“Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age” is a fantasy, role-playing game developed by the publishing company Square Enix as a part of the “Final Fantasy” series. This is a 2017 remastered version of the original “Final Fantasy XII,” which was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006.

“The Zodiac Age” offers graphic enhancements with high-definition rendering, reconstruction of level design and the implementation of a job system. It also features improved technical performance with a re-mastered soundtrack.

The game’s plot is set in the world of Ivalice, a continent that encompasses two warring and dominant empires, Rozarria and Archadia. Dalmasca is a small kingdom caught in the midst of a war between the two empires. After a failed attempt to withhold its territory, Dalmasca surrendered to the Archadian Empire.

Two years after these events, the player is switched to the perspective of one of the game’s main protagonists. Vaan is an orphaned street urchin living in the capital of Dalmasca who yearns to become a sky pirate. He despises the Empire for killing his older brother during the war.

After sneaking into the palace’s treasury room to “take back for its people,” he stumbles upon a mysterious woman who goes by the alias Amalia. She is leading a resistance group to reclaim the kingdom from Archadia. Vaan reluctantly joins her efforts to free their homeland with the help of Balthier, a witty sky pirate, and his partner Fran.

Although this is the 12th game in the series, players are not required to play the 11 prior games to follow the storyline as each game consists of different settings, worlds, plots and characters.

“The Zodiac Age” offers players an immersive world to explore, consisting of diverse races, unique environments and sites to visit as the story progresses.

Most of the tale unfolds from the perspective of Vaan. He is among six main characters the player will encounter. All have distinct personalities and motivations. The characters are complemented with emotional voice acting and clever dialogue. The voice actors were cast by translator Alexander O. Smith, who selected actors with theater experience.

The gameplay utilizes an “active dimension battle” system, in which a player is free to take control of any of the three-party members and switch leaders during battle. Enemies are visible on the battlefield map, allowing the player to engage in combat or avoid confrontation.

While the player can manually control the commands of all of the party members’ actions, the game has implemented a “gambit” system in which each character can be given battle-specific commands. For example, a character’s gambits could be set to cast a “cure” spell, if an ally’s points drop below 50%, and then continue to attack their nearest foe, if that command was previously set in its gambits. This allows the player to focus on fewer commands, while the other party members act on their own during combat.

Another game mechanic is the Zodiac job system. Players can select one of 12 jobs for each character and use their License Board as means to level-up their status. The License Board consists of unique icons where players can spend points collected by defeating enemies. Once unlocked, the licenses give players access to certain abilities, weapons, armor and character-status upgrades. This unique growth system reflects the theme of law and politics in the game and offers the player options to customize their character’s skills and abilities.

The game is a wonderful re-master of the original masterpiece. With the classic, yet fascinating, story of “reclaiming the kingdom,” the game offers players a great tale in which to invest. Thanks to improved visuals, the reimagining of Ivalice, and the beautifully remastered soundtrack, composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, “Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age” proves to be a worthy installment in the Final Fantasy series. The game is available for purchase on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam systems.

Grade A+