10:03 I always struggled to put in words why the license board is such a reference point for me. Really solid system that could mesh well with any number of other simple systems. Well put.
@locloudanerpg yea hardly any come to mind. Skill trees are cool i.e DQ XI. But feels more inevitable rather than "this is what I choose to become, what I'll work towards". If any system could be copy pasted into a game with a stronger narrative, I'd choose this one. It's made to tie into lore.
Final Fantasy XII is the first video game I'd ever played. It holds a place in my heart as what got me into RPG games, as well as memories I share with the one who introduced me to it. Seeing people still giving it a fair shake, despite it's flaws, is heartwarming. I'm excited to see what you play next :)
The biggest problem with this game? After beating i couldn't remember a single story element. No idea what i just did, why i was doing it, etc. But you know what i did remember? That I'm BAASCH VON RONSENBURG OF DALMASCA!! DON'T LISTEN TO ONDORRS LIES!
4:19 I agree with you. We need more party members who are not the human race. I feel it shows more the universe of the game and can add some comments about the theme and story the game tries to tell us. It's one of the reasons my favorite party members rpg are like FFX, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Chained Echoes. To give you an example, what if in One Piece (I know it's a manga) all the straw hat crew were human between 16 to 20 years old. The manga could have lost a part of the attractivity.
@@locloudanerpg One of the worst examples in a recent j-rpg I did play is Ni No Kuni 2. The game has for race dogs, cats, rats, fishes and people who live in trees, the goal of the game is not to make peace in the world and create a city where everyone can live happily but all party members are human. why? Not only that but the game has for me a mediocre gameplay and a bad story overall, all party members are boring ( with maybe the exemption of the last one who is just ok, not good for an rpg that tries to tell a story)
To add to this, I've learned that the name is based on Cú Chulainn from Irish legend, pronounced "koo kull en." Gaelic spelling and pronunciation is WAAAAAAAAAY different from English, because of course it is. However, the Ivalice version of Cuchulainn, when translated from the Japanese, is meant to be pronounced "kue koo layn." My brain always defaults to the Gaelic pronunciation now and I'm fine with that. I like how that sounds more. It's nothing important, I just thought it was interesting. :)
Yasumi Matsuno said on Twitter that Vaan was always supposed to be the main character. I don't know how so many of y'all believed that obvious lie when Vaan was shown off during the reveal. The first time western audiences saw FFXII was in an issue of Newtype USA, that same issue had ads for the then upcoming Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy X-2 by SquareSOFT. So before April of 2003. Vaan was shown off...guess who wasn't shown off until early 05?
its cause ashe is so good and yuna was so good they mistakenly believed square gives a fuck about the leads gender- so this myth survives despite an entire trilogy of not clouds sister immediately after this one.
27:45 I did this for the steal command. They could keep on using it even after a successful steal. Pretty annoying and one thing I wish they would've fixed in the remaster.
As a comment on the Espers, they were first introduced in FFTA, another Ivalice game, and while FFTA2 came out after 12, (2007) FFTA came out in 2003, and had all these espers as well, and represented the races of Ivalice, where we first meet, the Baanga, Viera etc. Seeq were first introduced in 12 but returned in FFTA2 also. Ivalice is just big as a whole though, but these espers did exist first in FFTA... exception of Zeromus which was an interesting hidden esper
@@locloudanerpg Oh no, they're in FFTA (FF Tactics Advanced). The ivalice story has a chronological order in which FFT comes last, taking place long after FF12 (about 1300 years iirc?) While FF12, FFTA1 & 2 take place within the same time though FFTA is not a 'real' story as its events never actually happened, at least that we're told.
Great analysis! Altough I love the FF franchise I never got into the MMOs. I totally skipped 12 because it looked exactly like a single player MMO. However, seeing you 'program' party behaviors got me really interested. Once I finish Rebirth, I'll go straight to this one! 🤟
Easily my top Final Fantasy game without contest. Something I do need to point out is that a lot of the restraints that you mention in this review are a result of the turbulent development cycle brought on by the originial project lead stepping down three years into development and ultimately leaving the company altogether shortly afterwards. The base game feeels unpolished compared to the Zodiac versions becasue it is. It's a lot like the difference between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. I would love to see what could have happened if this game was a two or more disc release, had one consistend team throuought development, and was not heavy handed meddled with the intent of pleasing shareholders. Vaan has a great arc that ends after Jahara. Penelo stops having an arc after Bhujerba. Fran has one arc in Eryut Village and that's it. Basch has relevance in the beginnning and end of the story. Ashe and Baltheir are the only characters who have a plot from the start to the end. 2/3rds of our cast are episodic. That's not a great look. The shining gem of this game will forever be the gameplay. Licenses, gambits, ADB, they all are a great foundation for what could be phenomenal if we could revisit this system in the future. The original license board idea where you could make your characters into any class you wanted was nice, but you eventually made everyone copies of the same character so there was no puropose to swap out from your favorite three. The original zodiac system might actually be my favorite where you pick one job and then thats that you cannot swap off of it for the rest of the game. Really gave you a reason to swap party members in and out as needed. The biggest change in the zodiac releases is the removal of the damage cap. When you can throw out spells that his for 10k plus on large groups of enemies, you now have a reason to queue up spells. Fran is my Black Mage and will always be my Black Mage for that very reason. I think it might be worth it for you to look into the Struggle for Freedom rebalancing mod for FFXII. Have you heard of it? It changes a lot of abilities, such as making Holy an AoE spell with a quicker animation and gives each character the option for a dedicated job that is unique to them. You can also use rebalanced versions of the base 12 jobs in Zodiac age. It looks super fun and I think you should really look into it at some point. Also, how could you not mention the one major glow up from PS2 FFXII to Zodiac Age? Vaan's abs lol
Vayne is more complicated than just another bad guy. He's reasonable and doesn't wish ill on innocent people. Like that speech he gives in Dalmasca was genuinely a great speech. While I agree his story isn't handled well I kinda like how Vayne doesn't ever really do anything too evil on screen. Ashe considers doing genuine terrorism and that storyline makes way more sense if Vayne has a certain degree of principles.
I didn't love FFXII when it first came out, but also back then I preferred my games with bigger stakes and the plot told to me, rather than a plot that makes you think and is more political. I've come to really adore this game and its plot - as well as the characters and OST. I'm looking forward to when I can return to it, but I am playing the series in order and am only up to VI currently. Anyway, great run down, as always. Keep it up!
@@locloudanerpg to make matters worse! I thought I missed some puzzle element and I kept backtracking over and over because I felt I didn't need to check the Internet for nothing else except the hunts😮💨
honestly i would struggle to make 10 dislikes cause itd just be the great crystal and the super weapons being inaccessible. and thats like it, of course i want more of 12s world and characters but i dont see it as missing cause its an extremely focused game and the time you get is enough to be satisfied with.
I'd say you drop the "10 things i like and don't like", simple mention as many things you like or don't like as you wish. Some terrible games might have more negative things to them, some awesome games might have more positive things.
@@joaquinkhourysilvestre2530 fair. I was trying to give every game a fair objective approach. I try to find 10 things because it forces me to pay attention throughout my playthrough
I tried really really really hard to play this game back when it came out on the PS2 mainly because a reviewing show gave it a 5 out of 5. And I still do give the game credit for giving me Fran, Ashe and Balther, I honestly after that point just still found myself preferring the old final fantasy games particularly 7 and 9 and even 10 because while this one did have great graphics, a beautiful score and solid voice acting, I did not Care two shits about the story, half of the main cast just wasn't clicking with me, gameplay just felt off( And in my opinion this was the beginning of final fantasy losing its identity when it comes to the main line series) and seriously final fantasy game with no airship....... Only xenoblade Chronicles could get away with that and they at least gave us something like that in 3 and X exists. But again I do like some things with this particular game and I can't be too mad at a game that basically gave us sexy bunny girls and if Lady from Devil May Cry tried to act Shakespearean.
One of my least favorite of the series. Especially because of Vahn. He is so boring and I didn't conect with him once. I agree with you Ashe should have been the main protagonist. I'm also not a fan of the gambit system and I found the story pretty weak compared to the former entries
![The Evolution of Superbosses [Part 3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5fBBNI-sTEo/mqdefault.jpg)
10:03 I always struggled to put in words why the license board is such a reference point for me. Really solid system that could mesh well with any number of other simple systems. Well put.
Thanks!!
@@survives_shipwrecks6107 honestly, it’s surprising how many RPGs just give you abilities instead of using them as a carrot for progression
@locloudanerpg yea hardly any come to mind. Skill trees are cool i.e DQ XI. But feels more inevitable rather than "this is what I choose to become, what I'll work towards". If any system could be copy pasted into a game with a stronger narrative, I'd choose this one. It's made to tie into lore.
Final Fantasy XII is the first video game I'd ever played. It holds a place in my heart as what got me into RPG games, as well as memories I share with the one who introduced me to it.
Seeing people still giving it a fair shake, despite it's flaws, is heartwarming.
I'm excited to see what you play next :)
Thanks! Glad you had that experience. Next up will most likely be Monster Rancher Evo or Champions of Norrath.
The biggest problem with this game? After beating i couldn't remember a single story element. No idea what i just did, why i was doing it, etc.
But you know what i did remember? That I'm BAASCH VON RONSENBURG OF DALMASCA!! DON'T LISTEN TO ONDORRS LIES!
4:19 I agree with you. We need more party members who are not the human race. I feel it shows more the universe of the game and can add some comments about the theme and story the game tries to tell us. It's one of the reasons my favorite party members rpg are like FFX, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Chained Echoes. To give you an example, what if in One Piece (I know it's a manga) all the straw hat crew were human between 16 to 20 years old. The manga could have lost a part of the attractivity.
@@kingdomhearts9714 absolutely. It’s especially irritating when interesting races already exist in the game!
@@locloudanerpg One of the worst examples in a recent j-rpg I did play is Ni No Kuni 2. The game has for race dogs, cats, rats, fishes and people who live in trees, the goal of the game is not to make peace in the world and create a city where everyone can live happily but all party members are human. why? Not only that but the game has for me a mediocre gameplay and a bad story overall, all party members are boring ( with maybe the exemption of the last one who is just ok, not good for an rpg that tries to tell a story)
I Love the Zodiac age !!! I poured over 300hours in this Game. Multiple Charakter with different classes, was a great remaster for ff12
Zalera and Cuchulain originated in FF12's sequel, Final Fantasy Tactics, so you can see a little more of them there.
@@chrisn676 oh nice!
Tactics is not a sequel to 12, its from 1997 on the ps1, closer to ff7 than 12.
In the timeline of Ivalice, FFT takes place after FF12.
@@chrisn676 Oh, I didn't know that, thanks for the info!
To add to this, I've learned that the name is based on Cú Chulainn from Irish legend, pronounced "koo kull en." Gaelic spelling and pronunciation is WAAAAAAAAAY different from English, because of course it is. However, the Ivalice version of Cuchulainn, when translated from the Japanese, is meant to be pronounced "kue koo layn." My brain always defaults to the Gaelic pronunciation now and I'm fine with that. I like how that sounds more. It's nothing important, I just thought it was interesting. :)
Yasumi Matsuno said on Twitter that Vaan was always supposed to be the main character. I don't know how so many of y'all believed that obvious lie when Vaan was shown off during the reveal. The first time western audiences saw FFXII was in an issue of Newtype USA, that same issue had ads for the then upcoming Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy X-2 by SquareSOFT. So before April of 2003. Vaan was shown off...guess who wasn't shown off until early 05?
its cause ashe is so good and yuna was so good they mistakenly believed square gives a fuck about the leads gender- so this myth survives despite an entire trilogy of not clouds sister immediately after this one.
27:45 I did this for the steal command. They could keep on using it even after a successful steal. Pretty annoying and one thing I wish they would've fixed in the remaster.
The Gambit system is my favorite in all of RPG!
The battle system is why I've replayed this game a dozen time times. I wish there were more games like it, but its one of a kind.
Beautiful game! I loved this Video, tysm for reminding me how good it is!
As a comment on the Espers, they were first introduced in FFTA, another Ivalice game, and while FFTA2 came out after 12, (2007) FFTA came out in 2003, and had all these espers as well, and represented the races of Ivalice, where we first meet, the Baanga, Viera etc. Seeq were first introduced in 12 but returned in FFTA2 also. Ivalice is just big as a whole though, but these espers did exist first in FFTA... exception of Zeromus which was an interesting hidden esper
@@Soulsnatcher89 wait, the races were in og Tactics?! Where?
@@locloudanerpg Oh no, they're in FFTA (FF Tactics Advanced). The ivalice story has a chronological order in which FFT comes last, taking place long after FF12 (about 1300 years iirc?) While FF12, FFTA1 & 2 take place within the same time though FFTA is not a 'real' story as its events never actually happened, at least that we're told.
@ oh whoops, I was like What?! I’ve played tactics my whole life, I would remember a Viera!
@@locloudanerpg lol gonna full on gaslight you and just say you're not remembering the bunny girl from chapter 3 or something XD
@ I was about to whip out the ps1!
This is nice to watch since I plan on getting it for steam at some point.
Thank you for such a great video!!
@@Ultimaga Thanks for watching!
Great analysis! Altough I love the FF franchise I never got into the MMOs. I totally skipped 12 because it looked exactly like a single player MMO.
However, seeing you 'program' party behaviors got me really interested. Once I finish Rebirth, I'll go straight to this one! 🤟
Enjoy!
8:26 i did not know that they added new music to the zodiac age
Yeah, it was like three or four tracks.
Damn bro the music was great 😢
Easily my top Final Fantasy game without contest. Something I do need to point out is that a lot of the restraints that you mention in this review are a result of the turbulent development cycle brought on by the originial project lead stepping down three years into development and ultimately leaving the company altogether shortly afterwards. The base game feeels unpolished compared to the Zodiac versions becasue it is. It's a lot like the difference between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix.
I would love to see what could have happened if this game was a two or more disc release, had one consistend team throuought development, and was not heavy handed meddled with the intent of pleasing shareholders. Vaan has a great arc that ends after Jahara. Penelo stops having an arc after Bhujerba. Fran has one arc in Eryut Village and that's it. Basch has relevance in the beginnning and end of the story. Ashe and Baltheir are the only characters who have a plot from the start to the end. 2/3rds of our cast are episodic. That's not a great look.
The shining gem of this game will forever be the gameplay. Licenses, gambits, ADB, they all are a great foundation for what could be phenomenal if we could revisit this system in the future. The original license board idea where you could make your characters into any class you wanted was nice, but you eventually made everyone copies of the same character so there was no puropose to swap out from your favorite three. The original zodiac system might actually be my favorite where you pick one job and then thats that you cannot swap off of it for the rest of the game. Really gave you a reason to swap party members in and out as needed. The biggest change in the zodiac releases is the removal of the damage cap. When you can throw out spells that his for 10k plus on large groups of enemies, you now have a reason to queue up spells. Fran is my Black Mage and will always be my Black Mage for that very reason.
I think it might be worth it for you to look into the Struggle for Freedom rebalancing mod for FFXII. Have you heard of it? It changes a lot of abilities, such as making Holy an AoE spell with a quicker animation and gives each character the option for a dedicated job that is unique to them. You can also use rebalanced versions of the base 12 jobs in Zodiac age. It looks super fun and I think you should really look into it at some point.
Also, how could you not mention the one major glow up from PS2 FFXII to Zodiac Age? Vaan's abs lol
Haha I almost wrote in an abs joke but at this point it’s expected. I’ve never heard of that Mod, ill have to check it out.
I can't look at most other games Party AI system after playing FF12 and its Gambit system. It just works.
Honestly think FF should have gone in this direction.
It played kinda more like a WRPG like the original Baldur's Gate
@@thefoxoflaurels3437 much more of my jam than FFXVI.
Vayne is more complicated than just another bad guy. He's reasonable and doesn't wish ill on innocent people.
Like that speech he gives in Dalmasca was genuinely a great speech. While I agree his story isn't handled well I kinda like how Vayne doesn't ever really do anything too evil on screen. Ashe considers doing genuine terrorism and that storyline makes way more sense if Vayne has a certain degree of principles.
@@thefoxoflaurels3437 I can respect that.
I will watch any FF12 video!
Ah FF12 already. This is a good one. Made even better with the Zodiac Age.
@@vigo2669 Agreed.
In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance when Marche calls a Bangaa a lizard, he literally responds to it like an ethnic slur.
@@Chelaxim 100% intentional. Can’t stand lizard people haha.
I didn't love FFXII when it first came out, but also back then I preferred my games with bigger stakes and the plot told to me, rather than a plot that makes you think and is more political. I've come to really adore this game and its plot - as well as the characters and OST. I'm looking forward to when I can return to it, but I am playing the series in order and am only up to VI currently.
Anyway, great run down, as always. Keep it up!
@@Venoix I’ll be very interested to see your thoughts on VI. Can’t wait for the review!
nah man, the writing in ff12 is excellent.
I wish Zodiac Age had an original license mode
This game has tie to FF Tactics Advance and FF Tactics Advance R2 , Thats why I love this FF cause of Ivalice.
A thousand pardons, but how long and hard is it to get the platinum trophy?
I dare you to play the international version with an English patch instead of the remaster
That gigas gate! THE RAGE!!!!!
Seriously though.
@@locloudanerpg to make matters worse! I thought I missed some puzzle element and I kept backtracking over and over because I felt I didn't need to check the Internet for nothing else except the hunts😮💨
Just about every Final Fantasy Game is like that... you can always effectively nerf the story by simply grinding levels, lol.
honestly i would struggle to make 10 dislikes cause itd just be the great crystal and the super weapons being inaccessible. and thats like it, of course i want more of 12s world and characters but i dont see it as missing cause its an extremely focused game and the time you get is enough to be satisfied with.
I'd say you drop the "10 things i like and don't like", simple mention as many things you like or don't like as you wish. Some terrible games might have more negative things to them, some awesome games might have more positive things.
@@joaquinkhourysilvestre2530 fair. I was trying to give every game a fair objective approach. I try to find 10 things because it forces me to pay attention throughout my playthrough
I tried really really really hard to play this game back when it came out on the PS2 mainly because a reviewing show gave it a 5 out of 5. And I still do give the game credit for giving me Fran, Ashe and Balther, I honestly after that point just still found myself preferring the old final fantasy games particularly 7 and 9 and even 10 because while this one did have great graphics, a beautiful score and solid voice acting, I did not Care two shits about the story, half of the main cast just wasn't clicking with me, gameplay just felt off( And in my opinion this was the beginning of final fantasy losing its identity when it comes to the main line series) and seriously final fantasy game with no airship....... Only xenoblade Chronicles could get away with that and they at least gave us something like that in 3 and X exists. But again I do like some things with this particular game and I can't be too mad at a game that basically gave us sexy bunny girls and if Lady from Devil May Cry tried to act Shakespearean.
Made Vaan the MC due to appeal? You're joking right? Appeal to who, tween girls?
yes!
Oh yeah another one down.
ODIN SPHERE OR SHINING FORCE EXA PLEASE 🙏
Very soon my friend!
14:19 WHAT THE FU*K???!!!
@@kennethblakeiii9596 😂
One of my least favorite of the series. Especially because of Vahn. He is so boring and I didn't conect with him once. I agree with you Ashe should have been the main protagonist.
I'm also not a fan of the gambit system and I found the story pretty weak compared to the former entries