is a 1997
tactical role-playing game
Tactical role-playing games (abbreviated TRPGs), also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as (both abbreviated SRPGs), are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical (turn-bas ...
developed and published by
Square
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
for the
PlayStation video game console
A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...
. Released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998 by
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...
, it is the first game of the ''Tactics'' series within the ''
Final Fantasy
is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...
'' franchise, and the first entry set in the fictional world later known as
Ivalice
is a fictional universe setting primarily appearing in the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series. The world was created by Yasumi Matsuno and has since been expanded upon by several games as the ''Ivalice Alliance'' series. Ivalice is described as a ...
. The story follows Ramza Beoulve, a highborn cadet placed in the middle of a military conflict known as The Lion War, where two opposing noble factions are coveting the throne of the kingdom.
Production began in 1995 by
Yasumi Matsuno
is a Japanese video game designer. Matsuno was first introduced to video games in arcades while waiting for the train, and first played '' Space Invaders'' and '' Xevious'' there. He attended Hosei University for foreign policy but dropped ou ...
, a newcomer who had created the ''
Ogre Battle'' series at
Quest Corporation
was a Japanese video game company founded in 1988. Quest is best known for its critically acclaimed tactical role-playing game series ''Ogre Battle''.
In 1990 Quest was merged with the company Bothtec, the latter focusing on the development of ...
. Matsuno's wish was for an accessible tactical game with a storyline focusing on class-based conflict and the rewriting of history. Matsuno acted as director and writer, ''Final Fantasy'' creator
Hironobu Sakaguchi
is a Japanese game designer, director, producer, and writer. Originally working for Square (later Square Enix) from 1983 to 2003, he departed the company and founded independent studio Mistwalker in 2004. He is known as the creator of the ''Fin ...
was producer, and the battles were designed by
Hiroyuki Ito
, is a Japanese game producer, director and designer who works for Square Enix. He is known as the director of ''Final Fantasy VI'' (1994), ''Final Fantasy IX'' (2000) and '' Final Fantasy XII'' (2006) and as the creator of the Active Time B ...
. Multiple other staff members were veterans of the ''Ogre Battle'' series, including artists
Hiroshi Minagawa and
Akihiko Yoshida, and composers
Hitoshi Sakimoto
is a Japanese video game music composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' and ''Final Fantasy XII'', though he has composed soundtracks for over 80 other games. He began playing music and video games in elemen ...
and
Masaharu Iwata
is a Japanese video game composer. After graduating from high school, where his musical projects included composing on a synthesizer and playing in a cover band, he joined Bothtec as a composer. He composed the soundtrack to several games there ...
.
The game received critical acclaim from gaming magazines and websites and has become a
cult classic
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
since its release. It sold about 1.24million units in Japan during 1997, and over 2.4million worldwide by August 2011. It has been cited as one of the
greatest video games of all time
This is a list of video games that multiple reputable video game journalists or magazines have considered to be among the best of all time. The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from differ ...
. The world of Ivalice saw the setting for multiple other titles, including other ''Tactics'' games and the 2006 mainline entry ''
Final Fantasy XII
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. The twelfth main installment of the '' Final Fantasy'' series, it was first released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It introduced several innovations to the series: an open ...
''. An
enhanced port
A video game remake is a video game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game with updated graphics for newer hardware and gameplay for contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake of such game software s ...
of ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', ''
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions'', was released in 2007 as part of the ''Ivalice Alliance'' project.
Gameplay
''Final Fantasy Tactics'' is a
tactical role-playing game
Tactical role-playing games (abbreviated TRPGs), also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as (both abbreviated SRPGs), are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical (turn-bas ...
in which players follow the story of protagonist Ramza Beoulve.
The game features two modes of play: battles and the world map.
Battles take place on three-dimensional, isometric fields.
Characters move on a battlefield composed of square tiles; movement and action ranges are determined by the character's statistics and job class.
The battlefield also factors in elements such as terrain and weather to determine strategic advantages and disadvantages during clashes. Battles are
turn-based
In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based.
Real-time
Real-time games have game time progress cont ...
; a unit may act when its Charge Time (CT) reaches 100 and increased once every CT unit (a measure of time in battles) by an amount equal to the unit's speed statistic.
During battle, whenever a unit performs an action successfully, it gains
experience points (EXP) and job points (JP).
Actions can include magical attacks, physical attacks, or using an item.
Hit point
Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the f ...
s (HP) of enemy units are also visible to the player (except in the case of certain bosses), allowing the player to know how much damage they still have to inflict on a particular unit.
In the world map, the player moves on predefined paths connecting the towns and battle points. When the character icon is over a town, a menu can be opened with several options: "Bar" for taking sidequest job offers, "Shop" for buying supplies and equipment, and "Soldier Office" for recruiting new characters. Later in the game, some towns contain "Fur Shops" for obtaining items by way of
poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
monsters.
Random battles happen in pre-set locations on the map, marked in green.
Passing over one of these spots may result in a random encounter.
''Tactics'' features a
character class system, which allows players to customize characters into various roles. The game makes extensive use of most of the original character classes seen in earlier ''Final Fantasy'' games, including
Summoners, Wizards (Black Mages),
Priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
s (White Mages),
Monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s,
Lancers (Dragoons), and
Thieves
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
.
New recruits start out as either a
Squire
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight.
Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a ...
or a
Chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
, the base classes for warrior and magician jobs, respectively. The game features twenty jobs accessible by normal characters.
The JP rewarded in battle are used to learn new abilities within each job class.
Accumulating enough JP results in a job level up; new jobs are unlocked by attaining a certain level in the current job class (for instance, to become a Priest or Wizard, the unit must first attain Job Level2 as a Chemist), which also allows the character to gain more JP in that class in battles. Once all the abilities of a job class have been learned, the class is "Mastered". A soldier in a specific Job always has its innate skill equipped (Wizards always have "Black Magic", Knights always have "Battle Skill") but a second job-skill slot and several other ability slots (Reaction, Support, and Movement) can be filled with any skill the particular soldier has learned.
Plot
Setting
The story takes place in the kingdom of Ivalice, inspired by the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
.
The kingdom is located in a peninsula surrounded by sea on the north, west and south, with a
headland south of the landmass. It is heavily populated by human beings, although intelligent monsters can be found living in less populated areas. Magic is predominant in the land, although ruins and artifacts indicated that the past populace had relied on machinery, such as airships and robots. Ivalice's neighbors are the kingdom of Ordalia in the east and Romanda, a military nation to the north. While the three nations share common royal bloodlines, major wars have taken place between them. An influential religious institution known as the Glabados Church heads the dominant faith, centering around a religious figure known as Saint Ajora.
The story takes place after Ivalice ended its war with the two nations in what is known as the Fifty Years War, and is facing economic problems and political strife. The king of Ivalice has recently died and his heir is an infant, so a regent is needed to rule in place of the prince. The kingdom is split between two candidates named Prince Goltana, represented by the Black Lion, and Prince , symbolized by the White Lion. The conflict leads to what is known in the game as the Lion War. Behind this backdrop is a revelation by the game's historian Alazlam J. Durai, who seeks to reveal the story of an unknown character whose role in the Lion War was major but was covered up by the kingdom's church.
Characters
Most of the game's plot is portrayed from Ramza's perspective, who is the player character of the story. He is introduced to various factions of the Lion War; the most prominent are those of Prince Goltana and Prince , who both want to become the guardian of Ivalice's monarch and are engaged in a war with each other. The story progresses to include characters from the Glabados Church, which has been controlling Ivalice silently and engineering the war in question.
As the game progresses, players are able to recruit generic player characters and customize them using the Job system of the Final Fantasy series. Several battles also feature characters controlled via the game's A.I., which may be recruited later in the game according to the story proper. The characters were designed by
Akihiko Yoshida, who was also in charge of the illustration and character designs of games such as ''
Tactics Ogre'', ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance'', ''Final Fantasy XII'', and ''Vagrant Story''.
Story
Ivalice is recovering from the Fifty Year War against Ordalia. After the death of its ruler, Princess Ovelia and Prince Orinas are both candidates for the throne. The former is supported by Prince Goltana of the Black Lion, and the latter by Queen Ruvelia and her brother, Prince of the White Lion. The two groups engage in battles in the Lion War.
Nobles and commoners regard each other negatively and many commoners joined the Corpse Brigade to fight against the nobles' soldiers. Ramza, part of the noble Beoulve family of knights, and Delita, his childhood friend who was an ordinary commoner, witness the murder of Delita's sister during an uprising. This causes Delita and Ramza to abandon their ties to the nobility. Ramza joins a mercenary group, led by Gafgarion, who protects Princess Ovelia from being hunted by both sides of the Lion War. Delita joins Goltana's forces. They are reunited when Gafgarion attempts to take Ovelia to Prince . Agrias suggests visiting Cardinal Delacroix of the Glabados Church to protect Ovelia. Along the way, Ramza meets Mustadio, a machinist in possession of a holy relic called the Zodiac Stone. Hunted by a trading company for the power it contains, Mustadio also seeks Delacroix's intervention.
Ramza discovers that High Confessor Marcel Funebris and the church used the legend of the holy Zodiac Braves to gather the Zodiac Stones and instigated the Lion War. To prevent Ramza's interference, Delacroix uses the stone to transform into a Lucavi demon and Ramza defeats him. Ramza is regarded as a heretic by the church and he is chased by the Knights Templar, the soldiers of the church who are hunting the Zodiac Stones. He acquires proof of the Church's lies about Saint Ajora, a central figure in the religion, and attempts to use it along with the Zodiac Stone to reveal the organization's plot.
The two sides in the Lion War face off in a major battle that results in the deaths of and Goltana. Ramza stops the battle and rescues the general, Count Cidolfus Orlandeau, though the Church eliminates the two leaders to secure its control over Ivalice. Ramza discovers that the Knights Templar are possessed by the Lucavi, who are seeking to resurrect their leader Ultima, and they needed bloodshed and a suitable body to complete the resurrection. Alma, Ramza's sister, is to serve as the host for Ultima's incarnation. Ultima is resurrected and Ramza and his allies succeed in destroying her and escape Ivalice.
In the epilogue, Delita marries Ovelia and becomes the King of Ivalice. He fails to find true satisfaction as even Ovelia distrusts him, leading her to stab Delita. Ovelia is stabbed by Delita in return, with her fate left ambiguous in the game. Delita then cries out to Ramza, asking what Ramza gained in return for his actions, compared to Delita. Orran attempts to reveal the Church's evil plot with the "Durai Report" but his papers are confiscated and he is burned at the stake for heresy. Many centuries later a historian tries to describe the story of the Lion War.
Development
![Hironobu Sakaguchi in 2015 (16102150083) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Hironobu_Sakaguchi_in_2015_%2816102150083%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
''Tactics'' was conceived in 1993 by ''
Final Fantasy
is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...
'' series creator
Hironobu Sakaguchi
is a Japanese game designer, director, producer, and writer. Originally working for Square (later Square Enix) from 1983 to 2003, he departed the company and founded independent studio Mistwalker in 2004. He is known as the creator of the ''Fin ...
, who is a fan of the tactical role-playing genre. Due to his heavy involvement with the mainline series, he was unable to realize it at the time.
Production finally began at the end of 1995 under
Yasumi Matsuno
is a Japanese video game designer. Matsuno was first introduced to video games in arcades while waiting for the train, and first played '' Space Invaders'' and '' Xevious'' there. He attended Hosei University for foreign policy but dropped ou ...
, who until that year had worked at
Quest Corporation
was a Japanese video game company founded in 1988. Quest is best known for its critically acclaimed tactical role-playing game series ''Ogre Battle''.
In 1990 Quest was merged with the company Bothtec, the latter focusing on the development of ...
on the ''
Ogre Battle'' series, resigning once work was completed on ''
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together'' and bringing several of its staff over to
Square
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
. During this period, Square had broken its long-standing development partnership with
Nintendo and moved their game projects over to Sony's
PlayStation.
Matsuno acted as director and lead scenario writer. Sakaguchi was the game's producer.
The lead programmer was Taku Murata, who had previously worked on the ''
Mana
According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being ...
'' series.
Matsuno described the working environment at Square as more democratic than at Quest, with a greater ability for the whole staff to contribute design ideas. The art design was a collaborative effort led by ''Tactics Ogre'' veterans
Hiroshi Minagawa and
Akihiko Yoshida, with additional character designs and artwork by Hideo Minaba and Eiichiro Nakatsu.
Contrasting against the polished CGI aesthetic of ''Final Fantasy VII'', the team wanted a hand-drawn artstyle.
The opening and closing cinematics were created by Western company Animatek International.
Matsuno was originally aiming for a tactical RPG that would be accessible, something he originally aimed for with the ''Ogre Battle'' titles and later felt he had failed to accomplish with ''Tactics''.
When deciding how to differentiate ''Tactics'' from his earlier title, he placed a focus on individual character growth similar to the main series, contrasting against the army-based simulation of ''Tactics Ogre'' while keeping its chess-inspired gameplay. While Matsuno designed most of the rest of the game systems, due to staff shortages and needing to focus on the scenario the battle system was designed by
Hiroyuki Ito
, is a Japanese game producer, director and designer who works for Square Enix. He is known as the director of ''Final Fantasy VI'' (1994), ''Final Fantasy IX'' (2000) and '' Final Fantasy XII'' (2006) and as the creator of the Active Time B ...
.
Ito disliked tactical RPGs of the time, growing bored with their mechanics, so designed the battle system to be engaging and feel fast and exciting.
Matsuno had to push against Ito's wish to simplify the class system.
The level design, which used compact
diorama-style levels, was chosen to allow the intended 60 frames per second, carrying over the smooth gameplay experience gamers expected from the genre. The small scale of battles also reinforced the personal nature of the game's narrative conflicts.
Level design and mastering continued until a week before the game shipped.
Under Matsuno's direction, the game's design strayed significantly from Sakaguchi's original concept, particularly in its narrative tone. Matsuno at the time described his wish for the narrative to emulate "a sense of swashbuckling heroism".
His aim was to create a ''Final Fantasy''-themed morality tale. Matsuno stated that the game's thematic use of class-based society was derived from his experiences within game production companies, observing their hierarchy and how senior designers were treated as royalty.
Translation
by Shmuplations. ). The story premise of a long-suppressed account of ancient history was inspired by the discovery of the
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...
, and the story of ''
The Name of the Rose
''The Name of the Rose'' ( it, Il nome della rosa ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in ficti ...
''.
For ''Tactics'', Matsuno created an entire new world dubbed
Ivalice
is a fictional universe setting primarily appearing in the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series. The world was created by Yasumi Matsuno and has since been expanded upon by several games as the ''Ivalice Alliance'' series. Ivalice is described as a ...
, which he would use in multiple later projects.
Ivalice was designed as a complex setting with a deep historical background. He described it as a blank canvas on which he and later others could create narratives.
While some aspects of the ending were left ambiguous, Matsuno considered the narrative complete on its own.
Music
During its preplanning phase, the music was going to be in an upbeat style in line with the mainline ''Final Fantasy'' series. Due to its portrayal of people fighting each other rather than fighting monsters, Matsuno felt upbeat music was wrong.
The original score was written by
Hitoshi Sakimoto
is a Japanese video game music composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' and ''Final Fantasy XII'', though he has composed soundtracks for over 80 other games. He began playing music and video games in elemen ...
and
Masaharu Iwata
is a Japanese video game composer. After graduating from high school, where his musical projects included composing on a synthesizer and playing in a cover band, he joined Bothtec as a composer. He composed the soundtrack to several games there ...
, both veterans of the ''Ogre Battle'' series.
Sakimoto, who was brought on board the project by Matsuno, was advised by both Matsuno and established ''Final Fantasy'' composer
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton ...
not to worry about keeping to the style of the main ''Final Fantasy'' series.
Iwata described the game as a "giant project" to work on, and he received a lot of help from other staff members at Square.
Several tracks were inspired by the game's storyline and concept art, with some track names being chosen by Sakimoto based on first impressions of relevant characters.
Sakimoto described his music for the game as "bright and cheerful tunes", carrying themes of hope and love. Sakimoto and Iwata worked separately on their own tracks.
The album was first released on two
Compact Disc
The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...
s by
DigiCube
DigiCube Co., Ltd. (株式会社デジキューブ; ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dejikyūbu'') was a Japanese company established as a subsidiary of software developer Square on February 6, 1996 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The primary purpose of Digi ...
on June 21, 1997, and was re-released by Square Enix on March 24, 2006.
Versions and re-releases
''Tactics'' was first released in Japan on June 20, 1997. It came bundled with a demo disc for ''
SaGa Frontier
is a role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation and released in Japan on July 11, 1997. The game was later published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEA) in North America on March 25, 1998. It is the seventh game in the ...
''. The English localization was partly outsourced, with the other part of translation and localization being handled by Square USA's Michael Baskett. Baskett started writing the script in a style close to Old English, but this was beginning to impact the game's understandability and make characters sound alike, so it was toned down in the final script. It was released in North America on January 28, 1998, by Sony, which then acted as Square's Western publisher for the platform.
It was re-released as part of the Square's Millennium Collection. This series of games was released only in Japan, and each title is bought with a set of related merchandise. ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' was sold on June 29, 2000, along with titles such as ''
Saga Frontier
is a role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation and released in Japan on July 11, 1997. The game was later published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEA) in North America on March 25, 1998. It is the seventh game in the ...
'', ''
Saga Frontier 2'', ''
Brave Fencer Musashi
is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1998 for the PlayStation home console. The game involves real-time sword-based combat in a 3D environment; it also features segments of voiced over dialogue and role-p ...
'', ''
Front Mission 3'', ''
Ehrgeiz
, fully titled ''Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring'', is a 3D fighting video game developed by DreamFactory and published by Namco in 1998 for the arcade platform. It was first ported to the PlayStation and published by Square Co. in 1998, then t ...
'' and ''
Legend of Mana''.
Four years after its release in 1997 ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' was selected as part of the
Sony Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits is a branding used by Sony Interactive Entertainment for discounted reprints of PlayStation video games. The branding is used for reprints of popular, top-selling games for each console in the PlayStation family, which are delib ...
line of re-releases.
''Final Fantasy Tactics'' also became part of
Ultimate Hits, Square Enix's main budget range available in Japan.
A
PlayStation Portable version of ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', entitled ''
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions'' was released on May 10, 2007, in Japan, and later across all regions. It is the second game announced as part of the Ivalice Alliance. The game features an updated version of ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', along with new features including in-game cutscenes, new characters, and
multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
capability. The updated mechanics contain a 16:9 widescreen support, new items, new jobs, and cel-shaded
full motion videos. The English version contains full voice acting during the cinematic cut scenes, whereas the Japanese version does not.
Reception
''Final Fantasy Tactics'' sold nearly 825,000 copies in Japan in the first half of 1997, and ended the year at almost 1.24million copies sold. By 2007 the game had sold approximately 1.35million copies in Japan. As of August 2011, the game had sold over 2.4million copies worldwide.
''Final Fantasy Tactics'' received critical acclaim upon its release.
[ Some reviews lauded the battle sequences as challenging, requiring more strategic planning than ordinary RPGs and that utilising many gameplay mechanics in later battle sequences.][ The visuals were also lauded, particularly the spell effects, 3D battlegrounds, and camera that can be rotated and zoomed.] Other reviewers disagreed and considered these elements a problem because it necessitated that the battles consist of fewer characters. John Ricciardi, in his review for ''Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The m ...
'', argued that the game should have been done in 2D style so that the PlayStation's processors could handle larger battlefields.[ Nob Ogasawara, when writing for '' GamePro'', was also concerned with the small scale of the battles, saying that as a result the game "isn't so much '' Tactics Ogre'' with a Final Fantasy flavor as it is FF with a TO flavor".] A reviewer at ''RPGFan'' criticized the game's difficulty as inconsistent, in part due to abilities unique to certain characters which unfairly sway the tide of battle either in favor of or against the player.
Critics praised the story's depth and plot twists[ but some remarked that the large number of similar-looking characters made it hard to distinguish between characters to develop an emotional attachment.][ ''RPGFan'' criticized the English localization as rife with grammatical mistakes.] The game's soundtrack was also praised.[
IGN awarded the game the Editor's Choice Award in 1998, praising the in-game graphics as "amazing" and the battle environments with its extra details as being "extremely well designed".] GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
named ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' as one of "the greatest games of all time" in 2007. The game placed 84th in the "Top 100 Favorite Games of All Time" poll by Japanese magazine ''Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
'' in March 2006, 45th in ''Game Informer'' list of top 100 games, 43rd in ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' list, and 38th in IGN's rankings of greatest games.
Legacy
The world of ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' has been featured in several other Square video games. After the game's release, the development staff developed ''Vagrant Story'', which featured several subtle references to ''Final Fantasy Tactics''. In an interview, Matsuno said both titles are set in the same fictional world of Ivalice. During the development of ''Vagrant Story'', Matsuno and Sakaguchi initiated a sequel to ''Tactics'', which would have used 2D graphics due to issues with 3D development at the time. The project was outsourced to an unspecified developer because of the team's commitment to ''Vagrant Story'' and was later cancelled for unspecified reasons. In 2006, ''Final Fantasy XII
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. The twelfth main installment of the '' Final Fantasy'' series, it was first released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It introduced several innovations to the series: an open ...
'' was released, also set in the world of Ivalice. Square Enix announced at the end of the same year the ''Ivalice Alliance'', a new series of games set in the world of Ivalice, during a Tokyo press conference. The first title released was '' Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings''.
Square released ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
is a 2003 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. A spin-off of the ''Final Fantasy'' series, the game shares several traits with 1997's ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', althoug ...
'' for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in 2003. The game setting and engine are similar to the ones of its predecessor, but the cast of characters is considerably smaller and the plot is considerably simpler. An indirect sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance'', titled '' Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift'', was released in Japan in 2007 and in the rest of the world in 2008. It is also one of the titles released under the Ivalice Alliance game series, and takes place in the Ivalice universe.
Ramza and Agrias appeared in online trading card game '' Lord of Vermilion III'' in 2014. Ramza also appears as a playable character in the fighting game ''Dissidia Final Fantasy NT
is a fighting game with action role-playing elements developed by Koei Tecmo's Team Ninja and published by Square Enix for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4.
The game is a follow-up to ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' and ''Dissidia 012 Final Fan ...
''. In 2017, the MMORPG '' Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn'' portrayed an alternate version of ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' in which Ramza and his companions died at the end of ''Tactics''. Matsuno stated that the inspiration to depict this plot came from the number of players that misunderstood the ending of ''Tactics''. ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' is featured in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game, with Ramza, Delita, Agrias, and other characters appearing in Opus I (Roman Numeral). ''Tactics'' has made additional appearances in Opus III, IV, V, VII, X, and XIII.
A remixed version of the song "Ovelia & Delita" was nominated for "Best Game Music Cover/Remix" at the 16th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards.
Notes
References
External links
Official website
at Square Enix America (archive)
Official website
at PlayStation.com (archive)
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1997 video games
Final Fantasy video games
Hitoshi Sakimoto albums
PlayStation (console) games
PlayStation Network games
Role-playing video games
Sony Interactive Entertainment games
Single-player video games
Tactical role-playing video games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games scored by Hitoshi Sakimoto
Video games scored by Masaharu Iwata
Video games with isometric graphics