Final Fantasy XII Zodiac Age Review

Final Fantasy XII Zodiac Age is set for the modern era of gaming through high-definition graphics and a host of other improvements in gameplay.

The Gambit System, the superbosses, the versatility of classes – there’s so many things that make Final Fantasy XII one of the best installments in the history of the franchise. And now with The Zodiac Age remaster, it’s set for the modern era of gaming through high-definition graphics and a host of other improvements in gameplay. How does it hold up?

This review was done on the Nintendo Switch Lite.

“Pretenses of peace left by the wayside, the Archadian forces resumed their advance toward Rabanastre. Dalmasca's doom had been decided.”

-Mqs Halim Ondore IV

Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age’s storytelling through its intricate political plot is told in Ivalice fashion – it’s a story of war and vengeance. Primarily, you’ll play as Vaan and see the story unfold. But, rather than watching from his point of view,  play it with the idea that you’re a spectator of the whole crew. There’s that divisiveness to it that Vaan is more of a side character than the actual protagonist. There’s a lot of truth to it since the story revolves around a looming war between nations and the insurgents resistance led by Ashe in many forms. Vaan, by several chances, was simply caught in the middle of it. Throw in Penelo for good measure.

The Gambit System is a make-it-or-break-it system

Final Fantasy XII’s foundation is built on Gambits. Think of these as actions during scenarios like this character heals him/herself when his/her HP reaches a certain percentage, or use this specific technique if the enemy has that trait. There’s literally a multitude of situations and corresponding actions that will help you fine tune your game. And how you plan it makes Final Fantasy XII an easy game, or a hard one if you miss out on this one if you find yourself always manually inputting commands. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean you can automate your game from start to finish. There are varying enemies across Ivalice, after all. The only dull moment is the grind. 

Square Enix also does away with the usual level up stat system here and instead steps it up with License Boards. These make the difference, and in The Zodiac Age, there are 12 available License Boards where anyone can pick two of them. This will test your mettle in grinding since you’ll find yourself racking up license points just to equip that item that you want. 

If there’s one flaw Square Enix hasn’t fixed with the Zodiac Age version, it’s the Quickenings. Think of these as your usual Limit Break/Trance/Overdrive, only this time instead of it being your eleventh hour superpower, you most likely won’t use them given that the animations take too long, and there’s so much randomness to it. 

Let the hunt begin!

The majority of JRPGs over the years pad their content with seemingly boring sidequests. Fetch a number of items here, slay a number of enemies there, talk to me when you’re done, and that’s about it. Final Fantasy XV offered so many of these, and while that’s not exactly a bad deal, it’s not as rewarding as how Final Fantasy XII does it. The hunts are challenging and unique, all the way to a boss with 50 million HP. There are also Espers (summons) that you have to defeat first in order to use them, and the optional ones are also fun to hunt across the lands. 

Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac  Age offers a wealth of rewarding objectives without it feeling like a cut and paste fetch quest that pads modern RPGs of late. There’s a wealth of content here that doesn’t feel as tiresome and boring. While the battle system can be automated by a clever setup of gambits, there are plenty of scenarios where you’ll still find yourself manually inputting commands like bosses. The fast-forward button, which I initially thought was going to detract from the experience, saves a lot of time from the slogs of grinding that you’ll certainly have to do to farm license points. Not to mention, having played the original, the grind can really get tedious.