Overview
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is the remaster of Final Fantasy XII, a JRPG by Square Enix originally released in 2006 on PlayStation 2. This version came out in 2017 on PS4, then on PC, where I played it.
Story and world
The story takes place in the world of Ivalice. The kingdom of Dalmasca has just been annexed by the Archadian Empire, and you follow Vaan, a young orphan from the capital Rabanastre, who gets swept up alongside Princess Ashe and the resistance.
The world of Ivalice is huge, and the tone is far more political than in the rest of the series: wars between empires, alliances, occupation… I really liked that more political angle in this entry.
Gameplay
Battles take place directly on the map, with no transition, and rely on the Gambit system. The idea: you give each character a list of rules such as "if an ally is below 50% HP, cast Cure on them", ranked by priority, and the characters apply them automatically. So you program your party rather than driving it move by move. It is a brilliant idea, even if I struggled a lot at first.
The Zodiac Age also adds a job system based on the signs of the zodiac, which defines the abilities and equipment available to each character. But above all, the remaster adds time acceleration, which lets you play at increased speed. It makes the whole thing much more pleasant to get through.
Verdict
A brilliant Gambit system once you get the hang of it, a huge world with a political tone I enjoyed, and a remaster that makes everything more pleasant thanks to time acceleration.