100%PC

I absolutely loved this game.

Pros:

-Possibly the best story of any Final Fantasy game. If not it is certainly in the upper echelon
-Excellent character development for MOST (see cons) characters in the game which leaves you feeling extremely fulfilled at the end.
-Fun combat system that is easy to adjust to
-The Zodiac job system is very interesting and simple to navigate when compared to some other systems such as X
-The gambit system makes level grinding very tolerable as you can just walk up to enemies and let your gambits do everything.

Cons:

-By far the biggest con is that while most characters are fantastic Vaan and Penelo are extremely empty shells for characters. They have next to 0 personality or story and you feel like they are there for next to no reason. They receive next to 0 character development and you sort of feel like they are just there to watch the story with you. Completely unneeded characters in terms of the story.

-While the gambit system is good for leveling it is a little complicated to set up and in some ways makes you feel like you're not really playing the game as characters just do everything you programmed them to do and you are just sort of watching them do it. I'm not 100% negative on this but I can see people disliking it.

-The game feels a little unnecessarily long. Especially the hike to Archades and the Pharos tower. Very grueling multiple hour segments of the game that leave you feeling quite burnt out at the end. There is a sense of accomplishment when you finish them which is positive and it helps you kind of feel what the characters are feeling in terms of hardship and what they have to do to defeat the Vayne led Archadia but when you are in it it is very much points of the game where you could want to quit. I feel like if they shed about 10 hours from the story it'd be perfect.

In all the Cons are nitpicks other than the first one and I am seriously considering that this may be my favorite Final Fantasy game I have finished.

I think it is very very underrated and if you have not played it I highly recommend you do so.

80%PC

Very Nice Remake than original with jobs system

80%PlayStation 5

Overall, excellent in the narrative, dialogue and character department, the gameplay systems are unique and highly engaging, and the visuals are beautiful. The combat may be the best in the series, despite how it looks, it's no auto battler, as some may say. This one is a gem, and sorely overlooked by many final fantasy fans. - 8/10

70%Nintendo Switch

7/10. Underrated. Honest, proto-Xenoblade.

60%PlayStation 5

No es un mal Final Fantasy, para nada, pero vive a la sombra de los que vinieron antes y eso se le nota en exceso.

En lo técnico, nada nuevo bajo el sol. Es básicamente el FFX con anabolizantes. La remastered de PS4 luce sin problemas.

La historia tiene su interés en en el principio pero se va quedando por el camino con algunos giros no muy conseguidos y ciertos secundarios que no acaban de encajar. Ashe, como la protagonista, funciona, pero los demás no acompañan casi nunca. El final, tantas horas después, se siente un poco abrupto y absurdo.

El juego es muy lento. Las primeras horas en la ciudad son absolutamente superfluas, con un sinfín de diálogo que no construye personajes. Cuando se gana velocidad, el juego vuela más alto y se hace entretenido.

Sistema de batalla entretenido y sistema de progresión satisfactorio, aunque termina relativamente rápido.

80%PC

Played with a difficulty mod, third overall playthrough (US release, japanese release and this one). It's a really good game but it is also very repetitive. Because you run through these huge areas and just let the AI kill stuff for you. Only challenge comes from side content which takes a lot of time of doing even more of the same. I did it once, I gave up halfway through and stuck to the main stuff afterwards. story is still good but not that great either. remaster added little to the look of the game which was cool back in the day but is outdated now. Not a great replay but probably a super fun first playthrough.

70%PC

Story wasn't that engaging.

80%Nintendo Switch

I really didn't like the original game, even hated it at times, so let's say we're facing the Rolls Royce of Remasters. Remaster isn't even accurate since The Zodiac Age turns out to be a complete revision of a game infamous for its slowness and a gameplay as ambitious as cluttered.

Of course, this new version (which actually isn't that new since it's been released in Japan a few time after FFXII) can't, fix everything: the game remains quite repetitive over time and its storyline and characters are still desperately bleak. I'll save you the jokes about the Star Wars rip off, they're getting old now.

And on the other hand, the mechanics are now perfectly readable, giving inspired attempts to streamline the very rigid rules of turn-based RPG. Many other games or series have tried this in recent years, but as far as I know, none have come as closer than the duckling FFXII, with its ultra-elaborate and much more nervous automation system than what the word “automation” might suggest.

Excellent surprise.

70%Xbox One

Gameplay 1/3 the game plays itself (thankfully) and requires quite a lot of grinding unfortunately. It can be a little fun at times and was interesting enough to keep pushing for the story. If not for the story though this wouldn't have been completed. The most fun part is building out skill trees and and equipment. Kind of satisfying to build a strategy and see it work but that's all there is.
Story 2.5/3 the overall plot is very good. The way it's told though, some of the dailogue can be uninteresting. Overall really good still
Visuals 1.5/2 great style the world can be a bit visually uninteresting at times. Many unique locations are really cool and character design is good as well.
Audio 2/2 great music and voice acting

Reccomend completing, not 100%

80%PlayStation 4

Normally, I wasn't planning on playing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, but it went up for sale and I couldn't pass on it. In the end, I'm glad I decided to play this game because otherwise I'd miss out on a very interesting experience.
Final Fantasy XII's story, while not as exciting as in most of the other Final Fantasy games, is still well-written for the most part.
The gameplay on the other hand, is amazing; it's innovative because it makes you feel like playing an offline MMO game instead of a typical turn based JRPG. The gambit system is basically programming an AI, it's genius and I love it. The license boards add extra layers of character customization, giving you the opportunity to build each character differently. Overall, the combat system is extremely fun, the customization is fantastic and the mechanics work perfectly.
The characters are good too; some of them are a bit underwhelming but most of them are fine and few of them are truly great.
The visuals hold up well and the CGI cutscenes are stunning, and the music is very good as well.
Also, the world in Final Fantasy XII is probably one of the best in the series.
Now, although Final Fantasy XII does many things well, it also has some noticeable flaws; the story for example, is not engaging at times, it feels a bit disjointed.
Lastly, many dungeons get tiring after a while because of their lenght.

Pros:
+ Decent story
+ Addictive gameplay
+ Unique mechanics
+ Nice characters

Cons:
- Inconsistent narrative
- Overwhelming dungeon design

Narrative: 6/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Content: 9/10
Characters: 7/10
Music: 8/10
Graphics/Audio: ?/10

Final Rating: 8/10
- Great -
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is a unique, rewarding and enjoyable RPG.
If you're a fan of J/RPGs but you haven't played the original version of Final Fantasy XII before, you should give Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age a try.

Do I recommend it?:
Yes, even to those who don't play JRPGs at all.

80%Nintendo Switch

one of the most particular FF games... set in the world of Tactics... I highly recommend it.. the combat system can also remind you of an MMO similar to DQ10.. I recommend it

95%Xbox One

Un excellent jeu dans le monde magique de Final Fantasy proposant de suivre au début du jeu un garde de la royauté et de voir assassin du roi. Ensuite l'histoire commence avec Vaan, un jeune pirate souhaitant devenir un grand pirate et de posséder son propre navire un jour. Les différentes intrigues politiques et la complexité du scénario ajoute un côté vraiment sérieux à cet univers, les personnages sont vraiment travaillés et possèdent leur propre personnalité et enjeu.
Le monde d'Ivalice est vraiment plaisant à parcourir
Les musiques sont superbes et vraiment marquantes comme dans chaque jeu de la série et l'univers est vraiment détaillé et travaillé. Proposant un titre mélangeant fantasy et science-fiction.
Le système de combat possède d'excellente idée avec des combats plus dynamiques et moins figés que les anciens titres. Le temps réelle ne plaira pas à tous les joueurs mais est bien venue dans la série.
En conclusion, chaque sortie de final fantasy propose un jeu maîtrisé en tout point et encore inégalé dans le genre du RPG.

70%Nintendo Switch

The story was ok, but the gameplay was what carried the game for me.

90%PC

A great game, although felt the original was better.
Nice story, good pacing and challenging fights. The optionals are interesting enough to make you go for it.
The ingredients farming could be a little better, and nobody deserves a 5% chance of getting an item from a enemy that has 20% of chance of appearing.
The espers could have been a little better implemented as most of them just arent useful.
The conversation with the NPCs is amazing as they change their lines according to what is happening in the world (be it main story or optional events).

90%PlayStation 4

Fiz praticamente tudo, só não finalizei último andar o trial, não abrir algum mapa 100% e nem o bestiário, ao meu ver, esses dois últimos, apenas perfumaria, coisa entediante de se fazer.

85%PlayStation 5

The story and setting are spectacular, while the gameplay itself shows its age and holds the game back from being a full GOAT. While not being awful, it can get extremely boring at times. However, the speed-up function really helps it along, and makes the gameplay bearable. The story is well worth the (somewhat) slog of gameplay!

90%PC

After buying the original game on the PS2, and then on the Zodiac Age edition on Switch, and finally playing it on my PC and Steam Deck, I can happily say I've finished Final Fantasy XII - and it's a surprising contender for my favourite Final Fantasy.

FF12's setting and world are phenomenal, and I loved exploring Ivalice (which is also where Vagrant Story is set, I believe). Fittingly for a franchise that help shape the globe-trotting experience of the JRPG, FF12 stands as one of the most exciting and gratifying game worlds I've explored. Due to strong art direction, I think the game's visuals have aged well - playing on PC with HDR enabled, I thought some of the areas looked pretty stunning, and the watercolour-like art direction gives the characters a bit of a timeless feel. The newly-orchestrated score that was recorded for The Zodiac Age is wonderful, too.

Hitoshi Sakimoto had huge shoes to fill following Nobuo Uematsu's departure, and even though he takes a totally different approach, I think FF12 has one of my favourite FF soundtracks. Each piece captures the mood Ivalice's cities, sewers and soaring, spiral towers. I wish there were a few more pieces, as some themes do get reused once too often, but I love what's here.

JRPGs are defined by their parties, and though I understand why FF12 is divisive in this sense, I personally warmed to the unlikely set of heroes that drive FF12. They get a lot of beef online but I think Vaan and Penelo are a great way of subverting the usual JRPG 'chosen one' narrative, and instead offer something closer to the player's point of view, as they get swept up in a grand plot so much larger than themselves. It's not all perfect, and I think the party could've used a bit more time to banter and bond, but each character gets their moments to shine - in and out of battle.

The combat system for FF12 was a total overhaul, operating almost like an offline MMO. Combat encounters are auto-battled, as you can set your party's AI to execute different strategies. I'll be honest, it sounds a bit crap writing it down, but in motion it's a unique and rewarding system. I really respect the team behind FF12 for trying something different, and the system is immensely rewarding - as you add new strategies, magicks and techniques to your team's arsenal, you start to watch them devastate mobs of enemies with ease. You'll often be called upon to switch up how you fight on the fly, so it's rarely passive. This combat system won't be for everyone, but for me, it clicked.

It's not all ideal - the game suffered from a tough development cycle, with director Yasumi Matsuno leaving the project due to health issues, and you can sense this tension in the game itself.

The highfalutin palace intrigue of the game's opening hours - with campy, Shakespeare-lite dialogue and some wonderful line delivery - eventually gives way to disappointing JRPG tropes. Many of the bosses you'll encounter have little to do with the plot, robbing some of the games' most bombastic encounters of any sort of context, stakes or drama. One of the later dungeons has a frustrating teleportation gimmick, and many of the enemy mobs you're surrounded by will put you through status effect hell, and can get pretty tedious. Final Fantasy 12 is a game I loved, but I also completely understand why it's frustrating to others.

I've rambled about the good and the bad enough, and if you've read this far, thank you. I'll close by saying that Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age is a brilliant, imperfect game - one with some of the series' most exciting highs, but one with moments of controller-chucking frustration, too. Ultimately, it's a game that does things differently, takes risks, and has immense fun upending and challenging the Final Fantasy formula. Even 17 years after its original release, it's a game that was able to surprise me and bring me a lot of joy, with a cast of characters, brilliant world and musical motifs that will stay with me. That is until I go back, finish the hunts and then play it again on the Switch.

100%Nintendo Switch

it was surprisingly an amazing game! i slept on it for too long.

the gambit system was a weird thing to get used to. but overall an amazing experience.

vaan is probably the worst protagonist though lmao
but the other carried the story hard

80%Nintendo Switch

This was a good game. If you like the Final Fantasy series it's worth getting. I liked that it was somewhat linear, but you could still wander off and explore without having to follow the main plot. I wish it had more of a log to help you keep track of what you were doing though.

95%Nintendo Switch

Second favorite so far in the FF series

50%PlayStation 4

Threw in the towel towards the end of the game at Ridorana Cataract. Story was kinda meh, but the gameplay was fun… until the game realizes you were having fun and decides that enemies can now simultaneously Immobilize, Petrify, Doom, Sap, Poison and Disease your entire party. The moment the game was literally preventing me from even attempting to remove the status effects and took away complete control is when I decided to just uninstall and stop playing. It isn’t the worst Final Fantasy game I’ve played, but it’s definitely in my top five worst FF games.

60%Xbox One

I enjoyed this FF for the most part. Gameplay was pretty fun, big change from previous entries. Visually it's ok, doesn't hold up very well, other than the cinematics, which look great. The biggest downfall to this game is the story. I was just completely disinterested. I did enjoy your party of characters for the most part, but the overarching story was just bland and boring. I'd still recommend this for any FF fan.

90%Xbox Series X/S

A great HD remaster of FF12. Xbox version runs at 60 FPS on Xbox One X and Series X|S.

80%PlayStation 4

I really enjoyed my time with this game. Took me a looong time to get through and I'd say it was probably my game of the summer (2023) Story started strong but kind of lost focus toward the end. Amazing combat system. Loved this game and could see a potential second play through.

100%PC

Probably my favourite in the franchise still. Very deep, and at the time revolutionary, gambit system. Tries to capture the wonder of an MMO but without the tedium. It kept some of the tedium in the original, but the remaster pretty much gives you all the tools to bypass them.

Very intricate world design for a JRPG and intriguing political plot. Dungeon design is good, and offers a decent challenge often, but the Pharos Ascent had some bs teleport maze crap going on, but those are a very small part of the larger game. The hunts, an MMO inpiration, are probably my favorite part of the game and showcase the best of its gameplay.

The story isn't as character focused as usual JRPGs, instead trying to tell of a conflict between an empire and "rebels", and where the main cast is involved in all parts of it. Vaan and Penelo might seem like the weakest characters, but I feel Vaan earns his place and Penelo serves the plot in different parts well enough. The story _could_ do without them, but they add flavor to it and I think people are too harsh on them, especially since I feel they didn't see the game the whole way through. Ngl, Balthier, Ashe and Basch are more engaging from the onset as they have the highest stakes throughout. Fran is interesting too, but sometimes I feel her association with Balthier gives the impression that she is more important than she actually is.

A perfect score might be exaggerated, but as far as subjective feelings go, I know this game will stick with me for a very long time. I recommend others to try it at least and try to find its appeal. I don't think we'll ever see another JRPG like it again.

80%PlayStation 4

A great HD remaster of FF12.

80%Xbox Series X/S

I really enjoyed the gambit system and being able to fast forward combat and running. The combat system was pretty deep and I liked being able to see up a gambit for each person that worked for most combat situations or for specific ones.

The story wasn't fantastic but it was decent. There were definitely some really cool moments though. The characters weren't great either but still were charming at times. The setting and the world of Ivalice was pretty cool as was some of its world building. It definitely stuck with me but because the story didn't stick it ending up falling flat overall.

The thing I hated most about it was the grinding to move on past boss fights. I just wanted to do the main story because the side quests weren't good but I was under leveled because of that and had to engage in far more fights than needed to pass certain areas. It was awful. Plus almost all combat in the game except for a few boss fights had nothing to do with the story. They were just monsters that stood between you and the objective. It was dumb and it made the vast majority of the game (the combat) feel unfulfilling even with the cool gambit system.

60%PlayStation 4

i don't care at ALL about the story in this game

i think the gambit system is kind of strange in practice.

but holy moly the exploration in this game is INSANELY COOL, even the puzzles are interesting, i think there's so many redeeming qualities but i cannot get over the weaker aspects.

take the quality of the exploration and optional content and put it in a game with a better story and it'd be legendary.

ivalice/10, ashe is the main character. play with the zodiac job system, its way cooler.

75%Nintendo Switch

Overall, a fun game with a lot of good side contents. Unfortunately, the story started out well but fell off around 60-70% through the game, probably due to the development issues the game had. The cast consisted of a lot of bland characters (Vaan, Penelo), but not really a big problem. The ending was very good. If this game did not have such an interesting world and additional contents, I would have given it a 60%.

95%PC

9.5/10
Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age was the FF game that quickly bit my curiosity while I was playing through all the Final Fantasy games, as just like Final Fantasy IX, it flew under the radar due to releasing basically around the same time the new generation console was releasing. I knew about the flaws going into the game, especially the comparison to star wars to FF12. But even after all that... I still think Final Fantasy XII was one of my favorite Single-player Final Fantasy games.

Story
The writing in this story, is simply amazing, Especially during that first half of the game. While usually the single-player FF stories are simple in concept with good to great execution, Final Fantasy XII takes a more complex, political and war focused story, and I LOVE it. Especially that first half, the writing and story was just super engaging while also giving an overarching story with multiple arcs. I do realize that around the mid to end point, the story all of the sudden decides to up the pace a bit too much to rush to the end, as if they ran out of time and had to run to the end. The ending did hit, but getting there was very obvious how much the pacing changed. Other than that, I loved the politics of this game, and the morality of both sides being quite understandable, with one side wanting to side with the Gods to avoid a war, while the other side wanting to push the Gods away to give Humanity their own freedom, no matter the methods. I feel like if this game had been given another shot to fully fix up the small hiccups, this game and the story could be a Masterpiece 10/10, but the sudden shift towards the end was the the only issue I had.

Characters
Before getting into the Characters, something FF12 does probably one of the best, if not the best, is the world building. My god the world building is just phenomenal, it helps that this is the first FF game with a free camera (not counting FF11), and it allows the world to be explored fully compared to a fixed camera. Cause of that, the characters in this game are just super believable. Vaan, Ashe, Balthier, Basch were just outstanding characters. Fran and Penelo were also super interesting, but especially Fran I felt like was a bit too underdeveloped compared to the rest of the cast. I do feel like the characters could had used just a TAD bit more time in the oven to flesh out, which is what I pointed to the whole rushing towards the end, but other than that I just loved the characters still. Ashe's journey towards accepting her role as a queen, even with the hesitation due to having to deal with the Gods, and especially Balthier's attitude towards the crew and just how he develops as the character was just amazing. Vaan's arc from rags to helping the queen was also super interesting, and his relation with Penelo was interesting, but his conversations with especially Ashe and Balthier were probably the best character interactions. The guest characters also add a ton, especially of course Larsa, but of course, not as developed (apart from Larsa) for the main casts.

Gameplay
This is where a ton of people I noticed were either hooked, or turned off from this game. The Gambit system was basically the first time a Single-player FF game was NOT a turn based RPG, but at the same time I wouldn't consider it FULLY action based. People like to compare it to a MMO like FF11's combat, and while that is true when you turn it to Active mode, in Wait mode it almost feels like a bit of how FF7 Remake's combat works, of course without the combos and flashiness FF7R has, instead being a bit more slow paced and tactical. Grinding away in this combat style was just effortless, and probably contributed to me enjoying the end game as much as I did. Of course there were some issues, for example the characters basically do nothing unless you set their Gambit up with what is essentially, a If then list of what the character will go through, and if they don't meet that specific criteria, it goes down till it meets a criteria to execute that command. It basically automates the fighting depending on how you setup what they do, and I love that is for many fights (especially towards the end), you have to adjust your party's Gambit in order to adapt to what is happening during the fight or environment. There are some downsides to it, some commands are scenarios are bit clunky, as there really isn't a true "If else" statement, or if for example, they have nothing to steal... don't steal. So they just constantly steal till that criteria is no longer met, which does make some strats a bit too annoying to setup due to that, especially with the physical technicks.

Conclusion
Underappreciated, and while I see the faults nearing the end, it didn't impact me as badly as everyone says it does, even though I can DEF notice the stumbles of the plot and character developments, I still loved tf out of this game.
9.5/10

80%Nintendo Switch

story is good (first half) but grinding is awful

95%PlayStation 4

Story: 10 (Ashe's destiny, Basche's "betrayal", Baltheir's back story, Fran's side story, Vaan and Penelo tag along, empire struggle within
Gameplay: 9 (real time turn base, gambit system really well done and can easy mode the game if mastered, ability to swap characters on the fly in and out of battles, multiple class system really customize team dynamic, main and side bosses
Sound: 9.5 (OST 5, OS 4.5 character sounds from surface walking on and sound bits from getting hit, environment sound, sound ques in and out of battles, VA
Graphics: 8 CGI looks great still
Presentation: 10 (design of the world, enemy variant, life in cities, side quests have meaningful stories, super and esper cutscenes, world building
OVERALL: 9.3
10/10 one of the FF greats

100%Nintendo Switch

Fantastic game, including story, music, characters and mechanics. One thing: I wish I could get experience or resources in exchange for the abundance of unusable LP near the end.

85%PlayStation 4

The world building is absolutely fantastic, and exploring Ivalice kept me coming back! Balthier, Fran, Basch, and Ashe were all great supporting characters. The group dynamic could use some work with more bonding moments. The world was brimming with life and imagination with floating continents and plenty of NPCs. I was invested in the story from the start because of the political intrigue. The story unfortunately ended rather anti-climatically where the villains had vague motivations. I would have also liked to see Vaan play a more important role in the story by making key decisions. The gambit system felt super flexible and rewarding, but I never felt like I was playing optimally. I definitely think Square Enix could have made several tweaks to the gameplay like making weakness easier to view and sorting teleport stones. New voice acting and a story summary also would have been nice. In terms of difficulty, I was either getting my butt kicked or absolutely destroying the enemy. The game also has trouble conveying information to the player like the exact effect of certain actions. I didn't know Libra showed traps early on, or that esuna covers XYZ. I like the idea of having some status effects, but FFXII relies on them too heavily to the point where many effects are functionally the same. Graphically, the game looks gorgeous for a remastered PS2 title. FFXII definitely was an overall enjoyable experience that could have potentially been even greater.

60%Nintendo Switch

Good combat propping up an overly convoluted story

40%PC

I'm a huge final fantasy fan. I've played 1,4,7,8,9,10,14,15 and looking forward to 16. I'm basically buying a PS5 for 16.
With that being said, this is one of the worst games i've ever played.

-The combat is boring auto attack simulator because of the gambits
-The lore is convoluted and they throw way too many Igbhar Ligbhar Shigbhar Avendar type words at you that you gotta study to understand what's going on.
-The fact that most people say you gotta play it through twice to appreciate it is a downfall
-The enviornments are boring and all the same dull color scheme and just long corridors.
-The characters are terrible
-The writing is horrendous. Just because you have British voice actors and throw in some political stuff doesn't mean its a good story.

Very dissapointed as I've looked forward to playing this game for a while now.

70%PC

Now this is a fascinating breed of game: a relatively flawed yet utterly spectacular creative achievement that, even if it were to fall short of the lofty goals it set its sights on, does so while daring greatly. This is a PS2 game, but were it not for minuscule giveaways like a few loading screens too many or the camera not playing nice in confined spaces, I would have no trouble believing that it came out yesterday. It looks incredible, with the cinematography of the cutscenes being among the best. The CGI scenes put Pixar to shame and leave DreamWorks' feature films looking like Source Filmmaker animations.
A beautiful game must be backed up by a strong story, and FF XII's definitely has the backbone. Eschewing the usual shounen format so common in its genre, the game opts to go with a more mature-presenting tale where every character except the useless bitch Penelo is brought together through loosely connected yet irrevocably intertwined personal struggles wrought in the aftermath of political drama that is bigger than they. The story does eventually settle into the usual rhythm of the hero's journey, so if I were to name one of the party as the main character, it would be the princess Ashe, closest to being the chosen one. This despite the story mostly being told from the perspective of Vaan - who, despite his good looks, lacks the charisma of previous FF protagonists like Cloud, Tidus or Zidane.
This is where the first few niggles of complaint sneak their way into my essay. Personally, I believe that most creative projects shouldn't take more than four or five years from inception to completion. No matter who the director is (and this game had two, after the first one had to leave for health reasons), in five years' time their vision is bound to have deviated from what they initially conceived; everyone changes as a person. And so, the plot sometimes feels unfocused, especially in the middle section. Reading through this game's Wikipedia page confirmed my suspicions: the main character was originally going to be Basch, a man's man who certainly starts off as the most interesting and prominent character before abruptly taking a backseat in the plot after the first act. Apparently, this decision was made because Vagrant Story - which starred a 'strong man in his prime' - wasn't a financial success. Translated out of business speak, what they're trying to say is they added Vaan to FF XII because Japanese women won't play a game that doesn't star a blonde twink as the main character.

Despite the many twists and turns of game development regrettably making their presence felt in the final product, FF XII's story manages to recover in the final act and gives every character except the useless bitch Penelo their moment to shine. The villain, despite having few meetings with the heroes before the final battle, manages to steal the show in every scene he is in - so convincingly deceptive that when he first appeared and told his subjects that he meant then no harm, even I believed him.
Lastly, it would be remiss of me not to mention that the world of Final Fantasy XII is one of the most impressively realized realms I've seen in a video game. Ivalice feels alivealice - its inhabitants, its geography, its architecture and its politics all meticulously crafted.

Lending to this world's believability is the phenomenal localization. The translators and voice actors both turn in what ranks as some of the most stellar work I've ever seen - from what I hear, the localization is considered better than the original even in Japan. This is the gold standard - to not just bring a game over intact from its moon runes origin, but to make it even better.
If there is one hindrance to FF XII's would-be legendary status, it's the gameplay. I hate to say it out loud, but it feels like a failed experiment. Whether they were trying to recreate the experience of playing an MMO in a singleplayer game, or just trying for something new as Final Fantasy games are wont to do, it didn't really work out. The player has no direct control over the characters - every action must be programmed, either in advance through the Gambits system, or manually during pinch moments in combat. Once you have some decent gambits in place, you'll barely have to participate.

Final Fantasy XII fell well short of becoming one of my favourite games, but Lord help me if it won't be one of the games I pester my non-gamer friends to 'watch as a movie' to assuage their doubts as to the artistic merit of this medium. The game is stunning in both spectacle and scope; at times it feels too big for its own good, and though halfway through I felt burned out, a strong finish hindered me from feeling too unkindly towards it. Thankfully, its glaring faults don't overshadow its many merits. And to whoever translated this game, I salute you. 7/10!

90%Nintendo Switch

Very good game, I enjoyed it a lot! I felt very compelled to do side content so I could get the better equipment and unlock the licenses for my party. I definitely want to do a NG+ run sometime and try my hand at the harder content like Yiazmat and Omega Mk. XII. It took me a bit to understand the best way to set up my gambits, but after I figured it out, I was pretty set. The story is fantastic with all of the political intrigue, and I felt that it has one of the more compelling casts in the series. Ashe, Basch, and Gabranth are definitely my favorites.

Overall, great game and I definitely recommend it to other RPG fans!

80%PlayStation 4

~75%

80%PC

Game is awesome, but too much running from here to here and it felt like it was done just to expand time you spend in game.

60%PlayStation 4

It’s just boring. The story acts like it’s a politically complicated piece, but it’s really just shallow. It loves to tell you about all these supposedly interesting countries instead of actually showing you why you should care about them.

The characters are very one note and half of them add nothing. Vaan and Penelo are pointless teenagers who do nothing special, but are constantly shoved in your face. Balthier and Fraan are Han Solo and Chewbacca. I guess they’re alright, but no points for originality. Basch is a guy out for revenge, but after 20 hours in you will barely know anything about him. Finally, Ash is a princess who doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. The character dialogue is super lifeless and usually just boils down to Vaan being excited and running ahead while the rest of the party just kinda follows him. They’re all kinda dead inside, but I don’t think that was on purpose. No banter really, no humor. Just one wide eyed kid surrounded by a bunch of brooding loners who don’t like eachother.

The combat’s fun, but it’s held back by overly long dungeons that involve repetitive grinding and no story progression. Each member of the party can be customized into any job. This adds alot of strategy to team composition and makes the combat fun. However, it isn’t fun enough for a 40 hour game with a boring story. This game should be half the length it is.

100%PlayStation 4

"Final Fantasy XII is an awesome game that is ahead of its time, which introduces Final Fantasy world in a modern fashion."

I always longed to play it but unfortunately I was unable to do so until now. Would like to have more time to invest it in order to complete all the hunts, including Yiazmat, but since most of it is more time consuming than difficulty, I'm satisfied with the achievements I made before completing it.

The world of Ivalice is something that always brought my attention, it all started with Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for me, and its raid on FFXIV was the door that made me play almost 2,000 hours of FFXIV. So, yeah, for a fan of Ivalice, I took too long to play FFXII! haha

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The game has a lot of Pros and Cons for sure, but here are a few that are the highlights for me:

- PROS:

. The voice acting in this game has a different texture on it, something magical, I dunno, I always liked it since the first time I listened to it.

. Star Wars homage (I know SW is based on Dune, but since it is more famous I would say that FFXII took it as a base). For me FFXII is totally how SW would be if it was a Final Fantasy. And yes, Fran is the couterpart of Chewbacca.

. The best active combat system for its time, playing FFXII after playing FFXIV makes it clear that a lot of the game was based on FFXII (and FFXI as well). Also, a lot of monsters in FFXIV uses design for FFXII monsters.

. Ivalice Alliance refreshes everything we knew about FF, reintroducing different things to what we were used to. Ending some of repetitiveness existent on previous games of the series. For example, FF1 to FF10 used the same name for the summons, and here, they are introduced as Espers following the zodiac signs and etc.

- CONS

For me, the biggest cons of the game is how much it is based on RNG for chest and items, it is absurd how someone should be look or manipulate RNG in order to obtain the best equipments. I mean, even the easiest ones like Mesa (Ninja Sword) needs a lot of grinding (Sickle-blade farming).

--

I would also bring here the fact that most of the stuff is hidden knowledge, that if you don't Google you would probably waste hours on even some small Rank hunts or Spell/Equipment drop. But, taking into consideration the time the game was released, it has its appeal in order to increase playtime and also that kind of feeling "Oh, I discovered it" which is magical on some older games (and some new too, Elden Ring has a lot of hidden knowledge stuff as well).

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This is probably one of my most loosely reviews, even thou it is a very famous I hope it helps you have a better idea of the game.

90%PlayStation 4

The story was a bit lacking, I think it could have benefitted from some sort of "party chat" system like in Persona 5 and Tales games to allow the player to get to know the characters and their relationships a bit better. But I liked the story overall. Ending was satisfying and the gameplay, graphics and aesthetic and music were all great. Perfect amount of content and additional content and I never felt bored of the game. It left me wanting more.

70%PlayStation 4

75

80%Nintendo Switch

Nice to get to an JRPG again. Compared to otjer in the Series its def not my fav.. Fightmechanics worse than FF13 but Storywise much better. Music was also oretty nice.

100%PC

Full Equipment

60%PlayStation 4

Dungeons are pretty crappy. Gameplay is enjoyable for the most part. I really hate the upgrade system. They should have added non party members leveling as a QoL. Just makes me not want to experiment with other classes at all. It's hard to get engrossed with the story when the game doesn't do much to make you care for the characters. The story isn't all that bad but it is like a worse version of Star Wars. The inspiration is very obvious. Overall, I thought it was an ok game.

70%PlayStation 4

Fan of the SNES and PS1 titles as a kid and teen. I fell off fast trying this in 2006.
I aimed to come in with an open mind this time.
Loved the art style. The rest, not so much.
I find this title to be generally "just fine" or tiresome.

80%Nintendo Switch

DECENT 8

70%PlayStation 4

Good game, and a more open, exploration-based entry of the FF-franchise. The story, set in the land of Ivalice, centers around a surprisingly mature political conflict between the empire of Archadia and the small neighbouring state of Dalmasca. We follow the orphan Vaan, raised on the Dalmascan streets, as he accidentally gets pulled into a plot of the highest order. It's a tale that reminds me a lot of Star Wars, only with a disappointing second half that increasingly loses touch with the political intrigue and delves to deeply into magical-crystal-mumbo-jumbo.

But the voice cast is generally good, the characters (apart from Vaan) look cool and the mostly automatic combat is slick - if you take the time to program your party AI with the Gambit system. It's not to everyone's liking, but it helped me progress swiftly through the game. The Zodiac Age remaster includes an option to fast forward to twice the standard running speed, which helps tremendously in covering the vast semi-open world. The maps are large, although segmented, and cover a lot of different biomes and layouts.

The selection of enemies and bosses feels a little trite past the first few areas. Most are forgettable reskins of earlier encounters with higher stats and some added abilites. This would explain why so much of the game felt brand new to me, although having finished it once before.

The new job system works fine, but I found it almost anxiety-inducing having to figure out a suitable second job for every character. Sidelined characters do not level up, so once you find your favorite combo of three, the rest will fall hopelessly behind, which is a shame. It's not unique for this game, it's a flaw of most of the genre that a lot of character's potential remain largely untapped.

Final Fantasy 12 feels a little like Xenoblade Chronicles light - smaller (albeit big), faster, much simpler, less grindey, less intriguing, more straightforward, and overall not as good - but is still a worthwhile playthrough for FF-fans and RPG-nuts alike.