The turn-based RPG isn't something that every gamer really enjoys. Some find taking turns and selecting menu commands to be a boring and tedious way to play games, as well as just being unrealistic (although this particular argument is kind of silly, because videogames aren't exactly
supposed to be realistic in the first place; they're supposed to be fun). Some are just fine with that though, and I am one of those people. With this new segment of Analogg, I will be talking about RPG's that are notable for being particularly excellent and well-polished nippon products.
Today we're going to look at this baby:
Aaaaaw yeah, son.
Final Fantasy Tactics was a strategy-based RPG released in 1997 (in Japan), made by a team largely composed of people from Quest, who had previously worked on the acclaimed "Tacics Ogre" and "Ogre Battle". Apparently the game was made to make Tactics Ogre-esque gameplay more appealing to casual gamers, who were off put with the series' complex branching storylines.
And that's what this game does: it takes Tactics Ogre and makes it a Final Fantasy game. While it's a spin-off, it is most definitely a true FF game, with FF classes, items, currency, monsters, themes, and even its very own Cid.
Being a SRPG, it uses 2d sprites on a 3D isometric field split up into squares during battle. The game features a very fun and very robust class system. Units earn "JP" for every successful action (excluding movement), which can then be used to "purchase" abilities from their class. The fun comes from the fact that once an ability has been obtained, it can then be equipped to a different class. This leads to some very interesting possibilities, such as obtaining a "Wear Heavy Armor" ability from a knight class, changing to unit to a Monk, and equipping it on them, which creates a very mobile and powerful "tank" unit.
This was also the first game to take place in the world of Ivalice, which would be revisited by Square in future titles, such as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Tantasy Tactics A2, Final Fantasy XII, and Vagrant Story.
This is a pretty different Ivalice from say, XII's (which incidentally, is comparable to Tactics in many ways other than the fact that they're both Ivalice games). It's a very bleak world that reminds you of a magic medieval Europe more than anything else. There are no airships, the more fantastical elements of the game's world are downplayed until a ways into the game, and there are no races other than humes.
The game's plot concerns the story of Ramza Beoulve, the youngest son of the prestigious family of Beoulve nobles, and his role in the "War of the Lions", an important historical conflict that split Ivalice in two. Mirroring his character's journey is the figure of Delita Hyral, Ramza's childhood friend who at first accompanies him on their stay at the Academy they both attend. A series of shocking and terrible events occurs that splits the two friends, sending them both off on different paths with different ideologies guiding them. Without giving too much of the game's plot away, you could say that the point of their characters is examining the true nature of heroism.
The game's plot is arguably one of its greatest strengths. It's a very unique case where the characters themselves aren't exactly the point of interest so much as the events that unfold around them. Rather than being a character-driven love story like, say, Final Fantasy VIII or X, Tactics foregoes this for a plot that heavily centers on political intrigue...much like XII's. You're surely beginning to see how exactly these two games are so alike. The nature of the game's story can be off-putting to some people, but I find it a refreshing and more mature departure from most RPG stories.
Tactics' story is also one of the tasteful examples of a phenomenon I like to call "relitroll", which is basically what happens when a work of fiction takes thematic elements from religious traditions (most often, Christianity) and focuses on them considerably, in an even sometimes negative light (see: Shin Megami Tensei, Xenogears, Neon Genesis Evangelion, etc). To explain how Tactics manages to do this without being distasteful would be to give too much of the game's plot away, so I'll just say that a major driving force in the story is the Church of Glabados, which functions rather similarly to how the Catholic church functioned in medieval times.
The game's music was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaru Iwata, whose music have since become practically synonymous with Ivalice. It's not the most AMAZING score you've ever heard, but it's still memorable enough, and synthed in a manner that brings to mind a midi orchestra.
While the game was relatively successful critically and commercially, it was largely overlooked by fans, no doubt in part because of Final Fantasy VII, which was released shortly before. "Eeeeew sprites, what is this, Super Nintendo? Fuck dat shit mang, polys are where at it's at".
It's rather ironic, then, that part of what makes Tactics so great is that it's aged very, very, very well in comparison to something like VII. Obviously some amount of nostalgifaggotry plays into that, but not for me particularly. I played it only two years ago, so nostalgia doesn't really factor into my appreciation for the game.
Certainly though, graphics-wise, nostalgia or no nostalgia it's silly to deny which game has aged better. I have no opinion on VII as a whole, since I still haven't finished it. However, it looks like blocky shit by today's standards. On the other hand, Tactics' pristine sprites wowed me simply because I wasn't used to seeing sprites that had so many unique animations before. I was used to something like the SNES Final Fantasy's, which did not have this level of detail in their sprites. Simply put, Tactics is much more appealing to look at now than most early 3D games.
The original release of FFT is notable for its shoddy localization, which generally got the point across, but felt somewhat awkward and was full of typos and translation blunders (such as making "Ice Breath", "Ice Bracelet").
I loved the game anyway. Even in this day and age and with a shitty translation, it was just a really unique and enjoyable experience from start to finish. THAT is the mark of a truly excellent and well-made game.
Arguments can be made against the game, certainly. While you could say that the game was underrated initially, this is hardly the case anymore, as the game has a very notable following which, while perhaps not as large as, say, VII's (derpderp), is equally devoted and passionate about it, to the point where you might be able to argue that Tactics is a little over-rated.
For one thing, the game seems to encourage you to grind a lot, since there's no easy way to run away from battles when going into areas that they can take place in outside of just resetting the game and hoping to not trigger an encounter when passing through that area again. Due to the nature of the gameplay, battles can also be very time-consuming because you can't just mash the attack option over and over again to hope to end the battle quickly.
Unlike most RPG's, the amount of exp needed to level up is always 100, which is compensated by the fact that exp is gained during the battle with every successful action an individual character performs. Meaning that if a character didn't do anything the whole battle, he won't gain any exp by the end of it, even if you are victorious. Since it's not always easy to get everyone to do a whole lot during a battle, this can be somewhat frustrating.
However this is easily side-stepped by the "Accumulate" ability, which raises your attack power and nets you exp every time you use it. Provided that you have it, a character will always be able to reliably use this to gain exp every turn.
The enemies in random encounters level up with you, regardless of the area, but the enemies in story battles don't. If you grind too much, you might have a more difficult time with regular enemies than the games' bosses!
As previously noted, the game's story will probably not be your cup of tea if you are used to a more character-centric story. The game's plot is also initially somewhat confusing and difficult to understand (although with time you'll get the gist of it pretty quickly).
Regardless of all this, I still think this is one of the best games Square-Enix has ever made, and one of the best RPG's of all time. The game has since received an upgraded PSP port in the form of War of the Lions, which features a brand new and far superior translation, as well as many new extras including two new classes and extra scenes not present in the original.
If you have not already played the PSX Tactics, or have already played it and feel like going through the game once more, I would definitely consider investing in the PSP port. You won't regret it.
-Paolo
