Platinum Trophy on Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
I posted a review for “Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age” last month, but I didn’t mention how I got the platinum trophy, one that was an absurdly long time coming.
My first exposure to Final Fantasy XII was actually the original release back on PS2. My roommate at the time had a copy and he really enjoyed the game, so he let me borrow it. I played for a while and got maybe a quarter through the main story. I liked the game, but I moved out before I managed to finish so I returned it to said roommate. Rest in peace to that save file that maybe still exists on some PS2 memory card somewhere; I haven’t played it since circa 2010.
A console gap and almost a decade later in March 2019, I picked up Zodiac Age from my local library to play on PS4. Unfortunately, I did have to start over since saves from the original release aren’t compatible with Zodiac age, but it was a small price to pay for the improvements and availability on a current platform. I played for a while and got further than I did on the original, but not all the way to the end of the campaign. For some reason, I returned the game to the library with yet another save file unfinished.
In August 2021, I decided to resume my journey through Ivalice and picked up Zodiac Age from the library again. I finished the story (finally) and picked off a few other trophies. Critically, I got the trophy for performing all concurrences at least once. That trophy in particular was one that concerned me, as higher level concurrences are a bit difficult to pull off and there is no in-game record of which ones you have performed. I had been keeping a list of concurrences I had performed from before (thank you Google Hangouts) and it wasn’t too hard to pick off the ones I had missed.
Beyond completing the story, I also got all characters to level 99 and picked up the absurdly overpowered invisible bow for everyone in my party. I was poised to get the platinum trophy with arguably little effort. Most of the hard stuff was finished, I just needed to polish off the remaining trophies. That would be a problem for another day, though. I decided again to return the game to the library and opted to get platinum some time later.
Later, it seems, was a pretty substantial gap. In 2022, we sold our house in order to build and nearly everything went into storage while we lived in a camper. That included the PS4. Space comes at a very high premium in a camper, and it just made more sense to keep the Nintendo Switch out. It has more games that the kids can play, it takes up less space, and we have more controllers for it. So long, Sony.
Over Christmas break a few months ago, the kids wanted to play a Pokemon board game that has a tie-in DVD. We didn’t yet have a device in the house that could play a DVD, and the PS4 was the first thing that came to mind. I brought it in and dusted it off. The first boot took excruciatingly long, and I was really afraid that some combination of dormancy and OS updates would brick it somehow. An hour or so of updates and reboots later, the PS4 was functional and the kids got to play their board game. Everything went better than expected.
While getting the PS4 back into working condition, I noticed that the last game I had played on it was Zodiac Age. I decided that since I was finished with school, I should treat myself to some gaming time and finish it. I picked it up from the library again and investigated what all I was missing before I would get platinum. Most of the trophies were just standard completion fodder: buy all spells, beat all bosses, bestiary and map completion. Nothing I couldn’t finish with my overpowered party.
Espers and bosses were easy. Trial mode was substantially harder than what I expected. Even with my stats and gear, the later stages required strategies that I just wasn’t proficient with. I finished it, but it was very frustrating toward the end. Map completion was easy, mostly because I had already stepped into every area except for a few that are thoroughly documented online. Once I got the areas that everybody misses, the trophy popped.
The bestiary was the trophy I saved for last, since there are just so many monsters to kill, especially on the rare game list. Each day before starting to work, I would knock out a few monsters. When I got to the last rare game monster and I didn’t get the trophy, I was a little concerned. Fortunately, it was just a monster with a timer in a far flung corner of a dungeon. I had decided I would get it later, and just never returned. Given it was the only thing left, I ran to the area and poured a cup of coffee while I waited for my gambits to kick in and kill the last monster of the bestiary. That platinum trophy notification was so gratifying to see.
Beyond the satisfaction of finishing something I set out to do a few years before, it was nice to play a game not made for children. I forgot how much I also enjoy adult games, and how much I miss trophies on the Switch. I played through Far Cry 5 after finishing Zodiac Age. As fun as it was, I won’t bother getting the platinum trophy because of the online trophies. I don’t have a PS+ subscription and I don’t want one. After Far Cry 5, I jumped on the Resident Evil 2 remake, and I may very well get platinum on it as well.
Who knows what’s up next? Zodiac Age opened the floodgates to some pent up gaming, and it’s so nice to play games like I did back in the day. I’m not sold on a PS5, but the PS4 is getting much heavier use now.
My first exposure to Final Fantasy XII was actually the original release back on PS2. My roommate at the time had a copy and he really enjoyed the game, so he let me borrow it. I played for a while and got maybe a quarter through the main story. I liked the game, but I moved out before I managed to finish so I returned it to said roommate. Rest in peace to that save file that maybe still exists on some PS2 memory card somewhere; I haven’t played it since circa 2010.
A console gap and almost a decade later in March 2019, I picked up Zodiac Age from my local library to play on PS4. Unfortunately, I did have to start over since saves from the original release aren’t compatible with Zodiac age, but it was a small price to pay for the improvements and availability on a current platform. I played for a while and got further than I did on the original, but not all the way to the end of the campaign. For some reason, I returned the game to the library with yet another save file unfinished.
In August 2021, I decided to resume my journey through Ivalice and picked up Zodiac Age from the library again. I finished the story (finally) and picked off a few other trophies. Critically, I got the trophy for performing all concurrences at least once. That trophy in particular was one that concerned me, as higher level concurrences are a bit difficult to pull off and there is no in-game record of which ones you have performed. I had been keeping a list of concurrences I had performed from before (thank you Google Hangouts) and it wasn’t too hard to pick off the ones I had missed.
Beyond completing the story, I also got all characters to level 99 and picked up the absurdly overpowered invisible bow for everyone in my party. I was poised to get the platinum trophy with arguably little effort. Most of the hard stuff was finished, I just needed to polish off the remaining trophies. That would be a problem for another day, though. I decided again to return the game to the library and opted to get platinum some time later.
Later, it seems, was a pretty substantial gap. In 2022, we sold our house in order to build and nearly everything went into storage while we lived in a camper. That included the PS4. Space comes at a very high premium in a camper, and it just made more sense to keep the Nintendo Switch out. It has more games that the kids can play, it takes up less space, and we have more controllers for it. So long, Sony.
Over Christmas break a few months ago, the kids wanted to play a Pokemon board game that has a tie-in DVD. We didn’t yet have a device in the house that could play a DVD, and the PS4 was the first thing that came to mind. I brought it in and dusted it off. The first boot took excruciatingly long, and I was really afraid that some combination of dormancy and OS updates would brick it somehow. An hour or so of updates and reboots later, the PS4 was functional and the kids got to play their board game. Everything went better than expected.
While getting the PS4 back into working condition, I noticed that the last game I had played on it was Zodiac Age. I decided that since I was finished with school, I should treat myself to some gaming time and finish it. I picked it up from the library again and investigated what all I was missing before I would get platinum. Most of the trophies were just standard completion fodder: buy all spells, beat all bosses, bestiary and map completion. Nothing I couldn’t finish with my overpowered party.
Espers and bosses were easy. Trial mode was substantially harder than what I expected. Even with my stats and gear, the later stages required strategies that I just wasn’t proficient with. I finished it, but it was very frustrating toward the end. Map completion was easy, mostly because I had already stepped into every area except for a few that are thoroughly documented online. Once I got the areas that everybody misses, the trophy popped.
The bestiary was the trophy I saved for last, since there are just so many monsters to kill, especially on the rare game list. Each day before starting to work, I would knock out a few monsters. When I got to the last rare game monster and I didn’t get the trophy, I was a little concerned. Fortunately, it was just a monster with a timer in a far flung corner of a dungeon. I had decided I would get it later, and just never returned. Given it was the only thing left, I ran to the area and poured a cup of coffee while I waited for my gambits to kick in and kill the last monster of the bestiary. That platinum trophy notification was so gratifying to see.
Beyond the satisfaction of finishing something I set out to do a few years before, it was nice to play a game not made for children. I forgot how much I also enjoy adult games, and how much I miss trophies on the Switch. I played through Far Cry 5 after finishing Zodiac Age. As fun as it was, I won’t bother getting the platinum trophy because of the online trophies. I don’t have a PS+ subscription and I don’t want one. After Far Cry 5, I jumped on the Resident Evil 2 remake, and I may very well get platinum on it as well.
Who knows what’s up next? Zodiac Age opened the floodgates to some pent up gaming, and it’s so nice to play games like I did back in the day. I’m not sold on a PS5, but the PS4 is getting much heavier use now.
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