Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Footage

Yep. They are fully controllable. Same goes for guest characters. This has the downside of Larsa no longer being the free hi-potion kid, but on the other hand you get to fully control guests

Originally Posted by Mirage

I guess this means it wasn't just a case of poor graphics. Vaan's abs are actually like that.

Originally Posted by Fynn

Stylistic choice. They've never bothered me, tbh.

If by style you mean 'emaciated'. Going to have to disagree with you: I think I ended up using Vaan the least out of all the party members because of those strange abdominals.

Espers are only worth it if you're just levelled enough for an area (or under-levelled), and you're facing a boss that loves to use status ailments. Espers are immune to most ailments. I remember Belias being useful against the Elder Wyrm. And Vossler. Other than that, I never used Belias ever again. The problem is longevity, really. They're situational, and become obsolete rather quickly. And you have to sacrifice a party member.

Being able to control them might help, though.

They never made him look emaciated, more as if they were painted on. And since all the character models were made to be a detailed representation of Akihiko Yoshida's brushwork, I can certainly get behind that stylistic choice.

If everyone's abs looked like that in the game, I wouldn't mind. But as far as my memory allows, he's the only one with these 'painted' abs.

He's the only main characters with bare abs, though. Basch barely counts since it's just a keyhole-type thing. But what a sexy thing that is with the potholder and stuff




Now that I look at it, those abs look just as painted on as Vaan's

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The problem with Vaan's abs is primarily how... dark, they look. They look sunken in, or the colour inverted or something.

That's because the crotch-light is off throughout most of the game

I suppose his holy groin does provide good amounts of uplighting.

Actually, now that I look at them side by side, basch's abs actually bother me more. It's like he just shaped parts of his skin with a grill or something to make himself look ripped even though he doesn't have that much muscle.

Basch's abs have the problem that they 'pop out' too much, making them look stuck on and grill-shaped.

Yes all the abs look crap. The game looks good.

Now where the hell is my release date? I need to book time off work.

FTR there's one Esper that's actually definitely worth a damn, but not in a good way. Zodiark's super attack (which you can now activate at will) deals fixed 60k AoE damage and thus utterly wrecks some encounters. You can spam it since Mist Gauges are rechargeable with Elixirs, and items, summonings and super attacks all have no charge time. It's a pretty boring strat - and you better get used to seeing that (still unskippable?) cutscene a lot - but its effectiveness can't be denied. It's one simple way to get through the dreaded Pirates trial that's for sure...

ITT: Me and Fynn obsess over abs.

One question that is probably stupid, but I'll ask it anyway: is it straight IZJS remastering, or are they going to add one or things here or there?

More things, including a super turbo mode and map overlay

And tbh, abs are super overrated. I honestly think just a regular flat belly is more visually appealing than abs, but I guess I'm in the minority. Maybe that's why Vaan's abs don't annoy me - I just don't care about abs in general

Originally Posted by Fynn

More things, including a super turbo mode and map overlay

And tbh, abs are super overrated. I honestly think just a regular flat belly is more visually appealing than abs, but I guess I'm in the minority. Maybe that's why Vaan's abs don't annoy me - I just don't care about abs in general

(Agreed about abs)

I'm really looking forward to turbo mode. The Sandseas are such dull places. Being able to whizz through them is going to be so appealing.

I've got to try out the IZJS version & REALLY like the turbo mode. There are a lot of places where turning that on really helps.

*sigh*

Stop with all this footage of a game we already have. Just announce a release date and get back to work.

Originally Posted by Formalhaut

Originally Posted by Fynn

More things, including a super turbo mode and map overlay

And tbh, abs are super overrated. I honestly think just a regular flat belly is more visually appealing than abs, but I guess I'm in the minority. Maybe that's why Vaan's abs don't annoy me - I just don't care about abs in general

(Agreed about abs)

I'm really looking forward to turbo mode. The Sandseas are such dull places. Being able to whizz through them is going to be so appealing.

(Disagrees about abs)

(Agrees about Sandseas)

It's like they read my mind with the super turbo mode. My biggest problem with this game was the absolute grind-fest necessary to complete it. Now I can whizz through the grinding at super-speed!

will they add a story this time

Honestly, I enjoyed the story but I do think the game could stand to include a cutscene or two, if only just to remind you what's going on. There are some stretches where you go without any substantial development. I think I got to the Paramina Rift and asked, "wait, why am I still going to Mt. Bur-Omisace?"