great.
Alongside Tactics A2, FF Tactics is the single greatest tactical RPG of all time. To this day.
i just don't have the patience :/
One of my all time faves. Beat the hell out of this thing five, six, seven times way back when, and haven't touched it in close to twenty years. Finally played the War of the Lions version for the first time - not logging it separately, sorry - and it's thankfully just "more" all around. That's good, because if this game leaves you wanting anything, it's "more." You spend thirty or forty hours training an intricately assembled party but by the end of the game you're overpowered enough to fly right through the story's conclusion. The only reward for managing to find, poach, or steal the rarest and best items in the game is the items themselves. I've done a handful of self-imposed challenges and this time opted for a "no duplicate equipment" run. Gotta keep things fresh and interesting, you know? The difficulty is still way too unbalanced with three or four insanely hard battles and a shitload of creampuffs, and the learning curve is laughably steep in 2021 - mostly because of how opaque the game is about everything - but man do I love this game and its characters and engine and story. Always have, always will.
clássico, jogava muito no meu antigo PC fodido Intel dual core 2gb ram
Another fav
Found this off-putting at first, doing that high fantasy thing of referencing names before we can put them to faces, then presenting a dense thicket of betrayals and shifting allegiances that never quite satisfies. (Could be a PS1 translation issue, though I never had that problem with other Final Fantasies of this era, which are notably populated by a smaller number of intense personalities - this is recognisably a different authorial voice.) But the combat system - once it clicked - became incredibly addictive, a mind-boggling combination of Pokémon and chess. The big battle in the slums early on is a major obstacle that forces the player to pay attention to their players and every single move they make - and from then on, the game presents an impressive series of scenarios that display not just tactical but emotional variety, gamifying often complex human behaviour on its isometric stage. There’s a stage where you have to rescue a friendly character on a rooftop from assassins, and the character’s first instinct is to run headfirst into combat - which is frustrating (they die very quickly) until you realise that they’re emotionally affected by the events of the cutscene prior and therefore reckless, even suicidal. The game keeps finding ways to ground its tactical scenarios in concrete human realities, and if the magic evil stones business is ultimately less than satisfying, things do pay off with this devastating epilogue that’s tossed off after the end credits, but completes the narrative in a classically tragic sense. If this is a game about the human instinct to strategise - to acquire power, to overcome grief, to deny death - it concludes the same way WarGames does: the only winning move is not to play.
while flawed in many ways extremely charming rpg that influence a lot of the tactical rpg genre of today
i completed in 47 hours my team was ramza calculator wizard,agrias,monk with geomancer,time mage with chemist and summoner with geomancer
Gameplay 9-9,5/10
even though it has awful balancing,just the sheer amount of creativity you have for a final fantasy game in the 90s is unmatched,is especially fun if you dont abuse the broken stuff like calculator or auto potion,there difficult spikes though.what might just be my favorite thing is the job system,really creative to balance the skills and make so that one character cant just be everything it will always have a weakness,and it also bring a lot of charm with the unique clothes that they have.soomething that this game is missing is exploration since you are in like a board you cant walk really through ivalice.what mostly breaks the game are the unique characters that are just so busted that they make generics bad in comparasion
in dificulty the game in the start is hard but apart from some spikes,it becomes pretty easy with how absurdly busted you can become
special character tier list:
https://tiermaker.com/list/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-tactics-special-characters-ranking-1263427/3305006
battles dificulty tier list:
https://tiermaker.com/list/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-tactics-story-mode-16083471/3305113
job tier list:
https://tiermaker.com/list/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-tactics-jobs-855251/3304997
Graphics/Aesthetics 10/10
beautifull,just beuatifull,the game graphics are really unique in that they use 3d with 2d sprites and it makes it look so unique,never seen a game like it,it really differentiates it from other rpgs and it looks so unique,another thing the cover art from this game is my favorite from all final fantasy games and is up there with games in general,i really like that they dont just use the main characters,because they really arent who you fight with,instead we see some knights that will get killed quickly,and it just looks so cool
another thing that i really like is the use of the camera in cinematics,is so dramatic the camera being really dynamic and moving in where the player should look,it feels like an action movie,i love it
content/replayability 7,5/10
sure they are very few side missions but the game is still pretty lenghty so it gets a 7,5/10 in content and it gets a 8/10 in replayability thanks to the challenge runs,unique teams and that when you play the game multiple times the story makes more sense
ending 7,5/10
not the biggest fan of the final fight nor that ramza and co survived with no reason being presented,it would been way better if the game stay thematical and had some balls and killed ramza and co,but i liked the funeral scene until that and i liked the post credit scene,actually i have no reason to not think that ramza and co were ghosts,so it will themematically make a lot,a lot more sense and will be a lot better
soundtrack/sound effects 9/10
amazing loved the music it really fit with the game and the sound effects are so ominous like when a stone activates all that noise with the laugh sound so scary,extremely well done
story/characters/writting 7,5/10
leave this to until last because is still the part im most conflcted with the game,since there is a lot of good and also a lot of junk,but overall the junk is not greater than the good
in the writing,they are some amazing moments that are well done like the germonik scriptures and they are awful moments that makes no sense like when oran for no reason breaks character and tells ramza that his friends are with him,making no sense because before that there wasnt a word that indicated that he will say that or that it even makes sense that he says that because that is the second time he sees him in the whole game
that brings me to one of the worst part of the game,the characters,they re few and even the few have low screentime and are underdevolped or just plain uninteresting,and even then most if not all the characters are just way to vanilla,there are like really really few characters that i think are interesting and not extremely underdeveloped
something i really love is the way the story is told,since its being told from the perspective of alazlam,an historian of the modern ages and the whole game is him explaining the true story of the war of lions,that is a version of the war of the roses,it is an extremely interesting way to tell the story and brings a lot of juice to the game
my favorite thing from the story has to be the worldbuilding,it is perfect,it is really hard in 50 hours tell a story of a place and make it timeless,but ivalice accomplishes that in full colors,there is a lot of lore and nuance to the continent with legends,organizations and history is perfect 10/10
something that i like and was the reason i play the ps1 version,apart from the cover and the release date,was the translation and let me tell you is amazing,dumb but amazing,there are so many iconic lines that are just so raw and funny,one of my favorites is BLAME YOURSELF OR GOD ,so raw and when put in context this line is funny af,and there are a lot of lines like this in the game
i really like that even though the game takes place in the middle ages people talk like the would in the modern age,is bizarre and raw but it makes the game easier to follow,funnier and less pretencious
overall,may have his jank but this is some of the best rpg i played,some of the best gameplay,worldbuilding,quotes,graphics,sound,just is nothing less than 10/10
i completed in 47 hours my team was ramza calculator wizard,agrias,monk with geomancer,time mage with chemist and summoner with geomancer
Gameplay 9-9,5/10
even though it has awful balancing,just the sheer amount of creativity you have for a final fantasy game in the 90s is unmatched,is especially fun if you dont abuse the broken stuff like calculator or auto potion,there difficult spikes though.what might just be my favorite thing is the job system,really creative to balance the skills and make so that one character cant just be everything it will always have a weakness,and it also bring a lot of charm with the unique clothes that they have.soomething that this game is missing is exploration since you are in like a board you cant walk really through ivalice.what mostly breaks the game are the unique characters that are just so busted that they make generics bad in comparasion
in dificulty the game in the start is hard but apart from some spikes,it becomes pretty easy with how absurdly busted you can become
special character tier list:
https://tiermaker.com/list/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-tactics-special-characters-ranking-1263427/3305006
battles dificulty tier list:
https://tiermaker.com/list/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-tactics-story-mode-16083471/3305113
job tier list:
https://tiermaker.com/list/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-tactics-jobs-855251/3304997
Graphics/Aesthetics 10/10
beautifull,just beuatifull,the game graphics are really unique in that they use 3d with 2d sprites and it makes it look so unique,never seen a game like it,it really differentiates it from other rpgs and it looks so unique,another thing the cover art from this game is my favorite from all final fantasy games and is up there with games in general,i really like that they dont just use the main characters,because they really arent who you fight with,instead we see some knights that will get killed quickly,and it just looks so cool
another thing that i really like is the use of the camera in cinematics,is so dramatic the camera being really dynamic and moving in where the player should look,it feels like an action movie,i love it
content/replayability 7,5/10
sure they are very few side missions but the game is still pretty lenghty so it gets a 7,5/10 in content and it gets a 8/10 in replayability thanks to the challenge runs,unique teams and that when you play the game multiple times the story makes more sense
ending 7,5/10
not the biggest fan of the final fight nor that ramza and co survived with no reason being presented,it would been way better if the game stay thematical and had some balls and killed ramza and co,but i liked the funeral scene until that and i liked the post credit scene,actually i have no reason to not think that ramza and co were ghosts,so it will themematically make a lot,a lot more sense and will be a lot better
soundtrack/sound effects 9/10
amazing loved the music it really fit with the game and the sound effects are so ominous like when a stone activates all that noise with the laugh sound so scary,extremely well done
story/characters/writting 7,5/10
leave this to until last because is still the part im most conflcted with the game,since there is a lot of good and also a lot of junk,but overall the junk is not greater than the good
in the writing,they are some amazing moments that are well done like the germonik scriptures and they are awful moments that makes no sense like when oran for no reason breaks character and tells ramza that his friends are with him,making no sense because before that there wasnt a word that indicated that he will say that or that it even makes sense that he says that because that is the second time he sees him in the whole game
that brings me to one of the worst part of the game,the characters,they re few and even the few have low screentime and are underdevolped or just plain uninteresting,and even then most if not all the characters are just way to vanilla,there are like really really few characters that i think are interesting and not extremely underdeveloped
something i really love is the way the story is told,since its being told from the perspective of alazlam,an historian of the modern ages and the whole game is him explaining the true story of the war of lions,that is a version of the war of the roses,it is an extremely interesting way to tell the story and brings a lot of juice to the game
my favorite thing from the story has to be the worldbuilding,it is perfect,it is really hard in 50 hours tell a story of a place and make it timeless,but ivalice accomplishes that in full colors,there is a lot of lore and nuance to the continent with legends,organizations and history is perfect 10/10
something that i like and was the reason i play the ps1 version,apart from the cover and the release date,was the translation and let me tell you is amazing,dumb but amazing,there are so many iconic lines that are just so raw and funny,one of my favorites is BLAME YOURSELF OR GOD ,so raw and when put in context this line is funny af,and there are a lot of lines like this in the game
i really like that even though the game takes place in the middle ages people talk like the would in the modern age,is bizarre and raw but it makes the game easier to follow,funnier and less pretencious
overall,may have his jank but this is some of the best rpg i played,some of the best gameplay,worldbuilding,quotes,graphics,sound,just is nothing less than 10/10
lmao all these years and still never beat it. Probably just gonna' be fighting random battles till Death pulls the controller out of my hands.
I'm not big on tactics games, but this is good.
Best caracteristic of the game:
1. The game gives you complete freedom to how a party unit would function, so much freedom that it can make the notion of a party useless for you, needing only this one character even with him at the same level of the enemy party. This, by default, also gives you complete control of how your party will funcion for you, or how it will not function. Other tactics games implemented the notion of "races" to limit the number of classes your units can be, prioritizing the management of the party and hurting the management of the individual unit; in those cases the "party" becomes the character. That is why this one still feels so superior in comparison to the GBA and NDS ones, because one single unit can have and can be everything.
Good characteristics of the game:
1. Story;
2. The fact that combat takes into consideration the speed of the character and not the turn of the player;
3. This game doesn't function like one player and its units against other plater (the CPU) and its units, the enemy plays like he is a real character. For example: monsters don't sacrifice themselves in order to defeat your party, if a monster is low on health, he will run, even thought it seems obvious to sacrifice this unit to hurt your party. This happens because monsters plays like real living beings, not wanting to die, and not like pieces in a chess board played by one mastermind. This seems like a small feature, but those kind of small things adds to the experience.
Bad things about the game:
1- Low effort by the CPU in arming their human units, both in terms of skills and equipment.
1. The game gives you complete freedom to how a party unit would function, so much freedom that it can make the notion of a party useless for you, needing only this one character even with him at the same level of the enemy party. This, by default, also gives you complete control of how your party will funcion for you, or how it will not function. Other tactics games implemented the notion of "races" to limit the number of classes your units can be, prioritizing the management of the party and hurting the management of the individual unit; in those cases the "party" becomes the character. That is why this one still feels so superior in comparison to the GBA and NDS ones, because one single unit can have and can be everything.
Good characteristics of the game:
1. Story;
2. The fact that combat takes into consideration the speed of the character and not the turn of the player;
3. This game doesn't function like one player and its units against other plater (the CPU) and its units, the enemy plays like he is a real character. For example: monsters don't sacrifice themselves in order to defeat your party, if a monster is low on health, he will run, even thought it seems obvious to sacrifice this unit to hurt your party. This happens because monsters plays like real living beings, not wanting to die, and not like pieces in a chess board played by one mastermind. This seems like a small feature, but those kind of small things adds to the experience.
Bad things about the game:
1- Low effort by the CPU in arming their human units, both in terms of skills and equipment.
Esse jogo inspirou muitos RPGs táticos de sua geração!
Na minha memória maravilhoso, não sei se continua assim até hoje...
Wow this took me forever. Stopped and restarted this like 3 separate times but I finally cranked it out. Love the job system. This is probably in my top 3 FF games. There's some egregious difficulty spikes here and there but the worst case I just had to grind for two hours. I definitely get why people are so obsessed with this game since there's so many possible ways you could beat it but yeah it's excellent.
The original playstation version has a horrible translation. This turned out to be one of my favorite stories in video games when I went back and watched the War of the Lions versions of the dialogue and cinematics on youtube. That version is almost a perfect game.
My only complaint is that its not a perfect tactics game. It has a lot of interesting ideas and is one of the most fun tactics games, but the exp system just begs to be cheesed and I found myself enforcing artificial rules to not abuse the mechanics to keep the challenge fun.
My only complaint is that its not a perfect tactics game. It has a lot of interesting ideas and is one of the most fun tactics games, but the exp system just begs to be cheesed and I found myself enforcing artificial rules to not abuse the mechanics to keep the challenge fun.
Hay un personaje que se llama TETA .....jajaja Teta, falta uno que se llame culo. Pero es una obra maestra , anda y jugalo ya. Es una Orden
Not only is this my baseline for what all tactical RPGs should be like, but it also set my standard for gritty historical fantasy stories. I love how a unarmed unit with the support ability "Two Swords" will punch twice with the same hand.
Since FF VII was my introduction to Final Fantasy, seeing my neighbors playing this really threw me off since I wondered where Cloud and Tifa were (I don't know if we ever recruited the secret character that would likely have made me more confused). But once I was explained how the series works, I got on board pretty quick. This was also likely my introduction to turn-based Strategy RPGs, and I still find that concept a lot of fun. My memories of this one have gotten pretty hazy (I'd love a re-release on PC or PSN to play through it again properly), but I really liked the combat, the music, and the character portraits.
Absolutely one of my most favorite games of all time. I have beaten it multiple times.
The best Final Fantasy game, and quite possibly the best ever video game, period.
Best story. Best music. Best gameplay.
Best story. Best music. Best gameplay.
The best Final Fantasy game.
I am not huge into tactics games in general and this one didn't change my mind, especially with how long each fight goes on for and honestly, if i didn't for some reason own 2 copies of this game i probably wouldn't have bothered but here we are and it's a good game i can't deny that and the art style is really cute and the story is engaging even if tropy
Release this for Steam already damn it! The PSP port was a broken mess.
final fantasy elitism be damned, the game really is that good.
A well done battle system that in many ways paved a path for the genre. The job system, story, and traversal can be a drag however but remains a nice change of pace from the mainline series.
I used to hit a wall with this game ALL THE TIME when I was like 15. Early on I think I just didnt get the advantage or chemist over knights and spent my money on equipment vs potions only to end up getting my ass handed to me by every set of mages.
Thankfully, I am no longer a teenager and was able to beat a lot of this game between subway rides and quickly began to enjoy the rich story and mechanics. I did do a really dumb thing tho and tried to grind for the dark mage class towards the end on my ps1 emulator without realizing it was a War of the Lions exclusive. Spent way too much time grinding and killing enemies to much confusion. But it did make the deep dungeon and final boss pretty easy breezy, and I got to see all of Cloud’s limits by the end. Another classic squaresoft I now fully get the reputation of.
Thankfully, I am no longer a teenager and was able to beat a lot of this game between subway rides and quickly began to enjoy the rich story and mechanics. I did do a really dumb thing tho and tried to grind for the dark mage class towards the end on my ps1 emulator without realizing it was a War of the Lions exclusive. Spent way too much time grinding and killing enemies to much confusion. But it did make the deep dungeon and final boss pretty easy breezy, and I got to see all of Cloud’s limits by the end. Another classic squaresoft I now fully get the reputation of.
This review contains spoilers
This review will have me looking things up, and will be influenced by both English releases, as well as my failing memories, aided by outside information. Skip the next two paragraphs, u won't. Skip the third one, too. Skip a lot of them. I gush towards the end. This isn't coherent and becomes decidedly less so as I go on. No drafts. Just a descent into madness as I go without sleep. I promise it's wordy, but very surface level. The third part is full of spoilers as I just list random stuff.
{I} Chapter 1: Chapter One
{II} Detailed gameplay
{III} Things I (dis)like. Yeah.
{IV} References
{I} Chapter 1: Chapter One (This is about the general synopsis and characters and story of Chapter 1)
Final Fantasy Tactics, written by Matsuno Yasumi (given name second), which has been officially localized into English twice. Michael Baskett was the Director of Localization[1] for the PlayStation script (though not necessarily the one to translate)[2]; and Joseph Reeder and Tom Slattery are credited as translators for the PlayStation Portable script. Although I credit these people, there is an assumption that there were a team of people, and getting different people to work together to get a project going takes some tact. The final results haphazardly put together are but the dreams of others we carry on. Yes, I'm shoving a "Final Fantasy Tactics" pun into this.
I was potentially a tween when I played Final Fantasy Tactics. For better or worse, my older sisters decided to get Final Fantasy VIII specifically for me prior to that, and Tekken 2 was our Tekken at home. I have never asked them why they thought I would like it. They had waned interest in video games by then, dedicated more to school life. I had also gotten my own translucent purple GameBoy Color, which came with Pokémon Red Version from Costco. You can tell by this backstory that this isn't merely a review on the game.
By the time I had played FFT, I had gotten used to the idea of role-playing games. But Final Fantasy Tactics? It happened to be played on a topographic grid made of squares. I had played other RPGs before, but this game didn't have walking—not in the traditional sense. Overworld movement includes a 4-directional input, but followed predetermined paths that grew as the map was filled; and battle movement, also determined in a 4-directional input, was limited by a unit's innate allotted movement (move), as well as allotted height (jump). This change in gameplay was new to me, and opened up how I saw RPGs. The closest I could connect this to were board games, but board games have standardized boards with equivalent pieces for both players—The ones I grew up with did, at least. This was a different way to play games. I had understood platformers well, and had been exposed to them, as well as shooters, thanks to arcade games. But this game? This game? You wouldn't find it in arcades.
This game starts you off with a snippet of a plot to kidnap a princess, with you playing as Ramza Beoulve. (Tangent: Kid me thought that that surname was influenced by Beowulf, except there is a character named "Beowulf" in the game. Their names are distinctly different in Japanese.) Ramza is the only controllable character in the tutorial, and as a tutorial, the equipment doesn't truly affect the outcome when you eventually reach to that point of the story again. It takes luck and effort to lose the tutorial[3], so the devs intended you to learn the basics as you went on. For many, one of the best lines in 90s video games comes after the end of that battle, and they both hold their weight in different ways. After said scene, we get a flashback, showing us how Ramza came to be.
Sadly, for many, the battle immediately after is where the game's difficulty spikes too high. I've come to agree that it is not beginner-friendly. You aren't taught about how characters act through water, nor do you realize that your limited pool of (curative) items is shared among the party. If you've never played a Final Fantasy game, you may not even know what they do. The water in the middle also almost acts as a trap for your players, and the foe you face has thieves on literal rooftops. If there's one thing tactics RPGs don't easily convey, it's strategy. They don't tell you how to capitalize on an opponent who you've pulled from the pack. They don't teach you the advantages of the very ground you walk on. They don't tell you about the heights you must climb, and how positioning can turn an ally into a literal obstacle. At least, Final Fantasy Tactics doesn't convey that well. And yet...
That first non-tutorial battle captures that feeling for Ramza as well. He's not even fresh out of the academy (Akademy in the newer script) when these brigands have come to your campus of learning to kill you and everything your name stands for. Ramza, the neophyte of war, is engaged in his first battle to determine whether he has what it takes to make it. The introduction had already informed us of the 50 Year's War prior, whose victors have received praise and notoriety. This new war Ramza is about to be thrust into? It's The War of the Lions, as two of the key political figures run a black lion, as well as a white lion, on their banner. But that first non-tutorial battle mentioned earlier? That was about the common folk-turned thieves who've resorted to ne'er-do-well activities after the land had been ravished by the previous war. Not everyone views the noble class as worthy. But Ramza isn't interested in the class he was born into. He's interested in not dying! That first skirmish tests his mettle. The very first chapter (of four chapters) is spent in this flashback to Ramza's cadet years as he slowly learns his place in the world, and how his relatively privileged life has both sheltered him from some truths, and given him insight in the world.
If we dive deeper, we can see Ramza's friends and family during this period, and how they shape him. Ramza's best friend, Delita, was born to commonfolk. Him and his sister lost their parents early to disease and were raised by the Beoulves. Ramza never treated them different for their class distinction, and this exposure was part of that impactful growth. His little sister, Alma, befriended Delita's little sister, Teta/Tita/Tietra. There's a significant enough age gap between Ramza and his older brothers, Dycedarg and Zalba(a)g. We later see Zalba(a)g's character unfold, but he does view Ramza as a true brother, despite being a half-sibling from a non-noblewoman. Zalba(a)g's conflict is a duty of his noble privilege and to that of his family. Ultimately, he is here to save face and uphold the status quo. On the other hand, Dycedarg, has no such emotional attachments and is here to uphold the status quo.
Chapter 1 being a flashback to warmer memories also leads to viewing the game in a somewhat warmer light. Sure, goblins, panther-sized cats, ostrich-sized birds, living fireballs, horned skeletons, etc. roam the land, but they're a bit of a nuisance. Or a huge threat if you're still getting used to tactics and the asymmetry of units. You'll have to learn the system enough, because it is still being lenient. But with that said, the third story battle introduces us to another noble-born.
Algus in the PS1 script, Argath in the PSP script, this seemingly hapless character negatively impacts the story for the greater. As an aside, my first experience with him did involve some of the worst RNG where he happened to die before I could even feasibly reach him. What a timeline that would have been to live in! To say his role in the arc of chapter 1 is gutwrenching wouldn't be seliing it properly. The worst part is that you can't even say he backstabbed you. He was always upfront in his role in the story. He was truly an ignoble-born through and through. But. His family had been disgraced two generations higher, and they were never able to live it down. Even Argus was caught within their faulty system. Algath, ever the pawn, but a well-written one to contrast another character whose noble heritage initial obscures their treatment in the world they live in. It still doesn't excuse アルガス.
The story grows from there. The class-based system is corrupt, and the religion pushes it to its extreme. Is this an RPG where you kill god? In a sense. Is this deity a giant space flea out of nowhere? No, that's a different Final Fantasy trope. But I wanted to get into that first chapter in more depth than it needed to say that I really enjoyed the story. It goes deeper in its plot, and I am in awe of the writing. Even with the first game's flaws and relatively rushed translation job, it hits important emotional beats that have stuck with me. And maybe its narrative has shaped me more than the gameplay itself. My bias in loving this old tactics RPG is for the writing, and the gameplay was a packaged deal.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
{II} Detailed gameplay
I enjoy tactics RPGs. I'm not amazing at them. I've played a decent amount. Consider it part of the console generation I grew up with, but comparisons to Final Fantasy Tactics is the shorthand I have to go with, no matter how wildly different games are. That said, this gameplay isn't without its flaws. The angle they present the isometric view is limited. You can rotate the camera, and you can even tilt the angle. It's not always the best.[4] Objectively speaking, the PS1 version has several bugs.[5]
That said, game feel is what is important. Final Fantasy Tactics uses a job system, which lets your characters become archetypal roles. Most of the early jobs correlate to the first classes in the first Final Fantasy game. Your squire, a base class, can be equated to a warrior; The knight class requires some squire knowledge, making it akin to the job leveling in that first game; Thief allows for higher movement and evasion at the cost of attack and defense, opting to steal a target's equipment or other various effects; Wizard is coded to be the series' black mage—a class that specializes in offense through the game's magic stats, including the "faith" modifier, at the cost of physical attack and physical defense; Priest is the white mage—a class specializing in curative abilities and defensive buffs, also at the cost of physical attack and physical defense; and Monk, equivalent to the FF1 monk class (sometimes localized as black belt) whose equipment is limited in lieu of beneficial all-rounder skills.
What some familiar with FFI may have noticed is my lack of inclusion of FFI's red mage. FFT allows characters to use another job as a secondary. Red mages in FFI were an amalgamation of warrior, black mage, and white mage, being decently equipped and having access to spells. There isn't a dedicated red mage job. That said, FFT allows for a character to access a second job with skills they know while using their primary job's stats and equipment. This leads to a higher degree of customization.
What FFT fans may notice is that I also didn't mention all of the early game classes. For instance, chemists in the game are the class to build into other magic classes. They allow for the use of items, which includes throwing them further than other units. They have abilities that can protect against thieves, as well as an ability to pick up hidden treasure. Finally, they have access to the gun weapon. Unfortunately, guns aren't readily available in early game, but they have the longest horizontal range in a straight line and do (relatively) fixed damage. In lieu of guns for early game, physical attackers have archers for range. They can wield crossbows, as well as bows. Crossbows have a significantly limited range and don't arc, meaning they don't necessarily shoot over obstacles. That said, they can be paired with shields, and some of them cause status effects.
Going off that, the status effects in FFT have viable uses for strategies throughout various playstyles. Statuses like silence can utterly debilitate a unit, enemy and foe alike, denying access to skills. There are statuses that stop you from moving, or acting, or decreasing your "faith", or even becoming a chicken. Equipment is a form of preventative measure, and others are from affecting someone else's stats. If you happen to use a monster unit, they can naturally avoid certain statuses.
Along with statuses, the game uses a rock-paper-scissors system attached to a character's zodiac. Different zodiacs behave differently to each other. The in-game date also affects a unit's stat bonuses. Although the mechanic isn't quite hidden, it's not one a casual player such as myself will delve into, adding more RNG to the system. This RNG is what adds to the thrills of moves that connect or not. The game displays these percentages, so you can make an informed decision on whether or not you want to use a move. That said, the percentage of landing a hit is a separate calculation from a shield blocking an attack, whose calculations aren't immediately revealed to the player.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
{III} Things I (dis)like. Yeah.
Things I like:
I want to mention less dry and guide-like mentions. Just things I like. You can ride chocobos! You can also get a boost from larger units to go up and down places! The game has really cute pigs. Casually, monks go BRRR! and you can go pretty far with them. I brought Mustadio to the final fight and he was vital to my victory at the time, you don't always need Cid. Also Cid is broken, please buff. Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII is in both versions. Balthier from Final Fantasy XII is in the PSP version! You can also get Luso Clemens from Final Fantasy Tactics: A2 in the PSP version~! The PS1 version is easy to cheese with the JP Scroll Glitch. The PSP version allows for a dark knight and onion knight class! The PSP version has multiplayer, in both versus and co-op missions! Worker 8 (Construct 8) has a BEEG laser, and is also a said BEEG unit you can use as a stepladder of sorts! Innocent status means Worker 8 is immune to magic, so you can trade blows from afar! The Calculator Job doing whatever it wants is great. Killing Algus is great on PS1. Killing Argath again on the PSP was cathartic. He's the absolutely most despised villain in the franchise. Dragon Reis. Also Reis hitting a monster so hard with a purse, they join our party! I actually enjoyed using geomancers, and having fun is just as important! I haven't ONCE mentioned the music, but that soundtrack is so catchy and emotional! I love the sound of bows being pulled, but repurposing it in cutscenes for pulling people feels so visceral for me. Having ridiculously high speed and just stripping an opponent of their valuables. Pushing someone down a cliff. Pushing someone down a cliff onto someone. Pushing someone down a cliff onto someone against a wall. Pushing someone down a cliff onto a pile of others as the game tries to figure out where to place everyone as they bounce around, taking damage. Agrias. :3
Things I don't like:
Algus. Argath. Percentages not matching with the perceived feel. After doing a bunch of convoluted sidequest requirements, you get Cloud at level 1. The original game allowed a total of 16 units, limiting monster farming a bit. Also, monsters constantly breeding. Rafa/Rapha and Malek having RNG tied to their job-specific classes, because I really think they're a cool story addition. As fun as riding chocobos is, bringing a chocobo in, filling a slot. I probably wouldn't be able to handle the speed of the game. I don't hate the camera angles as much as others, but when they're bad, they're bad. Choosing monster units to poach, only for RNG to summon the horde (The horde is not worth poaching).
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
{IV} References:
[1]https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2154602/ (Michael Baskett)
[2]https://j-entranslations.com/translation-chat-16-stephen-meyerink-chats-about-final-fantasy-tactics-the-war-of-the-lions/ (Stephen Meyerink, hosted by Jennifer O'Donnell)
[3]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOewqwA1Wto (Evandro Anselmo)
[4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUKLkxQaQVE (Ulillillia)
[5]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urTo_43pK8U (Ulillillia)
{I} Chapter 1: Chapter One
{II} Detailed gameplay
{III} Things I (dis)like. Yeah.
{IV} References
{I} Chapter 1: Chapter One (This is about the general synopsis and characters and story of Chapter 1)
Final Fantasy Tactics, written by Matsuno Yasumi (given name second), which has been officially localized into English twice. Michael Baskett was the Director of Localization[1] for the PlayStation script (though not necessarily the one to translate)[2]; and Joseph Reeder and Tom Slattery are credited as translators for the PlayStation Portable script. Although I credit these people, there is an assumption that there were a team of people, and getting different people to work together to get a project going takes some tact. The final results haphazardly put together are but the dreams of others we carry on. Yes, I'm shoving a "Final Fantasy Tactics" pun into this.
I was potentially a tween when I played Final Fantasy Tactics. For better or worse, my older sisters decided to get Final Fantasy VIII specifically for me prior to that, and Tekken 2 was our Tekken at home. I have never asked them why they thought I would like it. They had waned interest in video games by then, dedicated more to school life. I had also gotten my own translucent purple GameBoy Color, which came with Pokémon Red Version from Costco. You can tell by this backstory that this isn't merely a review on the game.
By the time I had played FFT, I had gotten used to the idea of role-playing games. But Final Fantasy Tactics? It happened to be played on a topographic grid made of squares. I had played other RPGs before, but this game didn't have walking—not in the traditional sense. Overworld movement includes a 4-directional input, but followed predetermined paths that grew as the map was filled; and battle movement, also determined in a 4-directional input, was limited by a unit's innate allotted movement (move), as well as allotted height (jump). This change in gameplay was new to me, and opened up how I saw RPGs. The closest I could connect this to were board games, but board games have standardized boards with equivalent pieces for both players—The ones I grew up with did, at least. This was a different way to play games. I had understood platformers well, and had been exposed to them, as well as shooters, thanks to arcade games. But this game? This game? You wouldn't find it in arcades.
This game starts you off with a snippet of a plot to kidnap a princess, with you playing as Ramza Beoulve. (Tangent: Kid me thought that that surname was influenced by Beowulf, except there is a character named "Beowulf" in the game. Their names are distinctly different in Japanese.) Ramza is the only controllable character in the tutorial, and as a tutorial, the equipment doesn't truly affect the outcome when you eventually reach to that point of the story again. It takes luck and effort to lose the tutorial[3], so the devs intended you to learn the basics as you went on. For many, one of the best lines in 90s video games comes after the end of that battle, and they both hold their weight in different ways. After said scene, we get a flashback, showing us how Ramza came to be.
Sadly, for many, the battle immediately after is where the game's difficulty spikes too high. I've come to agree that it is not beginner-friendly. You aren't taught about how characters act through water, nor do you realize that your limited pool of (curative) items is shared among the party. If you've never played a Final Fantasy game, you may not even know what they do. The water in the middle also almost acts as a trap for your players, and the foe you face has thieves on literal rooftops. If there's one thing tactics RPGs don't easily convey, it's strategy. They don't tell you how to capitalize on an opponent who you've pulled from the pack. They don't teach you the advantages of the very ground you walk on. They don't tell you about the heights you must climb, and how positioning can turn an ally into a literal obstacle. At least, Final Fantasy Tactics doesn't convey that well. And yet...
That first non-tutorial battle captures that feeling for Ramza as well. He's not even fresh out of the academy (Akademy in the newer script) when these brigands have come to your campus of learning to kill you and everything your name stands for. Ramza, the neophyte of war, is engaged in his first battle to determine whether he has what it takes to make it. The introduction had already informed us of the 50 Year's War prior, whose victors have received praise and notoriety. This new war Ramza is about to be thrust into? It's The War of the Lions, as two of the key political figures run a black lion, as well as a white lion, on their banner. But that first non-tutorial battle mentioned earlier? That was about the common folk-turned thieves who've resorted to ne'er-do-well activities after the land had been ravished by the previous war. Not everyone views the noble class as worthy. But Ramza isn't interested in the class he was born into. He's interested in not dying! That first skirmish tests his mettle. The very first chapter (of four chapters) is spent in this flashback to Ramza's cadet years as he slowly learns his place in the world, and how his relatively privileged life has both sheltered him from some truths, and given him insight in the world.
If we dive deeper, we can see Ramza's friends and family during this period, and how they shape him. Ramza's best friend, Delita, was born to commonfolk. Him and his sister lost their parents early to disease and were raised by the Beoulves. Ramza never treated them different for their class distinction, and this exposure was part of that impactful growth. His little sister, Alma, befriended Delita's little sister, Teta/Tita/Tietra. There's a significant enough age gap between Ramza and his older brothers, Dycedarg and Zalba(a)g. We later see Zalba(a)g's character unfold, but he does view Ramza as a true brother, despite being a half-sibling from a non-noblewoman. Zalba(a)g's conflict is a duty of his noble privilege and to that of his family. Ultimately, he is here to save face and uphold the status quo. On the other hand, Dycedarg, has no such emotional attachments and is here to uphold the status quo.
Chapter 1 being a flashback to warmer memories also leads to viewing the game in a somewhat warmer light. Sure, goblins, panther-sized cats, ostrich-sized birds, living fireballs, horned skeletons, etc. roam the land, but they're a bit of a nuisance. Or a huge threat if you're still getting used to tactics and the asymmetry of units. You'll have to learn the system enough, because it is still being lenient. But with that said, the third story battle introduces us to another noble-born.
Algus in the PS1 script, Argath in the PSP script, this seemingly hapless character negatively impacts the story for the greater. As an aside, my first experience with him did involve some of the worst RNG where he happened to die before I could even feasibly reach him. What a timeline that would have been to live in! To say his role in the arc of chapter 1 is gutwrenching wouldn't be seliing it properly. The worst part is that you can't even say he backstabbed you. He was always upfront in his role in the story. He was truly an ignoble-born through and through. But. His family had been disgraced two generations higher, and they were never able to live it down. Even Argus was caught within their faulty system. Algath, ever the pawn, but a well-written one to contrast another character whose noble heritage initial obscures their treatment in the world they live in. It still doesn't excuse アルガス.
The story grows from there. The class-based system is corrupt, and the religion pushes it to its extreme. Is this an RPG where you kill god? In a sense. Is this deity a giant space flea out of nowhere? No, that's a different Final Fantasy trope. But I wanted to get into that first chapter in more depth than it needed to say that I really enjoyed the story. It goes deeper in its plot, and I am in awe of the writing. Even with the first game's flaws and relatively rushed translation job, it hits important emotional beats that have stuck with me. And maybe its narrative has shaped me more than the gameplay itself. My bias in loving this old tactics RPG is for the writing, and the gameplay was a packaged deal.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
{II} Detailed gameplay
I enjoy tactics RPGs. I'm not amazing at them. I've played a decent amount. Consider it part of the console generation I grew up with, but comparisons to Final Fantasy Tactics is the shorthand I have to go with, no matter how wildly different games are. That said, this gameplay isn't without its flaws. The angle they present the isometric view is limited. You can rotate the camera, and you can even tilt the angle. It's not always the best.[4] Objectively speaking, the PS1 version has several bugs.[5]
That said, game feel is what is important. Final Fantasy Tactics uses a job system, which lets your characters become archetypal roles. Most of the early jobs correlate to the first classes in the first Final Fantasy game. Your squire, a base class, can be equated to a warrior; The knight class requires some squire knowledge, making it akin to the job leveling in that first game; Thief allows for higher movement and evasion at the cost of attack and defense, opting to steal a target's equipment or other various effects; Wizard is coded to be the series' black mage—a class that specializes in offense through the game's magic stats, including the "faith" modifier, at the cost of physical attack and physical defense; Priest is the white mage—a class specializing in curative abilities and defensive buffs, also at the cost of physical attack and physical defense; and Monk, equivalent to the FF1 monk class (sometimes localized as black belt) whose equipment is limited in lieu of beneficial all-rounder skills.
What some familiar with FFI may have noticed is my lack of inclusion of FFI's red mage. FFT allows characters to use another job as a secondary. Red mages in FFI were an amalgamation of warrior, black mage, and white mage, being decently equipped and having access to spells. There isn't a dedicated red mage job. That said, FFT allows for a character to access a second job with skills they know while using their primary job's stats and equipment. This leads to a higher degree of customization.
What FFT fans may notice is that I also didn't mention all of the early game classes. For instance, chemists in the game are the class to build into other magic classes. They allow for the use of items, which includes throwing them further than other units. They have abilities that can protect against thieves, as well as an ability to pick up hidden treasure. Finally, they have access to the gun weapon. Unfortunately, guns aren't readily available in early game, but they have the longest horizontal range in a straight line and do (relatively) fixed damage. In lieu of guns for early game, physical attackers have archers for range. They can wield crossbows, as well as bows. Crossbows have a significantly limited range and don't arc, meaning they don't necessarily shoot over obstacles. That said, they can be paired with shields, and some of them cause status effects.
Going off that, the status effects in FFT have viable uses for strategies throughout various playstyles. Statuses like silence can utterly debilitate a unit, enemy and foe alike, denying access to skills. There are statuses that stop you from moving, or acting, or decreasing your "faith", or even becoming a chicken. Equipment is a form of preventative measure, and others are from affecting someone else's stats. If you happen to use a monster unit, they can naturally avoid certain statuses.
Along with statuses, the game uses a rock-paper-scissors system attached to a character's zodiac. Different zodiacs behave differently to each other. The in-game date also affects a unit's stat bonuses. Although the mechanic isn't quite hidden, it's not one a casual player such as myself will delve into, adding more RNG to the system. This RNG is what adds to the thrills of moves that connect or not. The game displays these percentages, so you can make an informed decision on whether or not you want to use a move. That said, the percentage of landing a hit is a separate calculation from a shield blocking an attack, whose calculations aren't immediately revealed to the player.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
{III} Things I (dis)like. Yeah.
Things I like:
I want to mention less dry and guide-like mentions. Just things I like. You can ride chocobos! You can also get a boost from larger units to go up and down places! The game has really cute pigs. Casually, monks go BRRR! and you can go pretty far with them. I brought Mustadio to the final fight and he was vital to my victory at the time, you don't always need Cid. Also Cid is broken, please buff. Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII is in both versions. Balthier from Final Fantasy XII is in the PSP version! You can also get Luso Clemens from Final Fantasy Tactics: A2 in the PSP version~! The PS1 version is easy to cheese with the JP Scroll Glitch. The PSP version allows for a dark knight and onion knight class! The PSP version has multiplayer, in both versus and co-op missions! Worker 8 (Construct 8) has a BEEG laser, and is also a said BEEG unit you can use as a stepladder of sorts! Innocent status means Worker 8 is immune to magic, so you can trade blows from afar! The Calculator Job doing whatever it wants is great. Killing Algus is great on PS1. Killing Argath again on the PSP was cathartic. He's the absolutely most despised villain in the franchise. Dragon Reis. Also Reis hitting a monster so hard with a purse, they join our party! I actually enjoyed using geomancers, and having fun is just as important! I haven't ONCE mentioned the music, but that soundtrack is so catchy and emotional! I love the sound of bows being pulled, but repurposing it in cutscenes for pulling people feels so visceral for me. Having ridiculously high speed and just stripping an opponent of their valuables. Pushing someone down a cliff. Pushing someone down a cliff onto someone. Pushing someone down a cliff onto someone against a wall. Pushing someone down a cliff onto a pile of others as the game tries to figure out where to place everyone as they bounce around, taking damage. Agrias. :3
Things I don't like:
Algus. Argath. Percentages not matching with the perceived feel. After doing a bunch of convoluted sidequest requirements, you get Cloud at level 1. The original game allowed a total of 16 units, limiting monster farming a bit. Also, monsters constantly breeding. Rafa/Rapha and Malek having RNG tied to their job-specific classes, because I really think they're a cool story addition. As fun as riding chocobos is, bringing a chocobo in, filling a slot. I probably wouldn't be able to handle the speed of the game. I don't hate the camera angles as much as others, but when they're bad, they're bad. Choosing monster units to poach, only for RNG to summon the horde (The horde is not worth poaching).
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
{IV} References:
[1]https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2154602/ (Michael Baskett)
[2]https://j-entranslations.com/translation-chat-16-stephen-meyerink-chats-about-final-fantasy-tactics-the-war-of-the-lions/ (Stephen Meyerink, hosted by Jennifer O'Donnell)
[3]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOewqwA1Wto (Evandro Anselmo)
[4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUKLkxQaQVE (Ulillillia)
[5]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urTo_43pK8U (Ulillillia)
This is what peak Final Fantasy writing looks like.
Lightning in a bottle that Squenix have never managed to recapture ever since. A must-play for the PS1/PSP.
This is just one of those games man