Maegwyn
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Nostalgic Review of Terran Recreation
Final Fantasy Tactics
By Genoclysm
Recently on Terra, a certain company has re-released two of my favorite Terran games of all time on their hand held, and with new content, too. While I have not had the pleasure of experiencing this rebirth of the games, it has triggered fond memories of the originals. One of them was Final Fantasy Tactics.
The new name comes from the "central conflict" of the plot, originally called the Lion's War. It was named for the two families on either side of a large civil war on Ivalice, and both family crests happened to be lions. That is not all that is going on, but it is what draws the involvement of the main character, Ramza Beoulve. I will not spoil the story as I do not wish to be the recipient of threatening messages.
One of the more memorable aspects of this game happens to be a shortcoming... The translation is quite bad with several misspelled names, Rs that should be Ls and Ls that should be Rs everywhere, and other various examples of Engrish. The translation does not have the bonus of being hilarious like Zero Wing's was either... This didn't manage to ruin the game for me, but some good news is that supposedly that has all been fixed in the re-release.
Of course those who don't know what I'm talking about are all probably wondering why exactly I loved this game so much. That would be the gameplay. You start out with a bunch of fresh recruits that don't know anything about combat yet. They all stink at fighting. Seriously, people new to the game are very likely to have one of their soldiers die off permanently in the very first level. (Don't worry, you can recruit more if you have to.) This might scare people off who dislike games like Fire Emblem, however once you get the hang of things, it is quite easy to keep soldiers from dying. Once their hp reaches 0, they are KOed for three turns before dying. End the fight in three turns or find a way to revive them and you don't have to worry about losing them. When it comes to the enemies, I don't suggest being so merciful. You can't loot a person who is only knocked out, so try to wait until they die before finishing the level. They'll either leave behind a chest with one of their items, or they will leave a crystal which can heal one of your units or teach them the skills that the enemy had recorded in it. Nothing is more like a slap in the face in this game than letting a soldier get killed and the enemy healing with their crystal.
As they fight, of course your soldiers will learn and grow. There are two basic developmental routes to take: Magical and Physical (and it can be rewarding to use both in certain combinations). The combinations of abilities and classes that can be made are numerous, and certain abilities mesh really well. A dual-wielding Monk inexplicably doubles his firepower by learning that he has a second fist he can use, for example. It is curious the Monk class doesn't realize this without the dual-wielding ability, but it is very formidable, despite the lack of logic. Attempting to balance growing as spell casters and ninjas makes for speedy spell casters, though a little power might be sacrificed. I could go on and on, but it might cause eye-strain for readers. The terrain also plays a large role, and of course certain classes/jobs will have easier times navigating various terrain than others. (Don't forget to watch out for booby-traps.)
Of course this is Squaresoft I'm talking about, so it would be strange if gameplay was the only upside to the game. The story is enough to satisfy (probably more so now that Sony hasn't given it a botched translation), and the music, as with all their games, is great. Neither ever dropped to a quality level that made me flinch or wish to get away from it faster. (Really, I thought the music was great.) There is not much else to say about this.
I suggest renting or borrowing if you ever get a chance. I'll close with one last piece of advice and one more reason this game is great. Advice: Save often, alternating between two files in case you get stuck. Reason for greatness: ThunderGod Cid.
Final Fantasy and all related titles are copyright of Squaresoft/SquareEnix
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