LogFAQs > #951055847

#13 Final Fantasy Tactics (Playstation, 1998)

I enjoy tactics and strategy games, and I also enjoy job systems. So Final Fantasy Tactics is a match made in heaven for me. And unlike Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, there are only a few l i t t l e. f l a w s. that counter the shining aspects of this game.



The game starts off in medias res, with an exciting and easy battle, that shows you some of the character abilities and gives you a feel for everything. After teasing you, it takes you back in time to the first chapter, which serves as an extended tutorial. This first chapter is pretty unforgiving, though. You have to quickly get the hang of the job system or you won't have much of a chance. The beginning jobs are very weak and the only way to make it through the early going is to aggressively move your characters into stronger jobs. Hard to do if you don't like making decisions, and I think this initial difficulty has thrown a ton of people off of the game.



The battles are on a 3D isometric grid and involve small skirmishes between a small subset of your party and a handful of enemies. Some are dictated by the story, but there are also random battles against monsters that you can use to grind if the next story mission is too hard. There are a wide variety of abilities to use, and throughout the game you will recruit story characters with their own unique skills. Some are a little too skilled, Orlandu.

The story is deep and engrossing, although the translation for the Playstation version is very very rough and inconsistent. The PSP version is told much better, if you don't mind the flowery Elizabethan English dialogue. Final Fantasy Tactics is presented as a historian telling of a war, although in typical Final Fantasy style, it verges to supernatural apocalyptic silliness by the end. But the characters are great, and Ramza and Delita's rivalry is one of the better Final Fantasy narratives.



What makes this game stand out for me, other than its very concept, is the endless replayability of it. There are so many ways to play, whether you want to just use the story characters, random recruits, captured monsters, and then all of the class combinations and possibilities. I don't know if I would ever get tired of this game if it was the only one left for the rest of my life. It's truly a special one.

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At least your mother tipped well