Exploring the Tactical Systems in Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age and Dragon Age Origins

 A while back I took myself to task for not engaging enough with Dragon Age Origins' tactical systems. I did a playthrough of Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age followed by a replay of Dragon Age Origins for comparison both on PC and I might have been a little hard on myself.

Both games offer roughly similiar systems but Dragon Age introduces presets for roles and behaviours. This allows the player to rely on defaults and merely tweak the templates as needed or wished. Modified presets worked well for me most of the time. Some enemies required a custom setup but the default profiles seem to support players on lower difficulties effectively. I didn't seem to need to pay attention to cooldowns as much as I did with Dragon Age II.

FFXII has no difficulty settings on the other hand. The tactics system is fairly bare boned when introduced. The player purchases gambits (conditions and actions) as required. Party roles are developed through the complex licensing system and behaviours are controlled by the player. Tactical slots are unlocked through character progression in both games. FFXII has many high level enemies with unique abilities, resistances and item drops. Effective use of tactics is not just necessary for combat. Crafting high level items comes into play as well but the gambits for stealing the resources can be tricky to set up.

Conditions and most actions are presented in DAO right away through a branching menu system. Skills are added as actions as acquired. I found this a bit overwhelming the first time I played the game. 

The tactics are set up as a list in both games. Order is important because the list is checked sequentially until a condition is reached and then the corresponding action is fired. The list is then started over. DOA requires the player to have control over a party member at all times. All 4 party members can be set to follow gambits in FFXII which makes it a bit easier to check if actions are firing properly. Plus it's very satisfying to just sit back and watch them go sometimes. 

DAO has a useful jump condition that is a bit tricky to set up but not available in FXII. 

I really love both these games. Both are filled with compelling characters and story lines and engaging cut scenes. Dragon Age leans heavier into party relationships and banter. FXII is big on the monster hunting. I think FXII's tactical system might be a little more accessible to a first time player than DAO but FXII has other frustrations that I don't think I've ever encountered in a game. And I've had Final Fantasy confusion a few times before. I was playing Final Fantasy XV on the PS4 at the same time and I"m hard pressed say which one I like better.

For more detailed information check these pages:

Tactics (Origins) | Dragon Age Wiki | Fandom

Gambits | Final Fantasy Wiki | Fandom