Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles Review: The Gold Standard of Tactical Games | The Gamerheads Podcast

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 

Also on: Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Price: $49.99

One of the best tactical games ever made, Final Fantasy Tactics, is reborn with Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. For returning players, the addition of full voice acting brings a new level of depth to the storytelling. For newcomers, it’s an unforgettable introduction to one of the genre’s finest. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles should be on everyone’s radar, especially for fans of rich storytelling, deep RPG systems, and strategic gameplay.

The quality-of-life updates bring Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles into the modern era. One of the biggest changes is the addition of difficulty settings that can be adjusted at any time. Tactical games are often punishing, and Final Fantasy Tactics is no different, but the new Squire difficulty makes the game much more manageable. On the other end, the Tactician setting is there for players seeking a real challenge, though personally, I don’t need that level of punishment. When I first tried the game at PAX West, I played on Knight difficulty during the demo and found it to be a comfortable balance. That said, there were moments in my time with the game where I lowered the difficulty to avoid frustration and stay immersed in the story. 

Another welcome upgrade is the ability to keep multiple save files. I tend to save often, so having several slots available gave me peace of mind. The game also includes an autosave feature, which is especially helpful when facing tougher bosses. 

Beyond the quality-of-life updates, the best feature is the addition of voice acting and it’s excellent. The narrative of Final Fantasy Tactics was already fantastic, but the stellar cast breathes new life into the story in ways I never felt back in the late 90s. There were moments where I could truly feel Ramza’s weight and guilt through the emotional delivery of his lines. Joe Pitts, who voices Ramza, captures his growth and humanity brilliantly. I have never felt this much heartbreak and admiration for Ramza as I did here.

But it’s not just Ramza who shines. Every character is wonderfully voiced, right down to the shopkeepers and new recruits I added to my team. Gregg Lowe’s performance as Delita stands out in particular. Delita is a character wrestling with his own demons, and through Lowe’s delivery I grew to both love and hate him. He is complicated, showing warmth in some moments and cold calculation in others, and Lowe captures that duality perfectly.

Also joining the all-star cast is Ben Starr as Dycedarg. This was the first game I played featuring Ben’s voice, and I’m glad I met him before experiencing his performance. He’s such a kind person, yet his Dycedarg is devious, bringing out the darker shades of the character. Eleanor Bennet voices Ovelia and delivers a beautiful performance as a young woman struggling to find her inner strength. She brings Ovelia to life in a way that made me genuinely care for her. Many others in the cast also deserve praise, and together they make the game feel more cinematic than it ever has before.

The art in the game also adds to its cinematic feel. I was amazed at how much emotion could be conveyed through small sprites. For example, there’s a moment when Delita consoles Ovelia: he bends down to her level, places a hand on her shoulder, and reassures her that things will be okay. Another powerful scene comes when someone close to the team dies from an arrow. The weight of the moment is conveyed not just through the voice acting, but also through the camera work and the characters’ animations. For something that looks so simple (though I know it isn’t), the art is incredibly expressive, more so than in many other games I’ve played.

Voice acting and animation can only do so much without a strong narrative to support them. Thankfully, the story in Final Fantasy Tactics is excellent. Without giving away spoilers, Ramza, the protagonist, fights for a world he believes in. When war breaks out, Ramza, a bastard son of the late king, turns away from his life of nobility after tragic events involving his family. His friend Delita, who is a commoner, also loses everything early on, and a rift grows between the two. Both seek to challenge the class system, but their paths diverge in striking ways. Ramza’s unique position, straddling nobility and the common folk, makes him the only one able to push back from within, while Delita operates effectively as an outsider. The result is nothing short of a Shakespearean tragedy.

Beyond the story and voice acting, the game is simply fun to play. My favorite aspect is the job system. There are nineteen different classes, many of which require leveling up one or more jobs to unlock new ones. What makes the system brilliant is the ability to mix and match abilities across jobs. Do I want a knight who can act as a tank while casting healing spells? I can do that. Maybe a black mage with ninja skills? That works too. The leveling system is also slick. Each time a character uses an attack or ability, they earn Job Points (JP), which can be spent to unlock new abilities. It didn’t take me long before my black mage learned Flare, one of the most powerful spells in the game.

That being said, there is some grinding involved. I quickly realized that certain battles were far too difficult at my level, so I needed to fight additional encounters to strengthen my characters. These optional battles can be triggered at various nodes along the road, and they are fairly open; I could bring any five characters I wanted into the fight. By contrast, story battles didn’t always allow a full party, and Ramza was always required to participate. 

The battle system is fairly straightforward, but what I really appreciate about Final Fantasy Tactics is the use of terrain. Battles often take place on multiple levels, and the game makes great use of that verticality. In one fight I had to climb the outside of a building to protect a character, while in others I used high ground to my advantage, firing ranged attacks down on enemies. The only drawback I noticed was that moving characters into tight spaces could be tricky. The top-down camera helped in most cases, but when an obstacle, like a bridge, covered the spot I wanted to select, the selector would focus on spaces on the obstacle instead of the space beneath it. With some extra camera rotation I could work around it, but it took a little fiddling.

Permadeath is always in play, no matter the difficulty level. I learned this the hard way when one of my characters fell and I didn’t have a resurrection spell or a Phoenix Down. Once the three hearts above the character depleted, they were gone for good. This is where multiple save files became invaluable. I restarted plenty of battles rather than lose a character. Nobody was going to die on my watch.

The game also includes the original version, but I didn’t see much reason to play it since the remake is far superior. Without cross-progression, there’s little incentive beyond nostalgia. Maybe I’ll revisit the original someday, but after experiencing such a stellar remake, it would be hard to go back.

Final Grade: A

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is the definitive edition of a classic. I would even go so far as to call it the gold standard for strategy RPGs. The story is riveting, the voice acting superb, the artwork stunning, and the job system lets me create virtually any type of character I want. Some battles are tough, but with the new difficulty settings they are challenging without becoming overwhelming. For anyone curious about trying a tactical RPG, there is no better place to start. And for veterans, the addition of voice acting adds so much depth that it makes the story feel fresh, new, and absolutely worth experiencing again.

Review code provided by Fortyseven Communications