I have waited for a very long time for Final Fantasy XII to be portable. When the X and X2 HD collection was announced on the Vita. I thought XII was inevitable on Sony's handheld. I waited with bated breath for many years only to be ultimately disappointed.
Fast forward to 2019. I jumped on that preorder of Final Fantasy XII TZA Switch the moment those doors opened. This is a divisive Final Fantasy title that seems to spark some serious debate between long time fans. Initially booting up this game back in the late PS2 days. I was instantly brought back to FFXI Online with similar visuals and an even more similar battle system. Needless to say I was hooked right from the get go. The incredible musical score from Hitoshi Sakimoto only helps to enhance this incredible adventure even further. The new HD release is equipped with a remastered soundtrack as well. But I highly recommend keeping the original score. That is definitely up to your own personal taste however.
So now down to what really matters. This game is huge. Especially for a game initially developed for the PS2. The environments are connected in an MMO fashion with zones connecting each part of the map together. They form a massive world that can be traversed by land or by a fast traveling airship. One of Final Fantasy's staple air vehicles that has been in the series since it's inception.
So it may not be as open and massive as lets say FFXV's sprawling fields and vistas however when the multiple pieces are added up the size is still quite formidable for a game of its age.
Each zone and city feels vastly different. Sand dunes, sewers, jungles, massive sky cities. I never felt like things were starting to look repetitive. Enemies and treasures are strewn about these areas encouraging exploration and wandering off of the beaten path to check every nook and cranny.
The combat is what took the biggest step in a different direction for the series. Previous entries were typically in a line up fashion with enemies standing in front of you. This took most of it's cues from the MMO style of combat with the baddies wandering about the field waiting to be attacked or attacking you while passing by depending on their enemy type.
The level of customization you have for your characters combat behavior is incredibly fine tuned and detailed. You have at your disposal whats called a "Gambit System" Since FFXII's combat is so fast paced. It quickly becomes impossible to input each characters desired battle command like previous games before it. What the Gambit system will allow you to do is set your heroes' actions down to every EXACT action you would like them to perform automatically. An example would be to set Van the main protagonist's fire ability to enemies that have half HP remaining. Or to set your White Mage's cure ability on any character with 30% HP remaining. The system is incredibly clever and opens up some awesome possibilities of creating a powerful team able to hold their own no matter what battle circumstance arises. As you progress through the game. More gambit options are available at shops throughout the world of Ivalice opening up even more combat possibilities as the enemies become stronger and more challenging.
You learn abilities in a very similar fashion to Final Fantasy Tactics. each battle will earn you license points unlocking equipment and abilities on what looks like a chessboard. When you unlock an ability you are able to use it right away. When you unlock a piece of equipment you will be able to use it when you have one in you inventory. It's a clever system that makes even weak enemies not feel like a chore due to the low EXP.
Without getting into any spoiler heavy content. FFXII's story isn't a simple matter to follow like let's say FFX or some of the previous entries. However it isn't as all over the place and convoluted as the most recently released FFXV which left me scratching my head more often than not.
It has a a rich cast thrown into a war between nations. It's full of betrayal, love, plot twists, and some excellent English voice work tying all of these elements together. Balthier and Fran the game's awesome Sky Pirate duo are some of my favorite characters in the long running series.
You take control of the young impoverished street boy named Vaan. His brother who is introduced in the beginning tutorial section plays a strong connection with Vaan's motives in getting intertwined with the games main plot. While he is far from my favorite main character. He is someone I was happy to root for despite him being pretty underwhelming compared to the rest of the cast.
The tale is quite political in nature getting into some pretty heavy medieval style poltics. Some may be turned off by the sheer amount of characters introduced with every new plot development. But it never gets too out of hand that you're wondering who is who during the thick of it. The game does a good job of pacing the story along so that the player is easily able to recall each NPC or playable characters back story or motive when the time arises.
It takes a bit of time for the plot to ramp up. But once it got going I felt I was always anxious to see what would unfold in the next cinematic.
Now down to The Zodiac Age's advancements over the original title. The first very noticeable difference is the visual overhaul. The resolution has been upgraded to today's standards with a ton of extra textures and added visual effects. I was very impressed with the amount of work put into the visual presentation. Many remakes or remasters simply just up the resolution and call it a day. The team really put a ton of extra visual eye candy to make an already gorgeous game even more of a visual treat. Now that's not to say it's going to be up there with the visuals of modern releases. But the art direction and extra visual flares make this a great looking title even in 2019. Another welcome addition is a speed up mode making grinding those levels much less of a chore. I even found myself using the speed up option when navigating some of the larger areas that I had been through multiple times.
Now the Switch and Xbox One iteration also boast some other enhancements that even the PS4 version didn't have available. You can now change your job and learn new abilities any time after the first section of the game. This is a very welcome feature allowing for even more customization between characters.
You can also swtich between Gambit set ups on the fly instead of rearranging the initial one when the battles start to require a different strategy. This was probably my favorite enhancement of all the improvements as it ends up saving a ton of time in the later half of the game.
Lastly New Game Plus allows users to start at level 90 carrying over equipment for a much easier run though.
Most importantly however is being able to take this incredible adventure on the go. With a full time job under my belt and much less gaming time available to me. This was truly the greatest reason to grab this on Nintendo's hybrid console. It also looks and runs incredibly well in Handheld mode which is sometimes not the case with large games like FFXII.
If I had to list some negative aspects. I will be honest and say I'm hard pressed to find fault. I truly love this game. It's been one of my favorite in the series since the original release. One thing however which still elicited the occasional groan is the presence of powerful foes roaming around in low level zones. I am the type of gamer that enjoys exploration and wandering. Even with one play through under my belt. I still suffered the occasional loss of progress to me wondering into an area and being trashed in just a few hits by powerful enemies. This was definitely not a common occurrence. But still an annoying situation that I would encourage me to pay attention a little more than I wanted to when grinding levels. This opens up my second complaint that I thought would have been amended in the remaster. There is still no option for a quick save or auto save function. This seemed like a no brainer for a game releasing in this day and age. I was disappointed to learn that you still have to rely on designated save points.
So here is the age old question. Does Final Fantasy XII hold up after all these years? I definitely believe that is an absolute yes. New comers, veterans of the series, and gamers who have been through the game on the PS2 will still have an incredible time with this fantastic remaster. Whether you're grabbing it on the PS4, Xbox One, or the Switch to bring it on the go. This is a tale that deserves any JRPG fans attention.
All images belong to their respected owners
Score9/10
Playtime: 62 hours
Platform: Nintendo Switch