1997 is often regarded as the year Square changed RPGs forever.

This was largely attributed to Final Fantasy 7, a cult-classic story driven adventure featuring iconic characters like Cloud and Sephiroth.

But another Final Fantasy game also launched that year, which paid homage to the series history but equally had a fantastic story of its own to tell –  Final Fantasy Tactics.

While Final Fantasy 7’s history is rich and well regarded, Tactics has been a bit lost to time. Despite a fondly regarded and beloved re-release in 2007 for PSP, it’s only until now that the game has been re-published and is replayable, perfectly enhanced.

Back in 1997, though, Final Fantasy was moving towards a more 3D future, where Tactics was still much like the isometric adventures of old, and, at least on a surface level, seemed to have a more tactical, combat focus. But actually, the adventures of Ramza in the world of Ivalice – a world that would later become the setting for Final Fantasy XII – packs a powerful story in its own right.

This politically driven adventure sees warring factions contend against one another in a large class-based warfare and a time when family names drive people to bloodshed. The game sees the Kingdom of Ivalice in turbulent, economic hardship and with the death of the king and the need for a regent, the Kingdom has been split into two, leading to a conflict that sees certain factions rally behind their chosen heir apparent.

While it all sounds very typical Game of Thrones esque fare, it’s the fantastic characters you meet, fight, and battle alongside that really make this adventure so compelling. And with this newly released Ivalice Chronicles, now absolutely reinvigorated with some brilliant voice acting, including Final Fantasy vet Ben Starr.

For those who want to remember the game, mostly, as is, you can play the Classic Edition of the game which is a faithful adaptation of the 1997 original but using the English translation from the 2007 War of the Lions version, which also included autosave.

Meanwhile, an Enhanced Version of the game has been built for this edition of the game that updates the dialogue, provides animated character portraits, higher resolution graphics, improved UI and controls, as well as game balancing, all done to make it more accessible for new players, but giving something new to veterans.

While I am sure many will spend time in the Classic Edition, for me I found myself going back more and more to the Enhanced Version of the game, mostly for the way the User Interface has been organised, but also as I found the voice acting did a fantastic job of enriching the game.

The visual upgrades are also incredibly impressive, especially in the way the characters are presented but equally the dioramas in which each battle is set. You’ll find yourself on a smaller patch of land which you can fully rotate as well as zoom in and out of. You’ll see moving windmills, rear entries of castles, even different floors.

With each diorama, you’ll also have different layers of flooring where you can get the high – or low – ground, as well as hide around corners and even find hidden areas to dig up secret items.

Before each battle, you organise your team, creating a front and rear-line, looking at each job of each class. Knights, for instance, are good front-line fighters, whereas a White Mage is probably better served at the back. As you level up each Job, you can even progress and change up your job to something else entirely if you want to have a more mixed roster and increase your strength and ability for later skirmishes.

Each battle has a different objective, often keeping it as simple as wiping the enemies on the board, but sometimes tasking you with taking down a specific character or keeping a specific character alive. Generally Ramza.

Each downed character has several phases. There’s a weakened state which means they stay alive but they’re on their last legs, crawling around the board. Then there’s the downed and defeated state, and from there, the character has only three turns before they disappear entirely off the board. In that time, they can be brought back with a Phoenix Down.

Once a cahracter disappears, they either leave a chest behind or sometimes a crystal, which can fully restore health and mana or help them learn a brand new ability. In the chest, new items and equipment can also be found to help improve a character’s ability. For instance, adding a helmet to improve attributes, tunic and even changing up their abilities to try and find a sweet spot and improve your abilities on the battlefield.

You’ll need to adjust your tactics for each enemy – some counter, some knock you down instantly, some have rapid fire punches to disorient – and so Tactics really makes you think about how you approach each battle, carefully positioning but also strategically taking enemies apart, isolating them and making sure their allies are nullified at critical moments.

That’s what I love about Tactics. It’s such a cleverly designed game as you move from scenario to scenario, allowing the story to move along at pace and then looking at each battle in a slightly different way, using your most trusted troops but sometimes bringing in new faces should the situation require it. Nothing stays the same in Tactics and it requires you to make adjustments and pivots.

Simple changes such as fast-forwarding through dialogue and smoothing out some of the difficulty really makes this a fantastic, perfect way to experience this brilliant game but it also shows how well it’s aged mostly on its own merits. The way the game prepares you for its tougher battles is mastefully executed as you will find yourself really coming close to defeat early on but learning from each encounter and bettering yourself every single time.

Obviously the big issue people cite is that The War of the Lions content is missing from this re-release, which includes some side quests and plot points that people love and miss. Bouncing between the two versions of the game also shows the difference in quality of the AI at times, with some party characters ending up causing beneficial effects for the opposition and vice versa. The Ivalice Chronicles version does a much better job with this overall, though you’ll often have to contend with high evasion and block rates in some cases.

But all in all, this is an absolutely magnificent remaster of a ridiculously entertaining game that you can lose hours and hours too. There’s a good range of difficulties, the quality of life features generally make the experience better, the voice acting and visual upgrades are fantastic and the story remains a truly incredible experience that has gone wholly underated in the wider Final Fantasy sphere.

A must play for series enthusiasts and tactical RPG gamers who need a reminder of just how good Final Fantasy’s combat can and has been over the years.

Verdict

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is an excellent remaster of one of the franchises’ most beloved, yet unsung heroes. The quality of life features truly enhance the game, as well as the UI upgrades for the wider map, voice acting which really makes the powerful dialogue come to life and improved visuals which are stunning to behold. Despite some missed content and a few AI hiccups here and there, this is one of the finest tactical RPGs you’ll ever play and has one of the franchises’ best stories which many have never had the chance to experience before.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is out now on PC, Xbox, PS, and Switch 1/2

Played on PC / Switch 2

Code kindly provided by Square Enix for review purposes