Posted in: Final Fantasy, Games, Review, Square Enix, Video Games | Tagged: Creative Studio III, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, Square Enix

We Review Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles

Nearly 30 years later, we finally got a modern remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics, as we review everything in The Ivalice Chronicles

Back in 1998, I got my hands on Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time, and instantly fell in love with the game. It has constantly been my go-to response for my favorite RPG of all time, and it sits in stiff competition with titles of the era like Suikoden 2, Breath of Fire 3, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, and even fellow titles from the franchise with Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX. Over the years, there have been versions of the game released, some people adore and others feel like bad ports, and for a time, I felt like this would be one of those games swept away to history because newer audiences weren't able to experience the original on a wider scale. But now, finally, 27 years later, Square Enix has finally given us Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles. We got to play the game ahead of its launch, and here's our review.

So first off, let's get to the nuts and bolts of this. This is a remaster of the original PlayStation title from 1998. It does not include any of the content from The War of the Lions, released for the PSP in 2007, or anything you think you may have liked from the mobile version. They have taken the original and given the art an upgrade so it looks less like pixelated levels (which, for the era, it looked pretty good) and makes Ivalice feel like a living world that you're getting to see pieces of. The audio has been given a great upgrade as you can hear every note to this amazing soundtrack better than before. And the overall presentation of the story from the small cutsenes to chapter introductions to the simple storytelling elements feel renewed.

If you're not familiar with the story of Final Fantasy Tactics, you play the role of Ramza, a young man from a wealthy family who was once a promising squire alongside his friend, Delita. A series of incidents cause both men to see the realm they seek to protect in a whole new light, which includes dealing with the aftermath of war, the class system, religion, and their fair share of death, ultimately splitting the two and sending them off on very different paths.

A year later, the two run into each other again, as the land is at war again (the aforementioned War of the Lions), but something about this battle does not feel right, as both sides are suffering losses and their respective homelands on the brink of collapse. It is here we discover a more sinister plot emerging around the very gods people worship, and how those in power have manipulated circumstances to their own benefit. Many of the themes of the game struck a chord with writer and director Yasumi Matsuno, and still to this day feel very relevant in the world we live in.

The gameplay for Final Fantasy Tactics remains mostly the same, but has been given a few tweaks here and there to improve the experience and address the problems longtime fans have complained about. For starters, a lot of the information you need, such as turn order, ability information, unit placement, and more, has been retooled to make it easier for you to see what's happening and make decisions about what you'll do. The translation from Japanese to English, which many pointed out had several flaws, has been fixed. This shows with the new voice acting, which we'll address later. The menus have been given a changeup as well, making it easier to access individual characters for jobs, equipment, skills, and more. It's like someone took an old clock, opened it up, cleaned it out, put in some extra gears to make it run better, and adjusted the time. This is definitely a project where time and care were taken to make sure it stood up after restoration.

Fighting and battles have greatly improved as well, featuring a more robust system that will allow you to make your non-guest characters feel like they can become anything. A proper job tree now shows what you can make of your team and what levels you'll need to make it happen. It is indeed possible to make characters who have mastered every job, and equip them with so many different options in abilities, you can literally break the laws of physics with some of them to turn the toughest battles on their head and clear them with ease, if you're willing to put in the work. You also have a better sense of the battlefield with the way they have made the tilt-shift mechanics work, so you can properly see where you can move, how far your abilities can stretch, and how effective everything will be when you pull it off. Not everything is a guarantee, and there's also a chance involved, but that's how RPGs go. Also, if you're feeling like this is too hard or too easy, the game now com

One of the biggest additions to the game is a fully voice-over rendition of the story, as every significant role, minor character, and even NPCs who are doomed the minute they see you, have voice lines. This is a change of pace from just reading the text on screen from the original, as it adds a level of depth to the game that we really didn't realize we needed, and it fleshes out the story in ways that, even years later, I missed certain nuances from. That said, it can be jarring for longtime fans, who probably already have an idea of the voices they believe these characters should have, and now that has been replaced with modernized dialogue. It's a give-and-take improvement, but one that truly brings the story to light in a way most of us have never experienced with this title.

For those who truly do not wish to experience this and were perfectly fine with the game the way it was, you're in luck! Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles comes with the original game with no changes, so you can play it as you wish. It does come with the caveat that you have to start a new game and can't transfer your game between the old and the new. But if you're that dead set on playing the original, you probably don't care about that anyway, as you're perfectly fine playing the original like it's the one you've had on a memory card for two decades.

Overall, Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles has finally given the game its proper due for a new generation. A well-rounded story with a unique look and characters, presented in an upgraded form for everyone to enjoy. What's more, it's a story you can play over and over and not get bored, because there are options to draw out even more story from different characters in various battles, and make the game come alive in various ways you may have never known about before. It's a high recommendation for any RPG fan as a must-play title, and even if RPGs aren't your thing, they have an easy mode that's catered more for the story if you truly wish to experience the War of the Lions.

Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles

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Review by Gavin Sheehan

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10/10

Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles is a glorious return to one of the all-time nearly-forgotten RPGs of the '90s. WHile it may not have everything from other incarnations of the game, the story and gameplay stand the test of time.

Credits

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Publisher

Square Enix

Developer

Square Enix

Release Date

September 30, 2025

Reviewed On

Nintendo Switch 2

Also Available On

PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch

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