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Unplayable, forgetable, frustrating UN-Tactics game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: August 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy Tactics is a game where the player controls up to 5 people on a comparable chess grid against various enemies using a wide array of job skills, items, spells, and weapons to kill the enemy. Similar to standard RPGs, all people have hit points, magic points, gain skills and use them. There are many job classes, many combinations, many skills, and it all comes together in a giant mess. It makes for one terribly frustrating experience.

Good things:
-Graphics are nice and crisp (especially for the time)
-Job system is easily one of the best points of the game, where characters can use the abilities of several classes passively and up to two classes during battle.

Thats about it.

Bad things:
-Environments, while they look good, tend to be so cluttered that you can't see. There are controls to rotate the 3/4 view around to one of 4 spots, but there is never a good angle. Many squares can never be seen from all 4 angles.
-Movement, thanks to the terrible angles, requires a good amount of forethought. If you think you can get next to enemy and attack, think again. You are probably off by a space or 2, meaning that you just wasted a turn.
-Ally AI is terrible. Those you need to protect try to get themselves killed and those that don't need to be saved will never lift a finger. See a couple points down for example.
-It is necessary to spend a great deal of time leveling your characters up as the difficulty is either very hard or very easy with nothing in the middle. There is a set of battles, several in a row, where the first one is laughably easy (as in my characters were 20 levels higher than the enemy) followed immediately by a battle where you can only win by luck (the boss can kill several if not all in one hit). This is then followed by a level where you can (and will) lose without ever getting a turn! (thanks to the AI, the character you have to save will die in the first action). Very frustrating.
-Tactics it is not, as the only tactic you can do with 5 people trying to cover all important bases is to gang up and kill one enemy at a time. If you want something that makes you think, try something else.

Overall:
The gameplay, if tweaked, could make this enjoyable. But in the current state, please save yourself the frustration of having to deal with this mess. If you think banging your head on a wall is fun, then this is the game for you.

Fast shipping, good price!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: August 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The case was a little cracked when the game got to me, but the cd was in perfect condition and it shipped to me pretty quickly considering it was travelling from California to Canada.

A hidden treasure!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game holds the spot as my ALL-TIME favorite video game, and yes, it's 2008. FFT is somewhat like playing a strategic game of chess with cool graphics, but more complicated and interesting and with a storyline. It is unique from anything I have seen and I was really hoping this style of game would take off with better versions of it, but unfortunately it hasn't happened. It definitely took me a while to get the hang of this game and I have to admit that I didn't really like it at first mostly because it takes time to learn, but once I played it for a few hours I was hooked.

Dont listen to people who give it 1 star

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I originally bought this game when it first came out on the ps1 and I still play it to this day.The people who gave it one star all said the same thing:"It's too hard.""You have to think to much.""Your always outnumbered."
DUH!It's called Final Fantasy TACTICS for a reason! No war in history has ever been an even fight.Ever hear of 300?

My Absolute Favorite Game, A Review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy Tactics (for PS, not GBA...GBA was too easy for me, but still beautiful) is, without any doubt or second thought, the BEST GAME I have ever played. It is challenging, involving, and nearly perfectly done. I'm a 16 year old girl using my father's account to write this, but don't get the idea that I'm not a serious gamer (actually, anyone who's beaten this game has to be--it IS very difficult to win).

PROS:

Gorgeous music and 2-D art (the sprites are adorable while the speech-bubble heads are serious, classic, and maturely drawn)

Very tactical fighting--being a high level may not secure victory for you.

The job class system allows for amazing customization of how you want to fight (i.e. using mostly magic or physical attacks, using far or short-range abilities).

Beating Final Fantasy Tactics will make you proud. It's a challenging game.

It is a very political work--I found myself honestly disgusted by Ivalice's government (and, of course, Algus--ugh...miserable rat...). The ideas are very mature, and will change how you think about certain things or reinforce the ideals you already have (I do not suggest this game for younger players--it cusses).

Very replayable. I think I have...five different new games on there? Something like that. There is so much hidden bonus material in the game that I went back and replayed it several times in an effort to get all the plot this game offers (and it offers more than enough in just the main storyline--weeks of deep, tactical play await you here).

You can save often, wherever you like...as long as you're not in a battle.

Square Enix definately spent a lot of effort and time making this. You can see this in the believable dialogue, the graphics, the music, and the complicated but learnable battle system (basic stats, jobs, abilities, items equipped, each characters/monsters zodiac sign even affects attack power!)

Every main character has a well-devoloped story behind them. Sometimes, this won't be obvious. However, in the book Daravon wrote (I think you can get there by selecting "story" in the main menu) all the main characters (even some you'll never meet, like Ovelia's baby brother) have at least a couple paragraphs explaining why they matter, what they've done, whether or not they're still alive, their age (which changes, depending on how long you play), and what their part in the giant web of deceit that is Final Fantasy Tactic's plot is. While you only play as Ramza, this feature helps clear up confusion if you get lost in the plot.

Completely addictive. Worth whatever you pay for it if you like tactical fighting.

CONS:

Slow loading, but I have a very old disc (so that may be mishandling, not the game--I don't know for sure).

You cannot travel through towns and paths personally--you get a map with destinations on it that are connected by lines. It takes a day to travel over a line, and most destinations let you choose from a little menu (i.e. in a normal town, you can go to the bar, shop, or recruitment office). You engage in random battles by walking over an uncivilized area (like a forest or field). So...there isn't really much physical exploration--but, hey, no endless dungeons, either!

There are a few spelling errors scattered throughout the game, but it's not terribly noticable until you read the Grim Grimoire (but it may have been done intentionally there, since the words Ramza can read had to be translated manually by an old man).

It is possible to get stuck saving in a place you can't get out of. A few of my secondary efforts at beating the game are stuck in the battle with Weigraf. The game will ask you if you want to save between major boss battles so you don't have to redo the first one if you lose the second. Unfortunately, if the second battle is much harder than the first, you may not be able to beat the second one without more training even if the first was easy for you. To avoid this problem, I suggest saving in an alternate file at times like this--NOT overwriting your main file until you're back on the world map.

You can permanently lose party members if you leave them "fallen" on the ground for three rounds of turns. While this makes the game more challenging, which I consider a good thing, it also had me restarting the playstation out of a refusal to lose whatever member had died. SAVE OFTEN.

It's terribly easy to level your party members up unevenly. Since you can't use all the members of your party in a battle, you will probably end up picking favorites and raising them more than everyone else. At times in the game, an NPC will join your party and force you to use one less party member under your control, therefore having one of your favorites weaker than the others and unsuitable for combat by the time the NPC leaves your party. Of course, this can be avoided by strategetically raising your team (which I failed to do in time on my first file)--I'm just warning you.

OVERALL:

Still, hands-down, my favorite game ever. Writing this actually made me want to play it so badly I'm having trouble focusing on typing... Anyway, worth the price, worth the time, save often, play with your whole party in mind, enjoy this amazing game.

Again, SAVE OFTEN!

easily one of the best final fantasies

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

everyone said alot already about this game, so there isn't much to say, but if you havn't played it you should give it a try.

Arguably One of the Greatest Final Fantasy Games Ever Made

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy Tactics, originally released in early 1998, went on to be one of Square's most critically acclaimed games of all time as well as becoming one of the mostly highly sought after Playstation titles until it was released as a greatest hits title. As the years go by, Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the few games where reception of the game has increased over the years rather than decrease. Despite having a reissue on the PSP, the original game is still a treat. However, both versions have their own cons. While many have reported that the PSP version has slowdown, the original Playstation release suffers from a mediocre translation of a fantastic story.

Final Fantasy Tactics concerns itself with Ramza Beoulve. A noble who believes in justice and honor. In the world of Ivalice, Ramza is about to be involved in the biggest power struggle in the world's history. It concerns a conspiracy bigger than anything Ramza could imagine. The story is full of almost everything you can imagine. Betrayal, injustice and some of the most mature themes Final Fantasy has ever dared to go to. Be forewarned, though. Despite a T-Rating, the game is actually quite dark. Despite it's cutesy graphics this game is anything but cute as it is easily the most violent and moving of all the Final Fantasy games.

The gameplay that makes Final Fantasy Tactics a treat. Thanks to the job system, customization is nearly endless. Before each battle you can assign jobs to your characters. Each job has specific traits about them and can greatly affect how you perform in battle. Mages have devastating magic abilities while Knights are strong physical attackers. They also bring their own unique abilities to the table. Because there are so many job classes to choose from, there's a lot of experimentation you can do. As you master abilities you'll also be able to mix and match. You could have a Squire casting white magic, for example provided you've learned some of the white magic abilities.

As battles progress you gain experience. You pretty much gain experience after each and every turn, which is nice. Not only do you gain experience but you also gain job points to help you master the abilities in your job class. It's pretty simple stuff and you'll be surprised at just how fast you can learn abilities here.

However, Final Fantasy Tactics was notorious for being an incredibly challenging game. In order to survive some of the games toughest battles you'll have to spend hours roaming around to learn abilities and raise levels. Enemies don't let up and they actually are quite smart. They'll take advantage of your parties disadvantages by usually attacking the weakest character or even ganging up on certain characters. It's also no help that their attacks deal a startling large amount of damage. If you want to survive in Final Fantasy Tactics, level grinding is a must and it's not negotiable.

In terms of graphics, Final Fantasy Tactics is fairly cute looking. But the sprites are incredibly detailed, especially for 1998. Unlike the PSP version the game also runs smoothly and fast. There are also a few cutscenes here and there to show you some of the story. Tactics also sports some of the best music the series has ever known.

If there was anything to criticize about the original release it would be the same thing that everyone criticizes. The translation is absolutely horrible. The story is incredible, but the script for the original Playstation version may be one of the worst efforts done in localization history. It's almost worth it to pick up the PSP version of the game for this one reason alone. Some of the translation is so bad some parts of the story are utterly confusing. The only other problem with Final Fantasy Tactics is that if you really want to get through the game, you'll spend the least amount of time taking in the story. As I mentioned earlier, level grinding is a must to survive throughout the adventure. The problem is you'll have to do it too much. To the point where it stops the advancement of the story. Sometimes for long intervals at a time. And the story hardly retreads or reiterates events.

Final Fantasy Tactics is easily one of the best games in the series. It is not, however, for the beginner or the inexperienced Tactical Strategy game player. For those who don't wimp out, however, Final Fantasy Tactics is rewarding.

FFT FTW IMO

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

On occasion I feel the need to pull out my PS2 and play one of my old PSone games. When I do Final Fantasy Tactics is always one of the first.

With the exception of monsters each character may change jobs between battles. Some examples include the armor and weapon breaking Knight, the duel-wielding Ninja, the enviroment dependant Geomancer, or the bare knuckled Monk to name a few. A character must learn certain jobs first to unlock more down the road. In the beginning you choose either Squire to have a more 'fighter-type' skill set or Chemist for the 'wizard-type' skill set. The Archer, which you learn later, unlocks the 'rogue-type' skill set. Each and every job brings its own unique skills to bare and you may cross your current job with another job you have been training with earlier. For example; If you had mastered the Thief class you may change classes to the Lancer, set your seconardy skill as 'Steal' (the Thief's skill), and now you may level the Lancer class but use all your hard earned 'Steal' skills too. I can't say how much I appreciate this in a game.

The combat works something like an intricate game of chess. Characters have a Move and Jump rating determined by their Skills, Class, and some equipment alters these ratings also. Move and Jump together show you how far and where you are capable of moving. The Time Mage class learns a skill learn that allows you to Teleport around the map. Certain monsters and classes are able to fly (!), thereby removing the need to Jump. Different weapons have different attack ranges. Bows fire in a large ring around the character, being on higher ground allows a larger range. Lances reach two squares away from the character. Swords, daggers, axes, and rods have a reach one square. Guns (Yes, guns) have a HUGE range but cannot fire over obstacles, such as walls, trees, or other characters (Yes, you can shoot them if they get in the way), like a Bow can. Learning how to equip the right characters with the right weapons becomes very important as your amount of classes expands and the enemies become smarter.

I can't say enough about this game. My only real recommendation: Play it. If you don't own it, burrow it from a friend. You will want to own a copy within an hour of starting a new game.

(For those who didn't get the Title for my review: Final Fantasy Tactics for the win in my opinion)

Because some days, you *have* to throw the controller

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: January 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

To find a successor to Final Fantasy 7 must have been no easy task, and its difficulties have, no doubt, been increased by the circumstance that the resumption of joint work by the team who made the company what it is has been of only too short duration. FF Tactics is a sorry mixup of a story that is too long in the telling. From the outset of it, one can see nothing but extreme misfortune for the characters from beginning to end.

The animation is rather sloppy at times, and the music always reminding me of something else. The most unforgiveable part of the game is the lack of proofreading in the text. In many of the scenes, things are misspelled or ungrammatical. In several descriptions of things, there is gibberish where a description ought to be.

As for the story, the plot is rather twisted. Something about a war without a clear goal and nonsense about zodiac stones, characters that come and go without a "will yer leave" or "by your leave", and a myriad of battles in a well-designed battlefield. By the end, there are no characters to really admire except Ramza, whose fate isn't entirely clear either. Most of the other characters are dead by the end anyway, so it's not like it matters.

The final product looks really rushed to get to the stores and it's a shame that Square wasn't more careful with what Video Game Spot called "a masterpiece".

Brings back memories.........

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: September 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I played this game exclusively for almost 4 months on the original Playstation. It is arguably my favorite game ever on the Playstation. The different options for your characters was nearly endless.

This game offered so much fun, I almost want to go buy it again. Almost.

Overall = Superb

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