Verdict
Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles has some fun yet immensely difficult strategy combat, a gorgeous art style, and an intriguing story. I would recommend the game to anyone looking for a challenge; however, if you’re only interested due to it having Final Fantasy in its name, this probably isn’t the game for you.
Anyone who has ever met me knows that if you slap the words 'Final Fantasy' onto something, I'm going to play it. Dirge of Cerberus, the clumsy FF7 third-person shooter? Sure. An obscure mobile game with only a barebones connection to FF? Oh, go on then. So as soon as the Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles review code landed in my inbox, I knew this was my time to shine.
If you hadn't heard of the game before now, The Ivalice Chronicles is technically a remake of the original Final Fantasy Tactics on PS1 that first came out way back in 1997 in Japan before finally reaching NA in 1998. However, it does feel a little more like a remaster than a remake, with two versions on offer for you to experience.
The Classic version faithfully recreates the 1997 release and includes the War of the Lions translation. Square Enix recommends this for those of you who wish to relive the original experience. Then there's the Enhanced version, which this review is based on; it includes a revised script, full voice acting, a brand-new UI, improved graphics, and some quality-of-life updates to make the game a little more palatable for newbies.
I'll admit now that I never played the game as a kid, but I did dabble in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (one of the best GBA games if I do say so myself), so I thought I knew what I was getting into a little bit. Boy, was I wrong. This game is hard.
As you can probably tell from the name, Final Fantasy Tactics features strategic, tactical, turn-based combat. In the early game, you need to choose a team of about five characters, varying from damage dealers to healers, with maybe a debuffer thrown in for good measure. To succeed in these battles, you generally need to take out all of the enemies or a single objective target, and this requires a well-thought-out team, who, in my experience, require a hefty amount of grinding to receive.
There are about 20 jobs that you can choose from for each character, and I was eager to start strong with a black mage for elemental magic damage, a white mage to heal, and perhaps an archer and a knight to deal a bit of damage. These all require you to level up either the chemist or squire initially, and then you need to level up some more if you want to give them any skills that will actually make them valuable in battle.
Maybe I was cocky, as I initially started the game on the Knight difficulty, which Square Enix describes as "carefully balanced". About five battles in, I hit the game over wall twice, lost my black mage, archer, and a squire in the crossfire, and felt about ready to throw my Nintendo Switch 2 across the room. Yes, if your characters die in battle and aren't revived within a certain number of turns, they're gone forever.
Now, I know what you're all thinking, "git gud, game journalists suck at games", and you know what? In this scenario, I'm genuinely wondering whether this really is a me problem. I took some time out from the story to grind four or five battles and managed to get past the wall, but found myself in the exact same scenario within an hour or so. I had two choices at this junction: lower the difficulty or keep grinding. I chose the grind route, and I eventually passed those challenging battles in this way, but I don't know if I was having a great time.
The last thing I want to say on combat is that the camera angles also irk me a little. You can angle the camera from four different points, and when choosing where I want to move my units, this isn't enough. If there's a tree in the way and you move the camera one point, you may then be blocked by a rock. Move it again, and there's a building. You can also have the camera give you a bird's eye view of the map, but you can't actually select a square in this view. I just think a slightly more fluid view would work wonders when I'm already feeling a little annoyed after my third game over (yes, I know, git gud).
Outside of combat, the story takes place in the land of Ivalice, which you Final Fantasy game fans may remember as the locale for FF12 as well. I learnt recently that Tactics is actually supposed to be set in the world of 12 after a post-apocalyptic event that caused most of the non-human races to go into hiding or extinction. The story in both games also has a very similar vibe, featuring grandiose members of royalty with difficult names fighting to protect the homelands they hold so dear.
I realize that was a little vague on Tactics and more of an FF12 history lesson, so let me tell you a little more about The Ivalice Chronicles. In this game, you take on the role of Ramza Beoulve, a son of one of Ivalice's leading military families, as he traverses the land ravaged by economic and political strife after the Fifty Years War. He teams up with various allies along the way as he throws aside nobility and joins a mercenary group.
The story is presented as a historical account with hefty narration portions, and I must admit that if you're not paying complete attention, it can get a little confusing. So this game isn't for those of you who are after something to play while you watch Netflix in the background.
One thing I will give this game credit for is that it's absolutely gorgeous. The updated graphics smooth out some of the rough edges but maintain the charm of the original, and the character icons used during dialogue have such personality. Then there's the brand new voice acting. I think everyone was cast perfectly here, and it feels so natural, like this is the way the game has always been.
Accompanying the VAs is a brilliant soundtrack with great world map ambience and intense battle themes. As I said above, this isn't something to play with Netflix on in the background, as you're going to want to hear the music and pay attention to the voice actors telling you such a great story.
I played Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles on the Nintendo Switch 2, and it ran like a dream. As usual, I think this is the ideal console to play the game on, as it allows you to go handheld for those grinding sessions (some Netflix is acceptable in this instance) and docked when you need to fully immerse yourself in the story.
All in all, The Ivalice Chronicles is a great way to experience this classic game in the way it was originally intended, or with the fancy extra enhancements added. However, as someone coming at it from a purely 'Final Fantasy fan' mindset, this game didn't vibe with me very well, and certain aspects felt a little like a chore, but I do think strategy game fans looking for a challenge will have a great time.