Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Review - Screenshot 1 of 7

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is almost the definitive way to play what is easily the most influential tactics game ever made. Square's stone-cold PS1 classic, Final Fantasy Tactics, has been reborn in all its isometric glory, featuring fully voiced dialogue and a gorgeous graphical Enhanced upgrade, as well as the option to play this timeless tale of political machinations in its wonderfully pixelated 1997 Classic form.

Sadly, the decision to axe content introduced in 2007's Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions PSP re-imagining is a bitter draught to swallow, even if it does allow the developer to remain true to the original vision of the game.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles introduces us, once again, to the vibrant world of Ramza Beoulve, the third son of a noble house of incomparable lineage, and his childhood companion, Delita.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Review - Screenshot 2 of 7

A commoner who grows to resent the privilege the nobility enjoys, Delita will rise to become a central part of the violent class struggle and civil war that wracks the kingdom of Ivalice in a legendary conflict known as the War of the Lions, and Ramza, along with him.

The game's narrative is framed from an interesting perspective; presented as a retelling of forgotten history, Delita is remembered as the hero of the age, with Ramza's involvement being obscured for initially unknown political reasons. Players experience the turn-based action from Ramza's point of view, and the many twists and turns of this tale play out across four chapters and dozens of hours of tactical gameplay.

Combat is where the vast majority of this time will be spent, and it's just about as immaculate as the genre gets. Battlefields are made up of square tiles representing various terrain types that must be negotiated to come to grips with the enemy. Units take turns to act, able to move, make an action such as attack or use an item, then decide which direction to face, in any order the player likes.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Review - Screenshot 3 of 7

Ramza is not alone in this quest; Final Fantasy Tactics' robust job system allows for an impressive amount of customisation, and players can create generic characters to fulfil a wide variety of direct combat and support roles. Classic series archetypes, such as White Mages, Summoners, and Dragoons, represent these, alongside more obscure classes such as Geomancer, Orator, and Arithmetician.

Named characters will fight alongside Ramza as the story progresses, sometimes joining the party permanently, and more often than not, will boast unique classes all their own, such as Machinist or Holy Knight. A character's job class grants certain statistical advantages and determines the skills that can be used and learned.

In addition to earning traditional experience and levelling up to increase base parameters like HP and MP, using a job's unique abilities earns job points, which can, in turn, be used to unlock new and powerful skills.

Unlocking a skill is permanent and can be used across jobs. The real magic of the game lies in finding synergies between the 20 jobs available, with the most advanced requiring a serious commitment to mastering a wide variety of jobs with a single unit.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Review - Screenshot 4 of 7

The kingdom of Ivalice is made up of cities, castles, monasteries, and more remote regions, represented by nodes on an ever-expanding world map. As the story progresses, new locales will become available, with others being temporarily and sometimes permanently closed off. Nodes can be revisited to grind for XP and job points, and they occasionally offer unexpected random encounters.

Outfitters in major settlements will gain new and powerful gear at periodic points, and equipping and tinkering with a character's various jobs form another central pillar of gameplay, alongside engaging in combat and consuming lengthy narrative cutscenes.

Final Fantasy Tactics' well-written story has always been a significant draw, and remains so. While quite complicated, with a dizzying array of characters and factions introduced, mercifully, there is a robust Chronicle mechanic that will allow you to keep the various key players in perspective.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Review - Screenshot 5 of 7

A detailed Encyclopaedia and Event library means you won't confuse your Duke Larg's with your Duke Goltanna's, or Ramza's unfortunately named half-bothers, the Lords Dycedarg and Zalbaag. Further, the State of the Realm screen will update after momentous events, showing where the various factions are situated and what territory their respective forces are currently occupying, in relation to Ramza's own.

The decision to forgo the additional content introduced in the War of the Lions PSP iteration is somewhat difficult to get past, especially if your sense of nostalgia is tied up with that iteration of the game. This means that the gorgeous cell-shaded cutscenes, additional jobs such as Dark Knight and Onion Knight, multiplayer components, and extra side content (such as the inclusion of Final Fantasy XII's leading man, Balthier, as a recruitable character) are not included. Final Fantasy VII protagonist Cloud Strife can still join your party, provided you jump through the requisite hoops.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Review - Screenshot 6 of 7

Oddly enough, the War of the Lions' famously florid, Shakespearean script was retained, used as the basis for the dialogue in The Ivalice Chronicles, but was reworked to accommodate the fully voice acted text in the Enhanced version. Classic retains the flowery language of the PSP iteration, but nearly three decades later, the original games' graphics are quite jarring, and Trophies are disabled in this mode.

Final Fantasy Tactics can be extremely challenging at times and requires quite a bit of grinding to move forward, at least on standard difficulty. In The Ivalice Chronicles, the default setting is now known as "Knight", with an easier "Squire" and masochistic "Tactician" introduced, for players who want a breezier or more challenging combat experience, respectively.

There is a small but much-appreciated set of modern conveniences introduced in The Ivalice Chronicles that absolutely elevates the experience beyond previous iterations. The ability to speed up combat is essential, as the pace of battle can otherwise feel maddeningly slow at times.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Review - Screenshot 7 of 7

Similarly, the overhauled UI makes predicting the outcome of actions much more feasible, and an autosave function prevents unnecessary frustration and loss of progress if a fight goes the wrong way. Further, a combat timeline clearly shows which characters' turns are coming up next, essential for proper tactical planning.

Conclusion

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is so close to being the definitive way to play what remains a masterful game to this day. Square Enix's unfortunate decision to axe content introduced in The War of the Lions stings, but if you can get past that, the raft of quality-of-life improvements, additions, and upgrades make it a fantastic way to revisit, or experience for the first time, one of the most influential video games ever made.

Related Products

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.