by Adol The Red » Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:32 pm
Final Fantasy Tactics. That game counts as its own memory. Mostly because it takes up so much time. I don't play a ton of strategy RPGs; I don't have the patience. I've tried playing Disgaea and Makai Kingdom. Both were awesome, but I just couldn't put in the work. I still might go back to Fire Emblem, and I keep considering Record of Argarest War, but we'll see. Final Fantasy Tactics, though, will probably be played many more times.
If you haven't played this there may be spoilers ahead.
It started for me with the PS1 version. I was very new to gaming as a regular hobby, and had just played Final Fantasty Seven. We went to Blockbuster and tactics was the game I rented. Final Fantasy, I thought, this should be fun. Did I ever not know what I was in for. It was fun, mind you, and I did buy it soon after, but I was not good at it at all. I had no idea how to work out the many systems. I didn't know that equipment had such a huge effect on you stats. I didn't know that you could check the turn order (so many a black mage killed by his own spell because the enemy stood next to him). And I had no intelligence regarding skills. I wanted to get every skill in a class, and that was all there was to it. Never mind that half of them aren't all that useful, unless maybe you develop specific strategies for them. I played anyway, though, but at that time I could only get as far as the the gallows mission in chapter 2. I forget the exact name of the place, but it's the mission where they lure you with Ovelia and Gafgarion ends up being there. Anyway, there I died and there I kept dying. There was just no beating it.
If I was so bad at this sort of game, you might be wondering, why did I keep playing? One word: Story. This game has one of the best stories of any game I have ever played. That's not to say that it's necessarily very unique, but for a game I'd say it is. I've always felt it was a very mature story, full of political intrigue and subtlety. Again, perhaps I'm gushing, but the story, and the music that helped get the mood across, were just amazing. And the things they let you figure out for yourself; I had a friend at the time that had absolutely no clue why Ovelia did what she did to Delita at the end. Concerning Delita's role in things, they never come out and say it directly, and you wonder if Ramza ever figured it out. I also found it very fulfilling how out of all his brothers with all their upbringing, Ramza becomes the true spiritual successor to the Beoulve name, being the only one of them to bear the sort of true nobility we're led to believe Balbanes displayed. Of course, all the stuff with the Lucavi and the Zodiac stones might put some people off. I still wonder if the stones themselves are evil, or if it has more to do with who is using it, especially when you consider what happened to Malak on top of Zeltennia Castle. For me, though, this story is spectacular even if I don't have a perfect understanding of every bit of it.
Still, at the time I wasn't good enough to get all of this on my own. At one point I bought a gameshark, and finally I could see the rest of the story. I would never allow myself to say that I beat it. I cheated my way through. I didn't care, though. I had to know, and at the time I just didn't have the mind for a strategy RPG. What's funny is, some of the codes made the game harder. JP never decreasing when you buy skills is useful, but fast leveling is pointless in that game. Also, the gameshark would make it glitch when I went to the item shop. I could only go so far down the list, and didn't have an ideal set of equipment. Still, I made it through. Actually had to shut the gameshark off to stand a chance in the final battle.
For a long time after I always wanted to go back to FFT, but never did. Then they brought out the PSP remake, and a strategy guide, and I scooped them right up. I'm not ashamed to say I used the guide, because at least it's not a cheat code. Anyway, no guide can tell you what to do when you're surrounded, outmumbered, with two people dead and the rest with half HP or less, as I was recently. What you do, of course, is be awesome and have a magnificent comeback victory. Anyway, I know that the PSP version isn't the most loved, but I do enjoy it. I don't mind the retranslation being in a middle english tone because I think it really fits the story and the setting well. I will agree that what they did some some people's names is just tragic. Algus to Argath. Really? And of course there are plenty worse, especially poor Balbanes. Also, some of the sound effects in battle don't line up with the animations, but I can look past all that. (It didn't feel to me like they dumbed down the difficulty. If anyone else feels that they did, or knows that they did, I guess it sort of ruins this whole post, but there's not much I can do about that.) I also like the added classes. At least, in theory; I've still never built up to them. They sound neat, though. If you feel Balthier is sort of a cheat character I won't argue that point. What's that, 4x attack with dual wield. Genji glove and offering much? He's like Mustadio +, and I can see fans of the original finding him overpowered. And Luso, well, I never used him much. I don't really need another Ramza. I did like his auto-poach, though. Anyway, there are some reasons not to like the PSP one, but I still enjoyed it.
So I read up on how some of the systems interract (I will never master ther zodiac system, though), and found some good strategies for unit development. Basically, they put a bunch of different abilities from different units together in ways that I had never though of on my own, and it opened up my thinking to what you could really do. Here's one example. You start with a Monk. Teach your monk Time Magics. All you need is haste but you having a backup time mage is never a bad thing. For a reactionary ability, use mana shield. Your monk isn't using the mana, anyway. Round it out with Dual wield for extra power and whatever movement ability works best for you. Now, you have an instant tank. At the start of battle your monk can haste him or herself and run up to attract all the attention while the rest of your party gets set up. Relying on the manashield and healing with chakra can keep the monk going for a while. I never thought of things like this before I read this build. Now I have a much broader idea of how to build an awesome character. I went with some of the books suggestions, and went my own way on a lot of others. With it I built a team that was pretty freak'n strong. And finally, I beat this game legit. I was so glad when I finally did. It also opened up the other part that makes this game so great - the gameplay. The story is enough for me, but now that I know how to play this game, it's even more fun.
Sadly, none of my friends have played it. I really want them to just so they can experience the story as I experienced it. Of course I would never try to force them or bug them into doing it; I'd just be a jerk in that case. Where it really effects me is the Melee and Rendezvous segments they added to the PSP version. (missions where you can team up with another player or go head to head. you get level based bonuses, so you can come away with something good, but not gear that's going to break the game experience by giving you an Excalibur in chapter one. At least, I don't think it will.) I've never gotten to play these extras. I did keep my old PSP when I up graded ...and bought another copy of the game and copied my save, but I've never gotten around to it. And now I downloaded the game on Vita, and am playing it again. Ah, good times. I also fully intend to go back and beat the PS1 version at some point too. I own four copies of it now, I might as well beat it at least as many times, eh?
Final Fantasty Tactics. A game that has been a part of my gameing life for as long as I've considered myself a gamer. A great game with an engrossing story, spectacular music, and deep gameplay options. I can't really say enough about it. I guess this isn't a specific memory, and maybe I went a little off topic, but I don't think anyone will begrudge me gushing about a game. At the very least my history with this game was been kind of unique, and it is full of moments I'll never forget.
Epic , brah!
