Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

my favorite star wars game
Great game. Bought it release day for the PS2 and spent many hours ignoring my fiance. Bought it for the Switch when it was released and spent many more hours ignoring my wife. Now that I'm divorced I'll be spending my time enjoying the upgraded graphics on the PC version.

When Final Fantasy XII originally launched in 2006, it was a significant departure from the series’ traditional formula, blending real-time combat with political storytelling and MMO-inspired design. Over a decade later, The Zodiac Age remaster not only updates the visuals for modern platforms but also introduces crucial gameplay refinements—most notably, the Zodiac Job System previously exclusive to Japan.
The result? A reintroduction that finally lets this once-divisive entry shine for what it is: a bold, ambitious RPG that was well ahead of its time.
Set in the richly imagined world of Ivalice, Final Fantasy XII tells a story of war, empire, and rebellion through the eyes of a diverse ensemble cast. While the central protagonist is Vaan, a sky-pirate-wannabe with minimal narrative weight, the real narrative heft comes from characters like Princess Ashe, the grieving leader of a fallen kingdom, and Balthier, a suave sky pirate who steals every scene he's in.
Unlike the more character-driven melodramas of previous FF entries, FFXII's plot leans into political intrigue and mature themes, echoing inspirations like Star Wars and Final Fantasy Tactics. Some may find the story more distant or impersonal compared to entries like FFVII or FFX, but it trades emotion for complexity—and mostly succeeds.
The Gambit system is the beating heart of The Zodiac Age’s gameplay. It allows players to customize their party’s AI behavior down to a granular level, creating a semi-automated, strategic flow that feels more like programming than micromanaging. Combined with the real-time-with-pause combat system, battles become puzzles of efficiency and preparation, especially in tougher late-game hunts and optional bosses.
The Zodiac Job System is a major improvement over the original license board, giving each character distinct roles like White Mage, Knight, or Time Battlemage. This encourages party diversity and specialization, making planning and synergy feel more rewarding than ever before.
The addition of a 2x and 4x speed mode in The Zodiac Age is a game-changer—traversing the vast environments of Ivalice becomes smooth and painless, particularly during grinding sessions.
Graphically, The Zodiac Age is a crisp, respectful upgrade of the PS2 classic. Character models are cleaner, textures are sharper, and lighting has been improved without overhauling the original aesthetic. The art direction still stands tall, particularly in massive cities like Rabanastre and Archades, which feel alive with architecture and ambient world-building.
The soundtrack has been re-recorded with a full orchestra, and players can toggle between the original, reorchestrated, and classic PS2 versions—a small but thoughtful inclusion. Hitoshi Sakimoto’s sweeping score matches the grand, militaristic tone of the narrative perfectly.
The Zodiac Age introduces a Trial Mode, allowing players to tackle 100 escalating battle challenges with their main game party. It’s a fun, tactical diversion that tests both your party builds and your mastery of the Gambit system.
Auto-saving, improved menus, and faster load times help modernize the experience without compromising its core identity.
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is more than just a polished remaster—it’s a redemption arc. What was once a controversial Final Fantasy has aged gracefully into one of the most mechanically rich and strategically rewarding entries in the franchise. Its story may not appeal to everyone, and Vaan is still a bit of a narrative afterthought, but the mature tone, expansive world, and innovative gameplay make this a must-play for both returning fans and new players curious about the road less traveled in JRPG history.
A tactical masterpiece wrapped in political drama and wrapped in an unforgettable world. The Zodiac Age proves that Final Fantasy XII was never broken—just ahead of its time.
Rating: 9/10

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

Final Fantasy 12 is quite an ambiguous game. Its ambiguity lies in the fact that the same elements in it can either please you or cause strong rejection.
What is definitely well done in this game is its unique visual style. I really like the style of Akihiko Yoshida, all these muted tones and the watercolor palette make the game very stylish and recognizable, which is why even after years, the game still looks great. The same can be said about the music, which was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto for this part, and it is no worse than the works from previous games. There are many memorable tracks that fit very well with the spirit of the game.
Some people don’t like the gameplay at first. It might look like an online MMO, with its real-time combat and no targeting system. But soon you see that it’s just a different version of the ATB (Active Time Battle) system from older Final Fantasy games. The good part is that fights now happen right on the map — there’s no separate battle screen — and random enemy encounters are gone. Overall the battles are still exciting and don't seem too long.
One of the more controversial gameplay elements is the Gambit system — it allows you to program the behavior of your party members. Some players might find it boring to deal with. Of course, you can complete the game without using Gambits, manually controlling your characters. But the further you go, the more often you’ll have to repeat the same actions — healing, removing debuffs, casting spells. That can start to feel tiring. However, if you take the time to learn the system, by the end of the game your party can become fully automated, turning the game into a kind of auto-battler. Not everyone will like that, but personally, I found it interesting to work with. You can completely ignore it at the start and set it up later — it’s definitely worth it.
My favorite part of the game is the leveling system and the returning Job System. Developing the characters and their jobs requires different types of points, and it’s very engaging to experiment with class combinations and create multi-class characters. This adds depth to the game and gives it high replay value.
The story is another controversial aspect. The voice acting is excellent, the dialogues are well written, but overall the plot doesn’t come together into a cohesive and engaging narrative. The supposed political storyline about the fate of states ends up being just a search for MacGuffins, while many political events remain in the background. The pacing also suffers: the beginning is dragged out, and the ending comes too suddenly. The characters are interesting, but their relationships hardly develop, and their personal arcs are often forgotten. Because of all this, the story doesn’t evoke strong emotions, which is a shame — the story had potential.
I wouldn’t say this is a must-play for getting to know the series, but if you’ve played many JRPGs and are looking for something new because of the gameplay and progression system — it’s definitely worth trying.