Released back in 2017, The Zodiac Age takes the 2006 classic into a modern gaming audience, along with plenty of upgrades here and there.
With FFXII: The Zodiac Age available on all current gen platforms, now might be the perfect time to revisit one of the most innovative Final Fantasy games in the series so far.
With the introduction of real-time battle, FF12 paved the way for modern Final Fantasy titles. If you’re a fan, this is a game you’re definitely not going to want to overlook.
As if the game wasn’t already good enough on its own, we’ve got mods. And lots of ‘em that could improve your experience even further.
With all the great mods coming up, you’re probably going to want to try most of them.
This mod basically provides you a user-friendly menu interface that makes it much easier to manage your mods.
You won’t have to work with the actual files either, as everything can be done from within the loader itself.
And it’s a good idea to have this at the ready before getting started.
Another neat feature with DrakLab is that it automatically makes backups of original files before installing any mods, so you won’t have to worry about destroying your saves.
Since you’re playing an HD remake anyway, why not make the game look the best it possibly can?
This time addressing weapons, though.
The Weapons Re-Upscaled mod makes graphical improvements to weapons and shields in the game. And it’s noticeable.
All 200+ weapons were actually down-sampled to their native resolutions, and re-upscaled to make everything look much smoother. This took a lot of work, so really you’ll be amazed at the end result.
If you’re looking to make more drastic changes to the game’s appearance, well character reskins are a great way to go.
Whether you’ve gotten tired of what your characters are wearing, or just want more clothing options, reskin mods are what you need.
This particular mod gives Vaan a total of four outfit options to choose from, so you can pick whichever looks best to you.
Or worst, if you just hate Vaan.
There are reskin mods for the other main characters in the game as well, so you can pick and choose as you like. I’m a bit fond of this chainmail for Fran.
One minor visual detail that many fans didn’t like was the overhead HP bars.
It’s quite redundant as HP levels for each character are already neatly displayed towards the bottom of the screen, so the health bars mostly just obstruct your view during battles.
With this quick fix, you won’t have to worry about those HP bars anymore.
You can still see enemy bars though, which are super helpful to keep.
If you want to take this game even further, the Sounds of Ivalice mod is worth looking into
Beyond visually upgrading the game, you can have complete control over sound as well.
The tool basically lets you remove or add any sound to the game, be it music, character dialogue, sound effects, basically anything.
I think the creator himself has a pretty good idea in the description, “if you want the pacman death sound to play every time a character dies, this is for you.”
The mod truly gives you complete control, so do whatever you want.
11. Trial Stage Selector and Stage 100 Save Option
Grinding for loot can become quite frustrating in any game with RNG.
The trial stages in The Zodiac Age are no different, and you’ll most likely come to a point where you’ll be spending most of your time trying to get specific items from specific stages.
This mod helps with that by letting you access any specific trial stage you want.
It’ll save you tons of time not having to keep restarting trial mode just to get to that level you wanted to grind.
The introduction of the license board in FFXII gave Final Fantasy fans a new way to look at levelling.
Though it aimed to give more options in terms of character development, the job system is far from perfect.
One particular job in the license board that fans were annoyed with is the Shikari path.
The Shikari path made it possible for characters to access ninja swords in the game. But with job limitations in place, it meant that not all could be unlocked in a single playthrough.
Thanks to modder Jacobs20, this is no longer the case.
He made changes to the licenses themselves, making it possible to unlock all four ninja swords natively without cheats. Well, modding but that doesn’t count.
If you find yourself on the opposite end of the spectrum and are looking to make the overall gameplay more challenging, there’s a number of mods that let you do exactly that.
The Durable Story Bosses mod is probably the simplest way to start, giving mandatory story bosses more HP.
Modder watafuzz felt that main story bosses were just too easy to beat.
So he gives us options to boost boss HP by either 50% or 100%.
He’s tested the mod to make sure that bosses are doable, so it just makes for more drawn-out battles.
It’s probably a good idea to go into each battle more prepared though. Phoenix downs are a must.
This mod has a number of features, mostly centered around Montblanc’s behavior in Clan Centurio’s Guild Hall.
It adds a couple new dialogue options changing the way you can interact with him.
But the mod also makes Montblanc more generous as you can now ask him for money, items, equipment, and even magic.
This particular feature is definitely a cheat, but it is optional, so use it as you like.
What’s really interesting about this mod is that it gives you the ability to start a true NG+. Montblanc can give you the option to start from the earliest point possible in the game, while keeping all your equipment, stats, and skills.
Reks is the first character we’re introduced to in The Zodiac Age.
During the prologue, he’s the first playable character – but we soon find out that the story is not focused on him at all. Which is a bit of a ripoff, no?
Great storytelling Square-Enix.
Well if you wanted to see more of this guy, here’s a mod actually makes it possible to play the entire game as Reks.
I won’t go into much detail to avoid story spoilers, but you’ll basically have Reks instead of Vaan for the entire game, along with his own stats, equipment, and licenses.
The job system was expanded on after its introduction in FFXII.
But modder Armagetz wanted to see The Zodiac Age’s new job system improved even more.
Taking from new jobs added in Final Fantasy XIV, this mod adds Paladin, Dark Knight, Ninja, Warrior, Samurai, Dragoon, and Bard classes to FFXII.
As if the vanilla license system didn’t already give you enough options, you’ll now have more to choose from to tailor fit each character to your play style.
More jobs in a Final Fantasy game? That’s a big yes from me.
There are a couple overhaul mods for The Zodiac Age if you’re looking for a completely new experience.
The Struggle for Freedom is one of them, except this focuses mainly on rebalancing the license board.
A common criticism of the FFXII license board is that it can be so open to the point that you can basically use it to mold any character into any role you want.
Struggle For Freedom makes the game more challenging by making the license board more linear – jobs are now character-specific so each party member will have to play their role.
The same approach was taken for weapons and magic, so this will definitely change the way you play the game.
Foreign Lands completely overhauls the game, introducing new eastern-inspired jobs, new weapons, new abilities, and new magic too.
There are 12 completely new boards to explore, so you’ll be discovering new ways to maximize each of your party members throughout the game.
There are also new spells and weapons, along with rebalances designed to make the game feel completely new and more challenging at the same time.
For new spells, I think the addition of Poisonga is really nice. But check out the mod page for more.
In comparison to SFF, Foreign Lands isn’t afraid to stray far from vanilla gameplay – so if you’re looking for a completely fresh experience in The Zodiac Age, this mod is the single best way to get exactly that.
