Reviews for Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Much Better Than the Original

Strengths: Animated cut scenes with voice overs, better translation and localization, lot of extras

Weakness: Adjusting to the names, still a difficult game

I've played the original Final Fantasy Tactics several times over the years. Many hail it as the best Final Fantasy game (despite being a spin-off). I, however, always completed the game with the same feeling: frustration. This was my first SRPG which added to the already-difficult game. Even more so, the crappy translation led to me spending most of the game going "Okay, which side is he on again?" However, this enhanced port greatly clears up the frustration of trying to understand the story, even though it is still rather complicated and full of betrayal.

The game has been retranslated from the ground up. The localization is done in the style of Final Fantasy XII, such as "Magick." Many of the name "changes" (such as Algus to Argrath, and Olan to Orran) offend many veterans. Likewise, after years of knowing Ramza's squire skills as "Guts," "Mettle" is kind of hard to adjust to. However, it's we're comparing years to weeks (as of this review) so of course it's going to be hard to adjust.

The battle system is an SRPG, with turns based on character's speed rating. A character's speed is added to get to 100, and once 100 (the CT) is reached, the character can take a turn. Moving and acting sets the CT back to 0, while only one reduces it to 20, and just waiting reduces it to 60. Magick spells require a charge time, so it is always important to see when they will be cast. Many abilities don't distinguish between enemies and allies, so you have to be careful to avoid disaster. Characters have a set number of jobs (classes) in the beginning, but leveling those up unlocks more jobs. Besides EXP, you also gain JP to unlock abilities. You can only equip 2 skill sets (such as Squire and Knights) along with one each of reaction, support, and movement abilities, so these choices make or break your team. Most battles limit you to 5 characters, with one already reserved for Ramza. The game is pretty hard on its own, but if you pretty much don't know what classes you want to get for the rest of the game after the first few battles, you are likely to waste valuable JP in a worthless class and not have the abilities you need when you really need them.

The story is rather complex. You are Ramza, the youngest (and illegitimate) son of House Beoulve, a prominent warrior family. When the king dies, a dispute over the successor launches the land of Ivalice into war. While guarding the Princess Olevia, Ramza spots his thought-dead friend Delita. After reminiscing, Ramza finds himself digging deep into the plot behind the war. There are many characters and keeping them straight can be complicated. However, you can look up profiles and view previous cut scenes.

This is a solid SRPG for any owner. The extras, including voice acting cinematics, new characters, and new jobs, provide more than enough reason to double-dip along with the clearer translation. The only people I would advise to be hesistant are those new the SRPG genre, especially those who don't like to go to the Internet for help. I would suggest something like Jeanne d'Arc before jumping into this game. Besides the simpler battle system, Jeanne d'Arc has a much more relaxed feel to it better suiting newbies.

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A Masterpiece Remastered

Strengths: The best psp port

Weakness: SSSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW Down

FFT:TLW doesn't have a great deal of replayability but with a main story lasting 20-40 hours, 2 major side quests, errands, the drive to create the perfect team and if you have a friend with the game an extensive multiplayer mode with some considerably more difficult battles than the main game you won't be putting down the PSP for a while. If you like to challenge yourself a wide array of contrived challenges exist and will continue to be created. They range from beating the game with a single job to a one man army challenge where you can only use Ramza.

Improves on the original in many ways, given that it was already a masterpiece this is reason enough for the high score. There is enough new content to tempt veterans and even without these major bonuses the many minor improvements outweigh the addition of a slight technical hiccup. If you are new to the game you won't be disappointed.

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A square classic updated with new material

Strengths: Excellent tactical gameplay, characters, deep + rich story

Weakness: bit of slowdown on PSP, but for a game like this who cares?

I remember when the original tactics came out for PS1; it was as if chess had suddenly taken on a full-fledged medieval/magical upgrade that actually made it interesting. The game showed all of the depth and intricacy that only the gurus at square (now square-enix) can give, full of unexpected twists and intrigue, betrayals and dissension. And the battles themselves played out in multi-various way where no two battles would ever play out in the same way twice; it was a welcome change from the somwhat meditatively repetetive battles of the regular FF franchise (not that there's anything wrong with summoning Ifrit for time No. 220,678). We all know this is not the first Tactics-type game (ogre battle Tactics is a precursor as well as others) but this game gave it a deftly produced quality of gaming experience that to my mind has yet to be equaled fully today.

Overall: A classic in every sense of the word, worthy of the staus and an excellent gaming experience for anyone.

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Final Fantasy Tactics

Strengths: Graphics, gameplay

Weakness: None

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is a worthy PSP port of the original Final Fantasy Tactics on the Playstation. First, it's portable. Second, it is much improved with updated graphics, cut scenes and new content. Third, it has some nice extras thrown in such as bonus side quests where you can pick up hidden characters.

FF Tactics PSP is essentially the same turn-based SRPG game with a job system. It is a fantastic update to a masterpiece. Whether you have the original FF Tactics or a new novice to the game, there are enough great contents to engage yourself in hours of fun.

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FFT!

Strengths: Final Fantasy goodness, graphics, challenging

Weakness: might be too difficult, needs a lot of level grinding and patience

Just started in on this title and it seems to be a good follow up to the previous GBA FFT. This PSP version does pretty much everything better: better graphics, better (more difficult) battles/enemies, more weapons, etc. The only thing I’ve found that it’s much more difficult than the GBA version. In this version, you really can’t afford to make many mistakes early on. The enemies are well organized and weaponized so that if you run back to back battles and forget to heal your characters, they’re toast. If the difficulty is offputting to you, I’d recommend going a step down and trying the Fire Emblem series. Similar gameplay and you can choose your difficulty levels once you go through the game once.

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Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Strengths: New and improved tactical game

Weakness: None

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is a new and improved port of the original Final Fantasy Tactics (for Playstation), now on the PSP system. It is a strategy turn-based RPG with a great job system. The main story lasts about 40 hours, and in additions there are side quests and challenges.

Also improved is the more accurate translation of the game and new animated cut scenes.

Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the best Final Fantasy games so far. It is entertaining and rewarding with the job system, and adds a lot of replay value.

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Now it's Portable!

Strengths: Portable form, better translation this time, extras.

Weakness: Might be hard to understand the game for newcomers.

If you've played the original PS1 version, then you know what you're getting; one of the best Final Fantasy games produced thus far. If you're new to the series however, you may be wondering what the fuss is about. It's really hard to explain it in words in a mini-review, but you really should give it a shot if you have a PSP. The battle system might be a little complicated at first, but give it a little time and you'll have all the basics down before you know it!

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This game is pretty. And hard.

Strengths: Lots of customization. Nice cutscene graphics.

Weakness: Can be overwhelming. In-game graphics sometimes confusing.

If you've never played a Strategy RPG, don't start with this one. The learning curve is pretty high and even the tutorials can be overwhelming. At the beginning, I had a hard time telling my characters apart from the enemy characters or even each other, and it took a bit to get used to all the different options.

The cutscenes are really nicely done, although I had some trouble at the beginning telling the characters (or even the genders) apart.

If you like Strategy RPGs with a lot, and I mean A LOT, of customization, then give War of the Lions a shot.

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A True Classic

Strengths: Deep and rewarding job system.

Weakness: Time-consuming!

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions is a worthy update to the classic strategy RPG. The translation has been improved substantially, there are new missions and jobs, and there are fantastic new animated cut-scenes. The game itself is as good as ever.

Highly recommended for strategy RPG fans.

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New and Improved

Strengths: Better than the original

Weakness: Lots of level grinding

If you played final fantasy tactics on the PSX, than there aren't going to be many surprises for you in this game. It's a port of the original with a few extras tossed in. A couple extra classes have been added along with some bonus side quests which allow you to pick up additional hidden characters. Other than that, it's pretty much the same game it was on the PSX, a strategic turn-based RPG with a job system.

There's plenty of replayability as you will need to level grind quite a bit in order to accumilate job points to reach some of the more difficult ones. In fact, that's the only real downside of the game, the liklihood of getting bogged down in the need to continually engage in random battles in order to gain skills and job levels. It's not absolutely necessary to do so, but the game is going to be a hell of a lot harder without cherry picking skills from many varied jobs.

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Classic.

Strengths: It's FFT, but portable and better.

Weakness: None.

FFT is one of the great games in the history of the Playstationa dn this adaptation to the PSP is even better. First, you have the original game, with better translations, a couple new jobs, new cutscenes, and much much more. Then you add a multiplayer and co-op mode. It's really a must own game for the PSP. My only question is, when are wegoping to see FF7 get such a cool treatment!!!

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FFT: The War of the Lions

Strengths: Unbeatable storyline, interesting characters, updated and engrossing dialogue, wonderful music, and great gameplay. The updated translation is a warm welcome.

Weakness: I don't favor some of the battle controls or the limited camera angles, and the cursor movement schemes are a bit unsatisfactory. It can be hard to get the cursor where you want it to go at times.

Coming up with weaknesses is difficult because the game is overall excellent. Having played the first installment on the PS1, it is easy to compare this. The original game was, itself, a fantastic experience, but the new presentation, plus convenience of portability, makes this really desirable. I had been wanting to replay FFT for a while, and this remake gave me the perfect excuse to do it.

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Best PSP Role-Playing Game (RPG)

Bestcovery experts have rated the Square Enix Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP) as a best pick for the Best PSP Role-Playing Game (RPG). This product has also been rated as a best pick for the Best PSP Video Game. Bestcovery's experts recommend the best products and services for a particular need based on extensive research and evaluations. Click below to see Bestcovery's full...

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Final Fantasy Tactics: The War Of The Lions

Testseek.com has collected 21 expert reviews for Final Fantasy Tactics: The War Of The Lions and the average expert rating is 87 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

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Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS rating of 3.54 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #414 game of all time, #2 game of 2007 for the PlayStation Portable and #11 PlayStation Portable game of all time. The rating and ranking is based on an average of 45 critic scores, awards and other criteria. To see a breakdown of the game ranking, read individual critic...

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FINAL FANTASY TACTICS: The War of the Lions

Final Fantasy Tactics, the first and only strategy/RPG to bear the Final Fantasy name, was not created for the legions of fans brought together by FFVI and FFVII. If that surprises you, chances are you didn’t play the game in 1998. At the time it seemed strange for Square to go in another direction right after the success of Final Fantasy VII. But their venture was a major gain for strategy/RPG...

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