Remasters typically accomplish one of two things:
reaffirm our affection for something we hold dear
or demonstrate that a game doesn't fare well under contemporary expectations.
Occasionally, however,
these remasters provide an opportunity to see things from a new angle.
By removing ourselves from the time of release
and all of the things informing our opinion back then
we're able to appreciate a title in a way we simply weren't capable of doing before.
Final Fantasy XII is a strange and fascinating entry in the storied franchise,
and The Zodiac Age makes a very strong case
that it’s likely better than it was initially received in 2006.
Part of what makes Final Fantasy XII compelling to revisit
are the new additions to the Zodiac Age
that substantially improve the base game.
Perhaps no feature is more appreciated
than the ability to toggle high-speed mode on or off with the touch of a button.
You can choose to speed up the entire game by twice or four times the normal rate,
making most combat encounters or on-foot travels exceptionally brief.
Considering the sheer size of the areas in Final Fantasy XII
as well as the many enemies found within them,
such a toggle alleviates some of the dullness from constant battles
and makes it more enjoyable to play for long stretches of time.
Like any RPG, Final Fantasy XII has its fair share of mundane tasks,
such as having to talk to individuals before and after a quest,
but at four times speed, such burdens are much easier to swallow.
The same is true of grinding as well.
You're more likely to want to engage with characters
and all of their different capabilities when the game makes it less of a hassle
to get the experience and license points required to do so.
A few years ago, Bravely Default showed that JRPGs are much better
when the game gives the player more control over how it's experienced,
and it's great to see The Zodiac Age follow a similar mindset.
The license board character progression system
has also seen a complete overhaul.
If you're not familiar with Final Fantasy XII,
characters earn license points by defeating enemies
which they can then spend on a checkered board.
Each space on the board represents an ability,
such as a new spell or the capability to wield more powerful weapons and armor.
Early on, the system offers a ton of flexibility and potential variation
as you choose how to progress across the board
with different directions representing different areas of focus.
Yet since each character has the same license board to work with,
they all ultimately end up feeling similar as you fill in the gaps.
It's a problem corrected with the addition of jobs in The Zodiac Age.
Instead of everyone getting the same thing,
you can now choose from twelve jobs for each character,
all of which have their own license boards.
The options available include Final Fantasy stalwarts
like black mage, white mage, monk, and so on.
Jobs initially appeared in the Japanese-only update to Final Fantasy XII
and it's great that more people will get to fiddle with them
considering how much better they are
compared to the system found in the original game.
There's something incredibly addicting about seeing your characters
slowly progress across their individual license boards
all while being presented with tough decisions.
Is it better to cash in points on one new ability
or spread them out over weaker abilities to cover more ground on the board?
Such decisions are made even more agonizing
since characters can eventually take on two jobs at once,
a brand-new feature that requires players
to not only consider the value of abilities on their own,
but how those abilities will eventually complement others from a different job
There are a host of other improvements and additions in The Zodiac Age as well,
such as updated visuals, a re-recorded soundtrack,
the implementation of auto-saves,
the ability to switch between English and Japanese voices,
and a trial mode that pits your current party from the base game
against waves of increasingly difficult enemies.
Yet for all that’s new in the Zodiac Age,
so much of what makes it worth playing are the things that were present all along.
The gambit system is particularly genius
and something that more JRPGs could greatly benefit from.
Gambits essentially allow you to program your characters,
dictating behavior depending on the status or location of a particular enemy or ally.
Examples include automatically throwing an antidote at a poisoned character
or casting a certain spell on an enemy that's weak to it.
Gambits provide such a fine degree of control
that it's cerebrally rewarding
trying to fine tune the party to different situations.
It also eliminates a lot of the busy work
that makes fights so tiresome in other JRPGs.
Setting up the game to do trivial things for you saves time
and improves the flow of the game without removing the challenge.
There are still plenty of instances when the game finds clever ways
of poking holes in your carefully considered gambits,
necessitating regular changes in approach.
The narrative in Final Fantasy XII is also starkly different
than many of the other mainline games.
It's a plot more concerned with a broad look at a country invaded by an imperial force
than the personal journeys of its core cast of characters.
It's not that these characters aren't important,
Balthier and Fran in particular are quite charming,
but the game is constantly reminding the player
of what's going on with the world at large and the various factions
that seek to push things in an opposing direction.
It makes for an intriguing variation from what we typically see in Final Fantasy.
At the same time, the story isn't successful in every regard.
Vaan gets especially grating.
His dialogue is often stilted and awkward,
making it hard to get invested with his character.
We still have a lot left to play of The Zodiac Age,
but so far, it seems like an exceptional remaster.
While some additions simply spruce up an already enjoyable game,
others feel especially significant.
In particular, the new job system and the ability to speed up time
time make the entire game dramatically better.
In a year that's absolutely stuffed with quality things to play,
The Zodiac Age makes a strong case for carving out some time
to revisit the world of Ivalice.