1. The original game: Final Fantasy Tactics
RPG(Role-playing game) and TBS(Turn based strategy) define FFT quite well. In the typical RPG genre the player is on command of a special character, not just a regular warrior, but a unique hero, with its own characteristics and special abilities that distinguish iself from others. The player keeps playing with this hero during the whole game, improving its skills and abilities, shaping it at free will. As for turn-based, it states the game is not on a discrete level of time, basically not in real time, but in time steps usually defined by the player. The player performs an action, the enemy does the same... and so on.
Final Fantasy Tactics was developed and published by Square Co. Ltd, nowadays Square Enix, originally for Sony's Playstation in 1997, later on a spin-off was published in Nintendo's GBA (Game Boy Advanced) in 2003 and yet another one for Sony's PSP (Playstation Portable). The game was not the same as in the original PSX version, but it had the same core ideas (The GBA version was even called Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced).
| First Release date | 20th of June 1997 |
| Platforms | Playstation - Game Boy Advance - Playstation Portable |
| Developer | Squaresoft |
| Publisher | Squaresoft - Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Director | Yasumi Matsuno |
| Producer | Hironobu Sakaguchi |
| Designer | Hiroyuki Ito |
| Artists | Hiroshi Minagawa - Akihiko Yoshida - Hideo Minaba |
| Composer | Hitoshi Sakimoto |
| Writer | Yasumi Matsuno |
| Series | Final Fantasy Tactics |
| Genre | Tactical RPG |
| Mode | Single-Player |
Information on Final Fantasy Tactics
| CPU | LSI CoreWare CW33300-based core |
| Co-processor | Geometry Transfer Engine (GTE) |
| Co-processor | Motion Decoder (MDEC) |
| Co-processor | System Control Coprocessor (Cop0) |
| Main Memory | 2 MB main EDO DRAM |
| GPU | 32-bit Sony GPU - 1MB VRAM |
| SPU | 16-bit Sony SPU |
| I/O | CD-ROM drive, Memory Cards |
| Gamepad | Dualshock |
| Screen Resolution | 256×224 to 640×480 pixels (480i) |
Playstation's Technical Specifications
The story takes place in the kingdom of Ivalice, which is a peninsula surrounded by sea except from the north.
Ivalice has 2 direct neighbors, the kingdom of Ordalia and Romanda. The three nations share the same royal bloodline, nonetheless, wars have taken place between them.
The story starts after Ivalice ends the war with the two other nations mentioned above, ending the so called Fifty Years War, and as its usual in post-wars, the kingdom faced economic problems and political strife. To make it even worse, the king died recently, leaving behind an infant. Since this infant, the prince, cannot rule over the kingdom, a temporal substitute is needed. Two contenders face each other, Prince Goltana, represented by the Black Lion, and Prince Larg, represented by the White Lion. This conflict between the two throne contenders leads to the Lion War. We are told the story of an unknown character, with default name Ramza, that took an importan role in this conflict. The story is based on this character's early life and all the obstacles he faced during the events that the kingdom of Ivalice was undergoing.
The story is based around two main characters, Ramza Beoulve and Delita Heiral, who are childhood friends. Despite belonging to different social classes, Ramza to the nobles and Delita a commoner, both did not mind about this fact and grew up together believing in justice and honor, though the events of the game make them have different objectives and perspectives of life. Ramza is the character the player manages and through the game the player is able to recruit many generic character to use in battles.
| Name | Art |
|---|---|
| Ramza Beoulve |  |
| Delita Heiral |  |
The core of the game is its turn-based combat and RPG mechanics. The player's characters move along a grid.
The player is in control of different heroes, each with its special ability and characteristics, such as evasion, speed, Health points and magic power. All these determine in what field the character will be useful, and let the player decide how to combine the different heroes to make its own strategy to face any obstacle.
Each hero has special abilities, the trump card in the most difficult moments. These vary from fierce attacks to magic spells, damage and healing. Knowing how to use them is key to develop a good strategy.
When a character engages another, a key system comes into action, the chance system. The target's evasion as well as the attacking character aim/skill and even from where the attack is done contribute to determine how likely it is for the attacking character's strike to hit the target.
Final Fantasy Tactics has sold almost 2.4 million copies worldwide, being Japan the most relevant market. The game received very good ratings on its release, and critical opinion on the game even improved over time. To players, it's a cult classic game, and it has even been cited as one of the greatest video games of all time. Seeing how many Final Fantasy games have been released and the amount of fans they have gathered, it is no surprise at all.
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 83/100 |
| Metacritic | 83/100 |
| Review | Score |
|---|---|
| Edge | 9/10 |
| EGM | 35.5/40 |
| Famitsu | 34/40 |
| GameFan | 267/300 |
| GameSpot | 8.9/10 |
| IGN | 8.5/10 |
| OPM(US) | 4/5 |
| Thunderbolt | 9/10 |
| RPGamer | 10/10 |
| RPGFan | 84/100 |
Final Fantasy Ratings
Though not exactly the same, XCOM is a TBS game centered around a special "protocol" called XCOM which is activated upon alien invasion. Grid Movement, different type of characters, chance system and skills are packed together in one of the referents in the genre.
Travel across different worlds in order to acquire allies to beat Void Dark. Lots of characters in a same fight, amazing combos between allied characters and lots of RPG mechanics have taken this series to its fifth release on the new generation.
Another legendary series of tactical RPG games. The vast majority of the games were published in Nintendo's consoles, two of them for Nintendo's hybrid Switch. In the Classic mode, any character that died in battle was gone for good, so be careful!
Finally, a personal reccomendation. From the legendary creator of XCOM, Julian Gollop, and funded through fig.co the game achieved the initial funding goal of half a milion in less than a week, 2 years ago. It is scheduled to launch on June 2019. If you like XCOM and TBS games, this is surely a name to keep on your wishlist!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_technical_specifications