Released in the US January of 1998 to critical acclaim, Final Fantasy Tactics became an instant classic. I’d eventually find my copy on a shelf at EB Games during the summer of 2003 for my 10th Birthday. This was my introduction to the series and I’d spend countless hours after school trying different combinations of jobs, starting new playthroughs (after getting soft locked into un-winnable save files), and drawing my favorite sprites all over my homework. While scrolling through the app store on my iPad almost 20 years later, I found the iOS port of the PSP remaster, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. Quickest 14 bucks(7.99 right now!) I’d spent since my last Starb’s run.

 

This port is probably the best, most accessible way to experience the game. The touch controls are intuitive except for unavoidable frustration when moving the cursor on craggy maps. In terms of Tactical RPGs, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions is one of the GOATs and absolutely a game that deserves (another) remaster for modern consoles.

 

Final Fantasy Tactics is told mostly from the perspective of Ramza Beoulve, a half-blood heir to the noble Beoulve House, as he navigates the harsh realities of war and the rift between the Nobility of Ivalice and everyone else. Ramza is a self-possessed young man whose belief in doing what’s right compells him to renounce his nobility and entreat all parties involved to end the titular War of the Lions. Growing up with his common-born best friend Delita gave Ramza perspective on what life is like for most people in Ivalice, which greatly effected him. The relationship between these becomes a driving force for the story as they soon find themselves under opposing banners.

 

Ramza’s journey is notably darker than other protagonists in the series. The tone of Final Fantasy Tactics is constantly bleak, even when celebrating victories. The focus put on expressing the consequences of war makes for a very grounded and compelling narrative. Many of the antagonists feel especially heinous because they explore the darker sides of human depravity that Final Fantasy's typical flagship villains are just not motivated by.

 

Ramza's adventures take him through several different locales around Ivalice as he finds himself tangled in political conspiracies. Conspiracies that very quickly cross over into the supernatural. The humility and grace with which Ramza carries himself is compelling and really sets him apart from other Final Fantasy heroes as a cut above the rest.

 

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions added a lot to the base game. New animated cutscenes help contextualize certain plot points while giving life to some of the areas you otherwise only see a single zone from. The voice acting in each cutscene is pretty cool too. Much of the in game dialogue was revised, adding a little flavor to the alread ‘mm-chef’s-kiss story.

 

Gameplay involves directing units around a grid-based map. Positioning on each panel is crucial as it can effect a unit's block and dodge chance. Units on both sides will queue their actions up and then execute them individually to end their turn. Any action that is performed during a turn (except Defending) will earn a unit Job Points that are used to unlock more powerful abilities for each job.

 

Tactics' job system is nearly perfect and the core gameplay loop kept me in the job menu after every battle, checking to see if I'd accumulated enough Job Points for a new spell or ability. Job level is independent of unit level and certain jobs are locked behind combinations of other job level requirements. This means units need to switch roles often to round out their toolkits. Further incentivizing job experimentation, each character can be assigned a sub-job to improve their utility. This means you can have a Knight with Chemist skills to use potions and other items in a pinch or a Black Mage that can sling some White Magick support spells.

 

There are many unique systems to consider in combat: zodiac sign combinations working as spell multipliers between characters, a Faith system that can make units immune to various magicks or extremely susceptible to them, and even permadeath if any of your units falls in battle and is not resurrected before a certain number of rounds completes. All of these systems lend to the game’s unforgiving difficulty level for new players in the first few chapters. Once you have a grasp on what’s going on under the hood though, victories become so rewarding that the game can become hard to put down.

 

Two additional jobs were added with War of the Lions, and are…interesting to say the least. The Dark Knight and Onion Knight classes are iconic Final Fantasy jobs, however, both require you to go so far out of your way to be useful that it’s very likely you won’t even use either job. In my play through, I did not bother with unlocking either (although Onion Knight is my favorite Final Fantasy job) and I wasn’t too sore about it. It's very easy to become overpowered in the last stretch of the game, which was my biggest gripe playing the game now. I was given so many powerful unique characters in the last chapter that it felt like all the grinding I did with my generic units was pointless since you are limited to a small number of deployable units for each battle.

 

I could talk about this game all day, but I'll keep it short and say that if you love tactical RPGs, there’s a good chance you’ve at least heard of Final Fantasy Tactics. Believe the hype for this one. This game can be a slam dunk for anyone looking for an adventure with a rich story and action you can take at your own pace.