Today’s gamers probably do not realize that things have changed dramatically with the issue of video gaming in multiple regions, especially when I’m sorry for a couple of days the differences between the American and European date of release. Just imagine what the situation was like about ten years ago, when European gamers listened to the 12th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series for almost 11 months with Japanese counterparts without the chance to try it out. Even the Americans played the “twelve” four months ago.

But perhaps the most interesting part of this whole sage is the release of an improved version that has been awarded the International Zodiac Job System supplement to your name and remains exclusive to the Japanese market. Buy, add internationally to the name and throw the product only in Japan, ah Square Square Enix! Fortunately there is one thing that Square Enix loves more than good scrutiny, and that’s the smell of green paper. Therefore, improvements from the International Zodiac Job System with the advancement of graphics have been offered to all PlayStation 4 players. Or at least those who have coins.

GETTING TO KNOW

Although Final Fantasy XII was still reviewing the release itself and rewarding it with a high 96, it’s not a bad thing to repeat some basic things about it. Perhaps the most cited element of all these years has remained the famous gambit combat system that offers us the ability to create commands for the main characters. The entire system sounds like a quite simplified version of the programming of your fighters, where with two command goals and actions you create your team of fearless warriors.

For example, you can create a command that your character casts magic to increase energy each time one of your fighters falls below 30% or is shot in a ferocious monster attack team. Once you have made enough progress, you open up a number of gambit slots and learn a number of special attacks, you will feel like playing an RPG version of Football Manager, assembling your team with perfect form, and then enjoying the fruits of your tactics. Of course, there is still a manual input, but once you feel the magic of gameplay I doubt you will have the desire to press too many of the same commands again.

All the battles take place on semi-open maps of the Ivalica world, which is also represented through other titles such as Tactics Series or Vagrant Story, and the current Final Fantasy XIV MMO uses the same area for their story. As in the other mentioned titles, the twelve story relies more on the political issue and does not throw us in the “Save the World” situation as it is the case with most other parts of the Final Fantasy series.

At the heart of the action is the longstanding struggle between the two empires of Archadia and Rozarrie, and the collateral war victim is a small kingdom of Dalmasca that is annexed by Archadia. Most of the main characters come from this kingdom, and through the resistance movement we go to the adventure. Through the story we will guide some of the best, but the worst characters of the series. Most of you will enjoy the company of the Balthazar or Fran, whose voice is always baptized by me. But there is also Vaan, the main character with the weakest link, and you can hardly wait for the choice between several characters to get his annoying muzzle out of his team.

NEW THINGS

The Zodiac Age compared to the original got improved graphics and I think this is one of the better HD remasteres. Not only is the 1080p resolution (1440p for the Pro Console owners) increased but the shadows, the texture of higher quality, better anti-aliasing and brightness are enhanced, and the special effects almost do not look like the original. In addition, the original soundtrack is re-arranged and the whole package leaves a high impression on the presentation, especially considering the remaster of the PlayStation 2 game. And I have to admit that I do not remember when loading time was the last time this was fast.

Thanks to inserting things from The International Zodiac Job System Extensions, we have the ability to speed up the action with one key, which is one of the best improvements that have been added. It is important to note that this acceleration does not undermine some of the basics of functionality, so the scenes and the music run at standard speeds, and the time spent in the game is not accelerated.

Additionally, the large board with the help we are advancing is divided into the business system that draws and deeper planning your character’s progress. Unlike the first extension, we can take two business cards this time, so six major characters cover all 12 available jobs. Finally, we have a chance to try Trial Mode, a special part that brings 100 levels to go through, each level introducing a new predefined set of enemies.

Unfortunately, some old illogicality will obviously never be corrected. Selling more things than once is not possible, but after every hunt in the wild you need to recapture each item again, determine the amount and eventually confirm it, which is pretty tedious if you have to sell more stuff in larger quantities. This is a bunch of players who have misunderstood the original and it’s strange that little things like this have not been corrected in the remaster.

After all, there is only one thing I can actually tell you, and that is whether or not it has played original or not, this is definitely the fun world you should visit. Renewed graphics are just decorative to a well-packed gift, but the main star remains a struggle, a really unusual gambit system that is unique and I would really like to have some modern spin-off sequel to this kind of system.

Naturally, the main character of Vaan is still one of the worst stars in the series, perhaps now that I’m older, but the other characters have enough peculiarity to undo this adventure and make this adventure a must-have for this summer.