The excellent remaster, Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age, is launching on PC very soon.
There are lots of good things about Final Fantasy XII, Square Enix’s massive RPG that originally launched on PS2 in 2006.
One of the things that isn’t so great about it, however, is the pacing. With a combination of the gambit system – a system of pre-programming your characters for different situations and stimuli – and an awful lot of repetition, grinding, hunts, and repetition, it was quite dull to play. Great game, but it feels like both a slog and entirely hands off at the same time; that’s a unique combination of criticism that’s hard to achieve.
Not familiar with the tedium of twelve? Read this brilliant piece from Jon Hamblin over on Eurogamer, about ‘programming’ your characters to power-level, fighting Negalmuur in the Stilshrine of Miriam. That really captures the essence of what is clever, but ultimately very wrong, with Final Fantasy XII.
When Square Enix announced a remaster of the twelfth instalment – and when we all stopped asking why it wasn’t Final Fantasy VIII or IX – we were pleased to hear that a speed control would be available in Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age.
Yes, you can fast-forward the tedious combat.
All of the clever payoff from that programming, and grinding, and power-levelling, but without having to sit and watch it in real time? That’s a great idea. It was clearly popular. To be honest, it’s a shame they didn’t include it in the original release.
Oh, and the news! Right, sorry: Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age releases on Steam on February 1st, 2018. It also comes with the following features:
- 60FPS – Ivalice will look better than ever with the game running at 60FPS.
- Compatible with 21:9 ultra-wide monitors – Up to three HD monitors can be used for a potential 48(16×3):9 experience.
- New Game Plus and New Game Minus – Post-game content modes are now accessible from the beginning of the game.
- Three background music options – The original, re-orchestrated and soundtrack versions are now available from the beginning of the game.
- Maximized License Points and Gil – New functionality added to grant players max License Points and Gil from the configuration screen.
- Full controller support, Steam Trading Cards and more.
But you can still fast forward, right? Yes, you can! Thank goodness.
