Wow.  This game is good.  It has everything a good RPG should have- a
stunning dramatic, emotion filled score, complex, believable characters, and
most importantly, a strong and intriguing plot.

But first, let me get something out of the way.  This game is not Final
Fantasy VII.  Nor is it Suikoden, Wild Arms, or any kind of traditional RPG.
Final Fantasy Tactics is a strategy role-playing game, which basically means
that the gameplay is primarily strategic warfare, rather than your average
RPG interface.  You don't go from place to place talking to people, nor do
you quest into deep dungeons.  Instead, you spend your time in the battles.

And oh, the battles.  Instead of standing in some kind of lame line and
fighting over a very small area, you're presented with a true 3d battlefield
over which your characters can move.  Attacks have ranges, and some of them
take time.  Emphasis is therefore placed on positioning and timing of
attacks, not merely on having the strongest spells to cast at the enemy.
And, besides that, there is detailed job system, allowing your characters to
change classes and learn new abilities.  There are special items to obtain,
and powerful magics to learn.  Rest assured that there are plenty of new
details to keep you entertained throughout the game.

Outside of the combat screens, you're presented a world map, on which is
marked all of the places you know about and can get to.  This includes
towns, castles, and fortresses, as well as little wilderness waypoints.
When your party moves through one of these patches of wilderness, there's
always a chance that you might encounter some enemies.  This is a minor
annoyance, since there are times in which, given the amount of time it takes
to complete a battle, you just don't feel like fighting.  But the random
battles to provide a method of character improvement outside of the
predetermined battles (something I feel that Vandal Hearts sorely lacked).
And, if you stick to the story, and go where you are supposed to, then you
end up not risking very many random battles at all.

While in towns, you have a couple of options.  There's the necessary
weapon/armor/items shop, in which you can buy new swords, armor, or
whatever.  Stores don't necessarily sell the best of everything, though, so
if you want to be sure that you're absolutely armed to the teeth, then
you'll have to remember what kinds of weapons are sold in particular cities
(for example, although swords can be purchased just about anywhere, only one
city sells guns).  Then there's the bar.  In the bar you can talk to the
bartender to receive background information on what's going on in the world.
There's a LOT of background.  It's interesting, but it's not that important.
Also at bars you have the option of accepting various odd jobs that people
have told the bartender about.  This provides a way to train your party
members when they aren't in combat.  You have the option of sending up to
three members of your party on any given mission, and usually they return
with gold or items, along with a bunch of experience.  This adds a lot of
extra detail, since the jobs usually have some interesting details involved
with them.  Finally, there's a soldier office, where you can find new
recruits.  Unlike games like FF7 or Vandal Hearts, not everyone in your
party is important.  In fact, for the majority of the game, you're the only
distinct individual in your party-- the only person that actually takes part
in the story, anyway.  Different characters come and go, but most of your
fighting force is made up of people that you recruit.  If they die (and they
can die permanently) then you need to go recruit some more people from these
offices.  You might think that this makes the story less personal, but let
me tell you-- it doesn't.  Not at all.

In fact, there are so many characters in the story, sometimes it's hard to
keep track.  Most of them are inconsequential to the main story- they just
provide needed roles as extras.  Combined with the wide variety of place
names, this game comes close to putting "War and Peace" to shame.  But you
quickly learn to distinguish the names, and just in case you forget, you can
replay every cut sequence that you've seen so far.  The large number of
characters does tend to confuse sometimes (who was that Dycedarg guy again?)
but it does nothing to diminish the power and effectiveness of the
individual scenes, which are absolutely beautiful, and, for the most part,
extremely well written.

One of the great things about this game is Square's choice of 2D animated
sprites over 3D polygonal models.  This hand-drawn feel is a welcome
departure from most recent playstation games, and they have such a range of
poses that, finally, sprite-based characters can act.  They can hold hands,
they can draw their swords, they can edge along a wall, and most
importantly, they can convey emotion.  The polygonal sets build around these
characters are no less impressive.  While each battlefield or story setting
may be rather small, they are still beautifully constructed, and incredibly
moody.  When that sense of design is combined with the weather effects and
the combat special effects (some of the summon magic must be seen to be
believed), you have to acknowledge Square's mastery of the playstation.

The music is no less impressive.  It's not red-book CD audio, that's for
sure, but I can't decide whether or not it's digital or simply based on the
Playstation's FM hardware.  Whatever the case, it sounds absolutely
wonderful.  The music is incredibly emotional and thematic, and it carries
the mood absolutely wonderfully.  There are incredible heroic moments in
some of the cut scenes, as well as very tragic moments- and not only does
the music not detract from the experience, but it reinforces it and carries
it to new heights.

As for replay value, well... I'm sure I've missed quite a lot when it comes
to side quests and other secrets of that nature.  I also know that I've
steered my characters through in a particular direction when it comes to
their development, and there are a couple of classes which I haven't even
touched.  So it will be fun to go back and find out what those jobs actually
do.  And even without that, the story is so good that I might just play it
again for the experience.

Overall, this has got to be one of the best games I've played for my
playstation in a long time.  If you're a fan of RPGs, don't you DARE
hesitate to pick this one up.  Move this game to the top of your play list-
I guarantee it'll stay there for a long time to come.

--

John Doty