The upcoming remakeFinal Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicleshas the potential to correct many of the original game’s mistakes.The Ivalice Chronicleswasannounced last month at an early June State of Play, confirming long-standing rumors that a remake of this classic and much-belovedFinal Fantasyspinoff was underway.
The Ivalice Chroniclesis in a common position for big-ticket remakes today: it’ll be many players' first experience withFF Tactics, but it’ll also have to cater to longtime fans of the original game. To that end,it’s already introduced a suite of options to try and improve on the original game’s shortcomings- but predictably, these proposed changes haven’t been popular.
FF Tactics Includes Quality-Of-Life Improvements
Righting The Wrongs Of The Past
Replaying the originalFF Tacticshas its issues, mostly stemming from its age. For a game that requires so much deft menuing, its menu controls can be incredibly clumsy. It can also be difficult to access the information you need at a glance when strategizing between fights. Battles can feel sluggish; enemy AI is slow to move.
The PSP version ofTactics, subtitledWar of the Lions, was previously hailed by many as the superior version. This is mainly due to its flowery translation and additional content, including new jobs, new characters, and new animated cutscenes. However, it can suffer from serious slowdown and sluggish loading, mainly due to the PSP’s specs.
So both versions have their downsides, butThe Ivalice Chroniclesis uniquely poised to correct them. It’ll introduce all sorts of new quality-of-life features to bring the game up to date. Menuing will be streamlined, and you’ll be able to get quick equipment overviews at a moment’s notice. You’ll have the option to fast-forward in battle, speeding up movement and attacks. The remake will also have an autosave feature, so you never have to worry about losing progressif your handheld console dies, or you quit prematurely.
FF Tactics Won’t Have Everything
Missing Content Could Hold It Back
With all these improvements, and the fact that it’ll be available on a wide variety of modern consoles,The Ivalice Chronicleshas a chance to become the definitive version ofFF Tactics. However,the remake will be missing certain contentthat may hold it back from that status.
For one thing,none of the additionalWOTLcontent has made it into the remake. That means we’ll miss out on extra jobs, characters, and cutscenes that weren’t in the original.
Besides that, it appears thatsome ofThe Ivalice Chronicles' new content isgated behind its Enhanced version. You’ll have to choose how you want to play through the game: Classic mode offers classically-styled menus and theWOTLtranslation, while Enhanced features revamped UI and voice acting, at the cost of smudged-looking sprites.
So, while these new quality-of-life fixes will help the remake improve on its predecessors, the lack of certain content may ultimately hold it back from being considered the definitive version. Ultimately, we’ll have to wait untilFinal Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chroniclesis in our hands to determine whether the remake was justified.
