LTTP: Final Fantasy Tactics. Why haven't I played this sooner?!

[Disclaimer]

Even as a massive Tactics Ogre, I still haven't played it. One part of me will feel sad that I will get to the end of the series for the rest of my life.

I still think it doesn't get any better than Tactics Ogre: LUCT, too.

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It definitely isn't an improvement in any way over LUCT, but KoL is a solid addendum to the universe, being a prequel origin story for Lanselot Tartaros.

While I remember it having a passable localization, it isn't the eloquent prose of Alexander O. Smith, and similarly to Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber, it also wasn't directed by Matsuno. It does, however, feature the same iconic musical scores of the other Ogre games, and is similar thematically, focusing this time on religion as well as Lodissian oppression.

 

[Mage_of_Cinder]

Glad to see you're enjoying it! I loved the revised script, it's much more engaging than the original.

 

[Bartend3r]

Yeah it's fantastic! Good memories of this game.

 

[LoveBug566]

This is one game I wish I could enjoy. Something about tactical RPGs just doesn't click with me.

 

[Thrill_house]

I love how Cid is realized. In so many games you are told about legendary badasses, the greatest ever to swing a sword, blah blah. And if they show up later, they almost always look the part. But nearly inevitably, they're totally in the same power bracket as you. Maybe a little buffed (even equal to a couple of your characters combined, if an enemy), but at a level you can see reaching yourself. That has to be the case, for gameplay balance.

But FFT says nuts to the balance, and preserves the story and lore instead. If the guy has a history that earned him the name "Thunder God", then he's gonna show it! His sudden one-shotting of fearsome beasts is a complete change from the hours and hours of combat that came before, which are all about two sides massing attacks to whittle away at each other. The fact that

Spoiler

you're controlling him

makes his choice to take action feel just as important as cutscenes have claimed it is.

Eventually Cid's power can be matched or surpassed if you work at it, but he feels totally and gleefully on another level at first.

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I agree. You hear the stories the entire game and just...damn. Once you understand how to kind of get the most out of the job system and such you can kind of be on par somewhat. Man so many memories. Dont want to spoil anything for OP, but please keep us updated as you play so some of us can re-live our first run vicariously through you :P

 

[nelsonroyale]

Great game. I remember despising Delita

 

[ethomaz]

Remake please.

The game is phenomenal.

 

[Listai]

There was never anything wrong with the PSP aspect ratio. It's true widescreen and shows more image, not less. It's not stretched, as some people claim. The slowdown patch is worth getting though.

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Good to know!, I played through unpatched so I'll definitely just stick with the slowdown removal for any subsequent playthroughs.

 

[aerie]

I really need to replay it. I loved it when it came out and have beaten it several times, but it must have been over a decade ago, if not longer, since the last time.

 

[Kalamoj]

I'm glad for you OP, FFT is a masterpiece.

Spoiler: Superhuge spoiler

And after you put down your phone, the real ending is that you will join us in eternal damnation as SE doesn't give a crap about FFT.

 

[saltybeagle]

Is there any way to enjoy this game without leveling up by attacking your own party members? I don't want to be under leveled, but at the same time, grinding in that way doesn't feel very organic.

 

[Cipherr]

I fucking love this game. One of my favorite of all time. I loved it that gen more than FF7.... The Looks I would get from people in school at the time when I tried to suggest they play this game that look more like Chess, than a typical FF game was ... amazing. None of them were interested. It lacked flash, took "to long", and didnt have copious amounts of kickass FMV to interest them.

Welp, next you really need to play Tactics Ogre : Let Us Cling Together

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I still need to finish this game. It seemed amazing from the little bit I tried.

Is there any way to enjoy this game without leveling up by attacking your own party members? I don't want to be under leveled, but at the same time, grinding in that way doesn't feel very organic.

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Couldn't you just surround enemies on the map on all 4 sides and use one healer to heal them while others struck them? They couldn't run/move. And you could keep them alive for as long as you wanted IIRC. Its been over a decade though so I can't recall for sure.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

FFT is prime candidate for a remake/sequel ( not those FFT advance bullshit ).

 

[Phendrana]

I played it for the first time recently as well, and absolutely loved the story. I played the PSP version with the slowdown removal patch.

As someone coming from Fire Emblem and Advance Wars, I did have some issues with it as a 'strategy' game. You just don't have enough information most of the time for strategy to actually win you the day in most battles. You never really know what the enemy is capable of until they do it, and can't even see the map when placing units. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though - I too enjoyed the 'playpen' aspect of things and loved beefing up my party members with all of the cool abilities.

I don't know if they changed anything for the mobile version, but make sure you save the game in multiple save slots. There was a mission that was sprung on me that I was lucky to be able to get past, and I've heard people have had to literally restart their games because of it.

I'll be really interested to hear your thoughts on the story in full once you finish the game, OP.

 

[GeekyDad]

Great game. I remember despising Delita

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I remember feeling great sadness for him. His character is so great, and one of the many things that make the game so great. He's not merely a villain, but a complex human being that is given a thorough enough backstory to really make his fully realized character completely valid. The story paints only the necessary details without bogging anything down and still managed to perfectly convey all of the characters' reasons and motives. And that final fucking line...I mean, it was just piercing tragedy.

 

[Akita One]

Even as a massive Tactics Ogre, I still haven't played it. One part of me will feel sad that I will get to the end of the series for the rest of my life.

I still think it doesn't get any better than Tactics Ogre: LUCT, too.

Click to shrink...

The story is just as good, but more importantly, the gameplay is much better and the number of items and skills above the original are amazing. It is the last game Quest (the company Matsuno created Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre with) made, and the only GBA RPGs with a higher rating on Metacritic are a FF VI remake, Golden Sun, and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga...that should tell you all you need to know. Because it was only a GBA game, people underestimate it.

Everyone in this thread that hasn't played this game and loves SRPGs, especially if you have played FFT or Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together...do whatever it takes to play Tactics Ogre: The Knight of the Lodis.

Your welcome.

 

[Cyrus_Saren]

In my opinion, the second best game ever made (right behind Suikoden II). I'll agree with the others in this thread in that it would be a perfect game to remake and make the remake the definitive version. Alas, Square Enix doesn't seem to care that much about the game.

 

[Phendrana]

Everyone in this thread that hasn't played this game and loves SRPGs, especially if you have played FFT or Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together...do whatever it takes to play Tactics Ogre: The Knight of the Lodis.

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I only just realized that The Knight of Lodis is a prequel to Let Us Cling Together.

Which do you recommend playing first? I have absolutely no experience with the Tactics Ogre series. Should I go back even further?

 

[Disclaimer]

I only just realized that The Knight of Lodis is a prequel to Let Us Cling Together.

Which do you recommend playing first? I have absolutely no experience with the Tactics Ogre series. Should I go back even further?

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Either would work, as there's almost zero connectivity between Let Us Cling Together and Knight of Lodis. The latter simply humanizes one of LUCT's antagonists, and expounds more on the opposing Empire's government.

I'd play LUCT first, as its PSP remaster is undoubtedly the superior game, and it'll give you a point of reference for some of KoL's contrasting characterization. (Then again, LUCT is also far longer than KoL, so you could play KoL more quickly, whereas LUCT potentially has 100+ hours of content.)

You can also play the Ogre Battle games (Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, and Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber), which are set in the same universe, but the first is rather dated, and their gameplay is very unique as real time strategy goes. Chronologically, the games go:

TO:KoL -> OB:MotBQ -> TO:LUCT = OB64:PoLC.

 

[Opa-Pa]

I feel you OP, I had tried it many times but finally played it to completion last year and it blew me away, what an amazing game. Loved the writing and the tone of the story felt so "adult" for a lack or a better word, also you pretty much quoted one of my favorite dialogues from the game and I'm impressed by the WoTL translation, it sounds so great... I really want to play that version someday but I'm too stupid to patch both the slowdown fix and aspect ratio correction patches correctly.

Ramza and Delita form my favorite protagonist duo in any game pretty much, they're both fantastic... Especially Delita!

I got Tactics Ogre LUCT recently too and plan to play it soon, can't wait.

 

[adel]

Best FF game ever.

 

[Inugami]

My problem with Tactics Ogre is it always felt like I was behind and had to grind, which killed the game for me. I never had that problem with FFT.... mostly because of that trick in the menus where you could underflow your job points and max out most classes with ease.

 

[Deleted member 2585]

Wow, didn't expect this thread to get so many replies. Definitely going to have to check out Tactics Ogre, especially LUCT after this. Might also try out those patches for the FFT PSP version, they seem really interesting.

brb farming jp with focus

my monk is doing 300 damage

 

[Inugami]

Wow, didn't expect this thread to get so many replies. Definitely going to have to check out Tactics Ogre, especially LUCT after this. Might also try out those patches for the FFT PSP version, they seem really interesting.

brb farming jp with focus

my monk is doing 300 damage

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Just go into TO knowing it's an older game. A super famicom game ported up. It's got a great story, but some of the gameplay elements are worse. Losing the ability to move the camera going from FFT to TO hurts at times.

 

[OuterLimits]

I love the game, though I slightly prefer Tactics Ogre. The PlayStation had quite a few good srpgs. Vandal Hearts 1 and 2, Arc the Lad, Front Mission 3, Vanguard Bandits, Saiyuki Journey West....just to name a few. The Vandal Hearts insane blood spray when someone is defeated is still awesome.

 

[Zen Hero]

Played this game a few months ago. I loved the story and world, but the gameplay really didn't do it for me. Certain basic stuff in the game is wayyyy too overpowered (Cid, ninja, dragoon, arithmetician), and pretty much remove any need for positional strategy once you get them in the latter half of the game. The game is boring when you can just steamroll through everything with no strategy.

It's frustrating because the game has a lot of content: secret characters to find, rare weapons to get, arcane classes to unlock... but none of it matters because the game is so easy with basic stuff.

Anyway, it's still a pretty good game overall, and definitely worth playing if only for the story. I just wish they could make another attempt at balancing the gameplay.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I vividly remember grinding on my own team members for JP.

Agrias is the best character nobody ever talks about.

Algus/Argath is one of the better examples of human evil in a game. Most of the game's villains are, but he stood out to me because of how your perception of him is at first colored by how he treats Ramza nicely, and his classist attitude is totally hidden. I always thought he'd get the classic redemption arc, but no, he just snowballs into an even bigger asshole until he

Spoiler

dies

.

 

[Feep]

One of my favorite games of all time.

Still need to play Tactics Ogre, but I don't own a PSP or Vita. I can play the other one, though? Knights of Lodis? That's PSX, right?

Maybe I'll just pony up for all of it.

 

[Damaniel]

This is one game I wish I could enjoy. Something about tactical RPGs just doesn't click with me.

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Yep - this is a genre I desperately want to like, but I just can't.

 

[Aadiboy]

I played 2 hours of Tactics Ogre: LUCT and I liked it, but it really felt like a much slower burn than FFT. Does it have the same kinds of climactic moments as FFT?

 

[Dark_Castle]

Welcome to the club!

Now sit here and cry with the rest of us because Square Enix is done with tactical rpg.

 

[Liabe Brave]

Agrias is the best character nobody ever talks about.

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Yup. I've had a schoolboy crush on her for two decades. She's just so...righteous.

Every replay I end up giving her the best gear and Chantage, and setting her loose to wreck the bad guys. You gotta respect a lady who's good at her job.

 

[Jader7777]

Don't forget to try the GameBoy Version. It's lighter on the story, but still unique enough to hold interest.

Spoiler

It's the closest thing you'll ever get to a sequel.

 

[Araujo]

Tactics is fantastic, once you are done with the game, you can just enjoy playing it again and breaking the game (which is super easy) get yourself a Ramza Squire/Monk by CHapter one. Speed up + Free Healing + Wave punch = Busted

 

[Rad]

It's very good but for some reason I can never finish it. I just stop playing midway through the game, every damn time.

 

[GeekyDad]

Just go into TO knowing it's an older game. A super famicom game ported up. It's got a great story, but some of the gameplay elements are worse. Losing the ability to move the camera going from FFT to TO hurts at times.

Click to shrink...

It's more than a mere port. It's an excellent remastering, and the camera really isn't an issue at all, considering how you can swap on the fly to a bird's-eye view. I still don't understand how they did that, but it's amazing. In many ways it works better than the polygonal environments of FFT.

And like I said, it's much more than a mere port. The effects and other presentation improvements are stellar. It very much feels like a game of its time.

 

[Thrill_house]

Yup. I've had a schoolboy crush on her for two decades. She's just so...righteous.

Every replay I end up giving her the best gear and Chantage, and setting her loose to wreck the bad guys. You gotta respect a lady who's good at her job.

Click to shrink...

Yep. Agrias is part of my main crew every play through since the first. That heaven sword confusion is just so good.

 

[Dreamboum]

Just go into TO knowing it's an older game. A super famicom game ported up. It's got a great story, but some of the gameplay elements are worse. Losing the ability to move the camera going from FFT to TO hurts at times.

Click to shrink...

It's one of the best remake ever made, they even radically changed gameplay elements. It hardly plays like the original TO.

And there is a top-down option if you need more visibility

 

[Squaresoft]

Funny a review of a 20 year old game
why not I guess

Cid brakes the game
The moment you get Cid all battles become easy
He is way too powerful
His strenght is probably the weakest point of the game

Story wise it does make sense he is so powerful
But gameplay wise its not good

 

[Ether_Snake]

One of the best games ever made.

 

[Chronos]

Glad you found this gem OP. Its my personal favorite Final Fantasy game and one of the GOATs. Really underrated title and I wish square didnt squander its potential.

Regardless, give Tactics Ogre a try, it was made by the same team and is arguably a better experience.

 

[Sir_Caffeine]

Th

Welp, next you really need to play Tactics Ogre : Let Us Cling Together

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This! Have this game on my ps vita and maaaan am I loving it! It's the only game that gets me away from MH World. I wished there was modern sequel on Switch.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

FFT is prime candidate for a remake/sequel ( not those FFT advance bullshit ).

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Hey now, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and A2 are both great SRPGs, and FFTA has a good story too even though it is completely different from FFT's political intrigue and corrupt religion.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

One of my favorite games ever. I need to push through Tactics Ogre one of these days. I have tried that game so many times since I love FFT, and it has just never clicked for me. One of these days I am finishing it.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I always thought the game would be even better if you could walk around in towns like in a traditional JRPG, instead of being constrained to menus on the world map.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

I always thought the game would be even better if you could walk around in towns like in a traditional JRPG, instead of being constrained to menus on the world map.

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Have you played Shining Force ever? It's basically what you are describing

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Have you played Shining Force ever? It's basically what you are describing

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That was exactly what I was thinking actually! I played and finished Shining Force II back in the day.

 

[BPHusker]

Well I'm about to jump into WOTL with the slowdown fix. I started the PS1 version 10 years ago but never got too far. I'm going try to try again with the PSP version.

 

[butman]

I decided to start this game once and for all. The PSP version, but i have a question:

I saw there's fan patch that make "levels scale with the player" and others tweaks in the gameplay.
If i never played any tactic games an i love Final Fantasy and old Squaresoft games, should i play the vanilla PSP version (with the slowdown patch only) or apply the tweaks patch?

 

[Disclaimer]

I decided to start this game once and for all. The PSP version, but i have a question:

I saw there's fan patch that make "levels scale with the player" and others tweaks in the gameplay.
If i never played any tactic games an i love Final Fantasy and old Squaresoft games, should i play the vanilla PSP version (with the slowdown patch only) or apply the tweaks patch?

Click to shrink...

Just play the vanilla version with the slowdown patched. It has some decent difficulty to it already until you learn how to break it.