Game Thoughts: Final Fantasy Tactics (Ivalice Chronicles)
With a fresh re-release of what I've long considered a favourite game, I found myself with an opportunity to revisit Final Fantasy Tactics via the Ivalice Chronicles Edition. The original title for the PS1 did something in my brain long ago which fooled me into thinking myself a die-hard fan of tactical RPGs for nearly my entire life. Equipped with recent memories of a wonderful time with Final Fantasy Tactics: A2, and a much worse recent experience with Tactics Ogre, I was interested to finally pinpoint exactly what it is about this particular series that tickles my brain so.
The game holds up extremely well, and held my attention firmly throughout. The remaster comes equipped with several quality of life improvements that reduce the sense of grind, but the overall experience feels true to form.
As that experience unfolded I began to discard my notions of what I thought made the game great. The story, especially once the zodiac stones come into play, was tepid. The music, while lovely, was repetitive. The tactical RPG combat, while formative to the genre, was frequently not really that engaging.
It turns out I just really love a goddamn job system.
At the end of the day the B-grade music and C-grade combat were simply seasoning for the main event: the job system and those god-damned cute sprites and character portraits. I can't even called what I did fun -- grinding out repetitive battles, forcing my characters to throw rocks at each other; none of it was fun, I was simply obsessed.
Seeing the sprites and character art of a new class (that black mage is to die for), trying out the new abilities, optimizing combinations of skills and armour and stats -- I couldn't get enough of it! I could have taken or left the rest of the game, there just needed to be some form of intentional task required to unlock new things. I marched my army across continents for in-game years to breed monsters for specific weapons, grinded endlessly for overpriced skills, developed the teams needed to pick apart certain battles and challenges with ease.
More than tinkering with the system, I revelled in breaking it. Building characters that entirely trivialized the gameplay brought me such joy, re-confirming that I was never here for the turn-based strategy. I cackled with glee as my carefully optimized arithmetician cast "Holy" on every character on the map, wiping out friend and foe alike but leaving a single soul in anti-holy armour left to claim victory. I would effortlessly eliminate a boss in a single bound as my ninja-dragoon flew across the map and exclaim to my partner how thrilled I was (they did not share my enthusiasm about dragoons.)
The playthrough re-enforced my love for this series, and while I was slightly disappointed that it wasn't the deep story and engaging grid-based combat I was in love with all ths time -- rather it was menu-diving and counting how many points left until I unlocked the "Teleport" ability -- I also feel freed, for I know now why so many exciting tactical RPG titles disappointed me for so long.