Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

I recently decided that, since I constantly want to replay each individual Final Fantasy game but never seem to think I have time, I’m going to dedicate 2025 to replaying all of the Final Fantasy games in one go. So, this is the first installment of my Final Fantasy retrospective.
I kicked this project off with the most logical game in the series to start with: Final Fantasy XII.
The first (and only) time I’ve played this one was fifteen-ish years ago on the original PS2 hardware. You might think that would make me a prime candidate to compare the Steam/Zodiac Age version with the OG release… but years of obliterating my braincells with mind-altering substances has left me with very few memories of my first playthrough. Seriously, I didn’t remember the second half of the game at all. Basically, this was like playing a brand-new game.
What I do remember from my time with it before was that I liked it. That still holds true after this playthrough. Sure, the story veers into ridiculousness by the end of the game and few of the characters hold a special place in my heart… Nothing has changed about that. But the world of Ivalice is fucking awesome, as always. And the Star-Wars-y tone of the story works better than one might expect. Most importantly, however, this game succeeds in what is arguably the most important aspect that any game can hope to succeed in: it’s a lot of fun to play.
Unlike the offline games that bookend this one (X and XIII), exploration is not only possible but encouraged. Instead of being linear like those others, this is as open-world as one could reasonably expect a Final Fantasy game from this generation to be. The maps are huge and they’re full of hidden areas, secret treasures, and elite monsters.
Thankfully, I still loved the battle system in this one. It’s much different than any other Final Fantasy. And even though this one could most easily be compared to the online games in the series, it’s not really like those, either. Autobattle is the focus of this one so, by the time the player opens up all of the options available to them, it’s more akin to an idle or automation game. The player sets the possible actions of the characters with things called “gambits” (essentially, “if-then” statements) and, if the player did it right, the party gets to work whooping everything’s ass without direct input from the player. Of course, if your gambits are poorly planned, the player gets to sit back and watch their party get their shit pushed in. This might not sound like a lot of fun when I explain it like that but I super-promise that it is.
The fact that it’s still fun is partly due to the quality-of-life improvements that have been made since the original release. (I guess I do remember some stuff about my first playthrough, after all...) The game now autosaves every time the player crosses over a threshold into a new zone. Plus, thanks to a fast-forward feature, the game now runs in double time, so backtracking isn’t as painful as it once was. (And there is an option in the settings to double that speed so that the game runs at quadruple time. I didn’t play like that because of my slow reaction time but the option is available for more sober players.)
Honestly, it was really cool to look back at this one because, while there have been some improvements made to bring it up to speed with modern games, a lot of the features in the game were there in the original version. The fast travel, map system, and hunts all feel right at home with the modern crop of RPGs. There are some features missing (like accessing the fast travel menu from anywhere or pinning the details of a hunt to the HUD) but it was a little unbelievable to see how close Square Enix was to making a game that was up to today’s standards in 2006. What I’m trying to say is that, in terms of gameplay, this game might hold up the best out of all the classic Final Fantasy games.
If you don’t mind that this is one of the weaker games in terms of story, then it is absolutely worth a playthrough. After playing it again, I’m still comfortable with this one falling into my top five favorite Final Fantasy games. Just know that what you’re getting with this one is totally unlike what you’ll get with other early games in the series. But, if you’re looking for another JRPG with modern sensibilities to play but haven’t played this one, give it a shot. You might be pleasantly surprised like I was.

Had 100+ hours on my old PS2 in 2009/2010. Then it broke and started playing again on PCSX2 in 2011, and my father started playing too on his save file. The game is so good it helped my father stop smoking for 3 months after smoking 20 years 2 packs a day. It is the last game my father finished from start. Had to play it again. Might be my favorite PS2 game. And dont believe Ondore lies!

One of the better Final Fantasy games. Despite its age (the original game is from the PS2 era) the gameplay and story are absolutely worth your time. The Zodiac Job System is a bit intricated and takes time to get acquainted to, but once you understand how it works you will be able to have very potent characters in your party. You cannot go wrong either, because if you don't like how a character is set up you can always undo it and try again, without restarting your run.
This is one of my most favourite games to play on the Steam Deck, which will last for about 3 hours of continued game time without tinkering with options, at constant 60 FPS.
My vote: 9/10 + STEAM DECK RECOMMENDATION

I was a teenager when I first played this game on my PS2. It felt like the coolest game ever. However, it was too hard for me at the time. I got just past the Golmore Jungle and had to give up, as I did not understand the mechanics at all. It was also the first JRPG that I played. When I saw the Zodiac Age, and finally had a PC/Laptop that could run it, I felt that I needed to finish what I started 15 years ago. Man, the nostalgia hit just the right spot, and many hours later, I had the story finished. It felt like a warm and really frustrating experience. I really enjoyed the setting, music, and characters. The game excels at building atmosphere. The characters are interesting and have a lot of potential. There is a lot of content to unpack, for people who like this genre. Sadly, I am not one of them. I really enjoyed the game for about 20 hours, and got tired of playing it afterward, but I felt like I owed it to myself and to the game itself to finish it. I assume this is to the fact that I am 30yo at the time and was never a fan of JRPGs as they are very lengthy and are based on repetitive gameplay. The story and characters, although interesting, lacked an emotional impact and development by the end of the story. I liked the combat, but I just got tired of killing things for XP/LP, also the enemy variety seemed to be based on color-swapped monsters. As I got older, I really started to dislike killing things as a progression method. Even though the game annoyed me at times, I still could not stop playing it. For some reason, it surpasses the sum of its parts for me. I would recommend it, even though I never want to play it again, or any JRPG for that matter. Mostly, I liked the atmosphere the game created.
Also, yes, it does have some inspiration from Star Wars, but it is surface level stuff. That nonsense, is mostly some cheap comments, from people that did not play the game, or just want some clout. Enjoy the game for what it is: an atmospheric, mediterranean-styled JRPG, which is rich in content and surely fun gameplay for fans of the genre.
I would give it a 8.5/10
It is probably in the 7.5-8/10 range though

A remaster of a 2006 title and one of my personal favourites of the series. Great value for money with hours of content to keep you entertained
Pros
Story: The main story follows a small group of characters as they attempt to prevent the destruction of their kingdom by two warring empires. An underdog story full of betrayal and sacrifice with the typical Final Fantasy story elements of Crystals, Gods and Kingdoms.
The cutscenes also give plenty of insight on how the main antagonist gathers power in preparation for the final battle whilst also leaving the final act a mystery.

Characters: The group consists of 6 characters with largely opposite backgrounds ; Vaan & Penelo, the streetrat orphans; Fran & Balthier, the skypirate duo; and finally Basch & Ashe, the fallen knight and his queen. Though Ashe and Basch are the most significant part of the overall story, each feels like they have their place in the group and whilst they together somewhat early, it should be noted that Vaan is the only one played through 99% of the game.
Combat: Combat follows an Active Dimension Battle system which moves away from the traditional turn based action of the older games. As such, movement is free and the battle flows much smoother as actions are input, charged and executed for each character at the same time. Combined with the inovative gambit system and, if chosen, unpaused menu option results in battles that no longer pause every second for player input.
Music: The music, primary created by Hitoshi Sakimoto, works extremely well for each area/scenario, giving a great sense of adventure and battle. The soundtrack itself is worth listening to even when not playing the game.
Neutral
Abilities: A minor issue with FFXII is that whilst the game is fairly adaptable, there are a few problems with magick and techniques. For example, of the spells available, fire, thunder, ice and dark have 3+ tiers yet others such as Holy, Wind, Water and Earth are either missing tiers or outright not available as a skill. This can cause issues in terms of truely exploiting enemy weaknesses, however there are still other options.
Some Techniques are also pretty useless and only worth getting for the achievement as they are too weak and/or too niche for practical usage.
It should also be noted that like many JRPGs, the bosses are largely immune to status effects and some spells whilst regular enemies are too numerous and/or weak to merit using anything other than brute force. Why bother casting status ailments on an enemy dead in 3 hits? I don't think I've every used spells such as "Death" or "Sight Unseeing" as there was never a need to use them.
Limit Breaks/Quickenings: The game handles limit breaks via a reaction based minigame called "Quickenings" with the goal of chaining together as many attacks with a short time frame. For a first time playthrough, these can be quite the spectacle, however repeated use will cause them to lose their charms and you'll more often spend more time focusing on the time remaining than the visuals.
Cons
RNG: Not a huge issue for casual playthroughs, however for players looking to get the best weapons or collect everything, RNG is a large barrier. For example, one the best bows/weapons in the game requires either outright cheating or RNG manipulation with how astronomically low the odds are of acquiring it.
Word scope: One of the biggest tragedies is how large and expansive the world building is and yet only a small portion is explored. Of the two continental empires at war, one has a few visitable areas including the capital whilst the other remains a lore piece despite the huge potential.

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!

A great mainline Final Fantasy game, only a couple steps away from being the absolute best in the series.
I was fairly apprehensive heading into the game, as the 'single player mmo' descriptor for this game didn't compel me much. To be brutally honest I was even dragging my feet at the opening hours of this game. The thing about a combat system like this is that, at its lowest level of engagement, it can feel exactly as critics and detractors describe it; watching characters auto attack with next to no input from the player. Even the systems, which its true depth blooms and graces the player in time, isn't properly explained upfront, giving the player information that they wouldn't be able to fully comprehend yet. The biggest example of which, being the introduction of this game's zodiac jobs, handing you the option to choose a job for Vaan upfront, with no real in depth explanation of what each job truly does outside of a vague description, and which weapon it primarily wields. I've seen people in forums online insulting players criticizing the lack of respeccing, when personally I think it's reasonable to have choice paralysis about a decision you don't even fully understand. (Even the developers recognized this, and have since added the option.)
As my playthrough continued, the cohesion of the core gameplay slowly undressed itself; revealing a body of deep systems with the gameplay loop served from the side content, acting as the connective tissue. First of all, I don't find the comparisons to mmos to be entirely founded. In truth, this is a RTWP (Real-time With Pause) combat system; similar to some western RPGs, especially those in Bioware's ilk, such as KOTOR or Dragon Age. This style of combat is closely tied with the Gambit system, which is essentially an AI command line for all your characters. The concept of this system is another example that people use to criticize the game for playing itself, when in reality, this system, paired with well tuned, fairly challenging content, can really open up a player to scenarios full of tactical depth. If you have to put in the time and effort to achieve gambits with clockwork like efficiency, then how is it any, or at least, that much less engaging of a combat system than some of the turn based systems of previous mainline games, and the real time combat of later entries?
This is all beautifully tied together, and showcased by this game's side content, especially this game's hunts. These hunts are bounty styled side mission, giving you a mini boss to kill, sometimes with certain specifications as to how to spawn the monster. This, along with with the other side bosses are truly impressive, and expansive bits of content; revealing expanded parts of dungeons you've already completed in the main storyline, and giving you truly challenging monsters to combat throughout the game's entire runtime. Most of the previous Final Fantasy games would save the most challenging content for the end. These type of encounters not only encourages, but sometimes necessitates strategic thinking, and to simultaneously engage with the gambit system, backed up with real time tactical decision making. Some of these encounters and expanded dungeons contain weapons and armor that are far ahead of where you are in the main story, and can be gained with good use of your Zodiac table. The job system in this game includes using your job points to unlock access to items, with mind to allocate your points wisely to unlock powerful items you found early. This kind of decision making is further deepened by unlocking a second job; this means you can synergize the two jobs between a character and dynamically allocate points in one job to open up different parts of the table of your other job.
The hunts and sidequests in this game takes all these potent systems, and ties them all neatly into a cohesive whole, providing a flavorful experience. The design team confidently carried this sole gameplay loop for the entire game, which is quite refreshing compared the four previous mainline Final Fantasy game, that was filled with a lot of mini games to extend playtime.
Unfortunately, all of these great aspects, mixed with the sheer expansiveness of the game world, comes at the cost of pacing. The story itself is steeped in political intrigue, and moments play out with subtlety and subtext, but...
In Final Fantasy X, emotionally impactful moments are left to be processed and digested whilst out in the world. This gives you time to build an attachment with each character, but also, the developers pace each moment with perfection due its linear structure.
In Final Fantasy XII, nuanced character interactions will play out, you'll be trying to decipher any bit of subtext that you can recognize, and then you'll be back in the game. Slowly replacing any space in your brain trying to comprehend the narrative with trying to understand the game's complexities. Big narrative beats are spread so far apart between gameplay sections that you're trying to remember what happened in the last story moment while you're heading into the next one.
I was heading into this game, ready for a lot of these characters to become some of my all time favorites. All of the cast (except Penelo) has potential to be the main character in a lesser JRPG. None of them receive enough focus as main characters. These characters are all still mostly okay, and the visual designs are great, but the moments of payoff are left with very little emotional punch.
Admittedly these are large criticisms to make, but don't let that stop you from experiencing the world itself. Ivalice is lavish, immersive, and detailed in a way never achieved before at the time. The exploration of this world, tied with the rich combat leads to a worthwhile experience, despite wonky storytelling, and is a Final Fantasy game that shouldn't be skipped.