Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age retrospective: Not perfect but definitely one of a kind.

Hello, and welcome to my final video of 2025. Today, we will be taking a very long look at what many consider the last true Final Fantasy game — that being Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age. To begin with, I am not 100% happy with this video. There are some audio errors that I simply do not have the mental energy to fix, and the chapter cards are basic. Watching the final cut back there's also some graphical glitches here and there but I don't want to have to re-render this video and check through it all again. This project has gone on far longer than any I’ve done on a single game. I needed 100 hours just to clear the game, and there was so much to talk about with the troubled development and systems that the script just kept getting longer and longer. So I’m done, and I’m releasing it as is. We’re going to spend more than three hours discussing the first Final Fantasy to truly break from the mould. It’s a game set in Yasumi Matsuno’s own world of Ivalice, where we are not the hero who saves the world, but rather one of many players in a large game played by empires, kingdoms, and even divinities. We will explore characters like the dashing sky pirate Balthier, the brave knight Basch, and the game’s real protagonist, Princess Ashe. First, we’ll dive into the drama they’ve become embroiled in as seen from the dual points of view of Vaan and Penelo, before analysing the game’s new Active Dimension Battle system and all the weird and often frustrating mechanics that were experimented with here. Then we’ll go on a monster hunt and try to capture 13 Espers to summon into battle, fighting our way through many interesting and powerful targets until we finally stand toe-to-toe with the most powerful dragon in all of Ivalice — Yiazmat! This is a game with a lot to love, but just as much that will have you wanting to punch a hole in your monitor and swear off Final Fantasy forever. So let’s dive in and see how — and why — that is. ------------------------------------------------- Links---------------------------------------------------- Alex Fraoli Main    / @alexfraioli   Vods    / @hoodedpitohui   Twitch   / hoodedpitohui   ------------------------------------------------- Chapters---------------------------------------------------- 00:00 Start 04:38 2K6 09:47 Final Fantasy XI 19:28 Development 29:57 Setup 01:07:53 Ivalice (world and art direction) 01:27:07 Characters 01:40:17 Gameplay and systems 02:31:04 Monster Hunting 02:56:58 SPOILERS 03:26:08 Conclusion -------------------------------Super awesome Socials for cool people ------------------------------ Support me on Patreon and help me make this my full time job patreon.com/Arkham666 All the hottest takes on coca cola are here https://bsky.app/profile/arkham666.bs... My Facebook page that a few people follow https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... Instagram (I sort of use this sometimes)   / samblenderart   Tip me a coffee here https://ko-fi.com/arkham666 Commissions at artstation https://www.artstation.com/the_rotton...