Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age | Review 

Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age, have you played it?

This is my favorite final fantasy game of all time. I agree with people who say the game plays itself, but only to a certain extent. It's more like the better you get at the game, the less you're actually playing it. You manage the game more than play it, and I think that's what makes it so fascinating.

I remember playing this without any walkthrough and its the one of the best time I've ever had.

I couldn't imagine ff12 without vaan and penelo. Tbh, if no kids on the team, basch ashe and balthier would be too serious and unappealing. Worse, it might be impossible for them to stick together. Ashe hates basch to the grave at the start, and balthier will probably not care if the gang just split up after freeing basch. Also having 6 characters made me feel good having 2 equal groups, unlike ff7-9 where we can't change party leaders, and it's hard to grind characters equally.

I'm not sure this "basch was supposed to be the main character" rumor is even real, there is a tweet from Matsuno himself in 2010 saying that he was unaware of this rumor and said it was probrably a lie. What i heard was that the main character was supposed to be called Aqua, and he would be big and buff, but square enix changed his apparence duo to feedback about Vagrand Story, saying the game didn't sell well because the main character was too old or something, and then they changed Aqua's apparence and it became Vaan. And Vaan's japanese voice actor was hired around early 2002 when the game was launched in 2006, so Matsuno had plenty of time to adjust the story if he had a problem with it

Great review dude, exactly how I've always felt about this game, especially the Gambits. There's a lot of strategy for the whole party with Gambits, always found it fun. Great story and very diverse world, and yes those Judges are super cool. Same thoughts about Vaan and Basch too lol. For fun I used to setup my party all wielding Deathbringer swords, all three people just run around spamming attacks for insta kills, was hilarious. I've actually only played the original on my PS2 each time. That's interesting the new job system, I'll have to try it and compare sometime. Subbed (Thought I already was lol)

I have always had a love hate relationship with this one. Glad to see the re-release helped with the pacing because good night the original could drag on. The judges are still awesome. Great review as always my friend

It was a journey when i played it on ps2, litterally if you did not grind the game turned into an odysse, like trying to get through the jungle and through the mountains youd end up lost with no healing items, only one party memeber left, silenced, slowed, blind, with a sliver of health desparetly looking for a save crystel , and if you died, due to the size of the map, all your progress was set back to your previous save. Had a small dark Souls feeling to it of frustration and satisfaction

I’m glad to see someone else loves this game as much or maybe more than myself. I had to do normal, weak and overpowered LP of this game. Great review

Great in depth review brother. Never played FF12 but man your breakdown and the way you articulate every aspect of the game is amazing. Also I'm glad to learn about what happened behind the scenes as well.

Awesome you did a review for my favorite FF game :D. great review 😎👍

I never understood the Penelo-hate. She is the bridge between Dalmasca and Archadia due to her unlikely friendship with Larsa. It's not the friendship between Larsa and Vaan or Larsa and Ashe. It's Penelo. And at the final fight when Larsa absorbs Vayne's blades and collapses to his knees, it's Penelo who puts her hands on his shoulders in comfort. And at the ending cutscene it's Penelo writing to Larsa. People might meme that she has even less reason to be around than Vaan etc., but I'd argue she's more relevant to the plot than Vaan is, largely thanks to her connection to Larsa.

Just getting in TZA but I played the original to exhaustion way back. I loved this game and think it was the last great FF to come out.

I had the same experience. I thought it was going to be so-so. And it turns out to be my favorite FF. I was REALLY surprised by that. I like it because the whole thing seemed grounded in "reality", and involved a much more relatable plot and threats. Vaan was/is annoying, but not game-breakingly so. I do find it "funny" how your party make-up was vastly different than mine. But that's the beauty of this game.

Great review. I beat the game twice and was planning on playing it again because the story is just so interesting and amazing. Hope they give us another update in the game where you can choose to have all bosses have 5 or 10 level higher than yours. That would be fun

Played the original back in the day and really enjoyed it. I loved the fact that it was set in Ivalice which brought me right back to the legendary FF : Tactics.

People who think 12 plays itself are the same people who think its impossible to beat

Fantastic video and so glad I found your channel! Subbed and bell is on

I picked it up last year for the switch because size of the dungeons sounded super fun but i just couldn't get into the combat system. But after listening to your review I'm going to give the game another try.

I am totally biased as this is my favorite game of all time :D But I did start with the PS2 version and enjoyed it. However, just like you, my first impression was negative and it stuck for some time before I decided to give it another chance. Walking through the giant areas at normal speed didn't disturb me at all; it was delight after delight! I guess I was more patient back then :D I think in TZA you can adjust the settings to make the speed button x2 instead of x4. Great video!

Yeah I beat the original PS2 version and I'm maxed out all stats got all the weapons everything I got 100% complete on everything

You reviewed this so well. So well spoken

Great review. I’ve only played the OG which I put many hours into. This version looks like a nice mix of old school FF with some quality of life aspects for modern times.

great review!

This was the FF that got me into playing more of the FF series, I loved the game, I played it to the very end on the PS2. I'm planning on playing the Zodiac version at some point too.

As you know I own the original but still on my backlog. Wow I didn’t know they made that many improvements for the new gen versions. Me likey the MMO style. The ability to speed up hunts and other in game missions is a huge upgrade! I’ll def be checking this out in the future! Thanks so much for your thoughts man!

Thats a great review of a super looking game 😁💖 Although I haven't played it, i know a few characters from other FF games. Vaan and Judge Magister Gabranth were in Dissidia FF Duodecim. And also, didja know Balthier had a small cameo in Final Fantasy Tactics The War of the Lions? He belted out one of the best cameo dialogues in that one 😁💖👍FFT is also based in the land of Ivalice. I believe this game needs a fair chance to be played once again by people who have viewed it a tad narrowly. They do not know what they're missing. Thanks again for an awesome review, Ren 😁💖👍 Wish you success in your every endeavour.

Great review - i loved the original but I'd say besides the quality of life the thing it didn't do was restrict your choices. It was too easy to overpower every character into a massive tank - whereas the job system restrictions in the zodiac age makes you think. Initially I was hesitant on this - originally once you'd set your jobs no option to change was allowed which sucks - but the update with the switch to make it free to respec afterwards makes it the best compromise of all the versions for me by far

The sound and voice acting is MUCH more improved compared to the original. The original sounded liked it was recorded in a basement. I know that it had to be compressed in the original.

After watching this I want to play :) I got stuck on the original and tried to go back but I was lost. Nice video :)

This game cray cray most underrated final fantasy of all time

Great review

As my first final fantasy I appreciated vaan as the gateway character to explain how the world works/is also they gave him an arc about his brother so I don't understand why people dislike them. Balthier what can I say easier my favorite character cool and educated on most situations with valuable input on most diplomatic moves being made or subtling testing ashe with the ring on what she's willing to give to win the war. This was a blast of a game I'm glad I got started. someone magnificent.

Hello, long time fan of FFXII. Came here just to say nice review and giving my 2 cents on Vaan and Penelo: two street kids that apparently are not well inserted in the story but in reality they are there to make their part, as the embodiment of the people of Dalmasca itself, the very people who is oppressed who struggles with everyday life, so far away from politics, scheming and machinations of great leaders and warriors. Supposedly, That's how Fran and Balthiers started out together, so I really don't understand why the hate.

You’ve motivated me to dust it off and give it another shot for sure. The offline mmo comments and the gambit system sounds amazing to me. I have a few more chapter 4s left in octopath, then I’m gonna knock out 12, then 10 and 10-2 on switch. And maybe OT2 after. I did order final fantasy 16 also so ps5, hopefully the new graphics don’t break my brain too much 😂

I played the original on the PS2. It was a good grind and a good game. I got SO overpowered early on, with every character getting the same license board and points. The Zodiac Age is a much better complimentary mechanic in the job system. My question is, what do you think of the Espers in the game? Especially how they relate to the license board?

Coincidentally we just got this on switch today at our local store!

I just purchased this on PS4 and I'm loving it. Harder start compared to the PS2 version. It's good to know that each character can have more than one job on the license system which I didn't know before. I assumed each character can only have one job, so I am relieved I was wrong to think this.

I like the remaster, but a full remake would be amazing!

Playing on the switch now, great review. It's unfortunate about the issues in the background , game development should not make anyone Ill.

Awesome 👍👍👍

So if van and panelo where added then the game was only going to have a crew of 4?

one of my fave games of all times

Those who hallow my game become hallow themselves

hey, i already got belias and im in mt bur omisace now and i have no 2nd job yet.. and doesn't appear on my board,, 1 job until the end? omg

The inclusion of gameplay is very much appreciated 😊

Best PS2 Final Fantasy with XI being a close second best.

Being able to respec is cool, but after I spent 30+ minutes spending all the LP again (1 tile by 1 tile) I didn't do it again.

Vaan is a way more interesting character than Basch so I’m glad Vaan is the leader he’s the Luke Skywalker of Final Fantasy 12.

My favorite game of all time 😌 I can't stand 2x/4x speed, I love normal speed of the game 😆

I got this game for free from a friend of my parents. At first he lend it to me along with the thicc stragety guide book. Then after awhile he just said i could keep it because he got ps3. I actually didn't play much of it until few years later. I only beat it by doing an auto farming trick with some slimes that infinitely respawn if you kill them with petrify and stuff. Left game on over night 3 party member at lvl 99 repeat and then finish the game XD.

As others have already stated, definitely love hate relationship with this game. It does a fantastic job at world building, but the music style, combat, just really wasn't my thing. I never finished the game, but I always remember my 30 or so hours pretty fondly.

Rexx’s character should’ve been more involved. From the very onset, he actually had more potential in the story than his brother due to the fact that HE WAS IN THE WAR himself! Him getting injured by Basch only adds to that layer of relevance. They say losing Vaan would mean would lose his audience perspective. But I think that’s wrong. They don’t know how to accurately exposit info about the world since they have a Narrator! And sadly it’s only made clearer that the execution for 12 was ruined when FF13 rolls around.

dude! I had no idea you could refund jobs! man, I want to play it again 😓

why my game has no 2nd job? i have belias .. knight for vaan and ready for samurai as the 2nd. i have no node for 2nd job until now.. only my game has a bug why? i have already finish 15 hunts and i realize i have many lp and until now 1 job only im on stilshrine of miriam right now.. until the end 1 job only?

Bought the original in 2006 and let me tell you. Time consuming is an understatement

Still my fav ff game

I really like the game but the only thing that really irritates me and not just in this game but in JRPGs in general is that your characters stay the same no matter what you equip on them. I want visible gear progression.

Boost speed to 1.25× you're welcome

I have it on switch i payed €19 . So i'm not complaining ! I'm happy. But is not EASY game never played it i'm 20 Hours in An got my ass handed on a Silver plate. Balls to the wall!

The OG version was good. Its just the IZJS version is like playing with mods, A++

I love this game mostly because it reminds me of xenoblade and Kotor

Disagree on fast travel, that's just lazy gaming. Also the characters were there the whole time, it's a misconception that they were late additions. They made the game as intended and had to dial features back as all games do.

12 is just a case of 9 2.0 logistically while also being an mmo project redesigned last minute as a package, fortunately the repackage team was a lover of ff and it’s core and the idea of ivalice. Unfortunately this system of; engine design, game design, give the weebs the tools and no time to create their work, sale. While we eventually get the mechanics and design in the next large title, prematurely launching and then being cleaned up over years by the weebs team again. Cough cough ff14