afternoon and it looks phenomenal on the PS4. To be fair, the original on the PS2 wowed me at the time too.

The pacing sounds worrying, but I had no idea that there is a HD fast forward feature, Xeogred. What is it?

[Xeogred]

You can just speed up the gameplay like Chrono Cross' NG+ or something. This feature has been in a lot of new FF ports, like FF4 on PSP, and I think the newer Steam/PS4 releases of FF7-FF9 have this. It would eliminate slow grinding.

There is one part in particular early on with these giant towers in the desert that could feel like a slog and is a pretty long part. Otherwise don't let my nitpick ruin it for you. Did you like Xenoblade? I don't like MMO's and I know this style of combat can be hit or miss, but I appreciate that FF12 is pretty complex and lets you customize so much with the AI and parameters of battles.

The story/characters don't end up being a highlight, but hey... it's a beautiful thing compared to the putrid messes that are FF13 and FF15.

[Reprise]

You can just speed up the gameplay like Chrono Cross' NG+ or something. This feature has been in a lot of new FF ports, like FF4 on PSP, and I think the newer Steam/PS4 releases of FF7-FF9 have this. It would eliminate slow grinding.

Ah, I haven't played those (well, apart from the PS4 release of FF7). Haha hence my ignorance on the feature I guess.

There is one part in particular early on with these giant towers in the desert that could feel like a slog and is a pretty long part.

Oh, now I remember that part...

Did you like Xenoblade? I don't like MMO's and I know this style of combat can be hit or miss, but I appreciate that FF12 is pretty complex and lets you customize so much with the AI and parameters of battles.

I've only played Xenoblade Chronicles (and X) to be honest, but liked it quite a bit. I didn't like Chronicles X.

[Xeogred]

Xenoblade is the main comparison I usually think of when it comes to the combat. Maybe some Phantasy Star Online as well? Though I think I remember that one having more button inputs... Dragon Age kind of comes to mind too. Not a huge fan, but I liked Inquisition a fair bit. It still seems like FF12 gives you way more creative control with the party AI and parameters you can set though, so that's cool.

I'd say that's a plus if you enjoyed Xenoblade, should up your chances of enjoying FF12 and especially now since you're not expecting turn based like your first time haha.

I also have to say that composer Hitoshi Sakimoto has grown on me a lot over the years since I originally played FF12. So I'm excited to go back to this with a bigger appreciation for him.

Funds are pretty low now though so I'm not sure when I'll get this.... but I'll be curious on your updates and other impressions.

[Sarge]

FFXII had a lot more scripting options than Xenoblade, but I enjoyed the combat in Xenoblade more. It seemed a bit faster and more visceral, doing all your cooldown moves and stuff, and I liked how positioning really factored in.

Honestly, the world of FFXII sometimes feels pretty empty. Not from a graphical standpoint, because it looks good, and the world is plenty cohesive. But too often, there's just not much incentive to really explore areas. It always felt like any loot I found wasn't worth it.

Prooooobably not real popular, but I actually enjoyed FFXIII more. And we all know its flaws, too. XII ain't bad, though.

[Segata]

Looking to get it next month. I did have the steelbook pre ordered but had to cancel so I will settle for the regular edition in August. I loved the game on PS2. Look forward to play it in HD.

[MrPopo]

I really don't know when I'm going to get around to playing it. I'm excited about the job system to make the characters a bit more interesting and focused, but I still need to finish Trails in the Sky trilogy and then probably Nier Automata before doing FFXII.