Final Fantasy Tactics Analysis (Ep.1): Dev History | State of the Arc Podcast

[@ResonantArc]

This game rules. You should play it. Next time, we're playing up to the Lenalia Plains (just after the Thieves' Fort/Brigands' Den battle)

[@stevemanart]

This is the first time I'm playing along for a game.

[@naheemquattlebaum2267]

Phew that's where I'm at right now

[@jamesdixon9015]

28:05 purchased it for my galaxy note 4 and was able to use the stylist pen (not controller, but helpful). It made for a far more enjoyable experience than having to use my sweaty fingers haha

[@Marty-V]

I am in the catagory of people who tried about 20 times but couldn't get into it because of the rng killing it for me. I know I'm a tad late to the party but i will try and catch up with this podcast using the tips you provided. I feel like this is my only chance to ever finish this game. And crazy enough must be still worth it because I still haven't got any spoilers about the story so far... and I was there when it released...

[@richv7050]

Just a quick Patreon question, never joined before, but your in-depth FFT knowledge inspired me to contribute. It's funny, this game came out when I was 18, while in college, so I had a tremendous amount of time to play this game and read up on it just as you recollected in this pod. Really brought back memories, and I always thought someone should have made a book about this game. Either way, I was about to join and it wanted to charge me now ($10) and then again on 2/1 ($10), is that correct? Seemed strange that it wouldn't be pro-rated or something. Is that the way it works?

[@HighlyKhoalified]

Can we all take a moment to appreciate Mike's masterful recounting of the Fifty Years War? Even having played the game through at least 10 times, I never fully understood all the events of the war until listening to Mike's summary. Mike, in another life, I hope you get to become the history teacher you are clearly meant to be!

[@Metro4466]

I think Mike is already, teaching the history of video game RPGs to tens of thousands of people:)

[@jumaanecabrera8091]

True that!

[@AM-ec9qv]

How long do I wait for this moment to end

[@silentobserver888]

This is of the highest gaming cultural appreciation. This game deserves such quality retrospective discussions.

[@princedarklyXIII]

I love these dev history episodes. They're such great primers to appreciate the scope, crafting, and what it ultimately took to realize their vision of the game we are about to play. One of many reasons why this podcast is such a highlight!

[@tonyxpajamas]

Yoyyyyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyo

[@4myzelf]

You're not alone on that hill Mike, i played both versions as well and WotL's dialoge just added a heavy feeling of "this is real, lives are at stake here" that helped me be immersed in the fantasy setting, and insults just felt more "cutting" to me

[@benjamindonahue9434]

First Xenogears and now FFT. Freaking love you guys and super stoked for this. Great work with the dev and pre-game histories. Interesting question about being surprised by what I got with this game as I don't recall ever really wondering about it. Growing up my brother and I both got into RPGs on the SNES starting with Final Fantasy Mystic Quest which I think our mom bought as a random christmas gift at the time. I'm fairly certain it was my brother that introduced me to this but I don't know what he knew before hand (I had no idea where he learned about most of the stuff he knew about) . It was likely a rental from Blockbuster back in the day, but regardless we bot loved it immediately. Unfortunately on my first play through I also got locked in a battle I couldn't win and had to start over. I'll avoid namining it but based on your last video I'm guessing most people fell victim to it in the exact same place. Lastly the thing I liked in the dev history was that the guy worked on Tactics Ogre did this. Tactics Ogre had the same problem way more often. This is going to be a hard couple weeks waiting for you guys to get through this XD

[@akiinmoonlight79]

FF Tactics will forever be a deep & glorious piece of art One of the best games OF ALL TIME ❤🛐

[@Xaekid]

I was one of those that bought FFT after playing VII, back then (1998) I was fairly new to the genre (Super Mario RPG and the mentioned VII) so I wasn't as surprised it wasn't similar to VII. In fact; I welcomed the game being so different. Like many others, it was the fight at Dorter that made me rethink my approach to Tactics and how I was playing it. Took some tries but I finally beat Dorter and managed to eventually beat the game. Loved every single aspect of it: the characters, the story, the gameplay, the music and how everything works together to make an amazing game. I still replay the game every now and then and became and instant fan of Matsuno and his core team that would later give us Vagrant Story and FFXII. Love your podcast and extra insight I get from your conversations, looking forward to the next episodes!

[@Artimes.]

Final Fantasy XII probably would end up being one of the greatest games of all time from a story and gameplay perspective, had Matsuno directed that whole game.

[@BknMoonStudios]

Maybe if they hadn't replaced Basch with Vaan as the protagonist. I still laugh when I remember reading that SE execs forced that change to "get in touch with the kids". lol

[@Gooong]

@@BknMoonStudios Ashe should be the protagonist. If they want the outsider's view on the story so the characters could have plot explained to them then Balthier. Even Balthier thinks so. Basch pales in charisma from those two.

[@genericsavings]

There was ALOT of corporate meddling and he ultimately left due to medical issues. I feel XII broke him. I initially hated the pacing & story of FFXII. The fast-forwarding option in the rereleases made the game bearable.

[@Artimes.]

@@genericsavings From what I understand, the only thing kept in from the original materials of Matsuno was the prologue part of the story which explains why it feels so much more cinimatic and more ambitious from a writing standpoint then the rest of the game, where it starts to sharpy veere into an almost MMO like design. Lots of zone exploration but not enough depth to narative.

[@genericsavings]

@@Artimes. Hmm. You have a source? My biggest gripe was that the characters were just so bland. Sure, Balthier had some charm but most of the cast put me to sleep. Tactics & VS fleshed out its villains with a lot of nuance. FFXII was just a group of judges that clomped around like Darth Vader. I’m like, “Ooh scary. Why do I care?” Cynicism aside, the combat was really cool. It was like “create an AI” with sprinkles of “Vagrant Story-lite”.

[@Scimarad]

I opened the video with courage...and inside was...A Medical Herb! Sorry, I meant....A History Lesson!! Everytime a frigate comes back from a mission on No Man's Sky I think of Final Fantasy Tactics and those little missions you can send people on. Also, I've been listening to the soundtrack again and I'd forgotten how much I absolutely love that "Introducing the units" theme the game played when you left it on the title screen long enough. One of my favourite pieces of videogame music ever. The whole soundtrack is amazing and I think it was one of the first videogame sountracks I ever bought.

[@bainjohn]

I had a good feeling!

[@PureBlackDragon]

One of my favorite games of all time. Just so much customizability, a great dual narrative arc with Delita and Ramza, and how they both deal with the dark forces, both realistic and fantastical, of the world. I just recently landed a job writing about this title and this episode dropping at the same time is pretty cool. I agree about the mobile version, and also find fatigue with the touch screen playstyle a bit, but speeding up the casting and actions does help a lot when going through the battles. My favorite version is probably the PSP version though, just because of how easy it was to use perhaps.

[@Ravix8891]

I'll never forget the Christmas I got FFT. I had asked for FF7 but my mom, not knowing one FF from another, got me Tactics. I was sooooooo bummed. But not having another new game to play, I threw it in. From the opening cinematic I was hooked. It was very intimidating to me at 12yo (having never played a tactical game) but every time I got past the next battle after repeated failures, it was a such great feeling. One of my all-time favs. The story *chef's kiss* so good. Fingers crossed we see WotL on Switch sometime soon.

[@lupercalrising2208]

Heh!! I just dug my psp out of my gaming vault yesterday and cleaned it up (it had some screen protector goo on the screen, but had been in the sleeve for years and years). I also just ordered Tactics off Amazon for $20 for it, so I'm def excited to check it out. The game should arrive by Friday.

[@Graciousgates]

This is my second time coming back to this playlist. I love these in depth looks at the masterpieces. Such great work from you guys!

[@chronocrosser]

I'm so glad you guys are doing this one. I wasn't terribly interested in Mass Effect or Xenogears, but Tactics? Tactics is my jam.

[@supremeworld87]

How could someone not be interested in xenogears?

[@stevemanart]

The Final Fantasy Adventure was called "Holy Sword Legend: a Final Fantasy Sidestory" (Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden). It spun off into the Seiken Densetsu series but the first game does count as a Final Fantasy. Kenji Ito composed the music for it. Ryuji Sasai composed the music for Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. The Final Fantasy Legend, which was the first SaGa game, had its music composed by Nobuo Uematsu. SaGa II (FFL II) was composed by Uematsu and Ito. SaGa III (FFL III) was composed by Sakai and Chihiro Fujioka.

[@myleg6720]

I have been playing FFT as a kid and replayed it a few times and kept coming back to reading the stories in the tavern but, I was lost due to the Shakespeare era language. This really helped me understand how it starts and the way you explain things and tell the story at a good pace, is easy to understand. Thank you for your hard work!

[@Andrew-Gomez904]

I would love to see you guys do this for the Trails In The Sky series!

[@Realag666]

Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together is one of my favorite games of all time. The political story is one of the best in the entire genre of turn based Tactics, if not the best. If you want to check it out, one amazing dude dedicates alot of his time over the last several years to the "One-Vision" mod, which drasticly improves and overhauls the game.

[@LusciousNotes]

Interesting, I was coming off the high that was FF VII, saw the box art for Tactics, and thought, “they’re going back to sprites!!! It’s going to be another VI!!!” (or III as we knew it at the time).Rented it. My friend hated it and I couldn’t get enough. It’s a wonderful experience. Can’t say enough good things about this game. Thanks y’all.

[@TheCmurley131]

Alright! One of my Top 5 games of all time - the sprite work and animations in this game are preferable to most modern games for me, and the revised translation was masterfully done.

[@bavarianconsolegamer]

Never knew this existed at the time, but played it recently and really loved it. I found it hard to follow the story with all the different regions and factions, but was fascinated by it all the same.

[@MrRynox52719]

the factions were easier to follow until all the secrets started coming out. i remember losing track of who 'the good guys were' after like CHAPTER 1 and then i slowly realized that there are no good guys... only your allies on the battlefield....

[@bavarianconsolegamer]

Yes, and I really liked that aspect of it. Along with the music and art design.

[@gabedr86]

This is what we’ve all been waiting for! A great game that involves strategy. Looking forward to the future episodes!

[@juzzam3]

23:37 lol that was my mistake, I grinded my unit's job xp by leaving 1 mob alive and using abilities in the early chapters. Then I started noticing I couldn't beat random encounters anymore. However I did manage to get past it with using two calculators units, which were so OP once I figured out how to use them.

[@MrRynox52719]

yah, its insane how much of a boost new armour and weapons provide, levels alone cannot defeat the hordes of enemies out in the world.

[@HSExsiccator]

This can work if rely on the power of monks as well.

[@shaifs5072]

The trick wast to steal from human enemies that sometime appear in random encounters. Or use level down tricks.

[@Kasaaz]

It's adorable that Matsuno has been the sherpa to lead Sakaguchi through FFXIV over the last few months.

[@sinklang]

Just want to say thanks for explaining this story in this way. I play really slowly and have always had trouble absorbing everything. This helps make this game more digestible, especially considering all the different weird fantasy names it has. I'm crap at remembering normal names so I kind of glaze over when trying to understand what's happening.

[@brickhenson874]

It's such a good game. I keep coming back to this analysis. I love everything you two do. Keep it up.

[@michaelsoftbinbows8859]

1997 kids on the schoolyard talking about Final Fantasy Tactics: "Aw man, that one sucks.. You have to move next to the enemy before you can attack them!"... FFT is one of my favorite games but it was totally out of sync with the zeitgeist of 1997, where 3D / cinematics reigned supreme. Also, 1997 was the year of so many blockbuster games, it got lost in the mix. By 1999, it had developed a cult following, at that point the game was rare and going for around 80-90 USD on ebay. You guys made my day, THANK YOU.. I needed this.

[@shizumeiisaru3423]

It always blows my mind every time I watch these videos how far you guys have come from before the studio. And this is my absolute favorite FF game! Excited for this one!

[@itzurboyjc4117]

This is so awesome. Totally worth doing Patreon to support this channel.

[@dtcharo]

Great to finally have another analysis series I can listen to w/o having to worry about spoilers. I love this game and I'm hyped for this discussion!

[@steamyrobotlove]

I love your in-depth discussions on games. Thanks for doing this!

[@XenithflareGaming]

Really excited to see you guys tackle this game! It's an incredible experience so I hope you enjoy! Regarding the whole "everyone in my friend group grading each other based on which FF games they've played," I just wanted to say that emulators capable of playing SNES games were pretty common back in the very late 90s and early 2000s when most people would've been playing FFT. My friend and I were having definite debates over his favorite FF (4) and mine (5) before the PS2 came out.

[@Aogami20]

FFT is one of my favorite games, I've played through it many, many times over the years and I have absolutely never bothered with min-maxing my characters' zodiac signs to ensure they're all compatible or they align with certain bosses or whatever. In my experience it can be mildly annoying at times but almost never game-breakingly so. There's a lot more emphasis placed on things like unlocking abilities and combining them in creative ways.

[@claudio3431]

100% Agree with you. I have no clue why Resonant Arc team got the idea that zodiac alignments was such an important issue to the game, as to the degree of suggesting it as a tip in their previous video (or recommending Ramza to start as a particular one). The zodiac signs are meant to affect the replay value and to provide variability to the game, but their effect is so minor that it is almost an afterthought.

[@dycedarg19]

The zodiac signs were just an extra element in putting more detail in the game. I’m sure there are some players who would look at the enemies and strategize what units to use to defeat them. I was NOT one of those players. Like most of us, I gave Ramza my birthday, tried to get units with high brave/faith, and experimented with different job classes while ignoring those zodiac signs.

[@supremeworld87]

No one that I know that's played this game has ever given a shit about the zodiac signs. There's enough to keep track of already without having to worry about shit that has a very minor effect on gameplay. Ignore, ignore, ignore

[@scoutisabelle]

Mike's hair looks so much better cut like this. Very sharp.

[@japan100100]

Wow, Tactics is much deeper than I thought! So interesting! A masterful account of tactics history!

[@Sketchcraft]

This is the one i've been waiting for, thank-you!

[@brunodiotte2455]

I was 13 when the game came out and remember being a little disappointed that it wasn't more like FF7 but I had experience with SRPG from Shining Force 1 and 2. Ended up loving FF Tactics as much as FF7. They both sit somewhere in my top 25 games of all time!

[@daikyosenshi]

the only tactics rpgs I played before FFT was shining force 2 as well. 🤝

[@dycedarg19]

Yes. I remember playing FF7 and was blown away. Funny thing, Tobal No.1 came with a demo disk of the first level of FF7…which also had a video preview of FFT! I also saw a review for FFT on I think Ultra Game Players magazine and they gave it a 9/10. The pictures on the review did not give it any justice and I was on the fence on getting it since I had not played any strategy, but since it was FF, it essentially made up my mind. FFT is only one of two games (the other being SW Battlefront II) I still play on my PS3.

[@dybenson]

My first RPG was Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, when I was about 10 years old. Then came FF4, FF6, Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana. When I heard FFVII was going playstation that decided my console future. I played Wild ARMS and FFVII and saw a magazine ad for Final Fantasy Tactics and knew I had to buy it based on the brand alone. I had no idea what a tactical game was and the experience was completely new and complex. I'm so glad I made the purchase now and am re-playing this game now along with your series. Thanks for your dedication and efforts for a gaming classic!

[@ScudX]

Xenogears and FFT deep dives within a few months? Now there won't be any top shelf storytelling left for the rest of the Squaresoft Canon!!

[@Logan-ee5rx]

FF6? That story was epic af.

[@ScudX]

@@Logan-ee5rxwouldn't you know it, but 6 is my favorite FF. Rest assured it ranks just as highly as these two ambitious masterpieces in my books! I was thrilled when I found out a FF14 expansion gave FFT a proper ending epilogue's closure, so I look forward to that being covered at the end of this new RA chronicle.

[@CRedd9830]

Front Mission 2 still remains

[@kadomaix8698]

Final Fantasy Tactics is a masterpiece

[@neil4692]

I love the more complicated nature of SRPG's since I love the preparation part and then seeing my results in battle from it. I'm more along the lines of a fan who likes the much larger scale battles compared to the smaller scale battles. One of my favourite in recent memories is from Tactics Ogre where the enemy was around 30 - 40 units and I had my 12 units where we had to battle at a chokepoint and breaking the enemy there was such a satisfying feeling. The Ivalice in 14 was mostly references until the raid series in Stormblood expansion where they personally got Matsuno on board to do it and he did it in a way that it was pretty much its own Ivalice with similarities to the one created in FFT but not the same (for example it has FFT taking place before FFT). It does give alternate versions to some stuff that happens at the end of FFT which you can take as an alternative or what the characters were really feeling.

[@orcbrand]

Were there battles in Tactics Ogre where there were that many enemies? Granted most of my memory of TO:LUCT come from the PSX version, but IIRC, the limit on your party was 10 units (I believe this was increased in the PSP), but the enemy never had more than 12 total at any one time. The only exception would be in battles in the exteriors of Fiduc and Heim castles, where enemy units would reinforce infinitely, one at a time, when the battle went on. I'm sure it felt like the enemy had 30-40 units, but I think even on the PSP they were quite limited in the number of active sprites on the battlefield at any one time. Either way tho - I agree! Tactics Ogre, scalewise, felt much more epic than FFT, which felt far more claustrophobic. If you love that sense of scale, and haven't experienced them yet, I highly recommend playing the Ogre Battle games which take place in the same universe, since they take that sense of scale to 11, especially the original Ogre Battle on the SNES where battle maps represented entire regions, rather than a slice of a town or a geographical feature. (Ogre Battle 64 isn't too different, but the way that movement is restricted compared to the SNES version, and the way the maps are designed make the regions the battles take place in look and feel much smaller than they did in March of the Black Queen where you would have battles that required your army to cross seas and mountain ranges, whereas in OB64, they generally followed highways and roads and could not touch water unless they could fly). Also IIRC with the Tactics Ogre remake, Square has retconned the universe of Ogre Battle ("The Age of Zetegenia" as Tactics Ogre refers to it) to be part and parcel of the universe of Ivalice itself. There's subtle hints toward that in the Tactics Ogre PSP remake where item descriptions make reference to lore of Vagrant Story. A buddy of mine who plays FF14 and played Tactics Ogre even mentions that the necromancer Nybbas shows up in FF14, which pretty much confirms the two universes have been merged into one.

[@KILLERAOC]

Really looking forward to this one. The best FF story by far.

[@TheTakamas]

Regarding the sales figures: Unlike FF7 & FF8, Final Fantasy Tactics wasn´t ported to PAL-regions (Europe) which minimized potential sales even further.

[@Real2KRosters]

4:30 Quest was actually bought out by Square. The purpose of this was to get the rights to the Ogre series back home to Matsuno, and to get their staff working on FFT Advance. Presumably he would have worked on a new Ogre series game after FFXII but obviously left the company due to burnout. He worked on the Tactics Ogre remaster for the PSP in a free lance capacity.

[@Leingod123]

The Xenogear series that make me interested to this channel, but this video that make me subscribed to this channel.

[@omensoffate]

Huh

[@elk6008]

I know you just started but I was hoping you all would do a front mission or a front mission 3 deep dive

[@leif54]

FM3 was amazing. That would be a great video.

[@CRedd9830]

They would definitely have to start from the 1st game, they're all connected.

[@leif54]

@@CRedd9830 that is true. I really enjoy this New format so if I get one out of the series i would be happy regardless.

[@KamPOV01]

Mike is getting JACKED! 💪💪

[@nthquery7776]

I was studying when I saw the notification for this come up, I audibly went "YES, FINALLY". Very excited for this.

[@gameoverguyl2577]

Talking about fire emblem here in this episode was interesting. I would love to see a series about path of radiance! Its one of my favorite games in the series and definitely has one of the most interesting stories that could make for good discussions

[@pickerofnits3066]

It’s interesting that Matsuno saw Ivalice more as a backdrop for the story Tactics told rather than necessarily a setting that ended up persisting across multiple titles. I’m wondering how much that had to do with SE’s increasing emphasis on making what was once standalone FF installments launching pads for franchises unto themselves. I’d be curious as to what stories/games centered around events like the 50 Year War or the Cataclysm would be like, though at the same time I wonder if leaving the finer details vague serves to better preserve the air of mystique surrounding them.

[@sunnyblack9725]

When I bought this game on release I remember that the talk about the game was that it had criticism of religion. At the time I was in catholic school so that aspect alone was more than enough for me to buy the game this and Xenogears. After this, I bought Vagrant story which also had the same talk.

[@Iceose]

I would highly recommend keeping a back up save file for this one. A few very crazy difficulty spikes along the way.

[@omensoffate]

Nah. Go in with no fear. Save scumming is lame

[@masonjam]

@@omensoffate but also, keep alternate saves so you don't get stuck in a battle you weren't ready for.

[@antedeguemon1194]

@@omensoffate Ehh the game has a few bullshit moments where it locks you out between battles, including the infamous duel that's almost unwinnable if you make Ramza something like white mage.

[@lokstir4568]

@@antedeguemon1194 I gave up on this game when it came out because of that fight. I had no previous saves to go back to and a fight I had 0 chances of winning.

[@caturiges]

Not to mention the rooftop battle

[@video_ouija7114]

Big fan of the style of this show. I love long-form stuff like this

[@SokiHime]

I'm in love with Tactics style of music.

[@scotcruickshank7445]

That was really awesome! I always assumed FF XII was in the distant future from tactics, not the other way around. The history you’ve given of the 50 years was and the geopolitical situations the game takes place in gives such a better understanding of just what the hell is exactly going on here! Fantastic stuff !!!

[@aquadonkey.]

You should do a whole series on the ivalice timeline

[@sagewaterdragon]

I haven't played alongside any of these podcasts before, but I recently got a Vita - eager to finally play Final Fantasy Tactics, and this is as good of a way as any. This was a really great first episode.

[@Morokiane]

Having the original jewel case, it has screenshots on the back so you could tell it was not a traditional FF game. The retailer would also always try to sell you the strategy guide along with the game and that showed the in-depth gameplay. Most gamers knew what they were getting with the game.

[@december8679]

Been waiting since last year for this!!!

[@EdreesesPieces]

Fantastic intro episode. You guys are getting even better at this format with all the practice you've had. One note though, I wouldn't exactly say Sakimoto wasn't the first composer to replace Umetasu - as I know you are aware, he only composed about half the tracks for FF10, I think thats significant enough to say the soundtrack wasn't primarily him there. (If you look at Spotify it has the credits for each track) But I'd agree that FF12 is the first time Uematsu was completely replaced, which may just be what you meant, especially considering he did all the important tracks. (suteki Da me, otherworld, zanarkand, etc) I just remember when I heard Uematsu was splitting duties for FFX, my head exploded as I was really worried about it. By the time FF12 rolled around the blow was already softened.

[@vulcanworf7422]

My gripe w/ FFT, only 2 maps to develop before a tough battle at Dorter Trade City. Provide more maps w/ a variety of enemies to fight & level against & open up the fighting/magic system before that tough fight. They likely lost many players w/ only a couple of fights.

[@FelixS.]

It is a deliberate design choice. Comparable to the difficulty of Dark Souls etc which isn’t for everyone. There are games which do not aim for an audience as varied as possible and that is a good thing. It is good there are still dev teams which have an elaborated vision of their product and don’t bow to highest possible sales or accessibility in terms of easy difficulty / game mechanics etc

[@vulcanworf7422]

@@FelixS. I just can’t agree, if you look at the top level characters vs basic forms there is too much ground to cross to keep the game painstakingly slow. Giving the player 2 levels to grind on…that’s not good game dev

[@Servaas]

Very nice to hear you guys about a game I love but never played. I will one day. Keep it up!

[@j_ason_rpg]

"Someone like you wouldn't understand," sounds like a quote that Weigraf said to Ramza the first time they met / fought.

[@shaifs5072]

Pumped for this, let's go! Pulled out my PSP last night.

[@donttellsoma5415]

This was one of the first FF games I played the other 2 being ff1 and ff2. This game will always have a place in my heart. Such a masterpiece

[@retrogamerdad9621]

My experience with Final Fantasy was pretty much the same as yours, Mike. Our experience is one that simply doesn’t happen anymore.

[@grantmiller2453]

That title music gets me every time

[@Sawngawkuh]

Sales-wise, it would've been difficult to reach near VII's numbers due to the fact that Tactics wasn't released globally initially. While FFVII kicked the door down and was the first mainline installment to come out in PAL regions, spin-offs like Tactics were probably still seen as too risky at the time, so sales potential was pretty limited from the get go. It was only years later with the War of the Lions version that it saw shores outside of Japan and NTSC regions.

[@hgc7000]

100% picked up this game because I went full on with FF7. I did read up on it in PS magazine (remember that?) So I knew it was going to be a departure from FF7. I had played Rampart on the SNES, so I was kind of familiar with strategic games. I am generally not a "Min-Maxer" but after getting nuked early on in story battles, I went all out with level grinding. Hello 'JP Up' and 'Auto Potion". I didn't go crazy with it, but I detested losing story battles, so I made sure I went in to steam roll all the NPCs. Golgorand Execution Site was a particular pain in the ass. Anyway, this game has such replay value, the story is amazing, GOT before GOT got cool and of course War of the Roses, and the European wars elements that get added. It was a very engaging "real world" feel to an otherwise fantasy setting. It was gritty and there weren't many total "Good Guys", which I definitely appreciated. Thanks for tackling this game! Y'all do exceptional work with your game coverages, and I'm here for it.

[@WreakHvok]

This is one of my favorite final fantasies besides 7 I replayed this game the most out of all of them

[@AdrianCardoza]

Thank you so much for creating this podcast. I am still going through my first playthrough and I am at the end of Chapter 4. I'm tweaking my team a bit and grinding out some final abilities that I want to have as I go into the final sequence. TY!

[@boohoo5239]

Would you guys be open to doing a Triangle Strategy podcast? That would be awesome and I'd love to see it.

[@ivant.w.9152]

I remember I got an issue of Nintendo Power entirely devoted to the first Final Fantasy, and even though I never played it at the time, I pored over all the monster designs and imagined how cool and fun it was. So when Final Fantasy II came out for the Super Nintendo, I begged my parents to get it for my birthday. I had no clue how to actually play the game at first (I remember not understanding how to equip weapons and armor for probably the first 6 months to a year after getting it), but I was a Final Fantasy fan for life, all because of some pictures of Tiamat and WarMech in a magazine.

[@shaneos2727]

Boys. I’ve a sacred reverence for your work over the years, but at no point did my life align with what you were up to with such graceful serendipity than today, where I promise- this will finally be the time I finish tactics. I always get so wrapped up in faith/bravery training and JP farming on frogs that I give up before getting to the point where I can actually play lol not this time. Stay safe out there~

[@orcbrand]

The class-levels and level-scaling is a subtle echo of the themes of the Matsuno tactics games - all about class inequalities, and the difference between attempting to raise up people as a class, and individuals exploiting friction of power differentials to catapult themselves to the top. Tactics Ogre PSP remake is the most on-the-nose about it (no more character levels - we level up as a CLASS! individual weak CLASS strong), but the PSX game has its own simple approach (exp gains scaled based on difference in level between characters - when weak characters fight the strong, or even when they heal the strong -the difference in their relative power rapidly decreases with each action, no matter its effectiveness, by the character of lower level as he gains ten times more exp per action than the higher level character on the opposite end. It's a case of narrative-gameplay cohesion which helps internalize the experience of the game. Level-scaling has to exist here, because its not just a disincentive to grinding, but an incentive to grind with the *explicit intention* of achieving relative equality of the people in your army. It's like pottery gameplay rhymes story

[@Macross0688]

I was one of those kids who bought FFTA expecting something like the main series, however I felt in love with the tactical combat and team construction

[@CarlosSR88]

I was looking for an excuse to replay FF Tactics. Your podcast is just the perfect one!

[@rogue_newtype4364]

You guys need to eventually do Vandal Hearts! Another amazing SRPG with a great story and music.

[@ricky4673]

This was my fav game of all time and the only one I have played to the end and have done all side stuff multiple times. I will no doubt, play this 10 more times in my lifetime.

[@Traison]

As far as I remember, the lag in the PSP version was not your ordinary lag, but instead hard coded there to allow the UMD time to spin up during spell animations. Which is why it's really easy to patch out if playing on different medium.

[@pyguy7]

Can we get a list of which different theme tracks both composers worked on. I want to know the differences.

[@ShadowBassMan]

So stoked to watch this. I'm finishing Xenogears just so I can binge watch your Xeno videos.

[@Venerablenesses]

Maybe I was lucky, but I got to play Warsong, the first two Shining Force games, Vandal Hearts & FF7, b4 FF: Tactics. I like the name. It told me what my expectations should be.

[@naheemquattlebaum2267]

Once I saw that you guys was doing this game I decided to start playing it on my PSP emulator to play along

[@lindenstromberg6859]

Final Fantasy Adventure was called Mystic Quest in most countries. FFLegend was called Makai Toushi SaGa which Google translate tells me is “The Final Fantasy Legend SaGa” in English.

[@VCR_Repairman]

Back in the day, I remebering playing and not knowing you had to bring up the formation menu on the world map to change jobs, I was fighting as squires against wizards at Dorter Trade city.

[@vindifference]

I was exposed to FFVII and FFIX before picking up FF Tactics Advance. VII and IX were already a different type of game system than my usual so I already kinda knew that any FF game would be a more strategic slower-paced thing which I loved. But the fact that there was no number, just "Tactics" had me curiously expecting something different. Adapting to what a Tactical FF game is, was far easier than adapting to FF as a whole, and FFTA had so many familiar things to the 2 games I had already played in terms of your typical FF monsters, spells, abilities etc. that it being a strategy RPG on a grid was a comparatively small leap. In some ways it brought FF in my mind closer to that of other games I played at the time, cause while it was still turn-based, my characters could fetching move around on a map and get angles on the enemy and stuff, so I was hype. And I'm kinda glad I took on Tactics Advanced first, because it was simpler than Tactics was, which is great as an introduction, and then having been hooked on that, I could progress to the original Tactics which upped the complexity in the battle system, visuals, and the story. Even then tho, Tactics was hard. I may not have stuck to it if I didn't have prior experience.

[@lindenstromberg6859]

Final Fantasy wasn’t even officially released in Europe, but I think most gaming fans knew about the games and played them on the SNES fire converter. I’d even played Fire Emblem 4 long before FE became a thing in the West. Small bit of history trivia: teenagers and early 20s people, people who played games, mostly all had the Internet or access to it from school/campus by 1997/98 - I was really active on a site called Nintendojo at that time - the first Sony troll I ever met was named Milenko, will never forget that name! We just mostly used dial-up connections… and ICQ/IRC :D which began to be phased out starting in 1999 or so when high speed became a thing

[@lotterwinner6474]

I remember stumbling upon this title at the store. I had no idea what it was but I saw it was from square. To me it was apparent that the game was going to be different from other FF titles as it didnt have a number and the back highlighted that it was a different type of game. So glad I picked up FFT it became one of my favorite games of all time.

[@quezcatol]

FF tactics and Ogre tactics are legends, no wonder a guy like me is the most hyped about project triangle strategy this year- and not God of war Ragnarök, or breath of the wild 2 :)

[@Norel_Nieves]

That makes 0 sense. Project triangle is nothing like FFT or OGT 😂

[@quezcatol]

@@Norel_Nieves square-enix have literally said, its a spiritual successor to those two games at a "preview" from one of the producers. So you make no sense to not being able to see that yourself. OR that they literally marketing it as such.

[@davidluu9858]

I finished ff7 and loved it when I was a kid. Then I hanged out at my friend house watching him play FFT and I was like.... What is this music? Sounds so cool. I replayed FFT more than any other games I have played in my life

[@TrekCycling]

You guys asked about our history with this game and I think I have an interesting history. I picked this game up along with a PS One when that system released. It was on display at my local game shop with one of those small attachable LCD screens. I thought it would be so cool to play the game (I knew nothing about it) in my den while my wife was watching television. When I actually got it hooked up I hated the game, it didn't gel with me and I didn't understand it. Eventually I sold the PS One and moved on. A couple of years later I picked up a Gameboy Advance SP and for some reason picked up Tactics Ogre. I think based on something like the box art. I loved that game and the portability of the SP really struck me as perfect for my gaming patterns of playing when I was commuting or while my wife watched Law and Order or whatever. I quickly followed Tactics Ogre with FFTA, both Fire Emblem games, Onimusha Tactics, Shining Force on the GBA, both Advance Wars games, etc. I also dabbled in La Pucelle Tactics, Disgaea and a few others. Years later when the War of the Lions released on PSP I finally actually played, fully appreciated and completed Final Fantasy Tactics. All Square had to do was allow me to play it on the bus or on the plane. Up until that point I would have said FFTA was my favorite tactics game, but I was glad I finally doubled back on FFT, that it became my favorite SRPG and it wasn't even close.

[@reenchanted]

I was one of the players that bought the game on the box art and FF name recognition after playing FF7. It definitely wasn’t exactly what I expected, but grew to enjoy it as its own thing once I was a few battles into it. Now, even though I still love FF7, I rank FFT even higher on my personal favorites for all the reasons you guys talk about. :-)

[@iyampol6955]

Mike's description of vagrant story's gameplay is spot on. As much as I would love to replay it, a lot of the game mechanics put me off.

[@MrAvengion]

I play the mobile FF Tactics game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius: War of the Visions (FFBE:WOTV) because of my love for FFT and FFT WotL. I love your analysis of the chapters and the developers with the game play and style I got auto routed while playing mobile character build and high difficulty stage strategy vids. Was excited to see these videos are very recent. I am subscribed and looking forward to watching through all your vids. As a FFT veteran as far as grinding goes. I power level my recruits in the first chapter with ramza and 4 units random battles by using JP bonus and having ramza in the middle of a cross formation with a monk job chakra and the other units atk ramza while he chakras and uses shout or tailwind type abilities with all enemies dead and 1 weak who stays away. I love the preemptive counter attack with double swords equipped its a very op set up to killing units before they can touch you lol

[@saynotop2w]

I have a confession to make. My 15 year old self back then skipped all the tavern dialogue just to get the secret characters like Cloud. I never really delved into the politics. I just knew that Corps Brigade(Death Corps), Northern Sky(Hokuten), and Church were my enemies but I didn't even realize their own motivations.

[@williansnobre]

I always wanted to ask if they did by any chance read 'A Song of Ice and Fire' during the production of the game, because FFT has some themes that parallel with 'A Song of Ice and Fire', such as the abuse of power by the nobles being a central theme, the death of a King causing a civil war, illegitimate heirs. Sure, these are themes generally present in historical intrigue so maybe it's just a coincidence ...

[@AGhostOfSorts]

I am one of those people that bought Tactics because I loved FF6 and 7. So when Tactics came out and I saw it at the store after I adored 7 I bought it immediately. Was very surprised and confused but it became one of my favorite FF games. Especially War of the Lions

[@Faizan1631]

I've yet to beat FF Tactics but I actually started a playthrough before this series was announced. I've started and stopped playing this game so many times over the past 10 years but this time I'm really pushing through, just started Chapter 4 whereas in previous attempts I've never even gotten to Chapter 2. Reason why I've gotten this far is because I've got to experience more of Yasumi Matsuno's work, particularly the Bozja storyline from FF14 which I honestly think beats out most of the main game's story, really hoping he comes back for Endwalker. But yeah, despite the problems I have with the gameplay I'm actually really enjoying the story, one cutscene in Chapter 3 hit me so hard I was honestly close to crying, can't wait to finish the game and really looking forward to the rest of the podcast.