Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
Sep. 28th, 2014 02:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroSword in hand, a warrior clutches stone to breast
In sword etched he his fading memories
In stone, his tempered skill
By sword attested, by stone revealed
Their tale can now be told.
A remake of the PS1 classic title that adds FMV cutscenes, some voiceovers, a bunch of bonus characters, special multiplayer modes and, most notably, a completely redone translation.
The original’s translation, don’t get me wrong, was serviceable and still better than a lot of SNES/PS1-era stuff. But this re-does the whole thing with a veneer of gravitas that tries to take itself as seriously as, say, FF12. The text is done in the pseudo-Shakespearian that Mithrigil refers to as “High O’Smithian”, and I generally thought that it worked.
As I’ve already played this game at least three full times through since it first came out in 1997, the following will assume familiarity with it and just be ramblings and observations:
I had forgotten how annoying the limited range Archers have is (with both bows and crossbows). For that matter, I’ve been spoiled by Disgaea games, which let you take back a move action if you decide you didn’t like it (for instance, if you moved to the wrong spot for somebody’s range). Really, I remembered a lot of basic strategies and a few advanced ones (I went straight into getting Focus and JP Up for everyone and Yell/Tailwind for Ramza for grinding purposes; and I decided early on that I wanted Calculator Ramza, and had him all set before I finished chapter 1.) but forgot a lot of random and often important details. This included what the class tree looked like and what half the skills did.
I don’t mind them inserting Luso as a bonus character, and I don’t mind that he’s a carbon-copy of Ramza. I mind that he’s thrown in via an unavoidable bonus battle that comes out of nowhere, joins the team, and then never does anything else. Balthier you at least have to go slightly out of your way for; Cloud has always been explicitly summoned from another world. I think this (along with the FF12 cameos in FFTA2) is meant to establish that not only are FFT, FFTA2, FF12 and FF12RW all in the same world, but they all happen around the same time, just in different areas of a very large world. Making that actually work with the different mythologies presented and (among other things) the fact that FFT has no major non-human races, the differences in technology levels, the general lack of reference to each other, etc; is an entirely different story. (And don’t get me started on Vagrant Story.) Honestly, I don’t think any of the Ivalice stories really need to reference each other; they’re standalone and don’t need connections or a shared world to actually work.
I think Balthier, incidentally, is exactly the way you do a bonus character: He’s got a short sidequest that’s fun but not too involved, and he comes in as a flat-out upgrade to Mustadio (similar to Orlandeau replacing Agrias, though I typically used both). The fact that I always keep a character with mastered Thief skills in my party and he’s got upgraded Thief skills as part of his primary set also makes me happy.
I actually didn’t bother with a bunch of the system mechanics and sidequests in this playthrough, partially for time and partially for lack of interest. I never used some of the late-tier classes and never unlocked the new Dark Knight bonus class (which is basically a way for super-grinders to use generics for the same purposes as the unique knight characters). I also didn’t put in the time to do Midlight’s Deep (the Deep Dungeon), and didn’t try any of the new multiplayer stuff. I was annoyed that they got rid of my favorite pointless sidequest, stealing all the Genji equipment from Elemdor—they added the ability to win the Genji armor to a sidequest, but you can never acquire a full set. This annoys me on a fundamental level.
In the list of random, minor but notable changes: Meliadoul’s sword abilities now work on monsters or if the requisite piece of equipment is already broken, which makes both her and Orlandeau more powerful—and the battles against her and enemies that have the same skillset even more dangerous.
By the last few battles, I stopped grinding for grinding's sake, and just put Agrias, Orlandeau, Beowulf and Balthier back in their base classes; them plus Calculator Ramza were my final party. It’s interesting, actually, how the party you use for most of the game suddenly gets totally overwritten by the unique characters in chapter 4. I spent so much time grinding up an a Knight/Dragoon, Thief/Monk and Orator in the first chapter, only to replace the Orator with Mustadio, then eventually replace Mustadio and the Thief/Monk with Balthier. And the Dragoon just couldn’t compare to Thunder God Cid. (No one ever can.)
Random note: Beowulf's Drain was really effective on Ultima, and I have no idea why. (Is it percentage-based?)
Regarding the new side quests that I did do: You get a few extra battles controlling Delita, which are mostly filler but give you a little more time exploring his relationship with Ovelia. (And boy, is he ever an asshole, when all is said and done.) Agrias gets more screen time, and if you luck into a hidden event (or use a guide), gets handed a female-only accessory that puts her up on Orlandeau's level. Beowulf's past and relationship with Reis get further exploration. Meiladoul gets a bit more screen time. And each of those new battles includes somebody who you can steal rare items from. (Though the Genji thing still irks me.)
Overall: I think this is generally an improvement over the original; less a remake than an upgraded re-release. It's fundamentally the same game from 1997, the game that really put tactical rpgs into American awareness. It's a classic that deserves your time.
In sword etched he his fading memories
In stone, his tempered skill
By sword attested, by stone revealed
Their tale can now be told.
A remake of the PS1 classic title that adds FMV cutscenes, some voiceovers, a bunch of bonus characters, special multiplayer modes and, most notably, a completely redone translation.
The original’s translation, don’t get me wrong, was serviceable and still better than a lot of SNES/PS1-era stuff. But this re-does the whole thing with a veneer of gravitas that tries to take itself as seriously as, say, FF12. The text is done in the pseudo-Shakespearian that Mithrigil refers to as “High O’Smithian”, and I generally thought that it worked.
As I’ve already played this game at least three full times through since it first came out in 1997, the following will assume familiarity with it and just be ramblings and observations:
I had forgotten how annoying the limited range Archers have is (with both bows and crossbows). For that matter, I’ve been spoiled by Disgaea games, which let you take back a move action if you decide you didn’t like it (for instance, if you moved to the wrong spot for somebody’s range). Really, I remembered a lot of basic strategies and a few advanced ones (I went straight into getting Focus and JP Up for everyone and Yell/Tailwind for Ramza for grinding purposes; and I decided early on that I wanted Calculator Ramza, and had him all set before I finished chapter 1.) but forgot a lot of random and often important details. This included what the class tree looked like and what half the skills did.
I don’t mind them inserting Luso as a bonus character, and I don’t mind that he’s a carbon-copy of Ramza. I mind that he’s thrown in via an unavoidable bonus battle that comes out of nowhere, joins the team, and then never does anything else. Balthier you at least have to go slightly out of your way for; Cloud has always been explicitly summoned from another world. I think this (along with the FF12 cameos in FFTA2) is meant to establish that not only are FFT, FFTA2, FF12 and FF12RW all in the same world, but they all happen around the same time, just in different areas of a very large world. Making that actually work with the different mythologies presented and (among other things) the fact that FFT has no major non-human races, the differences in technology levels, the general lack of reference to each other, etc; is an entirely different story. (And don’t get me started on Vagrant Story.) Honestly, I don’t think any of the Ivalice stories really need to reference each other; they’re standalone and don’t need connections or a shared world to actually work.
I think Balthier, incidentally, is exactly the way you do a bonus character: He’s got a short sidequest that’s fun but not too involved, and he comes in as a flat-out upgrade to Mustadio (similar to Orlandeau replacing Agrias, though I typically used both). The fact that I always keep a character with mastered Thief skills in my party and he’s got upgraded Thief skills as part of his primary set also makes me happy.
I actually didn’t bother with a bunch of the system mechanics and sidequests in this playthrough, partially for time and partially for lack of interest. I never used some of the late-tier classes and never unlocked the new Dark Knight bonus class (which is basically a way for super-grinders to use generics for the same purposes as the unique knight characters). I also didn’t put in the time to do Midlight’s Deep (the Deep Dungeon), and didn’t try any of the new multiplayer stuff. I was annoyed that they got rid of my favorite pointless sidequest, stealing all the Genji equipment from Elemdor—they added the ability to win the Genji armor to a sidequest, but you can never acquire a full set. This annoys me on a fundamental level.
In the list of random, minor but notable changes: Meliadoul’s sword abilities now work on monsters or if the requisite piece of equipment is already broken, which makes both her and Orlandeau more powerful—and the battles against her and enemies that have the same skillset even more dangerous.
By the last few battles, I stopped grinding for grinding's sake, and just put Agrias, Orlandeau, Beowulf and Balthier back in their base classes; them plus Calculator Ramza were my final party. It’s interesting, actually, how the party you use for most of the game suddenly gets totally overwritten by the unique characters in chapter 4. I spent so much time grinding up an a Knight/Dragoon, Thief/Monk and Orator in the first chapter, only to replace the Orator with Mustadio, then eventually replace Mustadio and the Thief/Monk with Balthier. And the Dragoon just couldn’t compare to Thunder God Cid. (No one ever can.)
Random note: Beowulf's Drain was really effective on Ultima, and I have no idea why. (Is it percentage-based?)
Regarding the new side quests that I did do: You get a few extra battles controlling Delita, which are mostly filler but give you a little more time exploring his relationship with Ovelia. (And boy, is he ever an asshole, when all is said and done.) Agrias gets more screen time, and if you luck into a hidden event (or use a guide), gets handed a female-only accessory that puts her up on Orlandeau's level. Beowulf's past and relationship with Reis get further exploration. Meiladoul gets a bit more screen time. And each of those new battles includes somebody who you can steal rare items from. (Though the Genji thing still irks me.)
Overall: I think this is generally an improvement over the original; less a remake than an upgraded re-release. It's fundamentally the same game from 1997, the game that really put tactical rpgs into American awareness. It's a classic that deserves your time.
