Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (PS4)

wingman · 8 Jun 2016 at 12:05

If it's beautiful then why does it need a remake/remaster?

XII, IMO, was begging for a remaster for some time. But IX, that's a different story - I've got it downloaded on Steam and it still looks stunning today. It hasn't aged badly at all, neither have VIII for that matter.

VII, still being my favourite of the series, looks abysmal however and the fact it's getting a fully fledged remake is nothing but a good thing. I replay VII a couple of times a year for nostalgia purposes but it's hard to deny it looks rough (if not charming). IX doesn't suffer from that, I find.

Seanspeed · 8 Jun 2016 at 12:10

wingman said:
You're pulling a straw-man fallacy on me - I never suggested it was anything like your analogy at all. I even said it was a "general" rule of thumb, something I have noted through the years of talking to friends and online folk whom are fans of the series. I concede that it won't apply to everyone, as I mentioned, it's a general rule that I have found to be true.

You've even said it yourself that XII was misunderstood - it stands to reason that it's because it's so vastly different to the big (non online) Final Fantasy that happened to precede it - i.e. X.

With that being said I'm hoping I do fall for this game this time round.

A 'general rule of thumb' would mean something is usually true. Which is not the case here. People who like both are not rare exceptions.

Ryanr1987 said:
I wish Enix would stop remaking crap FF's like 12 and remake the most beautiful game ever made in Final Fantasy 9..The art style, music, character interaction is stunning.

It's not a remake, it's a remaster. And FF9 got that treatment very recently for mobile and PC.

wingman · 8 Jun 2016 at 12:16

Seanspeed said:
A 'general rule of thumb' would mean something is usually true. Which is not the case here. People who like both are not rare exceptions.

You can't prove that either way.

It's interesting to find old posts debating it though, look at this for example; it's very clear most people LOVE one or the other, the exception being the love of both;

http://www.gamespot.com/forums/play...s-ff-xii-which-do-you-think-is-bett-25823574/

Ryanr1987 · 8 Jun 2016 at 12:21

wingman said:
If it's beautiful then why does it need a remake/remaster?

XII, IMO, was begging for a remaster for some time. But IX, that's a different story - I've got it downloaded on Steam and it still looks stunning today. It hasn't aged badly at all, neither have VIII for that matter.

VII, still being my favourite of the series, looks abysmal however and the fact it's getting a fully fledged remake is nothing but a good thing. I replay VII a couple of times a year for nostalgia purposes but it's hard to deny it looks rough (if not charming). IX doesn't suffer from that, I find.

it's not about whether it's aged well or not it's experiencing the game without the restrictions of the engine and seeing the game in a different way. I don't game on PC so can't speak for the steam version. I think FF9's a superior game to 7 myself with a more engaging story and would love to see time spent on that rather than 12. I thought 12 was terrible.

7 hasn't aged well at all, and it's honestly hard to play on PS4 textures are too blurred so I do welcome the 7 remake. I will always hold the original 9 as the greatest game I've ever played but would be amazing to see it with the PS4's hardware.

Ryanr1987 · 8 Jun 2016 at 12:21

Seanspeed said:
A 'general rule of thumb' would mean something is usually true. Which is not the case here. People who like both are not rare exceptions.

It's not a remake, it's a remaster. And FF9 got that treatment very recently for mobile and PC.

Oh no, shame on me.

wingman · 8 Jun 2016 at 12:26

Ah, so you mean a remake. The distinction is important.

VIII will get a remake first if I were a betting man, that's where my money will go.

If it's taken this long for VII to get one however I can't ever see any of the others getting a fully fleshed out remake, at all.

Ryanr1987 · 8 Jun 2016 at 12:35

Yeah, sorry should have clarified. Yeah that's my fears. I personally even doubt it would get one at this rate. I'm watching some Steam game play in 1080 and it looks stunning. I'd die happy with that on the PS4 to be honest, not sure why they didn't bring it on the system.

DominicStar · 8 Jun 2016 at 12:36

wingman said:
Ah, so you mean a remake. The distinction is important.

VIII will get a remake first if I were a betting man, that's where my money will go.

If it's taken this long for VII to get one however I can't ever see any of the others getting a fully fleshed out remake, at all.

I would quite welcome a remaster of 8.

I would also quite welcome FF games where the main protagonist's voice and mannerisms isn't modeled on American surfer/springbreaker stereotypes.

wingman · 8 Jun 2016 at 12:40

Ryanr1987 said:
Yeah, sorry should have clarified. Yeah that's my fears. I personally even doubt it would get one at this rate. I'm watching some Steam game play in 1080 and it looks stunning. I'd die happy with that on the PS4 to be honest, not sure why they didn't bring it on the system.

One can't be far off, I don't understand why they don't try harder to get the older games on the new systems. Seems like easy margin to me, it's not like SE is a small company - set aside a small studio to work on it. The fans want it, it would make them money - get on with it!

DominicStar said:
I would quite welcome a remaster of 8.

I would also quite welcome FF games where the main protagonist's voice and mannerisms isn't modeled on American surfer/springbreaker stereotypes.

Ugh, I can't stand the recent games voice overs. I played through and completed Uncharted 4 recently and adored that game/experience. Then I watched a trailer for something Square Enix related, and my God it is pure cringe in comparison.

For example, watch this for Worlds of Final Fantasy;

Breaks my heart!

Looks good though.

Zerolimitz · 8 Jun 2016 at 13:06

Am i the only one that feels ff8 is the best final fantasy game?

Ryanr1987 · 8 Jun 2016 at 13:49

Zerolimitz said:
Am i the only one that feels ff8 is the best final fantasy game?

Yes

I personally never got an attachment to 8 It didn't engage me like 9, 10. Quite a lot of people like 8 though and rate it above the others.

I would like to play it again though as I might think differently of it. I did like 8 more than. 7 though. I personally feel 7 is a ok FF but it's popularity is mainly because it was the first 3D Final Fantasy game IMO

ZG002 · 8 Jun 2016 at 14:24

I normally find people grow attached to which ever was their first. I'm attached to number 7, but rate 9 up there with it. 8 and 10 are still amazing though.. then Enix happened and we got the first true sequel in a final fantasy game and it sucked imo, rapidly down hill from there.

Ryanr1987 · 8 Jun 2016 at 15:07

Yeah exactly that. A lot of the magic from Squaresoft is completely gone. Final Fantasy 15 looks incredible though and while that magic prob won't be there I'm expecting a fantastic game.

X-2 was awful but I really liked the battle system it felt like a hybrid of the old style with the current FF system. I prefer turn based every time.

wingman · 8 Jun 2016 at 15:13

The battle system in X-2 was so overlooked, I thought it flowed really well and I loved the fact it had a Game+ mode which for me was a first in any game (at the time), so I got to keep all my sphere grids.. If memory serves.

ZG002 said:
I normally find people grow attached to which ever was their first. I'm attached to number 7, but rate 9 up there with it. 8 and 10 are still amazing though.. then Enix happened and we got the first true sequel in a final fantasy game and it sucked imo, rapidly down hill from there.

That certainly holds true for me, playing VII first it is by far my favourite (and I do love a lot of the others, VIII and IX notably), I consider them sheer perfection even when I know that they are not.

aceytrixx · 8 Jun 2016 at 19:30

Zerolimitz said:
Am i the only one that feels ff8 is the best final fantasy game?

I'm with you! Although IX is up there. Can't wait for this though always enjoyed XII even if no one else i know did

DominicStar · 8 Jun 2016 at 20:13

ZG002 said:
I normally find people grow attached to which ever was their first.

Many people say that. I've never noticed it though and I hear it much more from people who have never played any of them. I like 7+8 for the game mechanics and the story in 7. The card game alone in 8 was better than half the dross released on PS and Nintendo at that time

Swampyseifer · 8 Jun 2016 at 21:34

Zerolimitz said:
Am i the only one that feels ff8 is the best final fantasy game?

+1

Then X

ZG002 · 8 Jun 2016 at 23:28

DominicStar said:
Many people say that. I've never noticed it though and I hear it much more from people who have never played any of them. I like 7+8 for the game mechanics and the story in 7. The card game alone in 8 was better than half the dross released on PS and Nintendo at that time

You need to stop talking to people who have never played a final fantasy

That moment you realise Midgar was a small part of the game

wingman · 17 Jun 2016 at 11:16

New gameplay footage from PS Access;

Getting very excited for this now!

Also, apparently you can speed up the game to either 2x or even 4x;

http://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age-has-a-fast-forward-but-1782062162

Seanspeed · 17 Jun 2016 at 17:03

Cant wait.

Though it seems they're using some seriously horrendous post-processing AA. The IQ is extremely blurry.