Review: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Feels Essential

Final Fantasy Tactics is a formative strategy game from Square Enix and former Ogre Battle creators Yasumi Matsuno and Akihiko Yoshida. It led to two handheld sequels, which really deserve to be rereleased in some sort of modern collection, clearly influenced Square Enix’s Triangle Strategy, served as an inspiration for many other titles. Upon playing it again in Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, I remain convinced at its timeless nature both in terms of solid gameplay and political themes.

The game begins as the tale of a forgotten hero during the War of the Lions in Ivalice. Following the 50 Year War against the nation of Ordalia, the leadership of the nation is in flux. Both Prince Orinas and Princess Ovelia are candidates, each supported by a different faction. Prince Larg of the White Lion is behind Orinas, while Prince Goltana of the Black Lion supports Ovelia. Ramza Beoulve, the son of noble knights and man whose role was obscured, and his commoner friend and adopted brother Delita Heiral, are thrust into pivotal roles during these events after heading off to attend the Gariland Military Academy. After Delita’s sister Tietra is killed, the two part ways and take different paths. For Delita, that means serving under the Black Lion. As for Ramza, our protagonist, he becomes a mercenary who rallies against corruption and attempts to do what’s right.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles’ story is incredibly relevant. It shows the depths of corruption that can exist in a country’s government and religious organizations and the sorts of exploitations and machinations implemented to ensure those in power stay in power. We see people manipulate one another for their own means, showing no mercy. Yet at the same time, there is the idea that it is possible to find happiness. There can be a better way. That even if you are branded as a heretic and scorned, staying true to yourself can lead to happiness. Your actions and fight to do the right thing will matter. It’s equal parts heartbreaking and uplifting, and the new translations helps highlight that. As does the full voice acting in the Enhanced version. It’s incredibly good. The casting is perfect and it really hammers important moments home, and the animations are gorgeous. I also feel like important characters joining the party, such as Mustadio Bunansa, carry more weight due to new localization and conversation choices on Square Enix’s part.

Now, before we even get into why Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles still feels and plays so extraordinarily well even 28 years after its original release, I need to acknowledge what’s one of the wisest moves for this. It’s actually a compilation. One option is the Classic experience. This uses the War of the Lions PSP translation, adds an autosave feature, and includes some adjustments and bug fixes to make the original game a little more accommodating and in line with modern expectations. But it’s still the base game with graphics that look a bit better. The Enhanced Edition is the one Square Enix really put the work into. Aside from the voice acting, which I mentioned earlier and is exclusive to it, there’s a new UI, higher resolution, enhanced textures, and rebalanced. It also adjusts the control scheme, and I really liked being able to cycle through tabs with shoulder buttons and zoom in with the left analog stick. Having saved loadouts is nice. When trying to build characters up, the change that lets us trigger a random encounter battle instead of hoping for one is huge too. There does seem to be a noticeable filter, which I think might be a dithering effect, but I honestly sort of like it? Not everyone might, but it’s a very minor design choice. I primarily played the Enhanced version, though I did go through the first chapter in the Classic mode, and both feel like solid and well-executed ports.

Images via Square Enix

Even more important is the Sound Novels. When the Japanese version released years ago, there were these additional stories that got into Ivalice lore and history. They’re also interactive visual novels that tell the story of an airship captain, a gambler, a noblewoman’s love story with a commoner, and a spy. They’re fascinating bits of history and really add to the experience. We do still need to unlock them, which will mean taking on some Errand sidequests and such. But I so love that finally, we’re getting to read them. Especially since it’s coming after Square Enix already ensured everyone worldwide got access to another region-locked sound novel with the Chrono Cross remaster.

I think the only failing of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, in terms of preservation purposes,is that it isn’t a perfect and 100% complete rendition of the game. Director Kazutoyo Maehiro already explained the master data and source code were lost. In that same Square Enix official interview, the developer noted the team decided to focus on the original release, leaving out the additional FFXII Balthier and FFT A2 Luso units and Dark Knight and Onion Knight classes. Now, I get that decision. The Dark Knight is extremely overpowered, and I remember how I used Balthier to break the game in The War of the Lions. However, I’m upset about their absence. Considering this is actually a collection with Classic and Enhanced versions, I would have loved to have seen The War of the Lions additions in the latter so that PSP release could have been acknowledged.

Images via Square Enix

But when it comes to gameplay, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles feels flawless. The turn-based battles take place on an isometric, grid-based field with varying degrees of elevation. Characters belong to different jobs. Attacking and felling foes nets you experience and job points to advance your abilities and grow into greater roles. In addition to named protagonists, such as Ramza and Agrias, we can recruit others and tame monsters. We also go through main campaign quests and send the generic units on Errands to boost them up. It’s also possible to find special named units as new allies, especially when Mustadio is around. Keeping things like elevation in mind, as well as building up a balanced team around the 20 jobs is critical. Given how easy it is to tame monsters, I really appreciated being able to have 50 people in the party in the Enhanced version. Likewise, I felt like the ability to speed up battles helped a lot in the early chapters as a returning player. I also did sample the Casual, Standard, and Tatcical difficulties in Enhanced, getting through Chapter 1 in each, and I feel like the easiest option could be great for newcomers who want to finally catch up and aren’t as familiar with strategy games. If you go with the Standard or Tactical, then you’re in for genuine challenges. 

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles remains a fantastic strategy game, and its story feels even more relevant in 2025. It has everything. Hope. Despair. Loyalty. Betrayal. The option to take on battles that put your critical thinking skills and hours of preparation to the test. This latest release feels like a near perfect one for preparation purposes, due to it offering Classic and Enhanced options. I think if all content from the War of the Lions PSP release made it in, I might even consider it flawless. But even without it, it’s an exemplary experience.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles will come to the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on September 30, 2025.

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