Final Fantasy Tactics: Ivalice Chronicles review – The remastered 1997 classic now has more political resonance | games

AAt first glance, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, which was first released in 1997 and is now available in a newly remastered guise, doesn’t do much to separate itself from other typical fantasy fiction. There is the hero Ramza – an idealistic gentleman with luscious blonde hair who wanders the medieval-inspired world of Ivalice in search of high adventure. But quickly, and with narrative elegance, the picture becomes more complex: peasant revolutionaries compete with gilded royalists; Machiavellian conspiracies plunge the kingdom into chaos. Ramza must navigate this complex political matrix, all while experiencing his own ideological awakening.

There’s a strong argument that Final Fantasy Tactics tells a better story than the historical Final Fantasy VII (which saw Cloud Strife and a group of eco-terrorist friends take on the shady giant Shinra Corporation). As our real-world political focus shifts from the looming threat of the climate crisis to the more pressing rise of fascism (although the two are inextricably linked), one could make an argument that tactics are now also the more relevant game.

In this remastered version, the plot is still brilliant. Shakespearean dialogue is now entirely voice-acted with delightful musical performances: you can practically feel the spit on your face when one of the game’s royal spoilers delivers a glowing tirade against the common people.

Within this fascinating political tapestry, you engage in the game’s true essence: turn-based combat of rare malleability. Each member of your party – Ramza, low-level Delita, and many others – has their own “job” (basically, character class), and can be changed and remixed later with some restrictions (want to create a weapon-wielding mage? No problem!). This level of customization, combined with the gorgeous diorama levels in which skirmishes take place, results in a symphonic chess game.

These fights aren’t just riotous fun; They are also poetic. “I’ve been dealt a hand. I’m simply playing it,” says one enemy during a dramatic showdown at a cascading waterfall. The line speaks to the tragedy that gradually comes to the surface as you play through these square encounters – the sense that each character has been thrust into a maelstrom of events larger than themselves. Heroes, villains, and everyone in between are mere pawns on the battlefield, rushing toward their pre-ordained rendezvous with destiny.

The Ivalice Chronicles is not interested in narrative flexibility. Its plot does not bend to the whims of the player like other RPGs. The framing of the story—told as a historical novel set in the distant future—makes this abundantly clear. As such, the game is less about fantasy and fairy tales than it is about history itself. Forget easy solutions: here events simply produce more events; Trauma begets trauma. It’s one battle after another for Ramza and his comrades.

This may seem doomed, but it often is. Yet no one can mistake the moral principles that envelop author Yasumi Matsuno’s stirring story of disparity, division, and stubborn elites seeking to consolidate their already powerful power. Matsuno, who studied foreign policy before becoming an economics reporter, described Final Fantasy Tactics as an act of “class struggle.” Now, in a time of “No Kings” protests in the US, the erosion of political rights in the UK, and the increasing enrichment of the world’s wealthy, the game has become even more resonant.

Ramza offers a model of resistance, and also a commentary on the struggle of the opposition in such turbulent times. He is principled, uncompromising and always striving to do what is right – and his reward is being deemed a heretic by the most powerful institutions of his time.