Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age will be coming to the PlayStation 4 some time in 2017. View the first trailer above the words that, at the time of this writing, I am writing.
Of changes, the PlayStation Blog said:
"Hardcore Final Fantasy fans in the US may remember that an International Version of the game was released that included a new character growth system, as well as various other improvements to the game’s interface. We are happy to report that The Zodiac Age integrates all of these features and updates, so North American fans can finally experience them for themselves. Modern advancements including PlayStation 4 Trophy support and Share functionality, auto-save, shortened loading times, overlaid location map and more are new!"
What are these international version changes they speak of? Glad you asked, cause I've played that sweet action. Here ya go:
The PlayStation Vita proved a capable platform for other PS2-based Final Fantasy games such as X and X-2, but XII looks to be skipping that platform, perhaps because Square Enix tried and Sony be all like "Huh?" That's just my speculation though. (It could have easily been Square Enix that was all like "Huh?")
Final Fantasy XII Zodiac PS4
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Control summons
You can take control of summoned monsters now. -
Double Speed Option
With the touch of a button, you can run and fight at twice the speed. That's a player-friendly quality of life update right there. There's also a New Game + and New Game -, the latter of which allows you to play without the characters gaining experience. Hard core modes for hard core players.rn -
New Gambits, Unlocked Quickly
All Gambits become available for purchase at once, fairly early in the story, whereas they came much more gradually in vanilla XII. As well, there are 16 new gambits to make your team more customized than before. -
Job Classes
The PS2 International version's name "Zodiac Job System" wasn't just another case of a Japanese game having a word salad title. It's a direct reference to the biggest change from vanilla Final Fantasy XII.
rn(Screenshot from a PC emulation using an English patch. FFXII International: Zodiac Job System is officially only in Japanese. The re-release in Japan added English voices, but not text.) -
Job Classes (continued)
These job class choices are permanent -- you pick when you get the character, there can only be a max of one character per job class, and there is no going back. Each job has its own custom license board with unique abilities and progression possibilities. This leads to... -
Better License Boards
In regular FFXII, you could see what was right next to an opened space on the license board, but in ZJS, you can see what every space on the board will become, meaning you can plan further in advance where you'd like to take your character development. -
Final Fantasy XII International: Zodiac Job System
The original PS2 box art.
rnThis game was only released in Japan. Other Square Enix remasters have used the updated versions every time there's been one to draw from, so I predict this time will be no different. -
Your Own Adventure
With added Gambits and the job system, your playthrough is much more your own than in the regular edition of the game. Want Fran to shoot guns? Sure. Think Vaan is more suited to a White Mage than a Knight? Go for it. -
Dat Job System
I asked a game shop to give me a poster with this picture, but FFXII Int: ZJS was still new at the time, so they wouldn't give it up. This is just here because I like the image. -
Control Guest Characters
New to this version, you can control guest characters -- even make them your leader if you want to. You can edit their gambits, so they're not acting in their own pre-programmed ways, but doing what you would do. Oh, speaking of Gambits...
