Some video games depart a bigger imprint on the trade than their business efficiency would possibly counsel. 1997’s Last Fantasy Ways is a type of video games. It’s beloved past a doubt. Its title has been utilized in savvy comparisons to numerous “religious successors”. It’s a seminal pressure inside a considerably area of interest subgenre. And it’s not at all the revenue juggernaut that a number of of Sq. Enix’s different titles have confirmed to be.
Which is ok. Who cares, proper? A recreation is to be loved. However, Sq. is nicely conscious that Last Fantasy Ways: The Ivalice Chronicles is a little bit of a raffle. For all its diehard defenders, there are lots of on this world who rely themselves as JRPG followers however are not sure whether or not an isometric technique variant is for them. This 2025 revamp of a 1997 cult basic that was beforehand remastered in 2007 – bought all that? – is for all of us who grew up pondering Delita Heiral was cool. Nevertheless it’s additionally a check. Is there a large sufficient marketplace for tactical spinoff fare to justify future initiatives in that vein?
I’m no prophet, so I can’t let you know what The Ivalice Chronicles’ launch gross sales will say to that finish. All I can say is whether or not it’s a worthy return to an excellently-written and impressively customizable role-playing recreation. The reply is sure… principally.
Let’s begin with a primer, since some readers received’t have the extent of intense familiarity with FFT that I reckon many others will have. Written and directed by Yasumi Matsuno, who had beforehand created the Ogre Battle sequence, FFT portrays a deeply sociopolitical medieval drama about rival homes in a war-torn kingdom. It’s nonetheless a Last Fantasy recreation, so demonic forces are at play right here, and regularly, its story tilts additional towards a fight-the-gods affair. Standout characters embody the shrewd aforementioned Delita Heiral, the jaded insurgent Wiegraf Folles, the nobleminded Agrias Oaks, and the unsung hero on the heart of all of it – Ramza Beoulve.
In its unique type, on the primary PlayStation console, FFT’s English translation was a multitude. Nuance was misplaced, and vital particulars have been muddled past restore. In opposition to all odds, it had its charms; awkward strains like “rebels plotting rise up” and hard-going bangers like “Blame your self or God” have lived rent-free in day-to-day lexicons of 1000’s of gamers. When FFT was ported to the PlayStation Transportable as ‘Last Fantasy Ways: The Battle of the Lions’, it obtained a brand-new translation, this time extra correct and crammed with its personal model of bangers. Some, nonetheless, felt that its “quasi-Shakespearean overtones” have been overwrought, and thus, a fandom rift has existed on the topic ever since.
The Ivalice Chronicles’ personal localization hems far nearer to The Battle of the Lions, and certainly, if you happen to play the sport in ‘Traditional’ mode, that’s exactly the script you’ll obtain. ‘Enhanced’ mode, which is the model that I performed, sports activities a completely voice-acted script. Changes have been thus made to go well with the shift. This type of stuff will all the time come down to private style, however I consider the modifications right here have been sensible on the entire and in the end convey Matsuno’s plot higher than The Battle of the Lions did, not to mention that bedlam on PS1.
And what splendid voice performing that is. A lot advertising and marketing ado has been remodeled Last Fantasy XVI’s Ben Starr making the leap to FFT as Ramza’s elder brother, Dycedarg Beoulve. To make certain, Starr’s Dycedarg is pitch-perfect. Joe Pitts’ efficiency of Ramza, nonetheless, is maybe one of the best of all, crammed with forlorn hope and a perception within the frequent good. Gregg Lowe’s ever-scheming Delita, Emily Carey’s ever-worried Alma – that is one in all Last Fantasy’s strongest mixed deliveries. Last Fantasy VII Remake people might be happy as punch to know that Cody Christian doesn’t miss a beat from his regular excellence as optionally available facet character Cloud Strife, whose look in 1997 felt extra like a advertising and marketing tie-in, and whose arrival 28 years later in some way manages to repeat the trick for the continued Remake trilogy.
If there may be one caveat to all of this, it’s not The Ivalice Chronicles’ fault; in reality, this time, the issue is diminished with the stellar inclusion of heaps upon heaps of additional dialogue throughout story battles. The difficulty, at its core, is that FFT’s script – for all its sterling features – has all the time been a bit too brief. This, too, is a matter of style. However there have been instances in ‘97, and certainly in ‘07, once I wished it wouldn’t hop so swiftly from plot beat to plot beat. To some, it is a mark of greatness – essential stuff is occurring left and proper, and there’s a lot of it by recreation’s finish. That is true! Unequivocally! However a couple of extra get-in-his-mind scenes for Ramza might have gone a great distance.
Worse but, when characters like Agrias Oaks and Mustadio Bunansa – who play very important roles within the sequences earlier than they formally be part of the celebration – go all however silent as soon as they’ve been recruited, it will probably virtually make one really feel a pang of sorrow that they’ll management such heroes straight on the battlefield, as a result of their talking elements are over. The Battle of the Lions fastened this to an extent by including some later-game facet content material involving each characters. The Ivalice Chronicles, whereas nixing all the unique content material (extra on that in a bit), truly does one higher general: Agrias, Mustadio, and a number of other others achieve contemporary dialog materials when deployed in sure fight encounters.
These are, I can not emphasize this sufficient, completely very important to your full enjoyment of The Ivalice Chronicles. Whether or not you’re a vet with an Agrias tattoo otherwise you’ve by no means heard of her earlier than this evaluation, you’re certain to understand her characterization way more when she’s given these alternatives to talk up concerning the state of the world, and her place inside it. Mustadio, the ‘Thunder God’ Orlandeau, all the remainder of them; that they had extra to say, they by no means had the prospect to say it, and Yasumi Matsuno, in returning to the mission that basically put him on the map all these years in the past, has given it to them in the end.
I suppose I ought to begin speaking about gameplay on this precise online game. FFT’s isometric battle system has all the time been thrilling in its personal proper, and never simply because the act of positioning your items throughout the stage, taking dangers galore alongside the way in which, is an inherently interesting one. Replay-ability is top-tier in FFT. Bountiful customization choices permit us to study a dizzying array of talents from throughout a large subject of classic Last Fantasy Job Lessons.
A Black Mage who survives when issues rise up shut and private by shattering the enemy’s armor and weaponry through coaching as a Knight. A Summoner who ensures their targets don’t escape earlier than Bahamut’s arrival by doubling as a Mystic who can freeze targets in place. A Holy Knight who research as a Samurai, bringing excellent utility to a job that will in any other case be an easy killing machine. The instruments are all there to let gamers’ creativity shine.
I might cease wanting saying that FFT’s mechanics are fairly as deep as Matsuno’s different huge SRPG, Ways Ogre, however they’re loads deep in their very own proper. The sport additionally feels at the very least a bit extra approachable, bursting as it’s with iconic FF trappings and an arguably extra easy design ethos.
Kazutoyo Maehiro bought his begin at Sq. as an Occasion Planner on FFT. One take a look at his work historical past will let you know simply how deeply entrenched he’s in “this facet” of the Last Fantasy label; FFXII, FFXIV, FFXVI… There’s a sure unmistakable sample right here to anybody who has performed a plethora of entries, an overarching ‘sub-identity’ of kinds which these video games share with one-another, and decidedly don’t share with, say, FFVII, FFVIII, FFX, FFXIII. To see him take the function of director for The Ivalice Chronicles simply feels proper, and he has – for essentially the most half – nailed the project.
High quality-of-life enhancements may be discovered throughout the board. There’s a fast-forward function for battling. Auto-save, a extra informative (but by no means intrusive) consumer interface, and clever Job Class rebalancing all contribute to a way that in some ways The Ivalice Chronicles is definitely FFT at its apex. A few of the cleverest examples come late within the recreation, when Cloud and different optionally available characters come geared up with the sorts of sweeping enhancements which make it extra worthwhile to deliver them into Ramza’s conflicts on a routine foundation.
You may shortly verify which outlets have what stock whereas on the world map. You may freely decline to have interaction in random battles whereas venturing from Level A to Level B, which, in a recreation of this selection, is an excellent factor. You may run away from them at any time, too, and also you received’t get caught at a sure multi-phase fort since you got here unprepared for a selected nightmare of a boss struggle. (In previous FFT iterations, this could possibly be a genuinely game-breaking affair, as, if Ramza was not powered-up sufficient to face his foe, a participant who didn’t make an additional save earlier than getting into the sequence would successfully be locked out of development.)
There are programmable weapon and talent “units” which you’ll be able to change between on the fly. There’s an choice to shortly exterminate undesirable monster eggs – you’ll, uh, perceive if you happen to’ve performed this recreation – and three distinct issue settings, in order that FFT gurus like myself can nonetheless really feel challenged by Tactician mode. Maybe better of all, Maehiro and his improvement employees introduced FFXVI’s ‘State of the Realm’ function straight into The Ivalice Chronicles; it’s a implausible play-by-play examination of the who, what, when, the place, and why of FFT’s sprawling story that’s certain to assist out if you happen to take a while away from the realm.
No, wait – the easiest enchancment with The Ivalice Chronicles is definitely unique to non-Japanese variations. In Japan, FFT has all the time contained a couple of ‘sound novels’, interactive in-universe books which can be enjoyable, eclectic, and supply some fascinating context to the spiffy however largely-useless treasures you possibly can purchase by sending items off to carry out ‘Errands’ at taverns. These have been by no means earlier than translated into different languages. Do I believe ‘Mesa’s Musings’ is a choose-your-own-adventure for the ages? Completely not. It’s nonetheless fairly neat, and extra importantly, it’s a bit of Last Fantasy historical past that, earlier than September 2025, relied upon fan translation to exist in any actual type to so many followers. They’re all nicely value listening to.
I haven’t even talked about the graphical change, which drew criticism upon unveiling. Ways Ogre: Reborn had a little bit of a vaseline overlay dilemma to its high-resolution renditions, in any case, and The Ivalice Chronicles, whereas not affected by that illness, nonetheless doesn’t look fairly prefer it as soon as did. (That’s, until you play ‘Traditional’ mode, however ‘Enhanced’ mode is the place just about each contemporary function that this evaluation has talked about comes into play, so frankly, I wouldn’t suggest that.) Opinions will fluctuate, however I occur to suppose The Ivalice Chronicles seems beautiful. Backgrounds have retained their distinctive identification, and character sprites are fairly good. I’d hesitate to label them superior to their older counterparts, however I might by no means say they’re worse.
What’s the flip facet to this largely-spectacular equation? It boils right down to one thing that many have been keenly conscious of for months. Hardly a revelation, then, however I had hoped that I’d really feel otherwise as soon as I’d sat down with this model for nicely over 60 hours than I had when the information first broke: all the things which had been added in The Battle of the Lions was omitted in The Ivalice Chronicles.
This didn’t come as a shock to me. Yasumi Matsuno wasn’t straight concerned within the PSP (and finally iOS/Android) remaster. Nor have been, as finest I can inform, lots of the people who’ve labored so exhausting to deliver this to life. However, this isn’t a small quantity of stuff that may without end be relegated to a previous iteration.
The Battle of the Lions added two Job Lessons: Darkish Knight and Onion Knight. It included a wellspring of multiplayer content material, and as one of many ten individuals in the US who truly engaged within the PSP’s ad-hoc on-line mode, I can let you know, it was truly form of neat. It added a number of extra facet quests, together with one which offers a far stronger decision to the tales of a pair of optionally available characters than what we bought on PS1 and what we’ve got once more on fashionable {hardware}. It added FFXII’s Balthier Bunansa and Last Fantasy Ways A2: Grimoire of the Rift’s Luso Clemens. New tools, new abilities, full movement movies, a handful of additional battles inside the principle quest itself.
Look, I don’t need to completely romanticize The Battle of the Lions. The reality is, its sound results have been tough, its lag (on PSP, and with out a fan patch) was form of dire, and certain, some detest its localization. However I’ve seen it stated that “nothing of worth was misplaced.” I merely can not agree. I stated it whereas I reviewed a couple of of the Last Fantasy Pixel Remasters right here. I stated it in my evaluation for Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Version earlier this 12 months. I’ll, in all chance, discover myself saying it once more at some future level past at the moment. Nevertheless it’s an actual disgrace that Sq. Enix’s remasters seldom really feel just like the ‘definitive editions’ that, in a cooler world, they might be.
As a substitute, The Ivalice Chronicles is a extremely, actually good remaster, and fairly presumably FFT in its most interesting type. By excluding The Battle of the Lions’ personal contributions to Ivalician fable, it falls simply wanting perfection, and I like to recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who has by no means studied underneath the tutelage of historian Arazlam Durai as he examines the plight and glory of 1 Ramza Beoulve.
For these of you who already graduated from his course, it’s solely a tad extra sophisticated; replaying FFT on this newest type means shedding out on a set of nifty fare from its center type. In change, nonetheless, there’s a lot new to like about this seminal recreation that’s certain to encourage fervent chatter and dozens of playthroughs for years to come back.
Deliver on “Last Fantasy Ways 2”, I say, daring to will it into existence. We’ve waited lengthy sufficient.
Model Examined: PlayStation 5
Disclaimer: Evaluate code for Last Fantasy Ways The Ivalice Chronicles supplied to Nova Crystallis by the sport’s writer: Sq. Enix.