Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

[Obsidian Fire]

That is going to be nice. Having multiple Gambit sets was the one thing it felt like it was missing.

 

[Lulcielid]

I've been booting the game for the past hour and yet I don't see the update on PS4...

 

[Cannon_Fodder]

I wasn't aware this was a thing on other consoles, so this is a completely pleasant surprise. I was thinking of going back to XII after Remake and this makes that decision a lot easier.

 

[ForceStealer]

I've been booting the game for the past hour and yet I don't see the update on PS4...

Any luck? I couldn't test yesterday but I just tried now and it updated immediately

 

[LNK]

Finally opened the Zodiac Age version on ps4. I forgot just how much side content there was for this game.

 

[Fade]

So I finally got around to playing ZA after it came to PC and, man, I'd forgotten how much I liked XII. I was super excited for its release and it's so nice to see it vindicated by history. It was definitely ahead of its time, but I feel Zodiac Age really brings out its full potential -- it's like a wishlist of things I wanted in there when I first played through the game. Controlling espers! Job system! Unlocked Gambits! And so on.

It also has by far my favourite incarnation of a "world map" in FF. Sacrilege to choose it over the classic style, I guess? But even so, the crazy amount of ways you can go off the beaten track in the early stages of the game and the unique personality of each area is just...*chef's kiss*. And the ability to access so many challenging areas and bosses early is so cool. It also has a sense of scale no other FF (that I've played, anyway) has really captured. Ivalice might be one of the only FF settings to actually feel like it occupies a world close in size to our own.

Gotta say, though, that the viera are still embarrassing garbage, and Fran might be the worst of 'em. Turns out, slapping a playboy bunny skin over them doesn't make boring elf tropes any more exciting. At least the Cleyrans were fun about living in a tree.

Also, XII moogles best moogles. Should've used them instead of the lallafel for XIV -- while I'm on the subject of embarrassing garbage!

 

[Wol]

So I finally got around to playing ZA after it came to PC and, man, I'd forgotten how much I liked XII. I was super excited for its release and it's so nice to see it vindicated by history. It was definitely ahead of its time, but I feel Zodiac Age really brings out its full potential -- it's like a wishlist of things I wanted in there when I first played through the game. Controlling espers! Job system! Unlocked Gambits! And so on.

It also has by far my favourite incarnation of a "world map" in FF. Sacrilege to choose it over the classic style, I guess? But even so, the crazy amount of ways you can go off the beaten track in the early stages of the game and the unique personality of each area is just...*chef's kiss*. And the ability to access so many challenging areas and bosses early is so cool. It also has a sense of scale no other FF (that I've played, anyway) has really captured. Ivalice might be one of the only FF settings to actually feel like it occupies a world close in size to our own.

Gotta say, though, that the viera are still embarrassing garbage, and Fran might be the worst of 'em. Turns out, slapping a playboy bunny skin over them doesn't make boring elf tropes any more exciting. At least the Cleyrans were fun about living in a tree.

Also, XII moogles best moogles. Should've used them instead of the lallafel for XIV -- while I'm on the subject of embarrassing garbage!

You had me there until the Vieras are garbage bit.

 

[Fade]

Look, I'm willing to give them some credit: it must be hard work to look so ridiculous while being so boring.

 

[Wol]

Look, I'm willing to give them some credit: it must be hard work to look so ridiculous while being so boring.

Ridiculousy sexy, with a bored aloofness expression. I like it.

That's why they are the master race.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

What's hilarious is that they don't look excessively sexy to each other.

 

[GokaiWhite]

This is thanks to my friend ArtPulse! So glad to know he shares my personal tastes and appreciation for Vaan.

 

[Torrie]

Soooo I've finally installed FFXIIZA on my PC and I'm going to give it a shot very soon. Have never played it before, started watching someone's playthrough some time ago but gave it up pretty quickly because it was a little too boring to simply witness this game without being involved. So I hope to be commenting on it a bit as I play, starting within the following month.

 

[Torrie]

Oh my, oh my, I've finally started it! As soon as I got to the main menu and the FF theme started playing, I instantly got wet eyes. It was the exact same feeling as many years ago when I began playing FF9 for the very first time. Back in the day, it took me a good 20 min to simply force myself to stop listening to that extraordinary music and watching the introduction of the characters and finally start a new game. So FF12 feels very nostalgic in this sense, because it's all about steampunk and medieval wars, but at the same time its darker and more realistic approach gives a completely new impression.

Actually, starting this game was a bit of a fight. First, with my PC because it had an issue with a .dll file. Then, with controls, because I can't relearn to use O as a confirm, not a cancel button and keep making mistakes. And I can't stop trying to move the camera with the L/R buttons which don't work in this game. Old habits die hard! It also turned out, my controller is a bit too simple and old. It doesn't have a touch pad, I can't do anything with the map as there's supposed to be an L/R 3 button which I don't have either (what the?..) And third, as soon as I was able to control Vaan, the cutscenes and the gameplay slowed down to an incredibly annoying extent. It was a bit weird to see, because the first episode was absolutely smooth. I should probably play with the settings, but it's getting late and I'm tired. Maybe another time.

 

[Wol]

XII has one of the best realized worlds in the franchise. Its engrossing in every sense, its visually rich and packed with content + amazing presentation. My longest playtime in a single-player FF by far.

For some reason, the Ivalice games makes me especially nostalgic, because of its specific style and music (Hashimoto is the culprit, mostly).

Here's hoping you enjoy as much as I did!

 

[Torrie]

Here's hoping you enjoy as much as I did!

Thank you! The start was very enjoyable for sure. Exceptionally good storytelling and lovable characters. Even if people keep hating on Vaan, at the end of the day he's just a kid who loves exploring the world (don't we all?) and a dreamer. Penelo is sensible and charming. I'm looking forward to meeting the others!

 

[Torrie]

as soon as I was able to control Vaan, the cutscenes and the gameplay slowed down to an incredibly annoying extent

Well, playing in the lowest quality graphic mode didn't really help, and the in-game cutscenes as well as all the strolling around were still twitchy and slow-mo. Perhaps the first chapter was only slightly better but not significantly, it's just that I didn't pay much attention. Then I simply decided to check the system requirements again. Turned out that I had overlooked that my graphics card was a bit too old even for the minimal settings. Ahh my sweet naivety and hopes to get by with outdated hardware Guess I'll have to upgrade my PC soon...

 

[cold_spirit]

Will put my FFXII playthrough thoughts here.

• Not gonna lie, this whole time I thought Ashe married Reks. Didn't know her husband was a whole 'nother character. Pardon my confusion, too many anime boys die in the first hour! I thought Ashe and Vaan shared a connection because of that! And that's how Vaan gets caught up in everything! Guess that never really made sense, I mean why would Vaan be so poor then. Anyway, the more you know!
• What a fetching intro lmao. There's a wedding and a funeral, most stories would call it a day there
• I went with the PS2 soundtrack. Figured since the voice recording quality sounds like they're talking into a wall at times, then might as well use the retro music to match
• As suspected I prefer vanilla XII's license board. To elaborate, I've made Vaan a Shikari and right now he has passives that restore MP, but he's not going to learn any magicks til mid/late game. I've got MP just sitting around not being used. This wouldn't be a problem in vanilla XII as I'd be able to set up gambits for some low-level black or green magick. Furthermore, I can tell the game wasn't initially made with jobs in mind since the jobs are lacking in flavor. Right now the flow of battle is just attack-attack-cure, even though my characters all have different jobs and I'm twelve hours in. A great example of a game that features distinct jobs is FFX. The characters in X each played a vital role in turning the tide of battle. In contrast, I looked at the Bushi board and it seemed real basic until maybe late game. So far, XII's job system is this weird middle ground where it's not exactly open or focused, fails to highlight meaningful job differences in the early game, and ultimately feels unsatisfying to me
• Just got to the sandsea FMV. I dub this part "the XII zone". Every mechanic has seemingly opened up and the gang is all together

 

[cold_spirit]

• Link to my first post about my playthrough in the "What games are you currently playing?" thread, just to keep it all together
• I got a bit bummed when Ashe joined the party because I knew she'd be stealing the spotlight for the rest of the game. Up until that point XII did good job putting me in Vaan's "orphan of war", "wanna-be sky pirate" perspective. Already there's been two scenes where Ashe is the central character and Vaan is just standing around gasping. It's not that Ashe's story is bad, I just wish they stuck with one character as the main focus
• The difficulty is ridiculously easy. Guess the devs wanted to make sure the game could be beaten even if a player picked like all white mages or something, especially considering resetting the license board was added way later. Another plus for the vanilla version in my book, which I remember being a good challenge
• Continuing with how easy the game is, the merchants outside Raithwall sure do hype up that Garuda boss fight, claiming it'll likely lead to my doom or whatever. They even allude to a sad sidequest that'll allow you to weaken Garuda, which I only discovered after the fact. They even make you save your game beforehand! I was ready for a good fight. Pfft, that thing went down in under a minute. The most it did was put Fran to sleep, which I just countered by attacking her with Balthier. Attacking my own allies! No threat whatsoever. I'm told I gotta do the hunts/esper fights if I want any sort of challenge, which I'm not a fan of. I prefer the main story to be challenging and the side content to be extra challenging
• Finally found a way to add some variety to the combat by placing a black and white mage in my active team. With mages, their gambits are more complex and their heavy MP usage adds a much needed resource management element. Previously my team consisted of a shikari, machinist, and archer, and all that attack power was just curb stomping monsters. Thinking of making my final team consist of a black mage, white mage, and time battlemage
• I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining about XII too much. I've got issues, sure, but overall this is an expertly made game

 

[Fangu]

Guess the devs wanted to make sure the game could be beaten even if a player picked like all white mages or something

I actually did this, and yep, it's by far doable

I was ready for a good fight. Pfft, that thing went down in under a minute.

It's the same with Garuda in speedruns. That thing is completely weak to the Dark element. Blink and you'll miss it

Spoiler: If time thingy doesn't work it's around 1:53:00

Edit: I see you're into speedrunning so you might have seen this, but, anyway

I'm enjoying your writeups

 

[Fangu]

I felt inspired to play XII again, the easiest was TZA. I've now just finished the Sky Pirate's Den, that's a first for me. Was actually just missing purchasing the Espers in the License Board Now to fish or not to fish... that's pretty much what I have left to do. ...except getting a few tedious weapons in vanilla. Oh well.

 

[Strangelove]

i played two version of this game (original jpn and international zodiac job system) and i don't think i ever did any fishing, i can't remember it at all.

if i ever get around to getting a copy of tza maybe i will finally fish

 

[Fangu]

It's kind of a hidden minigame but you need to finish it to get the Wyrmhero Blade (in the original)

(In TZA (and I'm guessing IZJS too) it can be stolen in the Trials apparently)

 

[cold_spirit]

I'm enjoying your writeups

Aw thanks!

I have this week off so I've been been able to make lots of progress. Just me, XII, and the Australian heat. Updates will be way more sporadic soon.

• Finally found XII's difficulty at Ozmone Plains. It took 18 hours folks, but we got it. For the first time my archer wasn't outputting enough healing to keep up with demands. Had to swap in my white mage. Would swap over to my black mage to deal with the hordes of werewolves, who were weak to wind. Relied on my archer and machinist when fighting against flying enemies. By the end I was barely hanging on having spent all my MP and potions. Good stuff
• I had it built up in my mind that XII was this super cereal, no-nonsense FF, but I'm actually finding it to be surprisingly whimsical. For example, escaping the Nalbina Dungeons. Vaan, Balthier, and Fran just kinda... follow Gabranth to Basch. Like, they're hardly sneaky about it. The party starts fighting soldiers as soon as the cutscenes end. The sound of people dying should be loud as heck!
• Furthermore, when escaping the Dreadnought Leviathan, the party steals a ship and avoids detection by... flying slower. You'd think the Dreadnought Leviathan would have better security systems installed that'd allow it to track such rowdy convicts. The Archadian Imperial Army is proving to be about as competent as Star Wars' storm troopers. There's definitely some level of "just roll with it" going on, which is fine, I just don't remember it at all
• Really interested to see where Vaan and Ashe's shared experience of seeing Rasler is going in the story. That connection has gotta be why I thought Reks and Rasler were the same person lol

 

[cold_spirit]

• I cannot believe the International Zodiac Job System version of FF12 did not have a job reset feature. Buyers of The Zodiac Age wouldn't receive this feature until 2018 at the earliest. Two reasons. Firstly, FF12 performs the cardinal sin of making you choose a job with no way of experimenting with them beforehand. Oh you made Vaan a machinist and found out his stats are better suited for literally anything else? Too bad sucka. Not interested in how measurements work either? Guess you just gotta start a new game. Secondly, the license board starts to get super interesting with its esper and quickening "bridging" nodes. The "island" nodes those bridges give access to can totally change the impact of a class, but this complexity isn't clear until late game. Luckily, FF12 is my brother's favorite FF, so I received a few explanations on how this all works way before I could apply the knowledge. The job reset feature goes a long way to alleviate or eliminate these issues. Just been thinking about this because I made Fran an archer, so I have the option to expand her innate white magick with Cura and Raise. And I was just like "wow, that's really cool and I'm also really glad I'm not permanently locked to that"
• There were two Tourmaline Rings and a Frost Shield in the chests outside of the Stilshrine of Miriam. My gamer sense is telling me that the ice esper boss fight is coming up haha

Spoiler: A story about Mt. Bur-Omisace

A friend accidently spoiled for me that Mt. Bur-Omisace gets attacked by the empire. Here's the conversation, basically:

"How far are you?"
"I'm at Mt. Bur-Omisace."
"Nice. I stopped playing after the refugees get slaughtered."
"The refugees get slaughtered?"
"I thought you said you're at Mt. Bur-Omisace?"
"Haha, yeah, I just got there."

Luckily it wasn't that much of a dramatic moment. It just sorta happens and the party moves on, so at least we got a quick laugh out of it

 

[cold_spirit]

Really wish the gambit system allowed for AND statements. Right now gambits are like one big OR statement. If ally is KO, then use Phoenix Down, OR if ally is poisoned, then use Antidote. This works well enough, but I'm finding instances where I'd like to expand the logic. For example, if foe is fire-weak AND character MP is greater than 50%, then cast Fira, OR if foe is fire-weak, then cast Fire.

I even know exactly how I'd implement it. There could be an AND toggle for each gambit. When activated, the gambit's action becomes empty and inaccessible. However, it becomes visually grouped with the gambit immediately following it. The second gambit's condition and action are still accessible, so when something satisfies both conditions, the action is performed.

Furthermore, the second gambit's AND toggle could activated, allowing you chain AND conditions indefinitely. Here's to hoping for a sequel or spiritual successor where they can iterate on this stuff.