Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chroniclesseems to have taken a page from one of the darker chapters of Square Enix’s history. The upcoming remake ofFF Tacticshas been long anticipated; the beloved spinoff hasn’t been playable on any modern platform (except mobile phones) since the PSP. Players have long since yearned for an easy way to playFF Tacticson a bigger screen, especially with itscontinued relevance in today’s world. And that’s finally on its way, withThe Ivalice Chroniclesconfirmed for release this September.
However,Square Enix has a checkered past when it comes to remaking and remastering its older games, and it seems likeFF Tacticsmight be following in those footsteps. The team behind it has already made some unusual choices, including leaving out a pretty significant amount of content from what many (but not all) players consider the best available version ofFF Tactics. You could hardly engineer a more controversial decision, so this one seems especially out of place, and suggests Square may not have learned the right lessons from its previous remake missteps.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Is Missing Content
No WOTL Content, Says New Interview
According to an interview with theFF Tacticsremake team, published onSquare Enix’s official website,FF Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicleswon’t include any of the new content added by the original remake,War of the Lions. Released for the PSP in 2007,WOTLaddressed several common issues with the originalFF Tactics. It made the game available in a more modern 16:9 ratio, added animated cutscenes, changed the game’s balance and certain progression requirements, and swapped the controls to X-to-confirm, Circle-to-cancel, more conventional in the West.
Beyond its updated aspect ratio and graphics, though,WOTLis perhaps best known for its translation, which is somewhat divisive.WOTLretranslates all the dialogue and menus from the base game, using a more flowery style Some players findWOTLtoo poetic and faux-archaic, and prefer the directness of the original translation. Others find the original translation too stiff, and greatly appreciate the artistic license taken byWOTL. Whatever camp you land in, though, you’ll likely be surprised to learn thatThe Ivalice Chroniclesis retranslating the original gameagaininstead of using either pre-existing version.
These additions are so innocuous, and such a fun way to hearken back to the origins of theFinal Fantasyseries, that you’d think Square wouldn’t even question including them.
Worse still, though, is thatThe Ivalice Chronicleswon’t use any of the new content introduced byWOTL. That’s an especially odd choice, given that the additions were so minor:WOTLhas two unique jobs, the Onion Knight and the Dark Knight, and a few recruitable guest characters: Luso fromFF Tactics A2,and Balthier fromFF12. These additions are so innocuous, and such a fun way to hearken back to the origins of theFinal Fantasyseries, that you’d think Square wouldn’t even question including them.
Director Kazutoyo Maehiro does explain his reasoning for failing to include changes and additions fromWOTL, and, to be honest, I do like his answer, at least in part:
“The original version of Final Fantasy Tactics is a very complete game both from a game design and story perspective. If we were to make major changes, it would only be a loss for not only fans of the original game, but also those new to the title.
With this in mind, our first step in reviving Final Fantasy Tactics in the present was to adhere to the original and put a spotlight on the original game’s characters and jobs, as well as the original gameplay experience.”
I agree with the point thatthe originalFF Tacticsis a complete game as-is. But at the same time, I’m biased -War of the Lionswas my first experience withTactics, and I do love a lot of what it added. The animated cutscenes have such a brilliant, unique art style, and more job variety is never a bad thing.
No Original Translation & No WOTL Content Is The Worst Of Both Worlds
A Controversial Decision
It just feels odd to stick to the original version ofFF Tacticsin everything but its original script, which is one of its most recognizable aspects (at least in the English-speaking world). To do so while jettisoning the extraWOTLcontent - which even fans of the original translation would be hard-pressed to object to - justseems calculated to upset absolutely everyone, no matter which version of the game they prefer.
It’s not the first unusual decisionThe Ivalice Chronicleshas made either. From some unusual wording in the reveal trailer, it certainly sounds liketheFF Tacticsremake will be gating all of its new contentbehind the “Enhanced” version. The Enhanced version’s graphics look muddy, and lose a lot of the charm of the original pixel art; players shouldn’t have to settle for worse graphics to experience the new content they’re paying for, just as they have a right to wonder why Square’s modern, definitive remake doesn’t include all the content from previous versions ofFF Tactics.
Square Enix Has A Rough History With Remasters
Tactics May Not Be Much Better
Square’s approach to and track record with remakes and remasters are odd, to say the least. On the one hand, it undertook a huge, risky, multi-chapter epic in theFinal Fantasy 7remake trilogy, and it was a huge critical and commercial success (despite underselling its own internal targets). On the other,its relatively simple remasters are almost invariably disastrous, at least at launch.
It all began with Square’s remaster ofChrono Trigger, which came to Steam back in 2018. It was widely criticized for its HD filter, which many fans of the original game felt unnecessarily blurred the original graphics, making the whole thing look muddy. Certain attack animations - one of the coolest parts of the original game - were also bugged, taking the oomph out of combat.
Later, in 2020,Square Enix’s remaster ofFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicleswas dead on arrival, mainly because its big new feature - online multiplayer - just didn’t work. Complaints repeated themselves when Square released a remaster ofChrono Trigger’s direct sequel,Chrono Cross, in 2022. Again, it was critiqued for its low-quality upscaling, and many players found it performed worse than the original game on modern platforms.
It’s clear enough that Square is trying to take a different approach with itsFF Tacticsremake/remaster.
While these issues, and many of those with theChrono Triggerremaster, have since been addressed in updates, they inevitably hurt these games' sales and reputations when they were first released. It’s clear enough that Square is trying to take a different approach with itsFF Tacticsremake/remaster, potentially to avoid the same fate, but I’m not sure that’s the right way to go about it. It seems to be attempting to pander to fans of the original game, while ignoring anyone who prefersWOTL, which alienates a large portion of theFF Tacticsfandom while ensuring the end result ofFinal Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chroniclesisn’t as complete as it could be.
