Final Fantasy 12 Zodiac Age in 2024, underrated masterpiece? or overhyped nostalgia trip?

[@acheronnchase6220]

The only game where I was never bored grinding or farming materials and the job system was perfection

[@rosaheartlily]

Great to see FFXII getting some love. This is a great analysis. I love the gambit system and wish it showed up in other FF titles. The espers, on the other hand, I found largely redundant.

[@WorthItNowGaming]

The gambit system is excellent, I wish more games in general had it tbh.

[@ibs4541]

This is the last Final Fantasy game that I really enjoyed. Combat was fun, exploration is the best in the series, graphics were really good for the time, and while the story and characters were not spectacular, it wasn't bad per se. I 100% agree this is the last true FF game. From XIII, nothing really appealed to me the same way the old games in the series did. I kept trying, but after FFXVI, I think I'm done. I don't know what that game is, certainly not a main entry FF.

[@WorthItNowGaming]

Yer, from XIII onwards it felt like a different franchise.

[@moisescorral8297]

But wouldn't VII and VIII also feel like a different franchise under the same scrutiny?

[@MayteraMarble]

Agree. I played 16 and it was just ok. A one and done for me and really wasn't a true FF IMO. All other FF I have played multiple times,even 13. 16, no desire to revisit it.

[@ProfKisuto]

@@WorthItNowGaming It's crazy to me that people don't think otherwise.

[@rezalaoh7288]

I love the gambit system

[@WorthItNowGaming]

I don’t understand why more devs haven’t adopted this over the years. It’s a very good game mechanic.

[@MayteraMarble]

One of my fave FFS. Miles better than 15 and 16.

[@dennisscott2516]

What a coincidence. I just started playing this on Switch. Great game! Thanks for the vid

[@Joe_334]

Basch Fon Rosenburg carried it for me.

[@Paul_Henri86]

Solid 10/10 game. The best loot system ever, every area has enemies with amazing loot. Grounded and realistic characters. Great story about the war instead of focusing on lovebirds. Gambit System is the best system to control party members (FF7 Remake/Rebirth is sooooo shit, they literally do nothing).

[@mickwritesmaui]

Definitely underrated. I still think this was the best combat system. On release, I didn’t like that all the characters look the same, I didn’t like the summons or the overdrives. But combat, exploration and story pulled me through the game. The graphics still wow me. Taking away nostalgia bias, a recent playthrough of the early games revealed this game to be the best; at least to me. I do prefer to OG version, as the zodiac job classes limits combat potential. It was a lot easier to freely equip weapons in the original.

[@JeannieLove]

I love FF12, I stand by my assessment of it as Fantasy Star Wars. Fran is my favorite character, just wish she had a bigger role.

[@frankbrodie5168]

I like FFXII but nowhere near as much as say FFX or FFVI. But Fran is actually my favourite character in the entire Final Fantasy series.

[@lanisolfire5692]

This was the last solo player mainline ff that i enjoyed. 13 i beat but more out of obligation and 15 and 16 bored me so much i dropped them half way through

[@frankbrodie5168]

FFXV killed the franchise stone dead for me. Never even tried FFXVI or the FFVII remakes because FFXV disappointed me so much. You have my utmost admiration for lasting halfway through it. I've started it probably 5 times now. And get about 2 hours in and just go "nope.."

[@Happyslappy86]

Underrated gameplay. It was fun and probably the best job/class system. Storywise it was meh.

[@ericrhodes5174]

I felt the same way about it. I throughly enjoyed the gameplay but the story just didn't hook me.

[@IzunaSlap]

FFXII was the last good FF, FFX was the last great FF, FFIX was the last masterpiece FF.

[@matth1641]

1000%

[@herodotus6235]

No, absolutely not. FFIX was the last masterpiece, yes. FFX was the last good old style game. The last games that were good have been FFVII Remake and Rebirth, and FFXVI.

[@bort_hill]

FFXVI and FF IX are easily the worst of the series

[@jasonfuentz4282]

@@herodotus6235 FFXVI😂

[@gamedotfilm3929]

Im at the end of the game, enjoying the game overall. World is pretty big and i like being able to travel and explore. Need to brush up on the story though, hard to keep track bc i put the game down for days and play, I forget whats happening. Greay video ❤

[@somerandom3247]

one of my favorite games. but i do prefer the original, where everyone has access to all the licences.

[@dani3po]

The best combat system of the whole series. I hope someday SE launches an RPG with this system.

[@WorthItNowGaming]

I hope so too!

[@Tailbiter231]

This is way underrated. It's not even disliked like II and XIII, just overlooked and doesn't get much attention. It really is an awesome game and I love that you specify Zodiac Age because from what I understand of the original, Zodiac Age (which I have played) is far superior. And gil farming is a lot easier than in FFXIII. My biggest complaint about it is enemies becoming immune to damage for too long (mainly the Trickster and the Undying), which is pretty small compared to my complaints about other FF games, including my top two favorites and fourth (VII, VI, and XIII). I love the levels, soundtrack, characters (especially Balthier), story's pretty good, the whole Star Wars resemblance (including Rabanstre resembling Naboo), and unlike some games like IX and XIII, not terrible with areas becoming unrevisitable, all the coolest areas stay. Third favorite FF game, and 24th favorite game altogether.

[@damienkrawczuk1435]

Yeah ive been thinking on this for a bit now, its the last FF game i truly enjoyed and i always seem to come back to this game, i loved ff13 for different reasons, but ff12 i truly loved, just thinking on the Gambit system and the variations you can have, just getting lost and exploring every corner of the map, the summons were excellent, and the zodiac editions options just added more depth to its systems and as far as i remember its the only ff game with a new game plus options too, and i love its music and sound design, i tried so hard to like ff11 and 14 but i absolutely hated online ff, im 100% looking forward to picking up the new fantasian neo? I think thats what its called, im totally on board with the original ff7 designers on that game, ff to me was always at its best as a single player story but i do remember ff9 had an option as 2 players, but i never tested it, maybe it was modded ill have to look it up as i dont remember too well, thats going back a few decades, and i appreciated ff16 for trying something different but that devil may cry final fantasy i liked for diffrent reasons again, i absolutely loved intergrating doggo combat into my combo's, and clives voice performance was excellent, some of my favourite voice actors are in that game, but come what may ill forever be a final fantasy fan.... here's to ff17 and beyond

[@FreeRPGer]

FFXII was the last FF game I actually liked, but IMO, FFX was the last true FF game, last epic one, even -- the last one with Sakaguchi involved (producing, anyway), & the last one that evolved the turn-based battles a bit. I like XII, being connected to FF Tactics & all, but X is the last FF game I actually loved.

[@cathallynch1]

You've earned yourself another subscriber! I played XII back in the day but couldn't get into it as I was too immature to understand the story and compute the Gambit system, but it's on my backlog now!

[@WorthItNowGaming]

Thanks for the Sub, I hope you enjoy revisiting Ivalice!

[@Zelkova_Serrata]

Fun fact, i play and finish this like 10th times, and always i miss to play it again

[@passionfruit897]

We need this FFXII rebirth in PS5 Pro 😊

[@fattmusiek5452]

Great retrospective review!

[@WorthItNowGaming]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@drdoriangray]

Best final fantasy, loved the freedom. Sadly it was incomplete, or more like it never got the vision it had behind in it's conception since they changed directors mid game. Waste of potential.

[@IshvaraGodCazimi]

This game is meant to be played on the struggle for freedom mod

[@CthulhuTheory]

12 had brilliant gameplay..... but my god, the closer attention you pay to the story, the worse it gets.

[@ChrisCarlos64]

FFXII was one of my favorites for several years, and still top 3 in the series. I have started FF XI: ZA recently and there are some nice things I like about the change, but I wish it also could give me the old license board as well. I never saw the openness of the original board a problem. I know people were complaining "everyone is the same" at the time of release, but that's not true. The game was about weapons and what skills you used. The Gambit system allowed you to make your "class" basically for each character. ZA fixes some things, but I still prefer the original board and it makes a world of difference IMO. I still haven't unlocked a "second" job for each character yet, so I guess maybe then it will help, but it was so nice to see Gambits being your "class" mindset with the weapons, so anyone could be a white mage, black mage, etc.

[@GuntherNunes-x8s]

The leveling system he mentioned, there's a mod in the nexus mods page that allow exp share between all party members, if you guys are interested, so everyone levels up together and you don't have to do unnecessary grind.

[@WorthItNowGaming]

Nice. Thanks for sharing.

[@madnight1553]

i wont say masterpiece especially with the protagonis tbeing a figurant characters but this game certainly better than all the newer FF games

[@leandroeidi]

The only numbered (non-MMORPG) FF games I never cared to finish are 7, 12 and 15. So you could say 12 is in the bottom 3 on my list. If only they put some protagonists I actually cared about instead of Vaan and Penelo, and focused more on character drama over the boring political stuff...

[@JesseDylanMusic]

10 was the last true Final Fantasy. 12 was an Ivalice game and was even less Final Fantasy than Tactics. Which is totally fine! And, it's a great game!

[@specialnewb9821]

When X was released we debated whether it was a true Final Fantasy on message boards.

[@JesseDylanMusic]

@@specialnewb9821 Yeah... It's a lot different, for sure. Hell, when 8 came out, I didn't play it, because after 7 already being quite a departure, I felt it was no longer true Final Fantasy anymore. Even 9 didn't convince me. But after I loved the hell out of 10, I went back and replayed 7, then finally played and loved the hell out of 8 and 9 too.

[@Managuabrother]

I'm Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg of Dalmasca! Don't listen to Omdore's lies

[@Xeakerr]

I prefer the International Zodiac Age Version or the OG FF12. Zodiac Age made the game too easy with 2 Jobs and Autosave. Also you can now bring equipment from the trials to the main game breaking it even further.

[@WorthItNowGaming]

Yer true, it did make it easier. Still an excellent game though.

[@MayteraMarble]

@@Xeakerr definitely! I love the Job system.

[@MayteraMarble]

@@Xeakerr this convo is making me want to replay this classic!

[@Zafire063]

I liked the world, the battle system, the endgame, and even the sidequests. What I didn't like was the story. It was just painfully bad, to me. Gabranth was the only interesting antagonist. I don't even remember the name of the final boss. In all, I feel like the storylines kinda died with FF10. FF16 did good, but fell off around the middle as well, IMO.

[@rmsgrey]

To my mind, FFXII is a great 30 hour game, with another 20 hours tacked onto the end. It starts out strong, and places like Old Archades are great, but past a certain point it starts going downhill, and places like the Great Crystal are just a slog to get through.

[@WorthItNowGaming]

kzbin.info/door/HeJDi_Bc4ymcAMkUhMVOxw 00:00 Story 04:40 Graphics 06:07 Gameplay 13:05 Audio 14:20 Value 15:12 Overall

[@abujamunafik7941]

This the best FF. Just love there is not much lovey dovey romance stuff

[@arox2962]

My most fav FF

[@steamynoodle2010]

This game should only be played as a remaster. The original took a thousand years. So many encounters, so much walking around, the battle system was so slow. Not to mention the story was the most confusing thing since final fantasy tactics. Didn't enjoy it at all the first time.

[@ElforTheLandstander]

I still enjoy playing it because of the awesome Gambit system, but this might be the weakest and least memorable cast of characters in the franchise. Only Balthier feels fleshed out.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

I think Ashe is pretty well displayed too... but poor Penello.... she's got zero development

[@ericrhodes5174]

Balthier is not a good character. His only personality trait is Han Solo.

[@questcore636]

this game was far from being a masterpiece, but is the last good FF game in my opinion,

[@ericrhodes5174]

Agreed. The dry story and forgettable cast held it back.

[@PAINNN666]

No way. It's X or 9

[@ericrhodes5174]

12 is an above average-to-good RPG but a weak Final Fantasy. It's got the best battle system the series has ever had but suffers from a dry, C-tier story and a forgettable cast of characters. I enjoyed it for what it was but ultimately wont be coming back to it ever again. I (like many other FF fans) think that the series peaked with the PS1 trilogy.

[@PAINNN666]

@ericrhodes5174 maybe but I dislike exactly Battle system

[@Ymyeh-lr8wj]

Nah, the last TRUE Final Fantasy game was FF10

[@IzunaSlap]

yeah, it still had Uematsu and Sakaguchi

[@GottiEss]

ffx was the last true final fantasy imo

[@MNaka-uf9yz]

It's Fantasian now! This video aged poorly 🤣

[@sesinhosantos5047]

Overhyped. It id kibd of boring and it slightly leans into the strong female character that later fully embraces FFXIII saga. FFXV also eliminates the romance pretty much and that has been it for final fantasy. The last Final fantasy was the FFX saga. That one is perfect and I prefer it to FFVII.

[@ericrhodes5174]

As a game it's pretty good. As a story... not so much.

[@DrAdreus]

Gotta be honest my least favorite FF game mainly due to the AI battles. Literally did not hold my controlled during final boss and won. This felt like a bad visual novel with grinding instead of a video game due to that.

[@herodotus6235]

Agree. And the story was just boring. Not the weird unsettling stuff you would expect from FF at all.

[@dissidius13]

still best auto battler FF

[@anthonydelfino6171]

I get WHY they did it... but I will say I don't love the change to the zodiac job system.... I know on release too many players couldn't resist optimizing the fun out of the game, as gamers we are wont to do... but now it's sad that the unique character builds I made in my first play of the game are locked off to me completely as the skills I had them use are now locked behind three separate boards. For example my dark knight Basch build has this problem. I had him using an axe and shield, so that's the foebreaker job board... he needs the souleater skill so that's knight... so far so good. But I also had him using the Dark family of spells... but that's locked behind red battle mage. This means one of the parts of the identity of the job I built for him has to go. Also I'd argue 12 is NOT turn based combat. It's rudimentary real time combat attempting to maintain turn based in the way that the ATB system in 7 remake is attempting to maintain it. 10 was the last turn based game

[@herodotus6235]

There was nothing “true” about the battle system at all. I actually think FFXVI is much better than XII. It has much better pacing, storyline and the battle system is more exciting if equally not “true” to the franchise. XII was often like watching paint dry.

[@matthewlin1182]

Final Fantasy XII 12 The Zodiac Age Remasters of the Original Game For PS2 New Remasters for PS4 PS5 Nintendo Switch Xbox One Console

[@jekw23]

Was quite non plussed in 2007. Played again a few years ago and found it slightly better. Nothing I disliked but nothing really stuck with me.

[@m6c3l]

The only good thing about it is the zodiac editions fast forward option, so the awful combats are over quicker.

[@hendraboen7857]

Final Fantasy XII stands as a masterpiece and, in my view, the last true Final Fantasy game. Its graphics were exceptional upon release and remain serviceable by today's standards, even surpassing some modern games. The game feels like an amalgamation of the series' best elements. Its story is straightforward, incorporating political themes typical of Final Fantasy games and serving as a spiritual successor to side games like Final Fantasy Tactics. The battle system is enjoyable, and I appreciate its design. Most importantly, it offered a complete narrative within a single game, eliminating the need for expansions. In contrast, Final Fantasy XIII disappointed me. Despite its impressive graphics, I quickly lost interest. The story was convoluted and difficult to follow full with mumbo jumbo and jargons like fal'cie, i'cie, pulse etc, the paradigm shift gameplay felt unintuitive, and the numerous sequels seemed unnecessary. I skipped Final Fantasy XI and XIV due to my disinterest in MMORPGs. When Final Fantasy XV was released, I was initially excited. The graphics were undeniably magnificent, the story was acceptable, and the characters were compelling-it seemed like a return to form. However, I soon realized Square Enix's true intention was to milk the franchise. Critical story elements were hidden behind paid DLC, while important narrative beats were relegated to side quests. The ending, which concluded with Noctis's death, felt strange. I later discovered that the "true" happy ending was confined to a cancelled DLC that ultimately became a novel, after the creator left Square. The game's storytelling became increasingly convoluted. Bizarre narrative inconsistencies emerged, such as King Regis apparently forgetting his previous encounter with Ardyn, and the revelation of Bahamut as a villain. The game's experience point system was particularly frustrating-levelling up was only possible at camp, and dying meant losing all accumulated experience points. While I understood the game's attempt to blend fantasy with a touch of realism, this mechanic felt punishing and unintuitive. Final Fantasy VII Remake was perhaps the most disappointing entry. Fans had long requested a graphical update to the classic game, but Square Enix responded by stretching the narrative across multiple games and consoles. The introduction of multiverse storylines felt unnecessary and alienating. The decision to not release Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on PS4 was particularly egregious, effectively abandoning players of the original Remake who played in PS 4. The only redeeming qualities were the impressive battle system and graphics. With limited time for gaming, I've skipped the PS5 and will likely not play Final Fantasy XVI.

[@kpenn100]

no 13 ,14 and 16 are fine games 14 has arguably the best ff story ever made.

[@devonshaw8935]

Ranks pretty low on my list of final fantasies. The characters, their story, and even the gameplay were really lacking for me. Even the music was a disappointment, which is rare for FF.

[@titusvarughese5071]

Sorry ff12 is not underrated masterpiece, characters Vaan and Penelope are lame just waste of space and other characters so underdeveloped, story is soo simplistic and boring and stupid either potholes, side characters just do not play role in the story. The only saving grace of this game the exploration and combat, and voice acting. Square Enix is living off the glory of SquareSoft hard work.

[@Balewolf7]

Your not sorry

[@drdoriangray]

I mean, they changed directors in the middle of the game. I love ff12, I loved the freedom it gave me, it was like playing a MMOrpg, I still have a save doing main quest with vaan lvl 1. From the new FF, ff12 it's my favourite (since I'm not old enough to have played the pixel ones). Story may be meh for some, but for me it was just, sadly, incomplete. It could have been so much more it's sad.

[@drdoriangray]

My guy, Vaan is one of the few FF MCs that got with his girl, Penelo, and has a happy life in the end (NDS sequel).

[@andrewscalf]

Can’t argue when it comes to those potholes man, I hate driving thru em.

[@titusvarughese5071]

@andrewscalf lol good one

[@WhatWillYouFind]

The Last *Good Final Fantasy.

[@marzocchi705]

14 and 16 would like a word

[@revolutionarymagic3459]

@@marzocchi705 14 is really good but idk about 16

[@jasonfuentz4282]

​@@marzocchi705 FFXVI👉💩

[@keelanbarron928]

"The last true final fantasy game" and you say that for final fantasy 12? Why? It sucks. In my opinion, ff13, ff15, and ff16 are better than ff12, and that's only counting the combat system because ff12's combat is just the mmo's, and it sucks!

[@EpischeMusik]

overhyped piece of shit wannabe single player mmo