FFXII The Zodiac Age

Battle System

A new battle system is introduced in this game and many old fashioned Final Fantasy players may not like it at first, but once you get used to it, it's actually a lot more fun, engaging and challenging than the old battle system. There are no more random battles.

Active Dimension Battle

The first thing a user would notice is that you no longer have breaks between each battle and searching. So this means that you can see the enemy from certain distance and you can chose to fight it or avoid it.

Once you enter a battle, unlike the old battle system, there is no limit to your actions. This also means that other enemies can enter your battle at anytime. Sometime it is possible to have one battle that takes up a whole landscape.

There are two different styles of battle you to choose from; "Wait" and "Active." When in the "Wait" battle type, once you hit the confirm button to the menu everything stops. This gives you time to think and look over what is going on in the battle.

This is a great option for those who are new to the system. "Active" battle type is for those who know what they are doing and can handle it. This time when you hit the confirm button the battle still continues.



By pressing the X button, it will bring up the Battle Menu in the left button corner of the screen. If you don't have the hang of gambits yet, you can choose each action for each character through the Battle Menu.

If you don't know how much time you have to choose an action for a character, it's right next to the character's name. This is how fast the character can attack. The speed will increase when the character gains levels.

It is important to remember the different signs for enemies. When you are exploring around and notice an enemy with a red health bar, this means it will attack you once you are in range. But at some points in the gain you see foes with green health bars.

This means it won't attack you unless you attack it or attack another one of their kind. This doesn't work for the Elementals though. It will attack you if you cast any type of magick around them. So watch out!

When you are exploring and don't want to fight any foes it's very simple. If you are spotted by an enemy and they are coming after you, just press the shoulder button, R1 and L1, and it will set off the fleeing command.

You party will put away their weapons and begin to run. The enemies will follow you after a while but then they will go back and not bother you anymore.

Restoring HP and MP

It is important to remember that when a character loses all of his HP, it's not the end of the game. Get another character to cast Raise or using items like a Phoenix Down, or switch them for another character.

Just remember that the game doesn't end when all three active party members are KO'd. The only way to get a Game Over, is for all your active party members and your reserved party members have no more HP.

Here are a few ways to restore HP and MP

Every action has a certain time for it to take action. The charge meter is located right next to the party members name on the right bottom corner of the screen. When you select an action or a gambit is activated, the name of the action will appear above the bar and it will begin to fill up.

When the bar is full, the word 'action' will appear as soon as you are within range of your target. The speed of the time depends on the character and what level they are at. There are some magicks that can speed up the time but also slow it down.

Party

They are four basic types of members in your party. Each of them has their own role to play in the game. A Battle Member is the party member that is currently on the battle field. You can only have three members at a time and the rest or reserved.

A Reserve Member is a party member that isn't currently battling. A Guest Member is not a party member but a story-related character that joins your party for a certain amount of time. You cannot use gambits on them but you ca heal them and use items on them.

An Other Member is a non-story character that follows your party. They will not appear on the party member list.

It is also important to remember when to switch out a character and replace for another one. If a battle member's name is highlighted red than they cannot be replace. They are currently doing an action or someone is doing on action on them. Once their name is highlighted blue then you can switch them.

Critical Attacks and Combos

Weapons aren't very consistent when causing damage. There are a few variations with most weapons between each hit based on the attack and the foe's defense. Weapons sometime can cause some critical damage but it depends on the elemental weak point and strengths of the party member and the enemy.

Combos can be numbered from 1 to 10 hits. The most common would be 1 hit combo and 2 hit combos. The hardest to get is the 10 hit combos. It's very possible to equip a few items to get 10 hit combos but it doesn't occur that often. Lighter weapons are more likely to do more hits than heavier weapons.

There is one item in the whole game that allows you to have a higher chance of countering an attack. The Battle Harness will allow you to counter. When a party member is countering it will say it above the time meter next to the character's name. At times, even foes can counter your attacks, so watch out.

Status Effects

There are some good status effects and bad status effects. Some status effect can enhance your ability to fight but some can cause damage while you fight. To remove unwanted status effects you can either counter it with a magick, use a magick to cure it, use an item or wait until it wears off. I do not suggest to always wait for it to wear off because some status effects can kill a party member.

Mist Charges

Mists Charges are very important if you are thinking of using Espers or Quickening. Even if you are not, it's still important. The first Mist Charge is obtained when a party member obtains the license for his or hers first Quickening or Esper.

After that, if a party member gets the license for their second and third Quickening, the Mist Charge will triple from the original amount. You will have more MP to cast magicks even if you don't use Espers and Quickenings.

Battle Chain

A Battle Chain is the amount of the same type of enemy that you have defeated in a row. If you are exploring around come across a valley full of wolves, each enemy will give you one more chain to your total count.

But as soon as you attack another monster outside of their type, let's say a cactus, then you chain will be broken. The higher the chain you get the rarer item the monsters will drop and some items are very valuable.


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