Final Fantasy Tactics

"Final Fantasy VII was just a mere warm-up for this!"

When I first bought Final Fantasy Tactics, I had no idea what to expect. First of all, the name seems to imply that Square doesn't even treat it as being part of the series. Also, there wasn't nearly as much hype over this game than the previously released Final Fantasy VII. The way battles were executed seemed very odd and the job or class system was entirely new to me at the time (I had not yet played FF5.) Still, I decided I'd give the game a chance and I purchased it. I think it's safe to say that Final Fantasy Tactics is the most underrated game Square has ever produced and any Final Fantasy fan; nay, any RPG fan should be more than proud to have it in their collection.

Storyline: 9/10
This is what the quality of Final Fantasy VII's storyline should have been! Although contrary to Final Fantasy VII, which seems to take place in the near future, Final Fantasy Tactics goes back to the “original” fantasy world that is the Middle Ages. But this is quite unlike any other Final Fantasy storyline; FFT is a story about the abuse of the people, the corruption of power (the monarchy and the church,) and how one person can challenge the way of the world and change the way of society. We find profound themes such as greed, corruption, love, honor, religion, things that really were issues in the Middle Ages and throughout history. And, as a refreshing change from FF7, each one of these themes is presented and developed masterly, through profound and intricate dialogue (despite the numerous typos.) This time around, the writers really put an effort into it and didn't just throw in a curse word whenever they didn't know what else to write. The storyline itself, although complicated, is extremely captivating and has some excellent twists and turns that will keep you intrigued for hours.

The writers really took the term “Role-Playing Game” to heart: you can only name the main character (and hired soldiers but they don't affect the storyline) and they even ask you for your birth date. Then, the game keeps track of the days, and every time your birthday comes up, your age will go up on the list of characters (although it does this for every character.) You are a young noble of a very prestigious family and are best friends with a commoner named Delita. However, after your father dies (it's not really a spoiler because it happens at the beginning of the game) your elder brother becomes involved in dirty schemes to get a corrupt Duke Larg to the throne as the guardian of the king's newborn son. However, in the faraway kingdom of Zeltennia, Prince Larg tries to argue that the baby is not the king's real son and that the adopted princess should ascend to the throne (he would consequently be her guardian.) This begins the “Lion War” between the two kingdoms. You want nothing to do with these politics, leave your family and change your name. Meanwhile, knights acting under the Church (know as Shrine Knights) seem to be using the ones involved in the war for evil purposes and carry mysterious magical stones. Your friend Delita also seems to be involved with these knights. As the game progresses you quickly learn that nobility and honor are two completely different things…

Characters: 8/10
It's hard to judge this category since there are very few main characters. However, there are a large amount of secondary characters and the game even takes the time to give each character their own background. All the characters have very believable and complex personalities that almost seem to be taken right out of books. The main characters, Ramza (you) and Delita, are both extremely well developed and their goals and feelings are clear.

Gameplay: 10/10
Few words can describe just how amazing the gameplay really is! It will be hard to ever find an RPG that will require more strategic thinking than FFT. With 18 jobs to choose from and well over 150 abilities to learn, diversity is not a problem here. But you can't just give a character any job. Stats are very important in this game, particularly brave and faith points (new to any RPG) that should basically determine whether your character will be a fighter or a magic user. You will also learn reaction, support and movement abilities, which can be equipped even if you change the job from which you learnt it. You can give a wizard the ability to equip swords or armor. This gives your characters extraordinary versatility and makes the player have to strategize even more. Of course, there are limits to how versatile your characters can be, since you can only equip one of each type of ability to your character. All of this may sound complicated but luckily there is a very effective tutorial for beginners that will teach you everything you need to know about the gameplay.

Your party can be as big or as little as you want although you can only bring five people into a standard battle. You can hire soldiers or invite some of your opponents to join your team. You can even tame monsters and have them fight for you as well. On top of that, you will have several characters with special unobtainable jobs who will offer to join your party. This will give you an opportunity to experiment with some new interesting abilities and will make sure that your party never stays the same throughout the whole game.

The battles themselves can sometimes seem long since every individual character has to move and act in their turn. Although I do find it a very refreshing change from RPGs where you can beat the game by simply mashing X during battles. The 3D terrain makes the battles far more realistic, every random enemy has a different name and different stats, and people casting spells must take a few turns to recite the spell before it is executed. The AI, on the most part, is quite clever although once in a while you'll notice your enemies doing something really stupid (wizard charges a spell right in front of you just before your turn starts.) All in all, the battles are fun and require as much strategic thinking as setting up your party.

Square went all-out on the equipment this time. While FF7 only had weapons, armor and accessories that could be equipped by any character, FFT has hundreds of different equipment, each made for a specific job. Helmets and shields have reappeared and you'll probably find all your favorite spells, summons, abilities, equipment, and monsters that distinguish Final Fantasy from other RPGs as well as a whole array of new ones to keep the game original!

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are very beautiful, the terrain is well drawn, and the few FMV sequences there are in the game are nice as well. The characters are surprisingly well detailed and they definitely don't look like polygons (the graphic designers of FF7 could learn a thing or two from this game.) On top of that, each character, even the unimportant ones, comes with a seemingly hand-drawn, detailed facial portrait! There are a few background elements that are a little crudely drawn but I doubt many people will notice.

Music and Sound: 10/10
Every Nobuo Uematsu fan on the planet must have had a stroke when they learned that he would not be composing the score for FFT. I was pretty steamed and don't really understand why he wouldn't write the score for this game as he seems to be Square's private composer. But wow! Who would have thought that two no-name Japanese composers could have written music that was more than worthy of being in a Final Fantasy game? The music is incredible, fully orchestrated, and features extraordinarily unique and memorable themes. The synth quality also blew me away, especially since FF7's was so bad.

Not just the music, but the sound also reached new heights that no other game had ever attained. The sword slashes and spells sounded better than ever and I really liked the death-cry that was inserted whenever a character is KO'd. In terms of sound quality, FFT truly takes the cake!

Difficulty: 7/10
Every battle is different in FFT so consequently each battle has a different difficulty. On the most part, the battles were moderately easy but you'll encounter a battle here or there that will really make you cringe. There are some battles, particularly the battles at Lionel Castle and the fight against Wiegraf at Riovanes Castle, which are almost impossible to win unless you strategize properly. Of course, the gameplay is also pretty complicated so kids under 10 will definitely have a hard time figuring out how to play.

Replayability: 9/10
No two battles will ever be the same in FFT and I mean it! On top of that, you have so much variety when it comes to jobs, abilities, and equipment that you could play the game 100 times and have a completely different party each time! The story stays the same though, like most RPGs although there are a few VERY interesting sidequests that you might want to try and find if you haven't found them your first time around the FFT world. This is easily one of the most replayable RPGs ever created. A definite buy!!

Overall: 10/10
Final Fantasy Tactics is unlike any other game in the series which is probably why it isn't numbered like the rest of them: it's in a class of its own! Some RPG fans may find the difference too drastic and foreign and it is very possible that they won't like this game. But on the most part, I think RPG fans will be proud to own this truly amazing game. On the other hand, people that normally don't like RPGs may want to try this game because it's very possible they'll enjoy it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/13/04