FFXII: The Zodiac Age changes and additions: what's new in this Ivalice remaster?
- Thread starter LordOfLore
- Start date
Well the way it's been explained by square has been VERY vague but I finally got confirmation from a gameplay video from a YouTuber with an early copy.
So basically, there are 3 versions of FFXII's music (crazy right?)
They are:
1. The music as it sounded playing on an actual PS2 using it's own sound chip.
2. The completely reorchestrated music made for Zodiac Age.
3. The FFXII OST cd quality music which is very similar to 1. but with better instrument samples and clearer quality. (This is ONLY available to LE steelbook preorders)
All three music forms can be switched between ingame but the third is a special DLC that must be redeemed with a code. It's also unclear if the DLC can be purchased normally.
I was super confused about this and I may have preordered the steelbook had I known exactly what they meant.
For comparison:
PS2 quality: https://youtu.be/8TfG8kukjnk
CD quality: https://youtu.be/RgvaZ1F7Ox8
PS4 quality: https://youtu.be/rNmbusFgf3A
Dr_Boris_Goltz
Banned
Man I'm getting excited for this. Easily my favorite FF.
Rad Shadow
Banned
I'll just get the standard version and put it in my steel case of my ps2 copy. Lol
I don't believe it comes with the CD quality that I mentioned in my previous post.
All normal copies come with the PS2 and reorchestrated quality soundtracks. The third option in unavailable.
Just listening to each of these versions made me so pumped up to play this again!!!! Thanks for the comparisons!
Yep, this is what made me preorder the steelbook. The CD tracks sound so much better to me and I'm not a fan of half of the remastered soundtrack (that remastered boss theme doesn't sound nearly as powerful as the original, for example).
ZiggyPalffyLA
Member
For anyone that preordered from Best Buy back when this was first announced, do you know if we are getting upgraded to the steelbook edition? It's the same price so I'd assume.
I really don't want to cancel my preorder and re-order because then I'd lose my $25 Visa checkout credit.
I really don't want to cancel my preorder and re-order because then I'd lose my $25 Visa checkout credit.
You have good taste my friend! I felt the same way, sometimes music is best left as is.
Now if anyone who preordered the steelbook and doesn't want the DLC I am here 🙂
This is fucking shitty. Why not just give it to everyone? Or at the very least just make it available to people who want to pay extra for it? I already pre-purchased it digitally so this comes off as a pretty obnoxious move on SE's part.
Square did something similar to this with FFXV. People who didn't get the DLC in the deluxe editions had the option to buy it separately for like $0.99 each a month or two after it released. I'd imagine they'd do the same for this.
UpDownLeftRight
Banned
I do think that's real dumb, but personally as long as Clash of Swords still comes out the gate like a brick of arpeggios to the face I won't be complaining about the remastered soundtrack.
This is a very helpful post. Thanks for clarifying.
It is meant to be some extra goodies for people preordering the game. They probably calculated that only a few people actually care about the difference between PS2 and CD music and would get on the preorder culture.
It comes across like there's extra effort just to slight people who are getting it (pre-ordered) digitally. Just act on some goodwill and give everyone who paid for the game ahead of time this extra music code. Why discriminate if they're offering cash up front?
I thought digital preorder also get that? I preordered it digitally.
Vincent Grayson
Member
Nope. Just the PS4 theme and 4 songs off the OST, which is a thing I still don't get. Why does any game offer soundtrack downloads onto the PS4? What possible use do I have for game music locked to my console?
OMG you are right. I misread. Only Asian and JP digital preorders have the DLC. I have an Asian account I should have used that!😰
Not happy about an entire soundtrack being tied to particular editions, but will be pacified if there's an option to purchase from PSN as DLC further down the line.
Sticking with my standard edition from Amazon, as Game does not correctly calculate tax for my location. Really excited for next week.
Sticking with my standard edition from Amazon, as Game does not correctly calculate tax for my location. Really excited for next week.
This is literally the best possible change, everything else pales in comparison.
SweetJohnnyCage
Member
Question for FF12 vets. Is there a weird way to break this game early on, like in FF8? A way to get extremely powerful quickly in the beginning portion of the game?
Check out the Gamefaqs page for the game, there are a few power-leveling methods outlined there. There's likely a few tweaks that will need to be made to the methods to account for Zodiac Age changes, but some of them should still be semi-viable, like Dustia farming (though that may have changed a little bit)
As open ended as the game becomes there are some tricks and exploits you can take advantage of earlier on. Nothing like you could in vanilla where you could get the Zodiac Spear after Raithwall. I've linked a video below that has some tricks, I'll admit I didn't watch the whole thing but I've been warned that it contains some stuff that could ruin your enjoyment if it's your first time through.
https://youtu.be/8ZdopASUeNw
The new OST rearrangment is giving me a boner, guys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xtPB8z4Aog&feature=youtu.be
I can't wait to listen to the full OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xtPB8z4Aog&feature=youtu.be
I can't wait to listen to the full OST
SirNinja
Member
This may not work with TZA, but: in the original FF12, you basically start out with just Vaan doing a few basic quests, but quite a bit of the world is open to you. You can then abuse a glitch in the Dalmasca Westersand to repeatedly instakill Dustia for as much XP as you want. When the other party members join you, their levels will all be relative to the party average, so going Dustia farming early on is a fast way to essentially level everyone up at "once". It's not incredibly effective (damage dealt/received in FF12 is highly dependent on gear rather than level), but it's a great way to kickstart things and get some easy license points on the side.
I'm really surprised anyone cares this much about a version of the OST that's literally just deteriorated.
OmegaDL50
Member
There is an interesting trick I've used in the original FF12 that also works in the IZJS release.
When you first start the game you only have control of Vaan. Basically Vaan's level scales to your party members when they initially join.
So you could for example do a bunch of side quests solo or fight in some of the more dangerous areas in the Westersand and get Vaan a bunch of License points and leveled up as high as you can (15 to 20 is pushing it) When everyone else joins later on, they will also be around 20+ and have the same amount of License points too.
I suppose this can constitute as grinding though. A shame there are NPCs blocking your path because of story progression and you can't go as far as the Sandsea.
When you give Sakimoto a full orchestra to work with rather than using his own synth in his own studio at Basiscape, he can do some amazing things.
I think this makes the biggest difference between the FFX Remastered OST and Zodiac Age's in that the original composer is handling the remaster work himself.
While Hamauzu did compose tracks for the original FFX, I think the lack of Uematsu's involvement in the Remaster soundtrack left something to be desired.
This isn't the case for FF12 however.
They are still sold, but you can buy every one of them right at the beginning of the game. I admit it is still quite tedious to go through the shop menu and buy though.
New boss theme:
https://youtu.be/8CTnqYZIGiA?t=46
Old boss theme:
https://youtu.be/tojdtfyKWP4?t=46
46 seconds in is one of my favorite videogame music things EVER. ..and I still prefer the old version! The new one is a bit of a mess, draining the power out of that lovely percussion.
edit: I'm really picky about this song! The audio fidelity is obviously much higher in the new version, I just don't like it as much. Maybe the rest of the score fares better.
That's at least a bit better. 1 Gil each? Haha!!!
OmegaDL50
Member
Some of them can only be found in chests now and there are entirely new gambits that don't exist in original FFXII that were only introduced in IZJS.
I don't believe every single Gambit is available in the Gambit shop but a significant portion of them are.
Sevyne
Member
Hell yeah. That song is easily my favorite in the series and ranks way up there for all games for me.
I'm mainly concerned with ones that can be used to setup gambits to automate certain things like auto-attack target selection, auto healing, and status effect mitigation. When I originally played FFXII I tended to use the Gambits to do those kinds of things, but still used the menus to do most of combat special move stuff. So I only really used a smaller subset of what was available.
I can understand that. I guess it depends on what you prioritize. For me, the live strings are a more important consideration than what's been done to the percussion so I naturally prefer the new version.
Wonderful, that sounds likely. I'll wait then, I've no shortage of games to play. Still on part 1 of Persona 5 and have not even begun Yakuza 0.
Whew.
stargateheaven
Member
well there are loads of ff games still missing but yeah since this is a main entry i'm gonna assume it will come to s team soon. possibly before even ff15.
i'm looking forward to this more than i thought. i havent pre oredede ye cos sony wont give my wallet a break.
IDontBeatGames
Member
Posted this in another FFXII thread, thought i should post it here too to see if I could get responses quicker
For someone who's played a couple of FF games, but has never played FFXII and is looking into getting this remastered, what should I be expecting before purchasing it? I've read a couple of things here and there, a lot of people here seem to absolutely adore this game, so I kind of wanted to hear opinions/expectations from you guys before purchasing this.
For someone who's played a couple of FF games, but has never played FFXII and is looking into getting this remastered, what should I be expecting before purchasing it? I've read a couple of things here and there, a lot of people here seem to absolutely adore this game, so I kind of wanted to hear opinions/expectations from you guys before purchasing this.
guybrushfreeman
Unconfirmed Member
Wrong FF thread, haha