Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Review

When offered the chance to review Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age and delve back into the nostalgic pit of my late teen gaming years, I’ll admit I was a tad nervous. Having last played the original over ten years ago; being the bright eyed gamer geek with little concept of honestly critiquing this role-playing game, I was not sure if fond memories and a love for this classic gaming series would be enough to keep me engaged. However, I was nothing short of blown away when returning back to the world of Ivalice and playing, once again, a Final Fantasy that’s story, gameplay, and overall experience was, and still is, a definitive success.

The story of The Zodiac Age tells the unique tale of the Kingdom of Dalmasca, whose sovereign land has been thrown into anarchy after the nations of Rozarria and Archadia, began waging war between one another, with Dalmasca’s kingdom located between the two of them. Soon the fall of Dalmasca came, as Archadia invaded their land to gain the upper hand in the war, seemingly to have also destroyed the Dalmascan royal family in the process. Two years later in the city of Rabanastre, we are met with Vaan, a young street urchin and his friend Penelo as they struggle to survive their daily lives in a country torn apart by war.

The battle system of The Zodiac Age is, and was in 2006, an evolutionary step forward for the gaming series which had, up until now, employed the tried and true ‘Active Time Battle’ system. With the introduction of the Active Dimension Battle system, random encounters, something any true Final Fantasy player would say was the bane of their gaming existence, have been done away with. Players now have the option to take enemies on in battle and are able to make swift attack plans – or avoid a fight altogether, if the target is too overpowered.

Battling enemies is made all the more easy with the fact that at any given moment a player can hit the menu button and interchange between fighters. This fluidity in battle is one of the best changes the series has made after adopting the practice in Final Fantasy X. Lastly, any Final Fantasy battle system would not be complete without its repertoire of battle techniques and magick’s, of which there are plenty to choose from. It’s important to always know where your team is, due to the Active Dimension Battle system which takes into account your position when area based magick’s like Cura are used. If a player is out of spell range, they may miss its beneficial effects.

What excited me most about The Zodiac Age was getting the chance to play with its updated ‘International’ release, Zodiac Job System. The licence board for The Zodiac Age has received an impressive overhaul which refined the job system. It’s effectively restricted free movement on the board when levelling up, but increased a player’s proficiency in their chosen job classes. There are twelve jobs in total to choose from including such classic tropes as white mage, knight, and black mage, and the introduction of other less well known classes like machinist, and bushi.

Each player starts off with one class, so take care what you chose as there is no going back once your decision has been made. After meeting certain in-game requirements you are then granted the selection of a second licence board, which you can choose to align with your first pick or completely contrast, the choice is yours. Personally I opted to choose roles that suited each characters disposition and was able to spread all twelve classes among the six. Players progress through the board by earning Licence Points (LP) in battle, and once enough has been collected you can unlock your chosen ability, weapons, armour, stat bonuses and limit breaks, known as Quickenings.

Summons in The Zodiac Age make a return once more, and are known in Ivalice as Espers; great summon spirits that once brought forth granted the summoner great power and protection. Obtaining an Esper requires you to best them in battle, and once defeated will appear on a players licence board. When called upon, Espers will travel alongside you for a limited time, performing devastating attacks, casting wicked spells and acting independent of you, but always staying close by. Summoning them requires at least one full mist charge bar, and at the end of its depletion they will vanish until summoned once more.

Despite all the praise that I can give to The Zodiac Age, there are still some issues that detract from what feels like a near-perfect remake. Even with all the new gorgeously retouched character designs, there appears to be some lip-syncing problems that stick out badly. Also, the hunting side-quests, while fun, can be arduous. You first need to accept the hunt, and then find the petitioner, then once again go out to find and defeat the mark before once more returning to the petitioner – it’s all a bit much. Lastly, I found it odd that little information was provided on how players obtained both gil and items, including magicks, and gambits. It was as if it you were expected to know the ins and outs of it all from the start.