Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Remastered Announced for PS4

Square Enix has announced the HD remaster of the PlayStation 2 classic RPG, Final Fantasy XII.

Dubbed Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, this new version will be based on the International Zodiac Job System Japanese Ps2 re-release. Featured above, you can view the remaster’s debut trailer.

Among the several improvements, the International version has a fast forward button, class based License boards instead of a single generic one, manaless Quickenings; and controllable Espers and guest characters.

Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age is expected to be released coming 2017.

A gamer since a young age, starting with oldies such as the IBM 386, Atari, and Commodore 64. A Portuguese guy with a tendency for snappy and witty remarks. Also harbors an obsession for adventure games.

122 comments

NuclearCherries
June 6, 2016 at 5:54 am

I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS
Luna Sy
June 6, 2016 at 5:57 am

Already looked amazing upscaled on an emulator. Can’t wait to see how it even better it might look with an official remaster.
landlock
June 6, 2016 at 6:01 am

No surprises here.
Master Bating
June 6, 2016 at 6:04 am

Im expecting a PC port not too far off , its literally the only one left in the mainline series and one of the best.

Hopefully they do good on both this and the port.
MDG
June 6, 2016 at 6:12 am

Square Enix plays it too safe with these HD remasters.
MT Silver
June 6, 2016 at 6:20 am

PC? つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
Xekus
June 6, 2016 at 6:21 am

Yes, fuck YES.
This is the remaster i have been waiting for, my dick is hard as fuck right now.
Mr0303
June 6, 2016 at 6:22 am

“Dubbed Final Fantasy XIII The Zodiac Age” – Lightning confirmed as main character.
Tristan (Chili1)
June 6, 2016 at 6:23 am

YES
I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY FOR AGES
THE GREATEST JRPG EVER MADE IS ABOUT TO GET RE-RELEASED IN HD.
It looks gorgeous and Sakimoto’s music is sex to my ears. It sounds redone, and it sounds better than ever! Although I am a little disappointed that no PC version was announced, but I’m going to assume that’s only a matter of time.
vonSanneck
June 6, 2016 at 6:23 am

Guess the FFXV is a money pit since we saw a lot of remasters and PC ports of Final Fantasy games…
Tristan (Chili1)
June 6, 2016 at 6:24 am

I and II have yet to be released on PC as well. Don’t forget those.
Uncle Ocelot
June 6, 2016 at 6:31 am

Fucking YES
Extrange
June 6, 2016 at 6:36 am

Vagrant Story Remaster when?????

That’s the only thing I care about.
Etherblaze
June 6, 2016 at 6:45 am

>Based on IZJS

YES

PC VERSION WHERE
Chocolate ISISCream
June 6, 2016 at 6:58 am

For fucks sake FINALLY. I’ve been waiting for this shit to get announced.
Extrange
June 6, 2016 at 6:59 am

This is the issue I have with FF’s like VII, VIII or X: No actual defined classes, so you can just level up everything you want and no need for a planned strategy.

FFXII IZJS forces you to plan carefully which kind of party you want. Although I wouldn’t mind if they added something like switchable classes, so you could have at least 2 choosable classes for each party member.
Calem
June 6, 2016 at 7:00 am

Probably 6+ months later,
Richard Miller
June 6, 2016 at 7:04 am

Sweet I can’t wait to add this to my FF collection on steam.
Master Bating
June 6, 2016 at 7:12 am

They’re probably doing as a buffer to cover the XV costs and to build hype for it.
Smug
June 6, 2016 at 7:14 am

It’s been on development hell for 10 years. Not to mention Japan doesnt care about the franchise anymore, only western plebs.

Dragon Quest is like the sole franchise from Squeenix not complete dogshit, because devs know their heads will be put on sticks if they fuck up.
evilmajikman
June 6, 2016 at 7:15 am

Eh. I disagree. There was a lot of strategy in VII when it came to how to use materia. And X’s Sphere Grid required you knew what you wanted to do. First time I played X, I couldn’t get past the Chocobo Eater because I sucked shit at the Sphere Grid.
Dom The Elegy
June 6, 2016 at 7:22 am

What about Xenogears?
DizzyGear
June 6, 2016 at 7:24 am

People have been begging for a FFXII remaster ever since the FFX remaster. They’d be stupid not to TBH.
Smug
June 6, 2016 at 7:36 am

Never really into FF12 besides the brown bunny girls
John Franco
June 6, 2016 at 7:38 am

Either a late 2018 or mid 2019 PC release.
Extrange
June 6, 2016 at 7:39 am

>FFVII
>strategy.

It all leads to the same cookie cutter builds.
John Franco
June 6, 2016 at 7:46 am

I expect the PC port of FF12 to raise the standard even higher, in the wake of the very good PC ports of FF9 and FF10 / 10-2. A late 2018 or mid 2019 PC release will more than suffice. Take you’re time, Square-Enix.
blackice85
June 6, 2016 at 7:52 am

I knew they would, I was just hoping it wouldn’t be years down the road. Seems they’ve already been hard at it, so we will likely get it next year too.
Captain Vidya
June 6, 2016 at 8:07 am

Aww yeah, time to return to Ivalice!
machariel00
June 6, 2016 at 8:07 am

No official announcement but because they ended up releasing FFX/X-2 on PC, it’s amost certain that they’ll release it on PC sometime later.
Sylveria Shini
June 6, 2016 at 8:11 am

Eh that was a matter of play style. Of course there was a path of least resistance, there always is. But because you had the option to change loadouts you could play the game a bit differently every time. Admittedly that was only a restriction to what magic ya had since every character was fundamentally the same except for LBs.

Though I’m also glad that this version of 12 restricts things a bit. I really disliked how “whatever” 12 was when it came to character building.
Siveon
June 6, 2016 at 8:23 am

“Not to mention Japan doesn’t care about what’s new coming from the franchise anymore, only western plebs.”

Source, please.
Michael Richardson
June 6, 2016 at 8:34 am

Cool. Too bad it’s not releasing on Vita, too.
Ubrokemygrill?
June 6, 2016 at 8:34 am

Of course it’s Nogames4 only.
Jigsy
June 6, 2016 at 8:34 am

Is there an undubbed version of this game, or is it another one where I’m forced to listen to a … ugh… dub?
Rob Simple
June 6, 2016 at 8:44 am

This is one of those remasters I never realised how much I wanted until it was announced.
Ubrokemygrill?
June 6, 2016 at 8:56 am

Wish that game fared better sales wise. One of my favorite PS1 games.
Carbon Based Killer Bee
June 6, 2016 at 9:00 am

Everyone’s too busy with phone games to really give a fuck, atm. http://gamerant.com/final-fantasy-15-end-console-gaming-japan/
Luka ?( ▀ ͜͞ʖ▀?)
June 6, 2016 at 9:02 am

You watched Gate?
Smug
June 6, 2016 at 9:06 am

http://news.nicovideo.jp/watch/nw2198805
Comments also show a general consensus that they’re not fond of the serie after Squaresoft and Enix merged.

Also FFXV is obvious fujoshit bait
ashikenshin
June 6, 2016 at 9:34 am

fran and ashe naked have been my dreams for a while now. Seems they are coming true!
ashikenshin
June 6, 2016 at 9:37 am

diamonds
garf02
June 6, 2016 at 9:40 am

the queen was and still a whore, warrior bunny was better
Ozzie Arcane
June 6, 2016 at 9:58 am

The real thing that took strategy out of VII was unlocking Knights of the Round. Once you had that, nothing else mattered.
Neojames82
June 6, 2016 at 10:06 am

YYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
aaaa
June 6, 2016 at 10:13 am

Rip vita
CrimsonColossus
June 6, 2016 at 10:23 am

>Complaining when a console with no games gets games.
Raziel Barkrai
June 6, 2016 at 10:28 am

Nice. I’ve been playing the patched Ps2 version and like it a lot more than the original release.
Dom The Elegy
June 6, 2016 at 10:32 am

X was the worst in that regard. Characters basically only differ in their limit breaks and Yuna’s ability to summon. Everything else is identical if you play it correctly.
Dom The Elegy
June 6, 2016 at 10:36 am

To be fair, who in their right mind is sticking up for Square since the merge? Even the former president Hisashi Suzuki said it was a colossal failure and he’ll know what the fuck he’s talking about.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-11-07-square-enix-merger-a-complete-failure-says-former-square-boss
Malcolm_Ecks
June 6, 2016 at 10:37 am

I’ll have to get a PS- oh wait, I own a PC.
ProxyDoug
June 6, 2016 at 10:43 am

Three days ago I was watching videos about the game and seeing comments about the remaster from an year ago and thinking “that never happened”.
Well, would you look at that.
It’s nice that they polished the fighting system, shame there is nothing to be done about the story. It’s sad because it’s not a bad one, but it’s poorly told and the radio like sound work on the dub is something I will never understand.
ProxyDoug
June 6, 2016 at 10:44 am

It’s a shame there is just a small part of the game on their village.
ProxyDoug
June 6, 2016 at 10:51 am

I don’t think it get’s worse than VIII.
NukeA6
June 6, 2016 at 11:25 am

It was inevitable.
NukeA6
June 6, 2016 at 11:25 am

Thanks for saving my eyes.
Ubrokemygrill?
June 6, 2016 at 11:38 am

Remasters aren’t a new game dipshit.
MusouTensei
June 6, 2016 at 12:01 pm

Well if it gives me japanese voice options I might give it a try.
Yaminoari
June 6, 2016 at 12:23 pm

No revenant wings no buy 10 remastered came with X-2 But 12 doesn’t come with it’s sequel no buy
Siveon
June 6, 2016 at 12:25 pm

Ah right, makes sense. I thought phones would be the death of handhelds but that seems to include consoles as well.

A shame, smartphones suck game-wise.
Siveon
June 6, 2016 at 12:28 pm

I would argue those people would be like us, a vocal minority, but those are a lot of comment that I can’t read – so I’ll just take your word for it.
Raziel Barkrai
June 6, 2016 at 12:48 pm

As long as Square sticks to the original art style. Not any of that ultra realistic crap.
larverto365
June 6, 2016 at 1:21 pm

Looks like I don’t need to get a PS2 for this game after all. I’ve been meaning to get a PS4, this, X/X-2 remaster, XV, and the VII remake are convincing me very well.

Final Fantasy Tactics A3 when, though?
Guin
June 6, 2016 at 1:22 pm

I can waste a whole day beating Yiazmat again…in HD!
Guin
June 6, 2016 at 1:24 pm

She can’t be a whore if she was only giving herself to the prince. She is a massive cunt though.
Guin
June 6, 2016 at 1:31 pm

It was around VII where they tried being experimental and went the whole “diversity” route when it comes to the FF Job System. No longer are characters specifically locked into a role and everyone is able to do whatever is needed for the situation. For better or worse.

I personally like both approaches. It gets a bit stale if they just stick to one or the other.
Cael
June 6, 2016 at 1:31 pm

Stupid sexy Fran.
Guin
June 6, 2016 at 1:32 pm

I’m confident to wager a never on this one.
Guin
June 6, 2016 at 1:34 pm

And at the end of the day, SE won’t really care because they’re more than just vidya companies now. They’re a multimedia monster.
Guin
June 6, 2016 at 1:36 pm

>Greatest JRPG

I’m not gonna be a dick and trample on your opinion, but you might wanna ease up there.
Matz
June 6, 2016 at 1:45 pm

The HD remaster of Final Fantasy XII was inevitable and I’m glad that this game is coming, one of my favorite entries in the series, might play it since I’m curious to play the International Zodiac Jobs version
NuclearKangaroo
June 6, 2016 at 1:49 pm

if you are such a cheap little bitch you can just wait for the PC release
No_Good_Names_Ever
June 6, 2016 at 2:03 pm

Congrats on getting a remaster of barely half a game that gimps you.
Who the fuck would want to control an Esper anyway, they’re utterly useless.
No_Good_Names_Ever
June 6, 2016 at 2:04 pm

One of the few nice things about FFXII.
No_Good_Names_Ever
June 6, 2016 at 2:06 pm

Lightening Gundam with Vaan as the pilot.
Flamingfighter
June 6, 2016 at 2:15 pm

Isn’t Hisashi Suzuki’s massive bomb ont he Spirits Within movie what basically caused the merger to happen in the first place?
TsukuyomiMagi99
June 6, 2016 at 2:55 pm

Penelo has such a great ass right up there with Garnet from IX. That’s why I played her and only her till shit got serious lol.
TsukuyomiMagi99
June 6, 2016 at 2:59 pm

FFXII had to be the most bland Final Fantasy I’ve ever played. The characters were bland or unecessary (looking at you Vaan) and the story was boring and nonsensical. The only thing keeping me playing was the gameplay and that’s all. Okay maybe Penelo’s luscious ass too but that’s it!
Nagato
June 6, 2016 at 3:10 pm

“The Zodiac Age”

I think you mean Ted Cruz.
TsukuyomiMagi99
June 6, 2016 at 3:11 pm

IV went the opposite extreme.

Cecil: Attack with Sword
Rosa: Heal
Rydia: Magic or Bahamut
Kain: JUMP!!
Edge: Attack or Throw Shit
Bananalint
June 6, 2016 at 3:18 pm

Uh yeah no. Shouldn’t be more than a year till PC release.
Extrange
June 6, 2016 at 3:24 pm

>”useless”

Besides all the obvious advantages of controlling HP souped up walking turrets of doom, there’s the ultimate one: Deathblows on demand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvpemDCvslI
TsukuyomiMagi99
June 6, 2016 at 3:27 pm

Or mimicking Omnislash and Unagermax.
Dom The Elegy
June 6, 2016 at 3:29 pm

Suzuki was involved with it, yes, though it’s unfair to reduce him to just that. He was executive producer on some of the best RPGs ever made including FFIX, Chrono Trigger and Vagrant Story. The movie was mainly Sakaguchi’s fault as much as it pains me to say that. He wrote and directed it.
No_Good_Names_Ever
June 6, 2016 at 4:02 pm

What, they were reworked to not be things to be slapped into the ground in the Zodiac version because whenever I tried to use them in boss fights, it didn’t take long for them to die.
No_Good_Names_Ever
June 6, 2016 at 4:05 pm

I still used her when things got serious, think I delegated her to healing and magic.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/734c7337dc905216518aa951837bbd86d049063538c88b5cb7dbb08344c9aa1c.jpg
Sean Sharpe
June 6, 2016 at 4:18 pm

Awesome. Might actually get this. I liked XII a lot, since it reeled in some of the overly dramatic and angsty bullshit that VII and VIII had but I never finished it since the whole generic licence board made everyone feel the same and I got bored… So maybe I’ll actually finish it.
DDD-kun
June 6, 2016 at 4:25 pm

Depends on the level of strategy. If you mean “dungeon crawling plan your shit or die”, then no—no Final Fantasy game V and up comes remotely close to having anything like that.

But if you mean in the vein of what FF has always done, there were some clever bits in VII, but you had to dig to find them (combos like Final Attack + Summon magic).

X, on the other hand, is even LESS than that. VII had the ability at least until Master Materia came into play of making all of your characters play as individuals. Not everyone had to have 4-cut or Mimic or whatnot. X, however, was a long drawn out buff grid that made ALL the characters the same, and the only difference made was limit breaks, what kind of “weapon” enemies were weak against, and Yuna’s Summons. The Sphere Grid system was excessively lazy, even for the teams producing Final Fantasy.
Didney Worl
June 6, 2016 at 4:25 pm

Wow! They did a great job cleaning up the visuals. FF12 was one of the most underrated games I’ve played, so I’m happy to see it get another shot.
Daryl Corey
June 6, 2016 at 4:50 pm

Really low on my list of FFs but it was still fun I will probably snag it on release
Grampy_Bone
June 6, 2016 at 5:23 pm

Oh yay, one of the lamest snoozefest missteps in the history of the franchise, if not all of RPG gaming history.

Remake FF6 you assclowns.
larverto365
June 6, 2016 at 5:27 pm

I take it that Hillary Clinton is the main antagonist then.
No_Good_Names_Ever
June 6, 2016 at 5:31 pm

That would mean Hillary is the good guy.
Fear Me I Am Free
June 6, 2016 at 5:35 pm

Nice. Definitely buying that.
fnd
June 6, 2016 at 6:11 pm

“Final Fantasy XIII: The Zodiac Age”

lol, almost lost interest with the typo :^)
epy
June 6, 2016 at 6:13 pm

But they did remake it! You can buy it on iOS right now :^)
Extrange
June 6, 2016 at 6:16 pm

Shiiit.
*edits*

Which typo??? Nothing to see here… >_>
Lex
June 6, 2016 at 6:40 pm

Ivalice is worth returning to.
Minuteworld92
June 6, 2016 at 7:45 pm

pc release will come. screencap.
CrimsonColossus
June 6, 2016 at 9:23 pm

But they’re games nonetheless, asshat. You may now continue with your regularly scheduled PC port begging.
Shane O'Shaughnessy
June 6, 2016 at 9:31 pm

I hope it never comes to PC just to piss off PC neckbeards like you.
Random Dude
June 6, 2016 at 10:02 pm

AFAIK, they removed the damage cap.
Guin
June 7, 2016 at 1:51 am

He probably wants the FF7 treatment.
Guin
June 7, 2016 at 1:54 am

Shh, it’s one of my few achievements in life. Let me look back at the satisfaction of beating him in the vanilla version.
Neojames82
June 7, 2016 at 2:03 am

I wish to see that as well, friend. :)
Bio Sock
June 7, 2016 at 2:57 am

Best. News. Ever. I’m grinning like an idiot over this. Day 1 purchase. =)
Nagato
June 7, 2016 at 3:37 am

Probably just mere months, if their recent releases are anything to go by.

The sole exception, X/X-2 Refurbished, likely had an additional timed exclusivity deal going on, which I can’t quite see Sony do for this one as well after XV will be out by then anyway.
Reckoning
June 7, 2016 at 7:08 am

Glad to hear they will be using the International release. I played this the same way I played all my other games when this released. With a friend passing the controller back and forth over the course of a week. I felt a bit bummed when I found out about the International version being so much more interesting and I’ve thought about importing it many times over the years. Looks like I’ll get to play it now though.
Feniks
June 7, 2016 at 8:57 am

I’ll pay a hundred euro for that! That soundtrack in high quality. My neighbours would kill me.
Sylveria Shini
June 7, 2016 at 5:11 pm

Yeah. I really disliked a lot about 8. The junction system was really one of the most misguided ideas in the history of the series.
bgrunge
June 7, 2016 at 8:08 pm

There’s a reason for that- the story was gutted and retooled after the original director was forced off the project, and Vaan was tacked on to appeal to teenagers.
bgrunge
June 7, 2016 at 8:31 pm

By that standard, there are NO FF’s short of FF 1 and FF12 IZJS that require “planned strategy”.

FF2 – no classes
FF3 – classes, but everybody can switch whenever
FF4 – assigned classes and party loadout- no choice or strategy whatsoever
FF5 – same as FF3
FF6 – no classes (but, you could specialize chars somewhat via stat bonuses. wasn’t really strategic though)
FF7 – no classes
FF8 – no classes
FF9 – assigned classes
FFX – no classes

So really- your issue is just with the Final Fantasy series, period.
bgrunge
June 7, 2016 at 8:37 pm

in the post-game, yes. If you aren’t grinding though and having everybody fill out the sphere grid, by the end of FFX most characters will be pretty specialized.
bgrunge
June 7, 2016 at 8:39 pm

I don’t know, the Deathblow combo builds that I enjoy don’t seem to be too common. But yes, FF7 could use a lot more support materia for variety, and give said support materia to the player earlier so interesting materia combos and strategy are available before the 3rd disc.
Dom The Elegy
June 8, 2016 at 10:08 am

No, about half way through the game you’ll be forced to branch into other character’s fields because the one you started in is exhausted. Granted this is more akin to multiclassing but it’s still muddying each characters uniqueness quite a bit.
bgrunge
June 8, 2016 at 12:33 pm

No, that was around Final Fantasy 2 where they did that- and they continued the trend of not locking characters into roles in 3,5, and 6.
Guin
June 8, 2016 at 12:36 pm

They were still defined jobs with Healer, Fighter, Caster, Tank etc during that time. VII really blurred it with its material system granting every character any role and ability as they see fit.
bgrunge
June 8, 2016 at 12:39 pm

Have you played FF2, 3,5 and 6? FF2 and 6 have nothing even slightly resembling jobs, and 3 and 5 do not lock any character into a job- anybody can switch to any job when needed, just like you can swap out materia setups when needed in 7.
Guin
June 8, 2016 at 1:57 pm

I did. I want to erase my memories of 2 as much as possible though (It was experimental for all the wrong reasons.). 3 and 5 still had the job archetypes going on. 6 is probably the the one game that supports your argument (it is in a lot of ways proto 7 imo.)
Guin
June 8, 2016 at 1:59 pm

No love for Ashe’s Ass? Shame.
larverto365
June 9, 2016 at 2:10 am

“Even in battle, she’s shaking her ass. She can’t help it!”
bgrunge
June 9, 2016 at 3:45 am

I didn’t think 2 was that bad, really. Better than the first, IMO- there’s more guidance, and it didn’t feel as brutally punishing. That said, the last dungeon is a long ass crawl.