PS4 Top 10 -- #2 Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

     Before the release of The Zodiac Age, Final Fantasy XII was my least favorite FF game, yet here it sits in the #2 spot of my top 10 PS4 games list. How did that happen you ask? Square-Enix pretty much fixed every issue I had with FF XII in this remastered edition. The main problem I had with the original was that all the characters ended up feeling the same by the end of it due to the way the progression system worked. In The Zodiac Age, they reworked things dramatically and injected a lot more Final Fantasy into the mix. Classic job roles were added and each character is given its own identity in battle based on how you choose to assign the job roles. The job system is loosely based on the signs of the zodiac, hence the subtitle The Zodiac Age.

     

   

     The story in FF XII is very atypical of the series. It's much more politically charged and down to Earth. It tells a very focused war story rather than the stereotypical cataclysmic event or save the universe ordeal. FF XII was already a pretty game when it released on the PS2 but it truly shines on the PS4. Everything looks very smooth compared to the jagged look of the original. Its huge maps were more of a joy than ever to explore with the speed up feature that was added. You are able to double or even quadruple the speed of gameplay which made almost every part of the game more enjoyable to me. Originally I thought the big maps were too time-consuming for me to fully explore. The speedup feature fixes that. It also turns long grinding sessions into more digestible chunks for the average gamer. I absolutely loved this as I was able to max out all my characters in a reasonable amount of time. Speaking of grinding, FF XII features a completely different battle system than most Final Fantasy games. It's real-time, not turn-based, and kinda feels like computer programming. You program the AI for every character in the party. You tell the game what to do and when to do it. You do this by setting up gambits. Gambits are basically commands for the computer to follow. You give it a situation such as “when HP < 30%” and an action such as healing or attacking. It's an extremely flexible system and when set up right it requires very little input from the player. I know that that probably doesn't sound very fun but there's something satisfying about spending time perfecting your gambits and then sitting back and watching the carnage unfold. I enjoyed the change to the combat system originally even though I was very skeptical of it at first. I did always find the pace of it to be a bit slow though. With the optional speed up feature turned on yet another complaint was wiped away. If the wonderful world, story, and combat isn't enough for you Square-Enix also added a new trial mode for you to take on. It's basically a 100 battle gauntlet that's meant to be taken on post game with a high level party. It was a ton of fun and puts your skill level to the test. There are a lot of Final Fantasy games available on the PS4. Even though FF 7 is my favorite game of all time, if I could only recommend one to you, The Zodiac Age would be it. It's very modern, beautiful, and most of all fun.

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