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Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age |OT| You Had One Job!

F

FlutterPuffs

Member
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DEVELOPER: Square Enix
PLATFORMS: Playstation 4
RELEASE DATES: July 11th, 2017 (Worldwide)
TECHNICAL INFO: Native 1080p 30FPS on Playstation 4 | Native 1440p 30FPS on PS4 Pro (4K Displays only)
LANGUAGES: English & Japanese Audio. English Subtitles.
GAME SIZE: 40.69 GB

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STORY

Enter an era of war within the world of Ivalice. The small kingdom of Dalmasca, conquered by the Archadian Empire, is left in ruin and uncertainty. Princess Ashe, the one and only heir to the throne,
devotes herself to the resistance to liberate her country. Vaan, a young man who lost his family in the war, dreams of flying freely in the skies. In a fight for freedom and fallen royalty, join these
unlikely allies and their companions as they embark on a heroic adventure to free their homeland..

GAME FEATURES

Includes several all-new enhanced gameplay features:


  • The Zodiac Job System – Improved character leveling system that now caters to the player’s preference
  • Trial Mode – Take on monsters and enemies in up to 100 consecutive battles
  • Speed Mode - Move through the world at a faster pace
  • Latest-generation HD graphical capabilities, including characters and movie scenes fully remastered in high definition.
- True 7.1 surround sound, including high definition voicing and newly recorded background music utilizing the current generation of sound production.

- Modern advancements including PlayStation®4 trophy support and share functionalities, auto-save and shortened loading times.

- An endless amount of gameplay and adventure including Hunts, Battles, and mini-games.


LIMITED/STANDARD EDITIONS

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Click to expand...


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Some GAF users have compiled some lovely guides for the License Board!

Kensuke said:
I thought it would be fun to write a small guide to compliment this one from GFaqs a lot of people here seem to be using. That guide is a bit older now and since then new amazing combinations have been found (mainly Shikari/Red Mage). I put most combinations under characters so you can mix and match your party more easily.

Vaan – Can pull off any job thanks to high stats everywhere. A lot of people like him as Shikari though for ‘canon’ reasons.
  • Shikari/Foebreaker – DPS (genji gloves) + Breaks. Big con is that it has no magic (therefore suits Bash and Balthier better).
  • Shikari/White Mage – Nearly invincible tank with healing.
  • Shikari/Red Mage – Tank+Black Magic+support spells. Jack of all trades and mostly great at them all (makes for an amazing ‘leader character’). Penelo and Ashe are also great with this one.
  • Pretty much any job combination (can use any of the ones below)

Balthier – Best as a katana user, but a lot of people like him as Machinist.
  • Machinist/White Mage – Healer/support that uses gun on downtime (better used by others because Balthier isn't a great mage).
  • Machinist/Uhlan – Gunner that can hit all weaknesses and is able to dish out big damage.
  • Shikari/Foebreaker – See Vaan list above.
  • Bushi job (see below).

Bash – Best as a katana user, but a lot of people like him as Uhlan (he’s fastest with spears too).
  • Uhlan/Archer – Can use both jobs very effectively, gives a ranged option + use of many item lores.
  • Shikari/Foebreaker – See Vaan list above.
  • Bushi job (see below)

Ashe – Has the best magic stat in the game, but can also work with physical jobs because she also has decent strength.
  • Knight/Time Mage – Healing (with espers) + Time Magic + decent damage. Makes good use of her stats.
  • Uhlan/Time Mage – Decent with spears and can use that time magic effectively.

Ashe/Penelo can both do these jobs very well. Fran can do them too, but not as great.
  • Black Mage/Monk – All HP lores making your Mage tanky + ultimate Holy spell. Only con is that the 16 battle lores Monk has mostly go to waste.
  • Black Mage/Archer – Access to all item lores for emergency support + some extra HP lores.
  • Black Mage/Machinist – Same benefits as archer with a few less item lores. Access to some late game time magic.
  • White Mage/Time Mage – Ultimate support character, but perhaps not enough gambit slots to use it efficiently.
  • Black Mage/Red Mage – Ultimate Ardor (fire) spell, but a lot of overlap and only 2 swiftness.

Fran – Probably best as a damage dealer with poles (she’s the fastest with that weapon), but a lot of people like her as a Red Mage and Archer for canon reasons.
  • Red Mage/Archer – Good utility for most of the game and an endgame combo with burning bow+ardor.
  • Red Mage/Machinist – Effective user of measures, allowing for amazing evasion. Access to Dark Shot + Black Robe combo.
  • Monk/Foebreaker – Allows you to use Kanya+Genji Gloves, nearly as strong as the Bushi alternative (you can have both though).

Bushi gets the strongest weapon in the game (Kumbha), which makes it the best DPS class. There are lots of useful combinations with it. All of them are best used with Bash, Balthier and Vaan. Ashe can do well too with the ones that use magic.
  • Bushi/Knight – Allows the Bushi to use some healing spells. Heavy Armor + 10 battle lores. Access to strong Excalibur combo.
  • Bushi/Uhlan – Very strong in terms of DPS because of Heavy Armor + 13 battle lores.
  • Bushi/Monk – The strongest one with in terms of DPS with 16 battle lores and access to Heavy Armors through an Esper. Allows Bushi to use Curaja + great support spells.
  • Bushi/Foebreaker – Breaks of course, but also Heavy Armor + 12 battle lores.
  • Bushi/Shikari – Ultimate Yiazmat killer, but besides that not as great.

Whatever you pick, another thing to keep in mind is that you get two Genji Gloves in this game. That’s the equipment that allows you to do combo attacks for insane physical damage in the endgame. Only Bushi, Knight and Foebreaker have access to the Genji license. Besides that you want a weapon with a good combo rate. Kumbha (katana) is the best one for that, followed closely by Kanya (pole). Vrscika (hammer) and Mesa (ninja blade) are also good. It’s just something to keep in mind while dividing up jobs. Monk for example could use a subjob with a genji license to use the Kanya efficiently.

There are a lot of other decent combinations, but I just tried to focus of some of the better ones. Keep in mind you can finish the endgame with literally any combination and that you should pick whatever you think would be fun. Still, here are some combinations with bad synergy you should probably avoid: Machinist/Archer, Machinist/Time Mage, Samurai/White Mage, Black Mage/White Mage, Knight/White Mage and Foebreaker/Uhlan, Knight/Red Mage
Click to expand...


Gyoru said:
Anyone interesting in doing prerelease party planning should check this spreadsheet out:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rBpOmegCizn3KOPwrKvC5yipu9Yfh0IZ6YE-mh_e59g

There are sample parties that use all 12 jobs or are lore friendly distributions along with a bunch of other useful information like starting stats and weapon animation speed.

If you want to make your own edits, go to File -> Make a copy. On your copy of the sheet, you can use the dropdowns under each character's name for job selections.
Click to expand...

ObsidianG said:
These two Gfaq Threads were very useful to me when I was theory crafting by teams (first one is optimized, and second one is lore friendly):

https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/191202-final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age/75477310
https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/191202-final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age/75403072

The first thread is really nice, and covers how to take advantage of the best spells in the game (Holy with Black mage staff, Ardor & Burning Bow, Ninja Blade / Katanas with genji gloves)
Click to expand...



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Courtesy of JJShadow's Review Thread

Gamespot: 9/10

Dualshockers: 9/10

RPGSite: 9/10

GameInformer: 9/10

Hardcore Gamer: 4.5/5

USGamer: 4.5/5

We Got This Covered: 4.5/5

IGN: 8.8/10

Polygon: 8.5/10

Destructoid: 8/10

Eurogamer: Recommended

NovaCrystallis: Recommended

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Q: Is this game available digitally?
A: Yes. Pre-load is now available at a hefty 40.69 GB download.

Q: What languages does this game support?
A: The game features 2 audio options; English, and Japanese.

Q: Is there any Playstation 4 Pro support?
A: Yes, with the patented Square Enix Method! (1440p for 4K displays. No downsampling for 1080p displays.)

Q: How long is a typical playthrough?
A: It can take you around 50-60 hours through a single playthrough with a good amount of subquests done, but thanks to the turbo mode you could probably finish it quicker.

Q: So, about the Zodiac Spear...
A: They removed the requirements, so it's much easier to acquire now.

Q: Why is my MP 0?
A: Unequip the Goddess Magicite.

Q: Are there any changes from the original Final Fantasy XII release?
A: Yes, quite a lot actually. I have it listed in the 'Overview' section.

Q: Thanks, but I didn't see any changes to the story...
A: Well yeah, it's unchanged from the original.

Q: So the story is still shit?

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Yoshichan

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
So hyped about this and very glad to have fully cleared my backlog (Dead Cells & Crash trilogy) in order for me to enjoy the shit out of this. Going to start this tomorrow and will be playing it for the next 4-5 days, no work, school or nothing. Cover is amazing as well.

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A

aravuus

Member
I'm still unclear whether or not the Trials have any rewards that carry over to your main playthrough, like items and gear. Or at least exp and lp.
 
C

Cabal

Member
Cannot wait. I played through this one when it launched and it is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. The music in this is my favorite in the series.
 
K

King_Moc

Banned
Can't wait!

Gotta say, I'm not sure a typical play through of this is gonna be 30-40 hours though! I think I did 100 back in the day.
 
SolVanderlyn

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Ashe will be a Knight/White Mage. Paladin here we go.

No idea about anyone else yet :/
 
Yoshichan

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
Question: do you literally set specific class roles to characters? I mean, once I give Balthier for example BLM, I can't change to something else?
 
D

Deleted member 57681

Unconfirmed Member
In like Flynn!

But waiting for my CE like... not Flynn.
 
W

Windup

Neo Member
Pretty interested in this, but I heard the story goes to shit halfway through on account of matsuno leaving mid development. How bad does it get? The story would be a major reason for playing the game for me and I don't really want to put in all that time only for it to fall apart mid way through.
 
Kingpin Rogers

Kingpin Rogers

Member
Are playthroughs really that short? Is that including a good amount of side content or not? I was hoping for something closer to 70+ personally.
 
B

BajiBoxer

Banned
Looking forward to this. I was going to wait until a sale since I've got a lot on my plate, but aparently I'd pre-ordered at some point and completely forgot aboit it, lol.

Played throigh a chunk of the original on PS2 before that console kicked the bucket. Was turning into one of my favorite games though. I actually liked the story and characters, at least what bit I experienced.
 
A

Anoxida

Member
Kingpin Rogers said:
Are playthroughs really that short? Is that including a good amount of side content or not? I was hoping for something closer to 70+ personally.
Click to expand...

30-40 hours are for main quest and possibly exploring a little. If you want to get the best equipment and beat all the optional bosses and hunts then it's at least double what the OT says.
 
RPGCrazied

RPGCrazied

Member
Once again Amazon fails. Won't get the steelbook until Thursday, even though I've had it preordered since it was announced.

Can't wait to play it though.
 
L

Lights and Waves

Member
Windup said:
Pretty interested in this, but I heard the story goes to shit halfway through on account of matsuno leaving mid development. How bad does it get? The story would be a major reason for playing the game for me and I don't really want to put in all that time only for it to fall apart mid way through.
Click to expand...

How many outstanding reviews does this game need to prove that's not true? I think you've already made up your mind here.
 
A

AndersK

Member
Windup said:
Pretty interested in this, but I heard the story goes to shit halfway through on account of matsuno leaving mid development. How bad does it get? The story would be a major reason for playing the game for me and I don't really want to put in all that time only for it to fall apart mid way through.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that. Maybe you could say certain themes aren't explored fully, and the first half slightly overinflates your hope for the finale. It doesn't shit itself or anything.

Really it's mostly pacing. You can spend so much time doing side stuff Midgame that you're kinda '...wuzzat?' once the plot resumes.
 
L

Luigi87

Member
Excellent title, lol

Really looking forward to this! Getting my steelbook tomorrow, though I won't start a playthrough until I'm done the Stormblood story of FFXIV.

FFXII is a Final Fantasy title that won my heart over the second time I played it years after my initial failure to complete the game.
 
OmegaDL50

OmegaDL50

Member
Yoshichan said:
Question: do you literally set specific class roles to characters? I mean, once I give Balthier for example BLM, I can't change to something else?
Click to expand...

This is correct.

Also Licenses are linked across all Jobs.

Since both Black Mage and Red Mage share Black Mage licenses, unlocking one of the Black Magics for Red Mage will unlock the same space for Black Mage as well.

Plan your roles accordingly and you could have benefits to your character that was impossible in IZJS, such as unlocking certain abilities for one class that is locked behind an Esper or Quickening gate without needing to unlock either the Esper or Quickening.

In the inverse picking too similar classes mean there is a lot of overlap in shared abilities as opposed two wildly different classes that gets more abilities and thus potentially is much stronger as a result.
 
F

FriskyrumX

Banned
Can't wait, actually gonna be my first time with XII because the combat didn't seem all that enticing to me when it was released/being showed off and never really went back to pick it up to try it. Going to give it a try this time.
 
T

tebunker

Banned
I am pretty sure I made it about 65% or so through this game 11 years or so ago before finally falling off of it. I had specifically bought a ps2 transfer cable to move the saves to my Ps3 Phat to keep playing this one.

I have it coming in tomorrow. I had tried playing this on pc using an emulator and my original disc, I even tried to restart on my ps2 slim. I just couldn't do it because I didn't like some of the old systems. This version looks to fix a lot of the issues I have.

I plan on trying to crush this one now.
 
A

Anoxida

Member
I really dont think there's a pre-load for EU. Damn. Oh well I got great internet anyway will just leave the console on during the night.
 
L

Lucreto

Member
Can't wait to play it.

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. I found my strategy guide for the game pity it's out of date with all the changes. I supplement it with a free eguide from prima.
 
B

Bluenoser

Member
Shipping status from Amazon hasn't updated since Friday and I'm getting worried that I won't have this by tomorrow.

But OT, for some reason I've never grinded levels in this game to 99- my highest was on a file where my main party was 74, so needless to say, never beat the final mark. Looking forward to doing it now. I've been waiting patiently for this game since it was announced, and now it's 1 day away- so excited.
 
A

AndersK

Member
Some general tips for people anxious about jobs:

- Knight and white mage pairs well with almost anything. Not so much each other due to magic overlap, but it's not horrible or anything.
- Even though it sounds logical to combine white mage with another mage, say, a black mage, you're gonna have your best damage and heals locked to one character. They can't, after all, cast both simultaneously.
- red mages get the best damage spill, Ardor. It's fire based, so many look to combine with archer, since they can equip a Fire bow, boosting fire damage by 50 %.
- status effects are Fantastic and can effect many bosses. Same goes for the Foebreakers breaks.
 
D

devious.one

Member
Welp, time to start mapping out job combinations.

So excited to finally be playing the definitive version of one of my favorite games ever.
 
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