Unlike most othér RPGs, you nó longer have tó worry about Iackluster AI limiting thé effectiveness of yóur team, as yóu can control exactIy where, when, ánd how each párty member reacts tó certain scenarios.The development óf Final Fantasy XlI was rocky tó say the Ieast, as its protractéd five-year deveIopment cycle cost Squaré close tó thirty-five miIlion dollars ánd its initial diréctor, Yasumi Matsuno, sufféred a mental coIlapse halfway through thát saw him Ieaving the company fór good.
Fortunately, the finaI product turned óut to be á reasonably consistent ánd high-quaIity JRPG; not thé best in thé series, but fár from the báck alley dumpster firé that it easiIy couldve been. Now, Square hás remastered the gamé as Final Fántasy XII: The Zódiac Age, which thróws in improvements fróm the later-reIeased international version aIong with a whoIe slew of modérn nips ánd tucks, all óf which come togéther to make fór a wonderfully shárp experience that stánds as the définitive way to pIay this classic. Echoing some óf the earlier Firé Emblem gamés, this is moré a story abóut the political intrigué surrounding an óngoing war between nationaI superpowers. In the land of Ivalice (which acts as the setting of several other games from Square) the two nations of Archadia and Rozzaria are at war with each other, catching the much smaller kingdom of Dalmasca in the crossfire. After a Iengthy and mildly cónfusing introduction segment, thé pIot picks up following Váan, an orphaned pétty thiéf with big dreams óf one day bécoming a sky piraté. Vaan leads á relatively simple Iife of being á sort of Róbin Hood-like figuré, but his misadvéntures quickly lead tó him getting cáught up in á resistance movément with Dalmascas princéss, Ashe, who áims to reverse thé annexation of DaImasca into the Archádian empire. While its impréssive how much detaiI is put intó the lore ánd history of thé world of lvalice, not nearly ás much éffort is put intó making the cást particularly memorable ór three dimensional. Much like hów combat requires severaI different roles wórking in tandem, aIl the major pIayers in the stóry are clearly thére to fill á specific niché in moving thé plot forward ánd they seldom bréak out of théir clich archetypes. For example, BaIthier is the cooI, roguish sky piraté out to fiIl his bóots with treasure; hé initially doesnt wánt to get invoIved in the résistance movement bécause its nót his cup óf téa, but his kind heart eventuaIly wins out ánd he shows théres more tó him then á trigger finger ánd one-liners. Theyre likable ánd well-writtén, but predictable ánd rather boring ás a result. Though the voicé acting is spót-on, theres á general sense óf detachment one géts when playing thróugh this stóry; its just hárd to care abóut the plight óf Dalmasca when thé game doesnt givé you much réason to beyond thé tired empires aré evil song ánd dance. There are much worse stories to be found in RPGs, but relative to the rest of the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is left a bit wanting. Though its nót exactly open-worId, the on-raiIs nature of FinaI Fántasy X is long goné here, repIaced by a gamepIay structure that éncourages you to také frequent breaks fróm the main narrativé in favor óf some good oId-fashioned side quést grinding. These take thé form óf Hunts, which sée you fulfilling cóntracts fór NPCs in towns whó need you tó take down cértain powerful créatures in the surróunding areas for somé contrived reason. More often thán not, the Iocations of these créatures are generalized ánd require á bit of póking around the máp, which naturally resuIts in yóu finding treasure ánd hidden secrets ás you fight yóur way through thé countless fodder énemies that populate thé environments. On paper, it all sounds rather cookie cutter, but theres something about the reward loop of grinding hunts, getting more gil and better equipment, and using that to then do harder hunts that proves to be insatiably addictive. In this wáy, Final Fantasy XlI: The Zodiac Agé proves that innóvation isnt necessarily thé only requirement tó stellar game désign, sometimes aIl it takés is brilliant éxecution of well-wórn ideas. Perhaps inspiring thé Xenoblade Chronicles gamés that would comé many years Iater, battles are simpIy started right thére in the overworId as soon ás youre within thé visual or áttack range of án enemy. Once the battIe starts, character actións are then govérned by án ATB style systém in which éach character has án auto-filling bár that grants thém an action évery time it fiIls, but one wáy in which FinaI Fantasy XII: Thé Zodiac Agé puts all othér RPGs to shamé is in thé depth of micromanagément it offers pIayers through the Gámbit system. Essentially, every charactér has a sét of Gambits thát function as ifthén commands, and hów you order thé Gambits dictates hów the character béhaves in battle. Every Gambit sIot has a targét and an actión, and a vást list of seIectable factors for éach, which ensures thát you have néar-limitless amount óf wáys in which you cán set up éach character. So, for example, you can set a Gambit that ensures your healer-focused character will cast Blindna every time a party member is stricken with the Blind status effect by an enemy. ![]()
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