FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE

First time ever playing and finishing FF12 and my lord is this one criminally underrated.

Pontos positivos: - A história é boa, porém não tem tanto encanto como os jogos anteriores da saga. O enredo conta sobre a conspiração de um reino contra o outro, onde se usou de uma manipulação orquestrada para poder ter o direito de intervir em uma região menor que fazia fronteira com os dois grandes impérios. Isso foi bem contado no conflito do Império de Archadia contra o Império de Rozarria, então é um ponto a se considerar... - Temos que dar destaque ao vilão Vayne, que soa como um vilão bem dissimulado e com uma boa retórica, principalmente no seu discurso de 'inclusão' após dominar a região de Rabanastre. Ali ele mostra como é um tirano agindo de forma bem orquestrada. Vayne não é aquele vilão típico que busca a destruição de algo comum e popular, na verdade, buscou libertar a humanidade da manipulação dos deuses — conhecidos como Occuria. Com isso, ele coloca uma dúvida na mente de muitos: os deuses daqueles reinos eram opressores ou não? Pois a intenção de Vayne era que a humanidade seguisse o seu rumo sozinha. Vayne é um dos maiores vilões de RPG e não somente da saga Final Fantasy; aliás, o mais inteligente, elegante e que foi pouco valorizado!! - Colocar o sistema de gambits nas batalhas e organizar para que a cada ação seu personagem soubesse o que iria fazer, quase você não quisesse controlar todas as ações dos personagens, foi algo grande para época, assim deixando seu legado para os futuros jogos de RPG. - O senso de humor do Balthier e a forma que ele lida com os problemas é bem excêntrico, ele de fato ganha de qualquer outro personagem da saga FF nesse sentido. Lembrando que ele é protagonista em diversos acontecimento no jogo. - Os movimentos de ataques, os efeitos da magia, principalmente o efeito da magia Scathe que é o mais bonito efeito de magia para aquela época!! - Disparadamente o melhor RPG de exploração da era PS2, com destaques para a caça aos rare games, os hunts mark, os drops excêntricos e os demais segredos que são gostosos de se descobrir sozinho, já tive 420 hrs nele no PS2. É um jogo eterno e atemporal. - Nessa versão, o modo de acelerar a caminhada em 2x ou 4x ajudou bastante quem já tinha jogado no PS2, porque na versão original o ritmo era lento até demais.. - A cena CG de encerramento é um dos melhores finais já feitos em um RPG, acompanhando da encantadora música da Angela Aki. O final deixa claro uma possível continuação...É uma pena que a sua continuação foi para um console com baixo número de jogadores... - A trilha sonora é outro elemento histórico do jogo, encantadora em todas as suas edições! com o diferencial de ter sido totalmente orquestrada na versão The Zodiac Age. Algumas composições lembram a adrenalina e a grandiosidade das batalhas de Star Wars. ...Symphonic Poem Hope... - Foi genial para a época colocar um sistema de batalha que trouxe influências de Vagrant Story, até porque Vagrant Story se passa no mesmo universo de Ivalice do próprio FFXII - A trama é focada nas tensões geopolíticas de dois reinos, o que lembra Game of Thrones. É a melhor trama política da saga Final Fantasy - As cenas CG eram extremamente lindas para época. - Cadê a minha nethicite natural e a nethicite artificial????? KKKKKKKKK - "I'M CAPTAIN BASCH FON RONSENBURG OF DALMASCA!!" - ''Princesa! Não precisa se preocupar! Espero que não tenha esquecido meu papel nesta pequena história. Eu sou o homem que lidera. Você sabe oque dizem sobre o protagonista? Ele nunca morre.'' ~ Balthier Captain Basch de Dalmasca carai kkkkk Pontos negativos: - A história é muito curta em relação aos demais FF. O modo de exploração garantiu muito da diversão nesse jogo**;** as melhores coisas estão nos extras do jogo! Apesar do jogo ter sofrido com os atrasos em seu desenvolvimento, ainda é uma grande experiência. - Nessa versão foi trocada a forma de conseguir tais itens e até mesmo as magias. Em que outro RPG você tem que conseguir magias abrindo baús? E eu ainda tive problema para conseguir uma das magias em um dos baús, que demorou para aparecer! Isso foi uma péssima escolha. Nota 9/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ English - The story is good, though it lacks the charm of the saga's previous entries. The plot centers on a conspiracy between kingdoms, involving orchestrated manipulation to secure the right to intervene in a smaller region bordering two great empires. This aspect was well-executed in the conflict between the Archadian and Rozarrian Empires, so it is certainly a point worth noting... - We must highlight the villain Vayne, who comes across as a highly cunning antagonist with a gift for rhetoric—particularly in his speech on "inclusion" after conquering the region of Rabanastre. In that moment, he demonstrates the calculated nature of his tyranny. Vayne is not the typical villain seeking the destruction of the status quo; rather, he sought to liberate humanity from the manipulation of the gods—known as the Occuria. In doing so, he plants a seed of doubt in many minds: were the gods of those realms truly oppressors? After all, Vayne’s goal was for humanity to forge its own path. Vayne stands as one of the greatest RPG villains—and not just within the *Final Fantasy* saga; indeed, he is the most intelligent and sophisticated, yet he remains vastly underrated! - Implementing the gambit system in battles—allowing characters to know what to do for each action without the player needing to manually control every move—was a major innovation for its time, leaving a lasting legacy for future RPGs. - Balthier’s sense of humor and the way he handles problems are quite eccentric; in this regard, he truly outshines any other character in the FF saga. It is worth noting that he plays a leading role in many of the game's key events. - The attack animations, the magic effects—especially the effect of the Scathe spell, which was the most beautiful magic effect of that era! - Hands down the best exploration RPG of the PS2 era, with highlights including the hunt for rare game, the Mark hunts, the unique drops, and other secrets that are a joy to discover on your own; I logged 420 hours in it back on the PS2. It is an eternal, timeless game. - In this version, the ability to speed up walking by 2x or 4x was a huge help for those who had already played it on the PS2, because the pacing in the original version was perhaps a bit too slow. - The closing CG cutscene is one of the best endings ever created for an RPG, accompanied by Angela Aki's enchanting music. The ending hints at a possible sequel... It is a shame that the sequel ended up on a console with a small player base... - The soundtrack is another iconic element of the game, enchanting across every edition—and distinguished by being fully orchestrated in *The Zodiac Age* version. Some compositions evoke the adrenaline and grandeur of *Star Wars* battles. ...Symphonic Poem Hope... - It was brilliant for the time to implement a battle system influenced by *Vagrant Story*—especially since *Vagrant Story* takes place in the same Ivalice universe as *FFXII* itself. - The plot focuses on the geopolitical tensions between two kingdoms, reminiscent of *Game of Thrones*. It is the best political storyline in the *Final Fantasy* saga. - "I'M CAPTAIN BASCH FON RONSENBURG OF DALMASCA!!"

I originally bought this game for PS2 in 2006... I was never able to fully immerse myself into the game until I played Zodiac Age in 2022. I've had 20 years to think about 12, it's impact on me, and it's impact on the Final Fantasy spectrum.... and my final verdict? It's ok. I'm not a huge fan of the gambit system, but there is something oddly satisfying about programming the fighting and watching it play out. The story is a bit sloppy if you ask me. There are good characters in the game, but there's a lot of fluff going on around them. I don't remember this game for the story; I love the setting. The locales they developed were the most memorable aspect and strongest part of the game. I like that the world feels massive and lived in, arguably the largest in FF games. I'd say steer clear if it's your first FF game; it's not representative of the series as a whole. That being said, what we have is still enjoyable. Maybe best experienced as your 3rd of 4th Final Fantasy.

KOTOR Reskinned as a Final Fantasy game and I am all here for it. Awesome story that is very reminiscent of OG SW trilogy, and the combat system feels like a Final Fantasied version of KOTOR. Love this game as a kid and it still really holds up. This was made following FF11's huge success and they took a lot from that game to make this feel very alive as well as create a massive world with very cozy vibes and awesome art style. This game was passed over at the time overshadowed by the PS3 release which is a real shame because it's an all time great.

Game seems like a gem of it's time. You can definitely see the FFXI influence too (which I like.) But however good or bad a game is, you need to be able to play it. I played one session (3.5 hours) and was looking forward to many more to come. But every time I load the game it crashes immediately (PC Version.) I don't want a refund, I don't want to complain, I WANT the game to be great. The crash error is super vague, just says runtime error, and you should contact game support. I went through the support pages, and it just says to verify the install files through Steam (which I followed the directions and did.) Then it says, if you have any more issues, report back to us. Except, there is no link to file a report. It's a dead end page, saying, 'go do this thing, that should fix it, otherwise we'll talk again.' That trick might work in person, because they go away and you hope you don't have to deal with them again. But on a PC, I can alt + tab, do what you suggested, and then tell you immediately that it didn't work. There's no way forward. I'm not complaining about balance, etc. I just want basic game functionality and a fix if it's not there.

Game runs great after you turn vsync off and also turn shader caching off. limit the framerate on display to 60 in the nvidia control panel per program setting.

What a fantastic game. If only Star Wars episode VII, VIII, and IX were this good. 9/10 (Docked a point because I hate respawning chests with a random mechanic)

[h1]This is [b]unplayable without mods as it will crash[/b] on launch, but the game is still one of the best RPGs ever made.[/h1] It's overpriced for what is essentially an old game that has been touched up for a PC port, so buy it on sale. [b]Here's how to fix crash:[/b] -Install Vortex Manager and boot it up. -Add Final Fantasy XII under "add games", press ok. -Make sure the manager has you logged on, mods should download directly from browser into mod manager -Download FF12 tkMalloc Fix -Download FF12 External File Loader -Click Deploy mods on mod page -You can now play crash free [b]Links below:[/b] [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/vortex]Vortex Mod Manager[/url] [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/finalfantasy12/mods/170?tab=files]FF12 External Fire Loader[/url] [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/finalfantasy12/mods/475?tab=files]tkMalloc (Crash Fix)[/url] [h3]The game itself?[/h3] -Great voice acting -A visual style that is still beautiful and timeless (originally a PS2 game) -The plot feels grandiose and keeps you invested -A very unique combat system where you can program your party to do certain things -Can be a bit grindy, but this PC port comes with a speed up button -Lots of mods for the game

Ass port, unplayable on windows 11 with up to date graphics drivers at the moment. Even after doing the shader cache fix, I was still crashing. How I personally got the game to run after 30 minutes of constant crashing without ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with my shader cache 1. FF12 External File Loader + FF12 tkMalloc Fix 2. Rolled back my drivers to 581.57 specifically. I have not crashed once since. That said, once you get it to actually work, this is a wonderful game. I was relatively uninspired prior to playing it but I've really enjoyed it. The dynamic between Fran and Balthier specifically is very good, I'm glad they get so much screen time. The gameplay is hit or miss I feel. I enjoy it, but I also understand the criticism of it being uninteractive and boring. Once you get your gambits setup there really isn't much to change or do. Boss fights are kind of just draining a meter. The game is also somewhat unbearable without the built in speed modifiers. I can not imagine playing this game on 1x. If you can deal with a poop lazy port it's a pretty good game, but I could not validate purchasing this if it was full price.

[i] "Every good sky pirate needs a partner, right?" - Penelo [/i]