Final Fantasy XII was the black sheep of the family when it was released in 2006. The battle system was far from the usual as is the plot. Does this mean that FFXII is a bad game and deserves the hate it received? Absolutely not! FFXII is a gorgeous game that creates a sprawling world that you'll never want to leave. This game is not perfect but it did not deserve the hate that it got when it was released and The Zodiac Age cleans up a lot of the rough edges the game originally had. Here's why Final Fantasy XII is a must buy for Final Fantasy and JRPG fans:

The Pros:
+ The world of Ivalice - Ivalice is a sprawling world with gorgeous environments full of life. The world building in this game is top notch and possibly the best in ANY Final fantasy game. You'll find yourself wanting to explore each area and talk to the people of Ivalice to find out more about the world.

+ The Story - This story is not like most of the other Final Fantasy games. The story is very politically driven, setting it apart from other mainline Final Fantasy games. It is a much more adult story. Missing from the plot is a sappy and often cringy (i'm looking at you FFX) love story. I love this because it doesn't detract from the main plot of the game.

+The Audio - WOW. This game is absolutely PACKED with audio. The soundtrack has an incredible amount of tracks each that add to the unique areas to Ivalice. This version features a remastered sounds track that delivers with each new area you enter. PRO TIP: If you're a Dungeon Master, BUY THIS SOUNDTRACK. I use this soundtrack when running D&D games and it does an incredible job of generating emotions from players.

+ The Job System - Missing from the original game, the International Zodiac Job System is the glue that holds combat together. In the original game your characters did not really have a purpose or direction when leveling up. Thanks to the job system, now you have specifically designated roles for each character for every situation.

The Neutral
= The Voice Acting - Although the game suffers from the occasional "Anime grunt", the voice acting is very good for it's time (2006) and has held up decently well. The only reason this is not in the "Pro" section is because of how horribly compressed it is. The original game was on the PS2 and since DVDs could only hold so much data, they had to compress the Voice audio in order to fit it on the disk. For some reason, the same compressed audio is present in this version of the game as well.

= The Battle System - The battle system is the love it or hate it type. This game uses a gambit system, a feature that allows you to "program" your characters to do certain things under certain scenarios. The biggest complaint about this is sometimes it doesn't feel like you're actually playing the game. If you set your gambits right, and your characters are high enough level, you can go through an entire dungeon without touching a button. I enjoyed this system but it's not very hands-on if that's the thing you're looking for.

The Cons:
- The Completionist (100%) - The main issue with this games 100% completion is the Beastiary. It's not uncommon for a game to require you to find and kill every possible enemy but FFXII takes it too far. The biggest issue is that you don't know how many enemies there are and the game does not tell you how many there are or where to find them. Some of the enemies require such specific conditions to spawn that there is no way you'd be able to complete this without a guide. You would need to be EXTREMELY lucky to stumble upon every enemy in this game to complete the Beastiary.

- The Price - At $50, this game is worth the price. However, this is much higher than it should be for a 15 year old game. There are better Final Fantasy games at a lower price so the $50 tag on this is a bit off putting. Buy this game on sale and not at full price.

Notes:
I have completed this game 100% (all achievements). Although I have 200 in game hours my game file is >100. A truly driven player could complete this game 100% in <80 hours
I needed a guide in order to complete this game 100% and you will too.

Conclusion:
FFXII is a must buy for Final Fantasy and JRPG fans. The beautiful world and soundtrack bring the game to life and you'll find yourself in awe of the visuals and world building of a nearly 15 year old game.

Final Fantasy XII was the black sheep of the family when it was released in 2006. The battle system was far from the usual as is the plot. Does this mean that FFXII is a bad game and deserves the hate it received? Absolutely not! FFXII is a gorgeous game that creates a sprawling world that you'll never want to leave. This game is not perfect but it did not deserve the hate that it got when it was released and The Zodiac Age cleans up a lot of the rough edges the game originally had. Here's why Final Fantasy XII is a must buy for Final Fantasy and JRPG fans: The Pros: + The world of Ivalice - Ivalice is a sprawling world with gorgeous environments full of life. The world building in this game is top notch and possibly the best in ANY Final fantasy game. You'll find yourself wanting to explore each area and talk to the people of Ivalice to find out more about the world. + The Story - This story is not like most of the other Final Fantasy games. The story is very politically driven, setting it apart from other mainline Final Fantasy games. It is a much more adult story. Missing from the plot is a sappy and often cringy (i'm looking at you FFX) love story. I love this because it doesn't detract from the main plot of the game. +The Audio - WOW. This game is absolutely PACKED with audio. The soundtrack has an incredible amount of tracks each that add to the unique areas to Ivalice. This version features a remastered sounds track that delivers with each new area you enter. PRO TIP: If you're a Dungeon Master, BUY THIS SOUNDTRACK. I use this soundtrack when running D&D games and it does an incredible job of generating emotions from players. + The Job System - Missing from the original game, the International Zodiac Job System is the glue that holds combat together. In the original game your characters did not really have a purpose or direction when leveling up. Thanks to the job system, now you have specifically designated roles for each character for every situation. The Neutral = The Voice Acting - Although the game suffers from the occasional "Anime grunt", the voice acting is very good for it's time (2006) and has held up decently well. The only reason this is not in the "Pro" section is because of how horribly compressed it is. The original game was on the PS2 and since DVDs could only hold so much data, they had to compress the Voice audio in order to fit it on the disk. For some reason, the same compressed audio is present in this version of the game as well. = The Battle System - The battle system is the love it or hate it type. This game uses a gambit system, a feature that allows you to "program" your characters to do certain things under certain scenarios. The biggest complaint about this is sometimes it doesn't feel like you're actually playing the game. If you set your gambits right, and your characters are high enough level, you can go through an entire dungeon without touching a button. I enjoyed this system but it's not very hands-on if that's the thing you're looking for. The Cons: - The Completionist (100%) - The main issue with this games 100% completion is the Beastiary. It's not uncommon for a game to require you to find and kill every possible enemy but FFXII takes it too far. The biggest issue is that you don't know how many enemies there are and the game does not tell you how many there are or where to find them. Some of the enemies require such specific conditions to spawn that there is no way you'd be able to complete this without a guide. You would need to be EXTREMELY lucky to stumble upon every enemy in this game to complete the Beastiary. - The Price - At $50, this game is worth the price. However, this is much higher than it should be for a 15 year old game. There are better Final Fantasy games at a lower price so the $50 tag on this is a bit off putting. Buy this game on sale and not at full price. Notes: I have completed this game 100% (all achievements). Although I have 200 in game hours my game file is >100. A truly driven player could complete this game 100% in <80 hours I needed a guide in order to complete this game 100% and you will too. Conclusion: FFXII is a must buy for Final Fantasy and JRPG fans. The beautiful world and soundtrack bring the game to life and you'll find yourself in awe of the visuals and world building of a nearly 15 year old game.