“A small stone may only make a small ripple at first, but someday it will be a wave.”
Such is the pervading sentiment you’ll see all through Final Fantasy Tactics. The tale that Tactics tells is one as old as time; in a world where the nobles and high-born make the rules, the common majority is left to suffer and fight their petty wars. And yet, while it may seem futile for the commoners to attempt to fight back, every action matters because maybe one day, all of their efforts may actually start to amount to something tangible.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is a re-release of the 1998 classic, packed to the brim with new enhancements that help to refresh the tactical RPG for a new audience. As someone who’s previously tried to get into Tactics multiple times in the past with little success, I’m pleased to report that The Ivalice Chronicles has finally made it stick for me.
The Problem With the Original
While I’m sure most diehard Tactics fans will argue that the original version of Tactics and War of the Lions are still very much playable today (that’s what ex-Twinfinite Managing Editor Ed McGlone would have me believe, anyway), the fact is that it’s going to feel extremely unapproachable for a lot of newcomers.
The issues lie mostly with the game’s presentation, with its outdated menus, UI, and how comically difficult it can be to simply rotate the camera so you can see where the hell you’re positioning your units. There are other small nitpicks, such as the game’s desire to be obtuse in the oddest places like not telling you how spillover JP works, or antiquated design decisions like having to spend JP to learn the Phoenix Down skill so your Chemist can use it in battle.
A lot of these obfuscations are still very much present in The Ivalice Chronicles, but the re-release presents them in a much more palatable package that I found I was able to more readily accept the game’s eccentricities.
The Improvements
For starters, the UI has been completely overhauled and cleaned up. Now, it’s much easier to parse the information that’s presented to you, including the crucial turn order on the left side of the screen, as well as the character menus which show you where all your abilities are, what they do, along with their stats which determine if certain actions can be taken.
Most importantly, the game now features a fast-forward feature, which can be immensely useful when you’re trying to get through an easy, but long and drawn out battle while grinding out experience and JP. There’s also auto-battle, where the game lets you prioritize attack, defense, and support, and you can just sit back and let the game do its thing. I didn’t touch this feature at all as I vastly prefer making my own decisions in combat, but I imagine it’d be useful for non-essential battles where you need to level.
Then, there’s the voice acting, which is excellent. I’d considered playing without voice acting at first, but by the time I wrapped up Chapter 1, I was convinced that there’s no other way to experience Final Fantasy Tactics. The voice cast completely sells the olde English accents of the Tactics characters, and a special shoutout must be given to Argath, who now sounds even more like a pompous asshole than before.
Ramza and Delita’s actors are similarly impressive, both of them selling their lines with such gusto and adding a layer of emotional depth to the story that was previously absent.
Simplified, But Not Defanged
While The Ivalice Chronicles certainly makes it easier for newcomers to ease into the game, it should be noted that the original game is notorious for having a steep learning curve, and that’s still largely true here. Final Fantasy Tactics doesn’t pull its punches where combat is concerned, and the slightest mistake or poor planning in your party composition could result in a Game Over, at least on the standard Knight difficulty. Thankfully, The Ivalice Chronicles also introduces an easier Squire difficulty for folks who just want to focus on the story.
As a tactical RPG, you’ll move your units around a square grid map and navigate tricky terrain in the process. Archers and Chemists will do better on higher ground, while your infantry units excel as they get up close and personal with their foes. Magic is powerful, but requires careful planning and consideration. The more powerful a spell is, the longer it’ll take for your Black Mage to actually cast it, and your target may move during that time, causing the spell to be ineffective by the time it’s cast, or worse, hit a friendly unit.
To raise the stakes even higher, there’s also permadeath for the generic units you get in Final Fantasy Tactics. If a unit falls, you have three turns to raise them before they’re lost forever. Three turns may sound generous, but it’s not always possible to revive them within that period, especially if you’re on the backfoot. This can result in devastating losses, especially if you’ve invested a considerable amount of time into building that unit.
Outside of battle, you’ll spend your time managing your JP and trying to figure out what jobs work best with which units. For instance, the game never tells you this, but female units have a higher Faith stat than male units, which makes them better suited for magic-based classes. Conversely, male units do better with physical classes. I’m still not a fan of this mildly sexist style of unit design — if I want a female knight, I should be able to play her without feeling disadvantaged dammit — but admittedly it does add another layer of consideration when it comes to planning your party.
New jobs will get unlocked as you level up existing ones, and like any good tactical RPG, Final Fantasy Tactics shines when you find just the perfect job and skill combination for a particular unit that you’ve been building up this entire time. I’ve found that leveling up and unlocking new jobs can be incredibly grindy, though, particularly if you want to see everything the game has to offer, which might result in Ramza or a handful of other units getting too overpowered for story fights. Still, with a bit of careful planning, I think you’ll find a lot of joy in discovering new jobs and seeing their potential.
A Timeless Tale
It’s remarkable how well this story holds up, two decades after its original release. Much of the dialogue and script have been cleaned up, and new conversations have been added to flesh out the story further, but the core of Final Fantasy Tactics‘ story remains the same.
Don’t let the politics fool you; Tactics tells a deeply personal tale about class struggle and the perpetual internal conflict of sacrificing what you have for your morals, or taking the easy way out. It’s also a story about two friends who are ultimately forced to walk different paths despite fighting for the same goals. Whereas Ramza is of noble birth, Delita is a commoner who’s forced to reckon with his lot in life very early on in the story. Both protagonists are left jaded by the depravities of the high-born, but are unable to reconcile their differences simply because of the difference in their upbringings.
There are no big, revelatory twists to be found in Final Fantasy Tactics — though there are a handful of turns that may catch you off-guard — but the story doesn’t need them because of how strong its emotional core and message are.
In 2025, Tactics is scarily resonant, too. Ivalice is a world that’s been ravaged by corruption and unemployment, with the poor being forced to scavenge for scraps. Tactics poses the question: when the privileged push the less fortunate too far, how long before the common majority bands together to take back what is rightfully theirs? And going further than that, when do you get to the point where fighting the good fight becomes worth sacrificing everything you have?
Ramza and Delita’s stories go in vastly different directions against this political backdrop, reflecting two key perspectives. One is the story of a boy whom we all hope we’d emulate in the face of hardship, while the other is the story of how most of us will likely end up: caught in the very cycle of injustice we’d sought out to break because we found a way to make it serve our interests. In many ways, Tactics is a reflection not only of today’s political landscape, but also our humanity.
In the words of Final Fantasy Tactics‘ writer, Yasumi Matsuno, “the will to resist is in your hands.”
A review code for the game was provided by the publisher. You can check out our review policy here. Reviewed on PS5.
