When comparing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age vs Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, the Slant community recommends Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition for most people. In the question“What are the best games that were remade/remastered on PS4?” Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is ranked 15th while Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is:
You'll immediately notice how nice it feels to attack the enemies with each slash, strike and shot having an impact behind it. Enemies will flinch, get thrown back and get suspended mid-air from your attacks, making it feel like you're always the dominant force. It's especially amusing seeing an enemy flail about and slamming it into the ground with your demonic arm. Some of the stylistic elements add fun as well. The prime example is Nero's greatsword the Red Queen, which is equipped with a motorcycle-like gear shift. You can use the gear shift mid-combo to add a flame effect to your sword. This increases your damage and the range of your combos and also looks very nice. It's especially awesome to see your character ascend in a whirlwind of flames.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Intuitive player-programmed combat with the gambit system
The gambit system allows you to assign pre-set conditions and commands for your characters in real-time battles, like using healing spells when a party member is at less than 50% HP, or only using physical attacks when an enemy reflects magic. As you progress through the story, you'll find more of these conditions and commands scattered across the world through treasure chests or available for purchase in shops. With the right gambit setup, you'll find a sense of satisfaction in defeating groups of enemies or even tough boss fights without having to press a single button.
Pro Standout characters among the cast
Unlike the majority of the cast whose motivations and growth are too closely linked to the plot, Fran and Balthier have their own lives that don't revolve around the story, making them feel more authentic than the others. Balthier is a charming, witty sky pirate who always has his eye on the prize. He tags along with the rest of the cast, willing to do whatever's needed--for the right price. His devil may care attitude is a nice foil to the seriousness of the plot and many of the other characters. Fran, his fellow sky pirate, is more quiet and mysterious, speaking only when she needs to impart knowledge of yore and magic onto the other party members. Even while saying little, she has a strong, magnetic presence in the group that makes her stand out from the rest.
Pro Amazing amount of challenging optional content
Once you reach the later parts of the game, you'll be free to go after many different side quests like hunting powerful enemies for great rewards, and taking down stronger Espers, Final Fantasy XII's version of the series' magical deity summons. You'll be able to traverse each map in the game and find secret areas that weren't reachable during your normal playthrough of the story, allowing you to find the game's strongest weapons and magic spells along the way.
Pro Huge and diverse open world to explore
The world of Ivalice is a medieval fantasy setting that has elements of magical technology beneath the surface, with several locations to explore out in the wild. The grand, magnificent Royal City of Rabanastre is sequestered between a desert, branching off to plains that alternate between dry and wet seasons. Beyond the plains are mysterious mines with traces of science experiments gone awry, leading to a magical jungle, and snowy mountains that lead up to a religious city at the peaks. Far beyond those are vast beaches and caverns that lead to the intimidating and expansive Imperial City of Arcades. This breadth of locations in the PlayStation 2 version were ahead of their time, including options to return to these places and find secret paths leading to optional bosses.
Pro Additional content, changes and upgrades for the HD remaster
The HD remaster includes new content from the PlayStation 2's Japanese International version that didn't get a Western release. When assigning battle roles for your characters, you have the option to give them two jobs instead of one. If you decide to make Balthier's initial job a white mage with healing magic, you can also have him take a secondary job as a knight or machinist to shore up his physical weaknesses. The Trial Mode with 100 floors of enemies gradually increases in difficulty as you progress, offering more challenges and rewards beyond the game's existing plethora of optional content. The remaster also includes a newly arranged soundtrack, though there's the option of sticking with the original soundtrack if you prefer.
Pro Fun combat
You'll immediately notice how nice it feels to attack the enemies with each slash, strike and shot having an impact behind it. Enemies will flinch, get thrown back and get suspended mid-air from your attacks, making it feel like you're always the dominant force. It's especially amusing seeing an enemy flail about and slamming it into the ground with your demonic arm.
Some of the stylistic elements add fun as well. The prime example is Nero's greatsword the Red Queen, which is equipped with a motorcycle-like gear shift. You can use the gear shift mid-combo to add a flame effect to your sword. This increases your damage and the range of your combos and also looks very nice. It's especially awesome to see your character ascend in a whirlwind of flames.
Pro Great soundtrack
Most of the battle music has the lyrical styling of progressive rock while mixing in dark electronica guitar riffs. It matches the rhythm and speed of the battles really well, spurring on your combos and devastating attacks.
The exploration sections and cutscenes have an entirely different style of music. It ranges from divine vocals accompanied with organ music to eerie pieces with harp and piano sounds creating a bone-chilling ambience.
Pro Highest level of combat depth in any hack and slash game
An open-ended cancelling system (Jump Cancelling) stacked with individual character mechanics (Dante styles and style/weapon switching, Nero ACT and parries, Vergil being Vergil, Lady and Trish are the weakest in terms of combo-ability of the 5 but you can still style with them) and system physics create a combat masterpiece that rewards practice and creativity.
Pro There's a bunch of stuff to do even after beating the game
You can replay the game on higher difficulties, try to find all the hidden missions or collect all the upgrades. You can even try to get the max style rank on all the missions. Doing any of these will award you extra collectibles or unlock new modes.
There's also the The Bloody Palace, which is an arena consisting of 101 levels. Each level contains enemies and bosses found within the main game. The first few levels are quite easy, but each level becomes increasingly more difficult. Only the most skilled players can reach the end, giving you another goal to strive for.
Cons
Con Main protagonist adds little to the plot
The main character, Vaan, is a teenage pickpocket who aspires to be a sky pirate with his own airship, which sounds interesting, but his relevance to the plot falls off sharply within the first 6-8 hours. He wants to avenge the death of his older brother Reks, but this becomes only a tertiary goal compared to the more urgent ones that his other companions have. As the story progresses, it's easy to forget that Vaan is there, especially with the option to choose another character to control as the party leader while exploring the world. There are other, stronger characters who could have been the lead instead.
Con Later parts of the story feel tacked on
Final Fantasy XII's political story is dense, mature, and captivating--until you reach a certain point after the halfway mark where things become too predictable. Plot holes begin to crop up, competent characters make questionable and reckless decisions for the sake of drama, and compelling villains are reduced to tropes. It's as if someone took the foundation of XII's well-written story and characters and mismanaged them with nonsensical plot points for the sake of finishing the game on time.
Con Airship travel is limited to picking destinations on the map
When you gain access to the airship, that excitement sours quickly once you realize you can only select locations on the map and travel to them instantly. You'll only get to see a cutscene of the airship taking off for flight before you're faced with a loading screen.
Con Occasional difficulty spikes
Upon reaching the first boss you'll encounter the first difficulty spike. The boss attacks a lot faster and stronger than the enemies leading up to it. Messing up means you'll die in a couple of seconds, which can be really frustrating. Especially because you have to switch gears so suddenly and adapt to a new playstyle, where the enemy stands on equal footing.
Con Recycled stage designs and lack of character-specific bosses
Capcom basically just slapped on the 3 new characters (Lady, Trish, and Vergil) and they suffer the same problems that Dante does, and that's lack of bosses designed specifically for their toolset. They run through the same bosses and levels instead of getting unique missions.