Uploaded November 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It's everyone's favourite protagonist: Caar.
Intro cinematic ends at 2:48
[What is this?]
This here is FF12. But it's not any old version of the game, it's the International Zodiac Job System version which was released in Japan after the NTSC and PAL releases.
FF12 IZJS (as it's known) features a few new gizmos that weren't in the other releases. Most notably, they added in a Job system that reins in the License system of the original game and dictates character growth and ability pools to an extent. There's also some new weapons, a break damage limit, and more customisation options for Guest characters who join.
But one of the other big additions was Trials Mode, which is like a boss rush of sorts where the player loads a party from their save file and attempts to beat a whopping 100 stages, with some new enemies and encounters not featured in the original game making their appearance. It starts with Dire Rats, and ends with a showdown against...well, spoilers and all that.
While we'll likely be making a run of Trials Mode at some point, what we're interested in at the moment is the 'Weak Mode' that's unlocked after beating all 100 stages of Trial Mode. Starting a new game in Weak Mode disables all EXP given by enemies, meaning it's essentially a low-level game (otherwise called a 112233 game).
So we'll be running this here FF12 on Weak Mode and trying to get to the end. As I'm very rusty (haven't played it in something like 8 years) it should be a decent re-introduction back into the game. I also hear that a 112233 challenge is quite fun, so kinda looking forward to it.
[Video Set-up]
I'll be running FF12 IZJS from PCSX2, with an English Patch applied to it. The IZJS version wasn't released outside of Japan, but some bright sparks managed to get it translated with only a few technical hitches here and there.
As far as video quality goes, I'm still experimenting with different things. For one, the game is very stable on PCSX2's default settings compared to some others (but I bet I could fine-tune it a bit). The resolution was also set at 640x480 (which I reckon isn't enough for this generation of game) so I'm going to test higher ones to see if I can raise the quality a bit.
The black bars on the video are FF12's own 'native' black bars that were a source of criticism at the time of the game's release; they're huge, and not easily eliminated. I think a zoom might help decrease these a bit (assuming the HUD isn't cut off too much).
As far as audio goes, I'm going to run with the in-game audio so long as FPS drops don't distort it too much. Otherwise, I'll mute it and slap other music down (probably stick with FF12 music for now, then move it into other tracks). I always liked the music in this game, and it sucks to lose sound-effects.
Let me know what you think and if you got advice/tips for FF12 + PCSX2 then I'd appreciate hearing them.
It's everyone's favourite protagonist: Caar.
Intro cinematic ends at 2:48
[What is this?]
This here is FF12. But it's not any old version of the game, it's the International Zodiac Job System version which was released in Japan after the NTSC and PAL releases.
FF12 IZJS (as it's known) features a few new gizmos that weren't in the other releases. Most notably, they added in a Job system that reins in the License system of the original game and dictates character growth and ability pools to an extent. There's also some new weapons, a break damage limit, and more customisation options for Guest characters who join.
But one of the other big additions was Trials Mode, which is like a boss rush of sorts where the player loads a party from their save file and attempts to beat a whopping 100 stages, with some new enemies and encounters not featured in the original game making their appearance. It starts with Dire Rats, and ends with a showdown against...well, spoilers and all that.
While we'll likely be making a run of Trials Mode at some point, what we're interested in at the moment is the 'Weak Mode' that's unlocked after beating all 100 stages of Trial Mode. Starting a new game in Weak Mode disables all EXP given by enemies, meaning it's essentially a low-level game (otherwise called a 112233 game).
So we'll be running this here FF12 on Weak Mode and trying to get to the end. As I'm very rusty (haven't played it in something like 8 years) it should be a decent re-introduction back into the game. I also hear that a 112233 challenge is quite fun, so kinda looking forward to it.
[Video Set-up]
I'll be running FF12 IZJS from PCSX2, with an English Patch applied to it. The IZJS version wasn't released outside of Japan, but some bright sparks managed to get it translated with only a few technical hitches here and there.
As far as video quality goes, I'm still experimenting with different things. For one, the game is very stable on PCSX2's default settings compared to some others (but I bet I could fine-tune it a bit). The resolution was also set at 640x480 (which I reckon isn't enough for this generation of game) so I'm going to test higher ones to see if I can raise the quality a bit.
The black bars on the video are FF12's own 'native' black bars that were a source of criticism at the time of the game's release; they're huge, and not easily eliminated. I think a zoom might help decrease these a bit (assuming the HUD isn't cut off too much).
As far as audio goes, I'm going to run with the in-game audio so long as FPS drops don't distort it too much. Otherwise, I'll mute it and slap other music down (probably stick with FF12 music for now, then move it into other tracks). I always liked the music in this game, and it sucks to lose sound-effects.
Let me know what you think and if you got advice/tips for FF12 + PCSX2 then I'd appreciate hearing them.
