Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Review

Fast forward

One of the main problems with Final Fantasy XII is that the first half of the game is nowhere near as good as the second. Getting through the first few parts can feel like a chore all too often, as the storyline and gameplay drag their feet before both begin to improve dramatically.

This remaster tried to solve this problem by including a fast forward feature. You can choose whether to force the time to pass two or four times faster than normal. While it’s a nice addition and makes some of the more frustrating sections of the game better, I can’t help but think it’s a pretty blunt tool to get around the problem instead of actually fixing it.

Audio and images

The age of the zodiac has its ups and downs with regards to presentation as well. Despite some graphical improvements, it still feels like a game out of its time. There may also be some performance issues which, when combined with the less-than-stellar graphics, mean you won’t confuse it with a new top-of-the-line version.

But audio is another story. Final Fantasy XII already had an absolutely great soundtrack and every track has been remastered. Nobuo Uematsu’s score is elevated to new heights and is perhaps the single biggest contributor to making this title so beloved. Small details like sound effects and voice acting have the same quality as the music.

Final verdict

While it can be difficult to make an equally meaningful remaster of the original game, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age does just that and more. It brings everything that was so good to modern hardware while simultaneously adding a number of improvements that actually make it a better game than what you might have played in 2006. For those who have never played this game, now it may be the perfect time to jump aboard and really give it a chance to shine.