Final Fantasy Tactics was originally released by Square on January 28, 1998 in North America on the psone. It is a turn based strategy (TBS) based in the world of Ivalice and quickly became the new standard in the genre. I played this game from start to finish and even unlocked the playable Cloud character to boot. I consider this game a classic maybe I’ll go so far as saying a masterpiece. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is an updated version of that game on the PSP. They added new cell shape cut scenes, better translation and 2 new jobs (Onion Knight and Dark Knight both cherished favorites from the FF legacy). The cut scenes really add a lot to this game giving it a serious, more mature tone. This isn’t kids trapped in a book like in FFTA but a kingdom in the throws of war. The story is epic and keeps you enthralled throughout the game. Some of the previously updated games Square has released were fun for nostalgia’s sake but this isn’t one of them. It has aged well. The translation is better meaning that the dialog has a fuller feel to it and some mistakes have been corrected. The addition of the 2 jobs only adds to the already large field of classes. This is a deep and challenging strategy game that will give you long hours of gameplay like 60+. This game feels like a modern version of chess and not a simple friendly TBS. It doesn’t use the mechanic like newer TBS’ do. Like letting you move and get set to perform an action then if you change your mind undo all the steps and start over. You make your decision to move or perform an action and once you confirm it you’re done. No careless oops….do over. No it’s your mistake and the enemy AI hands you your head. It makes for a more challenging game and you really feel the gravity of your decisions. It will prove challenging at first to newcomers but I promise its well worth it.

One feature I wished other games in this genre would use is the ability to rotate and tilt the board like FFT does. Not that the camera angles in FFT are perfect but it’s a feature I’ve always loved about the game. Another mechanic I missed that wasn’t in the sequel FFTA was teh ability to capture and add monsters to your team. You captured mobs in FFTA but you could only use the job Beast Master to mimic the abilities. Not the same experience. Sorry, but the Dragons in FFT were bad to the bone and having a chocobo running the field and healing was fun.

If you were an original player back in 1998 that loved this game or a turn based strategy lover, I highly recommend picking this one up.

A review I really enjoyed reading about was on Gamespot. It’s worth checking out as well.

Gamespot Review

-Wes

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 7:57 am and is filed under Gaming, Handheld, Sections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.