The other day, it came to my attention that Dark Cloud 2 and Final Fantasy XII had been re-released. That finally tipped the scale for me, and so I purchased a PS4—new, because I don't trust anything that's been handled by unknown retards. I'd been wanting to play Nioh, Bloodborne, and a couple of other PS4 games, but I have a strict "bare minimum of 5 worthwhile exclusive games before buying potato" policy. It usually takes 3-5 years for a potato to qualify, if it ever does.
I've long maintained that FFXII is the best mainline modern Final Fantasy title. I certainly enjoyed it far more than the relentlessly linear, sappy, goofy FFX. FFXIII was even more relentlessly linear than X, while its characters and story were demoted from sappy and goofy to mediocre and forgettable. I'm pretty sure FFXV is also shit, although I don't know much about it; all I really know is that I find the main cast repellent. I realize that metrosexual fruitcake hairdos and bizarre fashion-disaster emo fad clothing is all the rage in Tokyo these days, but I hate it. Also, the concept of driving around in a car and snapping smartphone pictures is suspect at best.
If I want to play a Millennial simulator, I'll just browse Reddit for a few hours.
Overall, I agree that Ivalice, the Zodiac motif and aesthetics pioneered in Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story-esque themes and aesthetics, and especially the job system collectively represent the peak of the Final Fantasy series. The original Tactics doesn't quite live up to Tactics Ogre in all areas, but the story of political intrigue and betrayal is excellent and it makes up for its few shortcomings in other ways; Tactics Advance/A2 faltered in story and characterization, but still maintained good gameplay, concepts, and aesthetics; FFXII isn't the objectively best mainline FF of all time (I still believe VI holds that honor), but it's in the top third, depending on personal taste; and Vagrant Story was cool. It's been ages since I've played Vagrant Story (the year it was released and never again), and I suspect I'd find it to be a little datedly edgy these days, but I still remember it fondly.
Actually, my memories of both Vagrant Story and FFXII are pretty damned vague, which is increasing my enjoyment of Zodiac Age since I have only an unspecific familiarity with most of the stuff in it. I haven't played it in 11 years, after all. The new two-job license boards are no doubt a great improvement over the generic catch-all boards of the original (and outside of Japan, the only) release.
The aesthetics and art direction in XII are perfect. The characters' faces are clearly Vagrant Story-esque, the espers are Tactics Zodiac-themed, and the costuming and hairdos and whimsical, elaborate, and elegant without being too fruity (XV) or edgy (also XV, Squall, Seifer, Cloud, etc.).
Even at the time XII was released, the Gambit system, partly real-time combat, and other aspects of the game's mechanics reminded me of an MMO, but in reality the game is still essentially turn-based and overall it's fine. The two-job license board system, the hunts, some non-linear segments, quite decent exploration, and the story featuring political strife and intrigue (which falters later on, but is still far and away better than many FF storylines; also it's strangely similar to Star Wars, as many have pointed out) all comes together to create a well-rounded and enjoyable weeaboo potato thingamajig.