Review: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (Nintendo Switch 2)

I know I’m late with writing this review. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, otherwise known as “the remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics” was released while I was away in Japan, and it’s been enormously difficult to catch up, given that I’ve needed to prioritise the new games, also releasing like a broken dam right now. However, that’s a me problem and not an excuse. I still wanted to write something about this game because it’s a masterpiece and if you were somehow still on the fence about it, I wanted to tell you that it’s essential.

It’s essential because it plays very well, and we’ll get to that. Still, it’s also because, in this era where game developers fall over themselves to insist that their work isn’t “political,” it’s nice to play something that is willing to have something to say. Final Fantasy Tactics has a lot to say. I’m almost surprised that Square Enix dusted it off because it’s not subtle, nor compromising about its themes, though I suppose it being a classic of the PlayStation era in a niche genre insulates itself somewhat from the reactionary end of the gamer spectrum.

Final Fantasy Tactics is downright revolutionary. It has in its crosshairs the arrogance and abuse of power of the nobility, the way that religion has a habit of involving itself in the state, the way that the privileged are blind to the plight of the commoner, the way that war has a disproportionate impact on the aforementioned commoner while the elite remain comfortable and relatively safe, the idea that resistance is “terrorism”, and just so much more besides. In all these areas, the game puts forward a clear and unequivocal position that can only be read as the kind of narrative that a student of The Motorcycle Diaries and other similar texts would produce. As everyone who reads DDNet knows, this aligns with a lot of my own personal ideological leanings, so I have a deep connection to Final Fantasy Tactics.

A mistake that we often make in video games (and I’m as guilty of it as any), to say that an older game has “aged badly” because the graphics aren’t modern or the game doesn’t play well by modern standards. Really, art ages when it loses relevance. This might be because a particular approach to graphics is no longer considered appealing, or because players would now struggle with the controls. But I would argue that something that’s more important than that is whether the work reflects on something that is still relevant today. Many retro games haven’t “aged” because they still act as a historical statement of record, and we can understand something about the world at the time through playing the game. Final Fantasy Tactics is still relevant today (and therefore hasn’t aged in the slightest) because just about every one of its themes is in the daily news cycle. In fact, if anything, Final Fantasy Tactics is MORE relevant today.

Another theme that helps Final Fantasy Tactics maintain its relevance is a little more subtle than the themes above, showing that the game does work on multiple levels. Final Fantasy Tactics has a complex narrative structure that presents the “real story” in parallel to the historical record. This is important because it shows how historians can (and do) manipulate records and the truth to present one side as heroic and the other as villainous, even when a more objective view of events would suggest otherwise.

This is a critical theme because we are witnessing this happen with what is perhaps the most consequential war in human history. We are now at the point where there will be no people left with a living memory of World War 2. Consider that the people who were old enough to have some sense of what was going on during WW2 are now at least 80, we have perhaps a decade left before there is almost no one left from that generation.

When the living memory of WW2 is gone, the current disinformation about that war, where (Western) governments paint it as a simple and straightforward story of the “goodies defeating the baddies and saving the world” will have a much weaker voice to push back and properly articulate what went on. Final Fantasy Tactics is an effective reflection on the thesis that “the victor writes the history” and the problems that stem from that, making it even more relevant in this regard in 2025 than it was back in 1997.

In short, Final Fantasy Tactics is a powerfully intelligent and thoughtful work of art, with a bold and compelling narrative that is both riveting to actually read through (Game of Thrones, eat your heart out) while also being thematically rich and challenging players to think through its implications as they play. It is a truly rare example of a genuine work of literature in video games.

Meanwhile, as a game to play, Final Fantasy Tactics shouldn’t require an introduction. It was pretty formative for the tactical JRPG genre. Yes, there was the likes of Fire Emblem before it, but Final Fantasy Tactics can be credited for a very specific approach to camera perspective and combat flow that remains popular to this day. The developers have added some quality of life enhancements, including autosave, difficulty options, and the ability to speed up parts of the game, which are very welcome, as are the cleaner menus and UI, but for the most part, they haven’t really touched the original experience.

The graphics have been cleaned up and gently enhanced while maintaining the excellent art direction of the original game. There’s now voice acting in both English and Japanese, which helps make the story more accessible for people who find a lot of text and reading difficult to process. Speaking of which, there’s a new “State of the Realm” feature which basically acts like a glossary and summary of what’s going on in the narrative, and what has led up to that point. If you take an extended break from the game or happen to forget a cut scene along the way, this is a really useful way to catch yourself up and clear up any confusion.

Otherwise, everything is kept the same. Final Fantasy Tactics has an excellent and expansive job system, giving you plenty of ways to customise and develop your party of heroes as you go along. It remains a difficult game (though the easy mode can mitigate that a bit), and you’ll find yourself grinding a bit, but the combat is so enjoyable that you won’t really mind.

And, if you would prefer to just play the original, there is “Classic Mode” which still maintains the updated script that was used for the PSP remake (it’s generally a good thing), and autosave (also a good thing), but maintains the original PlayStation-era graphics and interface, drops the voice acting, and you won’t be able to take advantage of the other quality-of-life features.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is the best version of one of the greatest video games. This review was largely pointless in the sense that just about everyone knows that it’s a masterpiece, and yet, as of time of writing, there are “only” 2,500 user reviews on Steam. For the love of Hatsune Miku, please don’t let this be a “cult classic” a second time around. If we’re going to ever take video games seriously as an art form, it needs to start with games like this being part of the canon.