When comparing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age vs Titan Quest, the Slant community recommends Titan Quest for most people. In the question“What are the best PC RPGs?” Titan Quest is ranked 18th while Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is ranked 59th. The most important reason people chose Titan Quest is:
Titan Quest is over 10 years old now, and it is still widely played. It even saw a remastered "Anniversary Edition" in August of 2016, drawing in more players, old and new.
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 Holds up incredibly well
Titan Quest is over 10 years old now, and it is still widely played. It even saw a remastered "Anniversary Edition" in August of 2016, drawing in more players, old and new.
Pro You can choose the speed you want to play at
Titan Quest is unique among ARPGs in that you get to choose the game speed. You can be a leisurely player and take things slowly, or you can go hard and play the game on very fast settings. The fact that you get to choose adds another level of enjoyment to the game.
Pro Replayability through different classes
There are a plethora of classes that open up upon leveling to the second level, once one is chosen the others will be gone for that game session. This means that a different playthrough will be needed to explore what all the different classes offer, making for quite a lot of playtime.
Pro Lots of loot to find
There is quite a lot of loot in the game to be found, which drives the player to continue playing, just to find that better weapon or piece of armor. The loot is also color coded when dropped, making it easy to discern what is worth picking up or leaving behind.
Pro Tons of customization
There are 30 different classes of characters to choose from within the game with 150 character skills that they can learn. This way users can customize their character to their liking and playstyle.
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 Combat feels a little static
Con Save anywhere does not save character placement
This means that there will be some retreading of areas once a save is loaded as the character will not be in the same place as where they were left off. This will waste time and can be frustrating having to do this every time you load the game.
Con Disappointing loot at later levels
Even when the player has reached a high level, they will often find loot meant for low level characters. This can be frustrating when trying to find better gear and just adds a lot of clutter to ones inventory as the majority of items found won't be that useful.