I rather enjoyed the first Final Fantasy 7 remake—I sank a comfy 35 hours into it, plodded along its story, and had a grand old time. I never got around to Rebirth, though. Partially because I just didn’t have the time, but also because I didn’t want another fully-priced AAA game taking a chunk out of my wallet.
Well, now I will be playing it, because as part of the Final Fantasy franchise sale on Steam, both games are (relatively speaking) dirt cheap. These are some genuinely hefty discounts, with the first game currently being around $14/£12, and the second being about $20/£16 at the time of writing.
Heck, you can even go ahead and snag FF16 for $20/£18 if you’d like. Just about every game in the series has some sort of discount—including one of my personal favourites, FF12. That’s right, the best combat system to ever be put in a Final Fantasy game (and you can quote me on that. Also, former PCG writer Sarah James) is currently available for just $15/£11.
Okay, I’m being a little facetious—but the gambit system really is something special, and the Zodiac Age version of the game has several major perks, including the ability to speed things up. And you might be asking “but Harvey, if the combat system is so good, why do you want to speed through it?” and that’s a very good question which I will talk around so as to not have to concede that the Gambit system isn’t perfect. Which it is.
Basically, FF12 works a lot like an autobattler game with some fine-tuned control. You can program your party of adventurers with Gambits, “if>then” orders that can be purchased in-game and assigned on an individual basis, with extra slots for bigger priority lists available through level-up bonuses.
What makes it cool is that, once you’re all set up, you can rock around the game’s areas as an autonomous ball of death, only giving the occasional command to deal with edge cases that your master plans couldn’t foresee. It’s satisfying and, more to the point, feels well-earned. A result of your investment into your party, tactical progression that makes them savvier fighters as well as just bigger stat sticks.
And that’s to say nothing of the vibes. Sure, it’s basically just Star Wars—but that’s why I like FF12! It’s a sweeping swashbuckling adventure that has a lot more to do with fantasy politics and personal struggles rather than the end of the world (until the final hours, but that’s just how Final Fantasy works). Also, Balthier and Fran are gaming’s best power couple. Don’t come at me.
Anyway, even if you don’t agree with my infallible and omnipotent knowledge of RPG design, you might enjoy snagging a few of the series’ biggest games at a heavily discounted price.
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