Support NeoGAF

[Razmos]

Final Fantasy: Record Keeper has put me on a bit of a FF nostalgia binge recently, and reading up about FF III led me to reading about XII, and finally onto watching this video:

Final Fantasy XII: Esper Deathblows
And it struck me how gorgeous this game is, even now. It has definitely aged a bit now, and is showing it. But I am constantly amazed by how good this looked on the PS2.

I honestly find the visuals more appealing than 13 or 15.
And it's not just the graphics either. The character design (except Vaan), monster designs and the world itself were all amazing.

Do you think this game is in need of a current gen remaster like X? or do you think it holds up better and doesn't need it?

Either way a remake would be very cool, perhaps finally giving the west chance to play the International Zodiac Job version.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

The HD remake is gonna be glorious....right, guys?

T_T

 

[DOWN]

Did it really sell that poorly that it won't get a remaster? I want to play it.

 

[The Cool One]

Yea this is one HD remaster we need. Sucks the US got the gimped edition

 

[Vashetti]

HD Remaster when?

 

[three_muffins]

The HD remake is gonna be glorious....right, guys?

T_T

It will (would) be glorious.

 

[Misterinenja]

Did it really sell that poorly that it won't get a remaster? I want to play it.

It's just too god for its own good.

They don't wanna inflate people's expectations before releasing XV.

 

[Red]

A real showpiece on PCSX2 as well.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Fantastic art direction + extremely meticulous polygon usage and texturing. Optimizing the hell out of PS2 limitations.

 

[Jay Sosa]

Did it really sell that poorly that it won't get a remaster? I want to play it.

They burned all the PS2 copies? That's really tragic.

 

[Shepard]

Top notch production values + top notch art style. It really is one of the most beautiful games ever, and sounds amazing too.

 

[Hektor]

I need the remaster for the zodiac edition. I NEED IT.

 

[Corpekata]

You can play the Zodiac edition if you have a decent PC. Looks great on PCSX2.

 

[Hibiki Kurosawa]

Yep, still a gorgeous game to this day! Bring on the IZJS HD release!

 

[Makoto Yuki]

With the success of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, It's almost a given that Square Enix will create the HD remaster.

I for one welcome the addition of an HD version of the IZJS, I've read and seen enough footage to know that it fixes a lot of my complains of the first game's systems.

As for FFXII, I was never a fan of the story or the characters, but the the acting and graphics were more then enough to see me through. Just exploring the world was an absolute joy.

 

[Red]

You can play the Zodiac edition if you have a decent PC. Looks great on PCSX2.

Is there an English language option on the Japanese disc? Will I have trouble ripping it to my PC?

Edit:
Hope it's all cool. Just snagged an import for $31. Pls someone tell me if this is a waste of money so I can cancel before it ships.

 

[Mexen]

First FF title I ever beat. A remaster, huh? Not a bad idea (esp with additional content like a new wardrobe for Vaan).

 

[SDCowboy]

Yea this is one HD remaster we need. Sucks the US got the gimped edition

Gimped how?

 

[Synless]

Character models were gorgeous, environments were bland and ugly for the most part.

 

[Shin-Ra]

HexaDrive should've got their hands immediately on this, not Type-0. Much better starting assets.

 

[Zareka]

They burned all the PS2 copies? That's really tragic.

Yeah, it's not like the poster might not have a PS2, or a computer capable of emulation, or want to play a PS2 game blown up onto whatever size HDTV they have. It's that there is literally no way of playing the game nowadays.

I'm holding out hope for a remaster for this. I have it on my PS2 and it's one of the few Final Fantasy games where the gameplay has interested me, but it looks absolutely god awful on my 50" TV. A HD remaster on the Vita à la FFX would be perfect.

 

[The Boat]

Fantastic art direction + extremely meticulous polygon usage and texturing. Optimizing the hell out of PS2 limitations.

Yep. As soon as I get a new PC, I'm gonna use PCSX2 to play this again, loved it.

 

[Foffy]

Is there an English language option on the Japanese disc? Will I have trouble ripping it to my PC?

You will need to apply a fan translation patch to the game.

 

[Dark_castle]

This and God of War blew my mind in terms of graphics back in the days.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Yeah, record keeper has me itching to play this too. I'm just gonna hold on until after E3, if no HD remaster is announced by then I'll play the PS2 version.
My biggest problem with the game though is not being able to change the camera controls, they're locked and cant be inverted and my 1st time trying to play led me to get bad headaches from it. Grr.

 

[BadWolf]

Played it on emulator recently and even on my unimpressive PC it looked simply beautiful.

Imo it looked much better than a ton of games coming out today.

 

[Danlord]

HexaDrive should've got their hands immediately on this, not Type-0. Much better starting assets.

As long as they add a slider for control sensitivity and motion blur strength if they add it, I personally have issue with Type-0 HD with both of them, makes me quite nauseated (?) when I'm playing.

 

[Red]

You will need to apply a fan translation patch to the game.

Thanks!

Been meaning to revisit FFXII for a long time. Zodiac edition seems like the best place to dig in.

 

[Corpekata]

Is there an English language option on the Japanese disc? Will I have trouble ripping it to my PC?

Edit:
Hope it's all cool. Just snagged an import for $31. Pls someone tell me if this is a waste of money so I can cancel before it ships.

Sorry, it's a fan patch. The project converted the Japanese game into English (you technically need both versions of the game for this).

You can find the patch and the steps online just google FFXII Zodiac English patch. It's been a couple years since I patched it so don't really remember most of the steps. Might want to look into them a bit so you don't waste the money.

 

[BrettWeir]

Fully on-board the ask for an HD remake. My favorite FF. Never got the opportunity to play Zodiac

 

[BadWolf]

Thanks!

Been meaning to revisit FFXII for a long time. Zodiac edition seems like the best place to dig in.

Sort of have a rule of not re-playing an RPG but bent it for the Zodiac edition and had a blast from start to finish, highly recommend it.

Once you try the fast forward function you can't go back.

 

[DJwest]

I will add my voice to the requests of a remaster, hope you're hearing us Square.

 

[randomwab]

Just watched this video that was suggested after the OP's video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQl7DacBAsA

And holy hell, this looks incredible. The voice acting and localisation seem top notch, different accents as well which feels like a nice detail to flesh out the world. It also seems to have a fairly Star Wars A New Hope vibe going for it, just with an actual decent fantasy backdrop in terms of aesthetic. I skipped XII after not enjoying X, but I'm incredibly interested in going back now. Have SE talked about an HD release?

 

[Xord]

Never played it but I am waiting for a remaster.

 

[ArchAngel]

Man, it's the only JRPG where I love the English voices. Fran <3

 

[TGO]

It needs a HD Remaster, the PS2 version looks terrible on a HD screen.

 

[Klossen]

Emulating this in HD was like playing a seventh generation game. The animations and models are absolutely gorgeous. Yoshida's excellent art is done justice in HD.

 

[Kyzer]

XIII still looks amazing too actually

 

[The Praiseworthy]

They need to announce an HD Remaster version for 10th years anniversary in 2016.

Now after they are done with FFX FFX-2 for the PS4, this is the next step.

 

[Razmos]

Man, it's the only JRPG where I love the English voices. Fran <3

Seriously the voice acting though

Fran's voice is indeed amazing. I wish she had a bigger part in the game.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

This is an FF games that needs an HD remaster. Or just re-release as it is cuz this is the FF game that gets the least attention.

 

[Red]

Sort of have a rule of not re-playing an RPG but bent it for the Zodiac edition and had a blast from start to finish, highly recommend it.

Once you try the fast forward function you can't go back.

I used PCSX2's internal fast forward option on the original, but it was buggy. Glad to hear IZJS edition has one built in.

One thing I could never get working emulating the original game was the Dolby 5.1 audio. Maybe the PCSX2 thread is a better place to ask, but has anyone else had success getting surround sound to work through emulation?

 

[Neff]

Easily the best-looking PS2 game. It still impresses me now.

Also, I'm fairly sure the HD remaster is in the bag at this point.

 

[Ahnez]

Gimped how?

Its because of the JP-only International Zodiac Job System

This newer version completely overhauls the License system, add new weapons, a new game mode outside of the main story, better control over guest characters and espers, option to greatly increase the battle speed by pressing L1 and more

Like X and X-2 international, IZJS is clearly the "definitive" version, but its JP only :/

 

[AmethystEnd]

Would kill for an HD remaster. Still my favorite world exploration in a Final Fantasy since before FFX (which had crap exploration).

 

[KarasuEXE]

Did it really sell that poorly that it won't get a remaster? I want to play it.

Final Fantasy XII (5.2 million approximately: 2.4 million in Japan, 1.7 million in US, 1.1 million in Europe; 5.2 million shipped)

 

[evilalien]

One thing I could never get working emulating the original game was the Dolby 5.1 audio. Maybe the PCSX2 thread is a better place to ask, but has anyone else had success getting surround sound to work through emulation?

There is no Dolby 5.1 in FFXII, there is only Dolby Pro Logic II which is a matrix encoded stereo signal. You aren't going to get surround sound out of that unless you are running your audio through a receiver with Pro Logic support.

 

[Isaccard]

HD Begging thread

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

noticed you left out Vaan's abs

I don't understand how the game looks so good but Vaan's texture is so bad.

 

[qualitydisc]

It's quite a showpiece on PCSX2. Tons of detail and just chock-full of production value. The facial animations are pretty much unrivaled among PS2 games.