REVIEW: ‘Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles’ Sprinkles New Life Into A Classic Game

Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles, developed and published by Square Enix, is the remaster of the beloved 1997 PlayStation 1 classic, and it remains as excellent today as it was all those years ago. The story remains timely and important, the combat puzzle is constantly engaging, and the newly added voice acting and other quality-of-life updates add a whole lot of life. It’s an incredible adventure that can’t be missed for any fans of the genre. 

Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles follows the footsteps of Ramza Beoulve, a royal in a time of political intrigue and strife. The king has passed away, and several potential candidates are vying for the crown, with the dominant church, known as the Glabados Church, also working in the background. Massive royal forces move against each other, while the common folk are caught up in the conflict. In the midst of all this, Ramza loses some of those dear to him, setting out into the world to try to right wrongs. 

The narrative in Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles that follows is full of twists and turns, exploring class conflict, the exploitation of the poor by the wealthy, religious zealotry, and more. In a time when the current world stage is chaotic and many feel constantly uneasy, Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles taps into the current zeitgeist, despite being almost 30 years old. It’s an incredible story that has clearly stood the test of time, as necessary today as it has ever been. 

The newly added voice work enhances the narrative weight in Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles.

The newly added voice acting effectively carries the narrative weight, with each performance bringing these characters to life excellently. Every performance is fantastic and dripping with emotion, from Delita’s vengeful rage coming through with every word to Ramza’s initial hope giving way to exasperation as he deals with the world around him. It elevates an already incredible story to new heights, as each new cut scene is something to look forward to.  

Combat seems simple at first, but it packs a ton of depth. As battles commence, players will position Ramza and a select group of other characters on the field. The maps are perfectly sized, capturing a diorama of war in every location. Rather than one team acting with all their units, followed by the other, Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalices Chronicles follows an individual turn order.

As you get to one of your own units, you can move, attack, use an item, or start to cast a spell or use a special attack. Spells and special attacks can take time to use, so planning for a delayed action is essential. You’ll want to make sure you can get the healing spell off before an enemy moves to take out an injured unit. 

Instead of gaining experience after a fight, characters gain experience and job points.

Every combat instance is challenging and will push the player to become familiar with its units inside and out. Splitting units up is generally a bad idea, as they’ll quickly get overwhelmed. Team composition is also critical, with the job system being a fantastic standout in the combat sandbox. Each unit has a job, or class, that each action on the field helps level up. Characters don’t gain experience after a fight; instead, they gain experience and job points with every action on the field.

You can freely swap between several jobs at the beginning, including squire, chemist, and archer, among others. As you gain job points, you can acquire new skills and unlock new jobs at certain levels. You can freely switch between jobs between battles, with many skills being transferable across jobs if equipped.

For example, I made one of my units a white mage, learning a number of healing spells before swapping jobs to a black mage to have a spellcaster that could whip out both higher-level offensive and healing spells. It’s a really fluid system that lets the player experiment and build some incredibly cool combinations of characters, with some of the later jobs just being badass to use in battle. 

Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles features deep customizability and team composition options.

There’s more to combat in Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles than the job system, with a horoscope system hiding under the hood as well. Each character has a star sign, and different signs are more compatible with others. This adds another layer to team and build composition, as you could totally ignore it, but your squad will suffer as a result.

You can draft new units at different cities, while also keeping an eye on their Bravery and Faith scores. The higher the Bravery score, the more effective they’ll be in battle with reactions and specific weapon use. A high Faith score will make spells more effective and accurate, but also makes the unit more susceptible to taking damage from spells. 

All of these disparate systems significantly impact combat in Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles, as I spent hours trying to assemble a team that I liked and that synergized with one another. The fights are tough, and you’ll need to interact with all of these to be the best you can be. It starts deceptively simple, with a few units, jobs, and moves, becoming increasingly more complicated as the game progresses. It leaves a lot in the hands of the player in an incredible way, with deep customizability and team composition options. 

Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles is packed with quality-of-life enhancements.

The graphics and art style look beautiful. Instead of going for the sharp HD-2D art style that’s grown in popularity over the last few years, Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles goes for a smoother, almost watercolor-like look. It resembles a toy box or diorama, as each turn of the camera reveals something new to examine. Each new map is a visual delight, ranging from waterfalls, towns, forests, and much more. 

Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles is packed with quality-of-life enhancements. The UI has been overhauled and modernized, making it easy to read and navigate. Battle speed options have also been added, allowing players to speed things up as they choose. There are also new difficulty options available, allowing players to tailor their experience better.

Random battles can also be denied, allowing players to grind when they want to, along with Ramza’s full party size being expanded to 50 units, with loadouts for each character available to swap between jobs and equipment easily. For those looking for a more old-school run-through, the Classic version is also available.

Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles is an incredible package that brings back a classic to new audiences in stellar fashion. The story and narrative remain excellent, even more so in today’s world. The combat sandbox is deep and complex, offering a wealth of customization options. The newly added voice acting, along with a host of new additions and upgrades, further elevates the experience. It’s an excellent and important game in Square Enix’s history, and it’s better than ever before.

Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles is available now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows.