Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Japanese: ãã¡ã¤ãã«ãã¡ã³ã¿ã¸ã¼ã¿ã¯ãã£ã¯ã¹ ç
åæ¦äºHepburn: Fainaru FantajÄ« Takutikusu Shishi SensÅ) is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable (PSP), the game is an updated version of Final Fantasy Tactics made for the PlayStation which was released in 1997.[4]
The War of the Lions is the second announced game in Square Enix's 'Ivalice Alliance' series of video games set in the Ivalice fictional world. The first is Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (a sequel to Final Fantasy XII) and the third is Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (both of which were released on Nintendo DS).[5] Ivalice (during the setting of the game) has technology in line with the late medieval era of human history along with the typical magic and supernatural abilities found in most Final Fantasy games. Players control a mercenary named Ramza who finds himself embroiled in a civil war and an ancient demonic evil that has begun to take hold over the world. A noble by birth, he is forced to re-evaluate his opinion of commoners when his lowborn best friend starts a revolution against the ruling powers of Ivalice.
The game was overhauled during development to take advantage of the PSP's screen ratio and technical abilities which resulted in new cutscenes, the capacity for multiplayer, and other features. War of the Lions also includes new playable characters from other Final Fantasy titles, such as Balthier from Final Fantasy XII and Luso Clemens from Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, as well as returning favorite Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, who was playable in the original release of the game. The War of the Lions received strong reviews upon its release and has since been adapted for mobile phones and tablet devices.
![]() Content and gameplay[edit]
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is a turn-based tacticalrole-playing game.[6] Set within the fictional world of Ivalice, the game follows a war between the Kingdom of Ivalice and its neighbor Ordalia, told as a historical document relating the deeds of an extensive cast drawn from both sides of the conflict.[7][8][9] While preserving the main narrative of Final Fantasy Tactics with updated localization, War of the Lions also features tie-in references to other games set within Ivalice, including Balthier from Final Fantasy XII, and Luso Clemens from Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift.[10][11][12][13]
The combat of War of the Lions can be compared with board games such as chess, with each piece corresponding to a party member in Ramza's current roster of fighters.[6] Each fighter may move about the grid-like board in accordance with their move allotment as well as attack enemy fighters or activate more complex abilities.[14] The terrain of each map dictates the range and mobility of the warriors.[15] Ramza's soldiers can each equip a job in the Final Fantasy tradition, from standard swordsmen and archers to magic specialists to even more exotic positions, like the dragoon and dancer.[16] Fulfilling actions during a battle grants experience and job points to each character, the latter of which can be used to purchase new abilities.[17] There are 22 jobs available in The War of the Lions. Once a character has learned a skill from a job, they have permanent access to it, although only one primary group of skills is available at a time and is job-dependent. Many abilities, such as those related to movement or being struck by an enemy, can still be equipped if the character later changes jobs.[18] The game also features permadeath â if a character is incapacitated from excessive damage and is not healed within several turns, they are permanently dead and cannot be used again in battle.[19]
Outside of battles, players can move around on an overworld map. This is not free movement like other Final Fantasy games; instead Ramza can only go from point to point on the map. Crossing a wilderness location may lead to a random battle.[15] In cities and towns, the players can buy new equipment, recruit fresh soldiers, and send party members out on automated missions to earn cash and other rewards.[7] Later in the game, the player can earn additional rewards by poaching creatures during battles.
Another addition to the game is a wireless multiplayer mode, both for co-operative and competitive play. In competitive play, opposing teams may place traps onto the battlefield, and these traps are hidden from the opponent. To ease identification, teams are assigned colors. The battle ends after a set number of rounds, and the team with the most remaining HP is declared the winner. The winner may then receive an item randomly generated from treasure chests.[20] Multiplayer is not included in the iOS version, however.[8]
Development[edit]
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions was revealed on December 13, 2006, in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine as a PlayStation Portableport of Final Fantasy Tactics. The magazine stated additions of cel-shadedfull motion videos, and extra job classes among other new features.[21] The title was originally made for the PlayStation console in 1997. Takamasa Shiba, the remakes game's producer, said that Square Enix decided to 're-envision the game a decade later'. Because of the extensive gameplay and deep storyline, the PlayStation version would 'compel players to spend hours playing it'. Shiba cited this, as well as the system's portability, as the main reasons why Square chose to develop for the PlayStation Portable. The subtitle of The War of the Lions was chosen as it describes 'the backdrop for the story of the two main characters Ramza and Delita', as well as illustrating the multiplayer gameplay.[22]
Following the trend of Final Fantasy video games on PlayStation systems, The War of the Lions features full motion video during certain scenes. These videos are rendered using cel-shading, a technique giving the illusion of hand drawn animation.[23] These cutscenes were collaboratively animated by Japanese animation studios Kamikaze Douga and Studio Anima.[24] Because of the PlayStation Portable's screen size, the game features a 16:9 aspect ratio, as opposed to the previous 4:3.[25] The developers added sequences with visual arts illustrated by Akihiko Yoshida, and the game is complete with new episodes and cutscenes that were not in the original title. Developers wanted the game to suit both new players and players that have experienced the original title.[20] The cut scenes were also added to help players become immersed in the culture and history of Ivalice and 'War of the Lions'.[26] The Zodiac battle system was used in an international release of Final Fantasy XII due to both games taking place in the world of Ivalice and that the 'War of the Lions' battle director also Final Fantasy XII's international release and liked the combat system.[27] Luso from Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift was added to connect the game to the Ivalice Alliance game series.[26]
New character classes were chosen at the beginning of development, with a staff member who loved the original Tactics title assigned to balance the new jobs within the game.[26] The new classes are the Onion Knight, taken from Final Fantasy III, and the Dark Knight, which was previously only available to one character, Gaffgarion. The Dark Knight in the remake has additional abilities and thus the original Dark Knight class was renamed to 'Fell Knight'. The Fell Knight class is still unique to Gaffgarion.[23]
One of the new cutscenes in The War of the Lions. The developers chose to go with cel-shaded animation, giving the impression of pencil-drawn imagery.
The North American localization of The War of the Lions has full audio voice acting for the video sequences in the game.[28] The slowdown and sound downgrade, though acknowledged by the localizers, was not a priority for them to fix, being stated as 'out of their hands.'[29] Various reviewers have differing opinions about how the slowdown issue has been addressed; one of the previews of the North American version claims that the slowdown has been reduced, stating that 'now the technical issues are about on par with the minor slowdown exhibited in the PS1 release and are no longer distracting', while others stated that the slowdowns still 'occur when performing attacks or spells in battle'.[30][31]
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Because of vocal criticism of the original English language translation, a whole new translation was commissioned for the remake.[27] The PlayStation Portable producer Akitoshi Kawazu described the game as having 'an incredible amount of text' versus an ordinary RPG.[26] Translating the game's script was assigned to Joe Reeder, who pulled in fellow translator Tom Slattery after becoming impressed with some of his internal work at Square Enix.[32] Both worked on the game, alternating between each other translating scenes until Reeder had to leave the project to work on Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings and Slattery became head translator.[32] The translation work took six to seven days a week at twelve to thirteen hour stretches.[32] To incorporate the game deeper into the world of Ivalice, the new English translation changed words to standard Final Fantasy terms and spellings such as 'magick', 'Dragoon', and 'Mystic'.[33] To help address any controversy that the game's plot was a criticism of Christianity, Slattery retained the game's opening prayer that is directed toward the 'gods', separating the church of Galbados from the monotheistic Christian faith.[32]
Other platforms[edit]
A PlayStation Network version was released on March 9, 2011, in Japan, and in North America on July 18, 2011.[34] In response to players requests that Square Enix release more of their catalogue on mobile phones, a project to port 'War of the Lions' commenced.[35] Rebuilding the game for a touch interface and not having the PlayStation Portables shoulder buttons took much time and 'trial and error', relying on the work done to adapt previous Final Fantasy titles.[35] Certain iOS features were not supported including Game Center since the game is not 'inherently competitive'.[35]
The War of the Lions for iOS was announced at E3 2010 and released for in 2011, with the iPhone version released on August 4, 2011.[36] An iPad version was released on February 23, 2012.[37] An Android port was released through the Square Enix Market on February 14, 2013, in Japan, featuring enhanced graphics, a higher draw speed, and controls optimized for a touchscreen.[38] An iOS update was promised, and when released also included multiple iCloud save slot support.[38][39] The Android version was globally launched on Google Play on June 4, 2015 without cloud saving.[2]
Reception[edit]
The War of the Lions reached the top of Japanese gaming charts, and sold 100,000 copies in the first month of release in the United States.[50] The game was the 53rd best-selling game of 2007 in Japan at 301,796 copies according to Famitsu.[51] The Ultimate Hits edition sold an additional 19,488 copies in Japan.[52]
As of December 18, 2007, The War of the Lions on the PSP has a score of 88/100 at the aggregate review site Metacritic based on 41 reviews,[41] 88% at GameRankings based on 47 reviews.[40] In comparison, the original Final Fantasy Tactics scored 83 from 12 reviews at Metacritic.[53] Critics in general were pleased that the game had been remade, as it was considered a cult hit in its original incarnation but copies had become difficult to find.[15][10][54]The War of the Lion's tactical gameplay was widely praised as deep and engaging, as battles could proceed along any number of lines depending on party composition and player strategy.[7][55] Reviewers liked the focus on player choice on the battlefield, such as approaching an engagement with defense in mind, or alternatively hitting enemies hard and fast in a kind of blitzkrieg.[56] The Job system, especially its complexity, customization, and ability to influence battles, was commended.[14][19][56]GameTrailers wrote: 'Even up to now, Final Fantasy Tacticsâ job classing structure is still one of the best the genre has seen; a feature-rich and flexible system matched only by its equally complex battle engine.'[15] The new jobs were also appreciated.[7][55]
The War of the Lions' new translation was frequently commented upon. Reviewers felt that while its narrative was florid, even Shakespearean, it was an improvement over the original, which was described as confusing and convoluted.[14][15] The story itself was also lauded for its depth and maturity, although commentators did note that its large cast of characters was occasionally difficult to follow.[19][7] The new cel-shaded cutscenes were very popular and described as 'magical', 'beautiful', and 'outstanding'.[19][10][56] There were some comments that the sprites, textures, and environmental visuals in general had not been improved,[15][54] with the exception of new spell animations.[10] The sound was both praised and criticized, with observations about beautiful music but grating camera sound effects.[17][19][7][57]
The negative comments about The War of the Lions focused on the game's slowdown during battles and its difficulty. Some party actions slow down the game's framerate and decrease the audio quality, becoming most apparent when casting spells or using special abilities that require different lighting effects.[15][7][10] Despite the move from disc-only to the option of playing via PlayStation Network download, the slowdown remains, as confirmed by PlayStation LifeStyle's review.[55] The difficulty was widely considered punishing and perhaps discouraging to new players.[14][7][57]Eurogamer's Rob Fahey said: '[The game's] difficulty curve is somewhat peculiar - to put it charitably..We certainly encountered some battles that were ludicrously easy, and a couple (especially early on) so hard that we had to re-equip and fight a few random battles before trying again.'[17]
The iOS version was less well received than the PSP edition. While reviewers echoed positive comments about the storyline and gameplay, they were displeased with the removal of multiplayer, graphical issues that still had not been fixed, and most importantly, the price point at initial release.[6][57][48][58] At the time, it was the most expensive game ever released on the operating system.[16]USgamer on the other hand listed the remake as one of the best ever made.[59]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Final_Fantasy_Tactics:_The_War_of_the_Lions&oldid=886043971'
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Videogame/FinalFantasyTactics
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'O Father, grant unto us, your children of Ivalice, salvation.'
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A Gaiden Game entry into the pants-twistingly popularFinal Fantasy series. It combined Turn-Based Strategy with a Role-Playing Game, and is the first game in the series to take place in the world of Ivalice. Due to the immense resemblance and many developers shared between the two series, particularly Yasumi Matsuno, the game is often seen as a Spiritual Successor to Tactics Ogre.
The game's Framing Device is a report from a scholar in the fantasy world of Ivalice, who has discovered a manifest called the 'Durai Report.' This report purportedly reveals the truth behind the 'War Of The Lions,' a Succession Crisis that kicked off several hundred years ago when the eldest daughter, Princess Ovelia, and her younger brother Orinas, were both propped up as Puppet Rulers by competing lords. The Lion War is known even amongst children, since it is the backdrop of the Rags to Riches tale of commoner and hero Delita Heiral, who ended the conflict atop the throne.
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But according to the Durai papers, the true hero of the tale is Player Character Ramza Beoulve: the second-youngest member of the noble Beoulve family, Delita's best friend, and a traitor and branded heretic whose name has been stricken from the record. As Ramza grows up from a naïve military cadet to a hardened mercenary, he becomes deeply embedded in not only the shadow war for the throne, not only the risk of all-out rebellion by the commoner classes against the suppressive and scheming nobles, but an ancient conspiracy by the Glabados Church to take over the world. Contrasting these adventures are those of Guest-Star Party Member Delita, who uses bits and pieces of the conflict to his own ends.
While not the traditional FF fare, it was embraced by Turn-Based Strategy fans for its challenging, satisfactory gameplay and the sheer depth of its Job System â which took the similar mechanics from Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy V, cranked it Up to Eleven, resulting in a level of army customization reminiscent of tabletop wargames. It was also infamous for its 'Blind Idiot' Translation and resulting Engrish, often called 'Daravonese' after the tutorial character who spouted most of it. The PSP remake was re-localized by long-time Square Enix collaborator Joseph Reeder, and featured many bugfixes as well as motion video cutscenes and additional dialogue.
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Followed by a Non-Linear Sequel, Vagrant Story. Years later, the atmosphere of Ivalice was re-imagined in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, which took place in a dream world centuries in the past. The actual era that this dream world was based on was then first seen in Final Fantasy XII, and again in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, with another prequel in the form of Final Fantasy Tactics A2. Most recently, the events of Tactics was used as the basis for the Return to Ivalice series of raids in the MMO Final Fantasy XIV, set several hundred years later.
It has been re-released four times. The first was on the PS1's 'Greatest Hits' line, though it still remains hard to find for that console. The next two were for the Playstation Portable: a straight port came second, but first was the Video Game RemakeFinal Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, which added FMV Cut Scenes, a few new secret characters, and (in the new translation) more elevated language to capitalize on the game's tonal resemblance to the then-massive HBO series Game of Thrones (the two share not only an emphasis on politics and motivation, but an inspiration in the real-life Wars of the Roses). Finally, WotL was (re-)re-released for iOS and Android.
This game provides examples of:
Index
(Redirected from Characters of Final Fantasy Tactics)
Final Fantasy Tactics[a] is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Squaresoft (later changed to Square and now Square Enix) for the SonyPlayStationvideo game console. It is the first game of the Final Fantasy Tactics series and was released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998. The game combines thematic elements of the Final Fantasy video game series with a game engine and battle system unlike those previously seen in the franchise. In contrast to other 32-bit eraFinal Fantasy titles, Final Fantasy Tactics uses a 3D, isometric, rotatable playing field, with bitmapsprite characters.[2]
Final Fantasy Tactics is set in a fictional medieval-inspired kingdom called Ivalice, created by Yasumi Matsuno. The game's story follows Ramza Beoulve, a highborn cadet who finds himself thrust into the middle of an intricate military conflict known as The Lion War, where two opposing noble factions are coveting the throne of the kingdom. As the story progresses, Ramza and his allies discover a sinister plot behind the war.
The game received extremely positive reviews from gaming magazines and websites and has become a cult classic since its release. It has been cited as one of the greatest video games of all time.
A spin-off title, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, was released for the NintendoGame Boy Advance in 2003 and a sequel to that title, Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, was released in 2007 for the Nintendo DS. Various other games have also utilized the Ivalice setting, including Vagrant Story for the PlayStation and Final Fantasy XII for the PlayStation 2. An enhanced port of Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, was released in 2007 as part of Square Enix's Ivalice Alliance project.[3]
Gameplay[edit]
The gameplay of Final Fantasy Tactics differs in several key areas from other titles in the Final Fantasy series. Instead of a generic battle screen, with the player's characters on one side and the enemies on the other, encounters take place on three-dimensional, isometric fields. Characters move on a battlefield composed of square tiles; movement and action ranges are determined by the character's statistics and job class.[4] Battles are turn-based; a unit may act when its CT (Charge Time) reaches 100.[4] Charge time is increased once every CT unit (a measure of time in battles) by an amount equal to the unit's speed statistic.[4] When CT reaches 100 or greater, the unit may act. During battle, whenever a unit performs an action successfully, it gains Experience Points (EXP) and Job Points (JP).[5]
An example of the isometric battlefields found in the game. The blue panels on the ground mark where the Wizard (with straw hat and 'AT' icon) can move to.
Another difference is the manner in which random battles are encountered. Like other Final Fantasy games, random battles occur on the world map. However, in Final Fantasy Tactics, random battles only occur in pre-set locations, marked in green on the world map.[6] Passing over one of these spots may result in a random encounter. Another major aspect of battles is magical attacks. Certain magical attacks cause area of effect damage, and many of the more powerful magical attacks require several turns of charging.[7]Hit Points of enemy units are also visible to the player (except in the case of certain bosses), allowing the player to know exactly how much damage they still have to inflict on a particular unit.[5]
Movement on the world map is limited to predefined paths connecting the towns and battle points.[6] When the character icon is over a town, a menu can be opened with several options: 'Bar' for taking sidequest job offers, 'Shop' for buying supplies and equipment, and 'Soldier Office' for recruiting new characters.[6] Later in the game, some towns contain 'Fur Shops' for obtaining items by way of poaching monsters.[6]
Final Fantasy Tactics offers a wide selection of Job Classes. This particular character is currently a Wizard.
Like several installments in the series, Final Fantasy Tactics features a character class system, which allows players to customize characters into various roles. The game makes extensive use of most of the original character classes seen in earlier Final Fantasy games, including Summoners, Wizards (Black Mages), Priests (White Mages), Monks, Lancers (Dragoons), and Thieves.[8] New recruits start out as either a Squire or a Chemist, the base classes for warrior and magician jobs, respectively. The game features twenty jobs accessible by normal characters.[8]
Throughout the game, unique characters also join the party. As well, some characters join as 'guests', which are computer-controlled characters that fight on your side. Many of the unique characters have custom classes that replace the base squire class. It's also possible to recruit monsters into the party. Monsters have unique abilities, but cannot change jobs. Monsters can be captured from battles or bred from existing monsters. Outdoor temperature and humidity sensor.
In battle, JP are rewarded for every successful action. JP are used to learn new abilities within each job class.[8] Accumulating enough JP results in a job level up; new jobs are unlocked by attaining a certain level in the current job class (for instance, to become a Priest or Wizard, the unit must first attain Job Level 2 as a Chemist), which also allows the character to gain more JP in that class in battles.[8] Once all the abilities of a job class have been learned, the class is 'Mastered'. A soldier in a specific Job always has its innate skill equipped (Wizards always have 'Black Magic,' Knights always have 'Battle Skill') but a second job-skill slot and several other ability slots (Reaction, Support, and Movement) can be filled with any skill the particular soldier has learned from any job class. This deep level of customization and flexibility grants nigh-infinite replayability, contributing to the game's unusually enduring popularity.[8]
Plot[edit]Setting[edit]
The story takes place in the kingdom of Ivalice, located in a peninsula surrounded by sea on the north, west and south, with a headland south of the landmass. Its geography features ranging landscapes, from plains to mountains ranges to deserts and forests. It is heavily populated by human beings, although intelligent monsters can be found living in less populated areas. Magic is predominant in the land, although ruins and artifacts indicated that past populace had relied on machinery, such as airships and robots.[9]
Ivalice is a kingdom of seven territories; Fovoham, Gallione, Limberry, Lionel, Zeltennia, the Holy Territory of Murond (Mullonde in later versions), and the Royal Capital of Lesalie (Lesalia in later versions),[10] Ivalice's neighbors are the kingdom of Ordalia in the east and Romanda, a military nation to the north, across the Rhana Strait. While the three nations share common royal bloodlines, major wars have taken place between them. An influential religious institution known as the Glabados Church heads the dominant faith, centering around a religious figure known as Saint Ajora.[11]
The story takes place after Ivalice ended its war with the two nations in what is known as the Fifty Years War, and is facing economic problems and political strife.[12] Adding to its problems is the recent death of the king, whose heir is only an infant.[13] A regent is needed to rule in place of the prince, and the kingdom is split between Prince Goltana, represented by the Black Lion, and Prince Larg, symbolized by the White Lion. The conflict leads to what is known in the game as the Lion War. Behind this backdrop is a revelation by the game's historian Alazlam J. Durai, who seeks to reveal the story of an unknown character whose role in the Lion War was major but was covered up by the kingdom's church.[14] The setting is based around this character, named by default as Ramza, and revolves around his early life and the future conflicts he faced while the events that changed the kingdom unfold.
Characters[edit]
Central to the plot of the game are two main characters, Ramza Beoulve and Delita Heiral. The two characters are childhood friends, and while both are born of differing social classes; Ramza a noble and Delita a commoner, both disregarded this fact and grew up together believing in justice and honor, as taught by Ramza's father Barbaneth (called Balbanes in earlier version). However, as the story progresses, the two characters faced many conflicts that changed their viewpoint on life; Delita seeks to manipulate the upper class to achieve his dreams, while Ramza believes in justice and honor regardless of name and class.[15][16]
The game's plot is then portrayed through the eyes of Ramza Beoulve, who is the player character of the story. His exploits in the war introduced him to a number of characters; each with their own roles and agenda concerning the war and the fictional world, Ivalice, that they inhabit. The most prominent factions at the beginning of the story are those of Prince Goltana and Prince Larg, both are nobles seeking to obtain control of the throne by being the guardian to the monarch's young heir and were thus engaged in a war. The story progresses to include characters from the Glabados Church, which have been controlling Ivalice silently and engineering the war in question.[17]
As the game progresses, players are able to recruit generic player characters and customize them using the Job system of the Final Fantasy series. Several battles also feature 'Guest' characters that are controlled via the game's A.I., which may be recruited later in the game according to the story proper. Aside from original characters, the developers have also incorporated cameo roles from other Square games. The characters were designed by Akihiko Yoshida, who was also in charge of the illustration and character designs of games such as Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Fantasy XII, and Vagrant Story.[18][19]
Story[edit]
Final Fantasy Tactics begins with Ivalice just recovering from the Fifty Year War against Ordalia.[20] The power vacuum caused by the death of its ruler, King Omdoria, soon sparks another conflict. Princess Ovelia and the younger Prince Orinas are both candidates to the throne, with the former supported by Prince Goltana of the Black Lion,[21] and the latter by Queen Ruvelia and her brother, Prince Larg of the White Lion.[22] This erupts into a full-scale war known as the 'Lion War', with either side using whatever means possible to secure their place in the throne. This includes bearing an illegitimate child,[23] killing other possible heirs,[24] betrayal,[25] assassination[26] and false identities.[27]
Throughout the game, nobles regard commoners and peasants as animals,[28] and many commoners try to take revenge on the nobles, who abandoned them after the war.[29] Most joined the so-called Corpse Brigade (a.k.a. Death Corps) to fight against the nobles' soldiers, and many die in vain.[30] Ramza, part of the noble Beoulve family of knights, and Delita, his childhood friend who was an ordinary commoner, are witnesses to this phenomenon. Events such as meeting an arrogant noble named Argath (a.k.a. Algus), as well as the negligent killing of Delita's sister Tietra (a.k.a. Teta) during an uprising, cause Delita and Ramza to abandon their ties to the nobility, both going separate ways.[31]
Ramza joins a mercenary group,[32] led by Gafgarion, who protects Princess Ovelia from being hunted by both sides. Delita joins Prince Goltana's forces to rise up through the ranks and gain control over his own destiny.[33] Ramza and Delita are reunited when Gafgarion attempts to take Ovelia to Prince Larg, though this proves futile. Agrias suggests visiting Cardinal Delacroix (a.k.a. Draclau) of the Glabados Church to protect Ovelia, while Delita continues to work in the shadows, working with multiple sides to realize his ambitions.[34] Along the way to Lionel Castle, Ramza meets Mustadio, a machinist in possession of a holy relic called the Zodiac Stone. Hunted by a trading company for the power it contains,[35] Mustadio also seeks Delacroix's intervention.
However, soon after the encounter with Cardinal Delacroix, Ramza discovers that an elaborate plot was set by the Glabados Church. In their desire to control Ivalice, the Church, particularly the High Confessor Marcel Funebris (a.k.a. High Priest Marge Funeral), uses the legend of the so-called holy Zodiac Braves to gather the Zodiac Stones,[36] and fuels the Lion War between Larg and Goltana.[37] To stave off Ramza's interference, Delacroix uses the stone to transform into a legendary Lucavi demon,[38] and Ramza has no choice but to slay him/it. As a result, Ramza is regarded a heretic of the Church, and he is approached by the Confessor Zalmour (a.k.a. Heretic Examiner Zalmo) at Lesalia Imperial Capital.[39]
While noble in name, the Beoulve family is susceptible to corruption, due to ambition. Dycedarg, the eldest sibling, conspires with Larg and the Church to ensure that the Beoulve family remains in power. However, his younger brother Zalbag is unaware of his dealings.[40] Alma, Ramza's younger sister, remains in church, unaffected by the situation until Ramza is branded a heretic in front of her.[41] Ramza seeks to rescue her after her capture while helping Ramza escape the Confessors/Heresy Examiners. Only Ramza and Alma share their father's sense of justice.
Ramza is chased throughout the story by the Knights Templar (a.k.a. Shrine Knights), the soldiers of the Church who are hunting the Zodiac Stones, although he gains allies, either by saving their lives,[42] or by showing them the truth.[43] Some individuals with knowledge of the Zodiac Stones attempt to conspire with the Knights Templar for its power, though most fail.[44][45] Ramza also acquires proof of the Church's lies about Saint Ajora, a central figure in the religion,[46] and attempts to use it along with the Zodiac Stone to reveal the organization's plot.[47]
During the course of the story, the two sides face off in a major battle that sees the deaths of many soldiers, including their leaders Larg and Goltana. Ramza manages to stop the bloodshed from continuing and rescues the general, Count Cidolfus Orlandeau (a.k.a. Cidolfas Orlandu), though the Church succeeds in eliminating the two Lions to secure its power over Ivalice. Deeper into the story, Ramza discovers that the Knights Templar are in reality possessed by the Lucavi, who are the real conspirators behind the Church's plot.[48] The Lucavi are seeking to resurrect their leader Ultima (a.k.a. Altima), who in the past was Saint Ajora, and they need much bloodshed and a suitable body to complete the resurrection. Alma is to serve as the host for Ultima's incarnation.[49][50] While racing off to find her, Ramza encounters Dycedarg - now a Lucavi demon - and witnesses Zalbag's death. Zalbag is then risen and converted into an undead servant, and frequently begs for death during the encounter.
At the end of the story, though Ultima is resurrected, Ramza and his allies succeed in destroying her. Their final fates are unknown, although Orran Durai (a.k.a. Olan), a witness who had many encounters with Ramza, does witness Ramza and Alma riding away from the kingdom on Chocobos at the end of the game. In the epilogue, Delita marries Ovelia and becomes the King of Ivalice.[51] However, he fails to find true satisfaction as even Ovelia distrusts him, leading her to stab Delita. Ovelia in turn is stabbed by the agonizing Delita and dies. Delita then sorrowfully cries out to Ramza, asking if what they have done was worth what they received (vilification for Ramza, and ostracization for Delita).[52] Orran attempts to reveal the Church's evil plot with the 'Durai Report.' However, his papers are confiscated and he is burned at the stake for heresy.[53] The story ends many centuries later with the historian Arazlam J. Durai (a.k.a. Alazlam) intent on revealing the truth of the Lion War and the Durai Report.[54][55]
Development[edit]
Final Fantasy Tactics was produced mostly by the team that made Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre, and was Yasumi Matsuno's first project with Square following his departure from Quest in 1995.[56] In an interview with Akito Inoue, an assistant professor at the International University of Japan, Inoue mentions that Final Fantasy Tactics was made because of how casual gamers are usually put off by games with branching storylines found in other Matsuno's titles such as Tactics Ogre.[57]
Several historical and mythological references were altered by translators: for instance, the Norse World Tree, Yggdrasil, makes an appearance as Yugodorasil; the word 'breath' is consistently rendered as 'bracelet' in attack names; and Wiegraf's name is nearly homonymous with a character from Beowulf but rendered differently.[58] The in-game tutorial function also shows examples of Engrish - poorly translated English - including lines such as 'This was the darkened Items won't appear.'[59]
The game also includes references to several Final Fantasy specific characters, places, and situations from earlier games in the Final Fantasy series â Final Fantasy VII's Cloud Strife is a playable character, and through the 'Proposition' system in bars scattered around the world map, treasures and lost areas such as 'Matoya Cave' (a reference to the first Final Fantasy) and various colors of materia can be found.[60] To keep with tradition, Olan's adoptive father, Cidolfas Orlandu, is nicknamed 'T.G. Cid', and chocobos are present in the game as well. Additionally, most of the monsters appear in one Final Fantasy game or another, although the Lucavi are entirely new monsters altogether.[61]
Music[edit]
The original score for Final Fantasy Tactics was composed, arranged, and produced by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata. Matsuno approached his longtime friends Sakimoto and Iwata to compose the music soon after the initial release of Final Fantasy VII in January 1997.[62] Sakimoto composed 47 tracks for the game, and Iwata was left to compose the other 24. The orchestral timbres of the game's music were synthesized, with performance by Katsutoshi Kashiwabara and sound programming by Hidenori Suzuki. The album was first released on two Compact Discs by now-defunct DigiCube on June 21, 1997, bearing the catalog number SSCX-10008,[63] and was re-released by Square Enix on March 24, 2006, with the catalog number SQEX-10066/7. It spans two discs and 71 tracks, covering a duration of 2:31:03.
Some reviewers made comparison with Nobuo Uematsu's Final Fantasy compositions, though the soundtrack received positive reviews from critics. Chudah's Corner summarized its review by stating that the soundtrack is an 'astoundingly memorable classic of videogame music'.[64] This is also supported by other professional reviews, such as by an RPGFan reviewer that 'don't believe that any other soundtrack known to man surpasses it', and a VGM World review who quotes that 'the orchestral music is beautiful nonetheless'.[65][66]
Reception[edit]
Final Fantasy Tactics sold nearly 825,000 copies in Japan in the first half of 1997, and ended the year at almost 1.24 million copies sold.[84][85] Since then, the total number of copies sold in Japan has reached approximately 1.35 million.[86] In the United States it reached an estimated sale of 750,000 units as of year 2004.[87] As of March 31, 2003, the game had shipped 2.27 million copies worldwide, with 1.36 million of those copies being shipped in Japan and 910,000 abroad.[88] Since its release, rumors were circulated that the game was to be re-released by Sony as a Greatest Hits title, the tentative date being around July 30, 2001.[89][90] As of August, 2011, the game had sold over 2.4 million copies worldwide.[91]
Final Fantasy Tactics received universal acclaim upon its release, and critical opinion of the game has improved further over time. Magazines such as Electronic Gaming Monthly acknowledged it as 'Square's first attempt into the strategy RPG genre'; though being 'uneven', it is worthy of being called 'a classic'.[83]Game Informer called it 'the most impressive strategy RPG yet.'[92] Gaming websites such as GameSpot lauded the game's battle sequences as challenging, requiring more strategic planning than ordinary RPGs.[2]IGN noted that the plot was the strength of the game, being in-depth and with numerous plot twists. During battle sequences, the story unfolds to create a serious atmosphere of the plot, even with simple and 'cute' character design. The spells and summoning visuals were compared with Final Fantasy VII 's detailed graphics.[2][73]
Criticism is made on gameplay, plot and the localization effort. One of the reviews of RPGFan criticized the difficulty of the game as being inconsistent with each encounter against enemy units. The factors that influence the difficulty of the game include overpowered enemy units or party members, and time had to be taken to level up before any progress can be made.[79] Though in-depth, IGN also noted that the game's plot was confusing at times, and that the item system was repetitive.[73] The game's localization effort was criticized by reviewers as poorly written, being rife with grammatical mistakes that almost stopped players from enjoying the storyline.[2] General RPGFan review noted that the battlefield area was too small, hindering any possibilities for better strategy. The gameplay is summarized by one of the reviews as 'strength vs. strength and proper spacing of troops when fighting magic users'.[80]
Final Fantasy Tactics Ps1
IGN awarded the game the Editor's Choice Award on 1998, praising the in-game graphics as 'amazing' and the battle environments with its extra details as being 'extremely well designed'.[73]GameSpot has named Final Fantasy Tactics as one of its Greatest Games of All Time[93]âthe first Final Fantasy game to receive such an honour. However, its legacy remains fairly obscure compared to Final Fantasy VII, also released for the PlayStation that year. The game still entered many 'best games of all time' lists, receiving 84th place in the 'Top 100 Favorite Games of All Time' poll by Japanese magazine Famitsu during March 2006,[94] 19th in a 2005 list by GameFAQs users,[95] 45th in Game Informer's list,[96] 43rd in Electronic Gaming Monthly's,[97] and 38th in IGN's.[98] Since its release, Final Fantasy Tactics has attracted a cult following.[99]Fan communities dedicated to modding and balancing the game have appeared on the internet. These communities experience member activity as of 2011, fourteen years after Final Fantasy Tactics' original release.[100]
Versions and re-releases[edit]
Final Fantasy Tactics saw several re-releases. Final Fantasy Tactics was re-released as part of the Square's Millennium Collection. This series of games was only released in Japan, and each title is bought with a set of related merchandise. Final Fantasy Tactics was sold on June 29, 2000 along with titles such as Saga Frontier, Saga Frontier 2, Brave Fencer Musashi, Front Mission 3, Ehrgeiz and Legend of Mana.[101][102]
Four years after its release in 1997, Final Fantasy Tactics was selected as part of the Sony Greatest Hits line of rereleases.[103] Games released as Sony Greatest Hits were sold at a lower price. Final Fantasy Tactics also became part of Ultimate Hits, Square Enix's main budget range available in Japan.[104]
A PlayStation Portable version of Final Fantasy Tactics, entitled Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions was released on May 10, 2007, in Japan; and is now released across all regions. It is the second game announced as part of the Ivalice Alliance. The game features an updated version of Final Fantasy Tactics, along with new features including in-game cutscenes, new characters, and multiplayer capability. The updated mechanics contain a 16:9 widescreen support, new items, new jobs, and cel-shaded full motion videos. The English version contains full voice acting during the cinematic cut scenes, whereas the Japanese version does not.[3]
Legacy[edit]
The world of Final Fantasy Tactics has been featured in several other Square video games. After the game's release, the development staff went on to develop Vagrant Story, which featured several subtle references to Final Fantasy Tactics. In an interview with the French video game magazine Joypad, Matsuno stated that both titles are set in the same fictional world of Ivalice.[105] During the development of Vagrant Story, Matsuno and Sakaguchi initiated a sequel to Tactics, which would have used 2D graphics due to issues with 3D development at the time. Due to the team's committent to Vagrant Story, the project was outsourced to an unspecified developer, but was cancelled for unspecified reasons.[106]
Square released Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in 2003. The game setting and engine are similar to the ones of its predecessor, however the characters and plot are notably different; the cast of characters is considerably smaller, and the plot is considerably simpler.[107] Additionally, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance has a shorter main campaign, but more side missions and a secret campaign at the end of the game.
In 2006, Final Fantasy XII was released, also set in the world of Ivalice. Square Enix announced at the end of the same year the Ivalice Alliance, a new series of games set in the world of Ivalice, during a Tokyo press conference. The first title released was Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings.[108] An indirect sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, titled Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, was released in Japan in 2007 and in the rest of the world in 2008. It is also one of the titles released under the Ivalice Alliance game series, and takes place in the Ivalice universe.[109][110] Ramza also appears as a playable character in the fighting game Dissidia Final Fantasy NT.[111]
In 2017, the MMORPGFinal Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn portrayed a version of the events of Final Fantasy Tactics as a fairy tale, with Ivalice being a mythical realm. It also introduced a version of Ramza and Alma as characters within the setting.[112]
The remixed song from the game, 'Ovelia & Delita', was nominated for 'Best Game Music Cover/Remix' at the 16th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards.[113]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Final_Fantasy_Tactics&oldid=903629511'
Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the best games ever made and Yasumi Matsuno is a genius, but chapter 4 always felt the weakest to me. Actually, I think the game's problems really begin around Chapter 3 when Alma gets kidnapped.
Up until that point, the game builds its world rather slowly. Little by little, the game builds all sorts of little subplots and character dilemmas, but then the focus shifts once Alma gets kidnapped to Ramza trying to get her back, as if he didn't have enough on his plate already. Chapter 4 deals with this the most since he's basically chasing her kidnappers the entire chapter. I guess my problem is, that after such a slow build up it feels like everything gets resolved way too quickly. The entire war/conspiracy stuff gets like one cut scene for each subplot and then everything is tied nicely up. It's like the game had a really long awesome beginning and then a short ending. Am I the only one that feels that way, or is this something that others have perceived? I guess it doesn't hurt that the game is top-heavy in terms of difficulty. Early on, the game feels longer because you're so weak, but by time you get to chapter 4, you can steam roll over every mission Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions FAQs
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