"Why fix something that wasn't broken?"

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

So you may or may not remember the classic of a game that was Final Fantasy Tactics that was released on the PS1 all those years ago. Overshadowed by Final Fantasy 7, this game really was the underdog with regards to popularity. But if you ask anyone who has played the original they can tell you it was one of the most enjoyable RPG experiences they've ever had. My personal experience you might wonder? I bought this game having no idea what I was getting into, and when I beat it I came out in awe, wondering why they hadn't already done this. Sure, the script wasn't fantastic and they threw Cloud in just for more sales, but that didn't matter. It was a solid strategy RPG that made you play it constantly, consuming your life to make that ultimate team of characters.

Now this game, the enhanced port, adds a little and takes a little. They give us cut scenes with voice acting, and a few new jobs and characters. What they take away, I feel, is just plain rude to the fans. If this catches your internet, without any more delay, please keep reading for more.

Story: 7/10

So the story is the same, sort of… Well you see, the original script has been given a complete overhaul. At first I thought “This is going to be great, it'll be like a whole new game, I can finally play it and understand it the way it was meant to be understood.”

Or so I thought...

So the all the text is new, but still retaining the same story. Well I'll be damned if you can understand what the heck is going on. I feel like I'm reading hamlet back in high school with the sort of speech. Now I will be honest, it does fit the time era this game is support to be taking place in. I mean, knights and kings and all that, they sound like this don't they? Well, it simply gets to the point where it's just so cheesy and painful, you can't take it anymore.

But, if you look past how they deliver it, the story is still there, and it's still just as good as it was on the PS1. If you can't stand “Have at you!” or “I shall slay these knaves in the name of the crown!” then steer clear from reading any text in this game, just a fair warning.

Gameplay: 7/10

Ah the gameplay, like I said, this is one of the best strategy RPG games to ever exist when it was back on the PS1. Now the gameplay is still amazing, it's in fact one of, if not, THE best game I have ever played in my entire life.

So let's sum it up for you. It's a tactical RPG; you have a couple units you command on a grid battlefield. Each character has various jobs and abilities they can choose from to utilize in battle. Everyone on the field goes in order of when their CT meter reaches 100, if your meter makes it to 100, you get your turn. Faster characters have CT that skyrockets, slower (-cough- calculator) characters can go at snail speed.

So you run around the grid battlefield attacking your enemies by either getting to an adjacent square as them, or if you happen to be a long range character, attack from afar. But now, what would determine the types of attacks you have? That would be your job!

Yes, the job system is what will keep you in this game forever. You only start out with a few, chemist for items, squire for basic attacker unit. But as these jobs gain levels you gain more access to other jobs and their abilities. For instance you need to have a certain job level as a chemist before you can become a black or white mage; but as you dive deeper and deeper into different jobs and such you can mix and match abilities from different jobs to form a combination of abilities. So late in the game you could have for instance a Ninja who also has thief skills, but uses a counter attack of a Knight, and movement of a time mage. These sorts of combinations will keep you going into battle after battle trying to make the ultimate fighting team!

So why do I take away three points from gameplay? Because THIS particular version of the game has lag issues during attacks, which I honestly feel is ridiculous. The PSP is more than capable of handling these animations, yet if you use a potion or use a special skill, your game will lag. To some this lag is tolerable; to me it was painful for battle after battle. My only argument for this is, why should we have to tolerate something like this? This honestly just feels downright disrespectful to the true fans that waited years for this to come into existence. And because of this I feel the game really suffers from the perfection it could've been, only a shadow of it's former self.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics as compared to the original are pretty much the same, just shrunk down. Is it me, or did they really just go out of their way to make everything tiny and blurry? I feel this game could've looked a lot sharper in its final product, and probably could've had bigger sprites. In all honestly I feel they just slapped on the PSX original and shrunk it giving no regard to how it would come out looking.

But that's opinion, speculation, and not fact. The truth is the graphics are fine, could've been fine-tuned a bit, smoothed over, made sharper, but after waiting as long as we did for this game, it doesn't seem to matter what condition it comes in.

Sound: 8/10

The music is wonderful; I feel they didn't ruin it that badly at all! This game has some of the most memorable tunes I've ever heard in a final fantasy game. So some of the music hasn't really been recreated too masterfully, but I wasn't expecting perfection. Now the bigger reason why I take a point off though is because of the sound effects. When you start this game up you'll notice something's a little off. The sound effects have, in my opinion, been shafted by the port efforts, and sound pretty dull compared to the original sounds. It's pretty disappointing in the end because for anyone who was as attached to the original as myself, the game will sound downright foreign to you; as for anyone else who hasn't had the enjoyment of the original, don't worry, you'll probably not notice a thing.

Overall: 7/10

This is still a fantastic game, but the laziness they had while putting this game together honestly disgusts me. I waited so long for this game to come back again like all the other final fantasy games. In fact I even bought a PSP to simply play this game again like I once did so many years ago. In the end, for long-time fans such as myself, the things such as the cheesy cliché script, slowdown, and debunked music and sound will be an unwelcome compromise for the small additions to the game.

For people new to the game, the music and sound might go right over your head. The slowdown may annoy you, or you might get used to it, you'll definitely going to have to make the call for that. The dialogue is cheesy and mediocre at best. But if you can make it through those flaws you still have a fantastic game with wonderful, solid gameplay.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/07

Game Release: Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (US, 10/09/07)