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Changes from the PS2 Version

The Zodiac Age is a remaster of International Zodiac Job System (IZJS), a Japan-only 2007 rerelease of Final Fantasy XII. Most of the big changes came from IZJS, so if you played the original PS2 release outside Japan, everything below is new to you.

Jobs and License Boards

  • 12 jobs instead of one shared License Board. In the original, every character shared the same board and could learn everything. Now each board belongs to a job: Archer, Black Mage, Bushi, Foebreaker, Knight, Machinist, Monk, Red Battlemage, Shikari, Time Battlemage, Uhlan and White Mage.
  • Two jobs per character. After defeating Belias you can unlock a second job, and the two boards' licenses combine. Each job can only be taken by one character, so a party of six covers all 12.
  • Jobs can be reset. Talk to Montblanc in Rabanastre to reset a party member's jobs. This came with the Switch and Xbox release.
  • Quickenings use their own gauge, not MP, and characters gain max MP from leveling up.

Battle

  • Speed mode. Toggle 2x or 4x speed for combat and exploration (set the speed in the menu). Music and cutscenes play at normal speed.
  • Guests and Espers can be controlled. You can take direct control of them and set their Gambits. Guests also level up, but you can't change their equipment.
  • No spell queue. In the original, spells waited for earlier effects to finish. Now they cast as soon as they're ready.
  • No 9,999 damage cap.
  • More Gambits. 16 new Gambit conditions, and you can store three Gambit sets to switch between.
  • Rebalancing. Some character stats, enemy stats, item and equipment effects, shop stock and Hunt rewards changed, and a few new enemies were added.
  • New ultimate weapons. One for each character.

Treasure and Magick

  • Chests were reshuffled. Most treasure contents changed, and chests respawn after you move one area away, instead of three.
  • Some magicks moved to chests. Some magicks that were sold in shops are now found in chests, often later in the game.
  • Some magicks were recategorized. For example, Bravery moved from Green to White Magick.
  • The Zodiac Spear is easier to get. In the original, opening four specific chests ruined your chance at it. That's gone, and the spear is in a different place.
  • Monographs. New Bazaar items that improve drops from certain enemy types. See Monographs.

Exploration

  • Map overlay. Show the area map on screen while you explore.
  • Autosave on every area change, and faster loading.
  • Camera axes can be inverted.

Modes

  • Trial Mode. 100 stages of fights against enemies and bosses, using characters from your main save. Some rewards can be carried back into your story save.
  • New Game Plus starts at level 90. On Switch, it also carries over some of your items, weapons, magicks and gil.
  • New Game Minus keeps characters at level 1 for the whole game.

Presentation

  • HD graphics in widescreen, with improved textures.
  • Remastered soundtrack with 8 new tracks. You can switch between it and the original soundtrack.
  • Japanese or English voices.
  • Improved audio, with 7.1 surround sound.
  • Trophies and achievements, on the platforms that have them.

The Switch Version

  • Runs at 30 fps, docked and handheld.
  • Renders at about 864p docked and 576p handheld, below the screen's native resolution.
  • Some textures, cutscenes and audio were compressed to fit the game in 16 GB.
  • Has the job reset, the three Gambit sets and the improved New Game Plus, which first came with the Switch and Xbox release and were added to PS4 and PC in 2020.