Final Fantasy Tactics...I just can't get into it.

[remnant_phoenix]

I am (or was, rather; the jury's out until FFXV proves either the savior or the reaper of the series for me) a fan of Final Fantasy. I've played all the (non-MMO) games in the main series from beginning to end at least once. I've re-played favorites multiple times.

On top of that, I like strategy games. I pop Civilization Revolution into my console on a consistent basis. I liked Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon on the Nintendo DS and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance on the Gamecube.

Why then, despite all the critical fanfare, can I not get into Final Fantasy Tactics? I've tried playing it TWICE and both times I found it be a chore. I even used it as a sleep-aid once: I'm serious, I knew I needed a nap, but I couldn't settle down, so I played this game until I was bored into sleepiness, then turned it off and fell asleep.

The story drops me into this political drama that is meaningless to me because I haven't yet become acquainted with this world or its characters. On the gameplay side, the character building and customization has some frustrating UI and doesn't explain itself at all. I know that there's a lot of depth and strategy to be found there, but I don't feel I should have to study a strategy guide on GameFAQs to do it.

So FFT fans, what am I not getting? What do I need to do in order to appreciate this game? Or is it just not for me? And if that's the case, why isn't it? Read my descriptions above; it seems like this game would be perfect for me.

I need help.

 

[Lufia Erim]

This game starts off slow. SNAIL pace slow. It's kind of why the game starts with a semi interesting battle rather than with the begining of the story. Just to show more is to come.

FFT is one of my favorite games, but I'd be lying if i said it wasn't a HUGE timesink. Are you playing the original or the psp version? I think the original psone version is superior.

Anyways. For the first 4-5 hours the game is boring as hell. Once you get drawn in the story more, start unlocking new classes and getting the hang of it.

However the game is not for everyone. Patience is key when it comes to a game like this. It's about the journey , but it is a long , slow journey.

 

[Dalisclock]

FFT does have a lot to get used to. The Job System, which takes the Job system from 3 and 5 and pretty much goes from there, takes a while to use before it really starts paying off(I need to invest in skills just to give other people healing potions? Really?) and while the story is deep and complex, it also takes a while to really get going. The fact it's based on a fairly unknown and complex part of English History(the Wars of the Roses) also adds to this.

A great case in Point in Tactics is that there's a great class/skill called the Calculator, which allows you do some amazing stuff with magic. Unforunatly, you have to master the other mage classes(or at least some of the others) and then work up through the calculator skills before you get any real use out of it. Which means you won't see any dividends to a calculator until you into the late game(or grind a lot), when it starts paying off big time.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Im sort of in the same boat as the OP but I havent finished FFXII-2 (right at end) and have never even played XIII-3 and am at the end of FFXIV storywise. As for FFT I have only ever played the game boy advance version I have persevered for 46 hours but then I gave up as I was just bored senseless I strongly disliked the art style, the world, the combat and the characters.

However I have heard that the PSX version is far superior and so could track that down but is that actually the case? or is it just a slightly better story or something?

Im not a huge fan of strategy games but I love Disgaea, Shining Force and some others like Advance Wars so I am not adverse to such games.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I remember playing Tactics when I was a kid and I had NO idea what was going on. People often praise it for having this huge political intrigue plot going on--and it certainly does feel like a real political mess--but for me that really made it hard to get through, because I had no idea who my enemies where, or why I seemed to be fight three different factions, why this person was suddenly an enemy when this other person is now a friend. I beat the game, but I'm still not entirely sure what happened. Yes, I know I stopped some sort of ancient evil returning with the stones, but that's it.

I tried it again years later, after I had grown up and thought I could understand it better. Nope. Still get lost in that tangled mess. So no, I don't think it's just you. Tactics seems to appeal to a very specific type of fan, and it sounds like you might not be it. Because the level of story depth is matched only by the insane level of classes and their depths. I remember walking in on my brother playing it once and he had classes I had never seen or heard of.
"How did you get that?"
"Oh, well, you just have to...(explanation goes on for four minutes describing which classes to level up and which abilities to use)."
"Uh...I think I'll just keep using my ninjas."

 

[Tilly]

I'd echo what others have said too. Took me quite a while to get into it. A good 5 hours into it before I started to like it!

Would've been so much nicer if it didn't take about 3 button presses for a single attack (where FE Awakening takes 1)

 

[InsanityRequiem]

Snip.

Heh, yeah. It's a confusing mess, even with the strategy guide. For the story, I basically simplified it as you are the exiled son of a lord, used by family, friends, and everyone as a pawn, and decided to say "Fuck this shit" and kill the God/Extreme Evil/Holy Messiah to end the entire mess.

But yeah. Final Fantasy Tactics is an extremely lengthy game due to grinding and lots of preparation. You can excessively over level your characters at the beginning, but that hampers any future characters you may get. Level 50 main characters, but suddenly you're getting level 20-30 new characters? Good luck trying to level them up, because the mobs can one-hit them, as they level up with your main character (Or whoever is the highest leveled character at the time, I could never figure it out).

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Well the politics seem so authentic because it starts off as a somewhat accurate (magic aside) retelling of the war of the roses iirc. If it seems like slow political morass, it's because real politics tend to be slow political morass if you're not effected by the outcome.

But then demons show up and the game punishes you for making Ramza not a dedicated face beater and it's k.

 

[joest01]

I actually made a post about my inability to get into FFT a couple of days ago in the classics you cant get into thread.

And remember - at least in my case and probably the OP's too - sRPG's are one of my favorite genres. I have finished Wild Arms XF many times over, and that game is arguably even deeper than FFT. I have played Disgaea3 until my eyes bled. Even Jeanne d'Arc on the PSP (although I gave up on the final post game arena boss here. not the first time you go, you can go again when your team is maxed out and it gets very very rough. Although there is probably a cheap trick I was missing). Both Valkyria Chronicles (I could get my hands on) with all the DLC, etc.

So, it's not the complexity or the pace. it's something else. I just can't put my finger on it. A lot to do with the graphics and the clumsy interface for sure. And yea, maybe they dont do a good job with the characters in the early game so there really isn't enough incentive to stick it out. Heck, I remember what is literally the second battle in XF. There is an enemy on the grid so op he one shots all your toons. In the second friggen battle! Soooo much trial and error before you realize labyrinthia needs to constantly keep him distracted with duplicates. But with the music and the way the characters are already established at that point, the thought never crossed my mind to put the controller down...

 

[Cid Silverwing]

What you need is someone who can sit down with you and run you through all the features the Tutorial doesn't/can't teach you. The complexity of the Job System and the customization are easily the biggest turn-offs for newcomers and even veterans of other RPGs.

If you have Steam or Skype I will happily assist.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

Are you playing the original or the psp version? I think the original psone version is superior.

The PSP version. It found it for $10 because I didn't get into PSP until all of it was cheap.

I'd like the PS1 version, but the physical copies are collector's items at this point and cost too much. I could d/l it from PSN, but I prefer physical copies and since I've already spent money on the PSP ported version, I can't justify spending more on another copy, especially a digital one.

What makes the PS1 version better?

 

[remnant_phoenix]

What you need is someone who can sit down with you and run you through all the features the Tutorial doesn't/can't teach you. The complexity of the Job System and the customization are easily the biggest turn-offs for newcomers and even veterans of other RPGs.

If you have Steam or Skype I will happily assist.

I just may take you up on that. I have a good bit of downtime this week, so I'm considering giving the game another go. I'll PM you if I do.

 

[DrOswald]

FFT is great, it might be my number 1 game ever, but I can see why people do not like it.

Here are three things to know about FFT that will help you enjoy it or realize for sure it is not for you.

The story is about politics, the people who shape those politics, and the fates of nations. It requires a lot of setup, and it nails it, but political intrigue is not a story style that everyone likes. They are not overtly exciting or dramatic, they move very slowly, and instead of being morally black and white they tend to be about blending shades of grey. Not everyone likes a story like that, and it starts out very slow. Basically the entire first chapter of the game (like 15 story missions) is setup for the real story they want to tell.

And it starts slow mechanically too. The greatness of the FFT battle system does not come into it's own until you have built up your army for some time, unlocked a good deal of the classes, and the encounters can get interesting with what abilities are thrown at you.

Finally, a massive part of the game is about tinkering with your army. You will spend just as much time in the menus setting up your units and fiddling with equipment as you spend in battle or in cut scenes. It is like armored core - at least half the fun, if not more, is in creating and designing the mech for the mission at hand. At least half the fun of the FFT battle system is outfitting your army for the mission at hand. And you need lots of options unlocked for interesting combinations to present themselves.

As for the version differences, I think the PSP version is better but it is harder to get into. The PS1 translation tends to bottom line things for you, characters state their intentions in plain language, that sort of thing. You will more easily get all the important information from each scene because it is clearly presented. The PSP version goes a different route, which goes a little more for characters presenting ideas and information more like real people, meaning they often talk around a point or suggest it in their language and tone. For example, In the PS1 version the exact nature of Ramza's and Delita's relationship (politically and socially) is spelled out to you - in the PSP version you are expected to infer it. This means you really have to pay attention to get all the important info, which is really had considering how slow the story begins. In addition, a major attempt was made to give each character a unique voice instead of just presenting information, which results in more flowery language. Finally, They also went for a lot of ye olde English, which further confuses things.

 

[Redd the Sock]

I've always had problems singing praises for that game. Looking back, it comes down to so many pacing issues. The story is slow to start, and doesn't really have much of a high gear when it gets going. That isn't so bad, but then you add the random battles with scaling enemies that can add hours between story segments, and animations and systems that haven't yet been streamlined making the necessary leveling of classes and skills slow and tedious compared to more modern SRPGs.

The game does open up as an SRPG when you get more classes unlocked and have other cast members, but the grind to get there was easier when I was playing it new in 1998 than when I tried to play the PSP version.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I have to agree. I probably could have gotten into the story after a while, but the game itself was pretty frustrating to play. Kind of a disappointment, since the job system looked incredibly fun, and building characters through it should have kept me occupied for hours. Then I found how slow it was, and how linearly I had to play, and how limited my possible party size was, and how that limited space had to be shared by both my created characters and the story characters. It felt mildly offensive to my tastes, on a weird level, that I seemed to have so many options but was tremendously limited from exercising them.

So I think I stopped about halfway through the game. And it didn't help that I picked up Disgaea right after, discovered the character creation, the huge available party size, and the Item World, and promptly forgot for about 20 hours that the game had a story.

So...was I off? I know Final Fantasy games tend to follow the "linear first half, open second half" method of game design. Does Tactics do that at some point, and I'll be able to battle to my heart's content, and actually be able to use the characters I make more than, like, four at a time? Because that "send your inactive PCs on offscreen missions" thing was not a good replacement.

 

[Siege_TF]

Dismiss the mooks who don't talk to you when you get the hang of the mechanics (you can chat with everyone in your army and some will just go '...'). There's a lot of characters who join you; more than what you can support if your beginning forces suffer light casualties. If you don't get taking a potion as a reaction skill on Ramza you will be punished in a few one-on-one fights. You can skip the dialouge in the main story for the most part and just go to the place where the people need a'killing.

The plot is basically 'Everyone is a dick because it's medieval Europe, except Ramza and Delita, and it hits Delita like a crossbow bolt in the gut long before Ramza gives his head a shake and figures out the church and noble class is constantly indulging in power struggles.'

 

[Wiggum Esquilax]

The plot is politics, plain and simple. Dozens of characters, each with their own personal motivations, and every one of which the game absolutely will not hand hold you in remembering. Checking the Brave Story after every scripted battle, and visiting a tavern after every sequence of scripted battles is integral to understanding the plot. If neither politics nor history are of any interest to you, then you're barking up the wrong tree.

There's an in-game text tutorial, more of an instruction manual, that explains it all. Or at least the vast majority of it. Reading said manual front to back is basically mandatory, though you need not understand it all at first. Understanding the relations between Zodiac Signs and using them to game the system isn't really necessary at all.

Gameplay is tactical combat and inventory management combined with the need for a strategy guide.

Oh man, the FFT strategy guide. Best strategy guide ever printed, by Prima or anyone else, perfectly laid out and to the point, all in a pleasing package. Too bad not a one of them has likely survived their poor binding. Not at all necessary to win fights, but completely necessary to finding everything. If you can't get a hold of one(and you won't be able to), an online guide will become your close friend.

Going in blind is certainly feasible, but you'll have to search high and low to avoid missing out on a great deal of content. OCD your way through every single tavern proposition, revisit every single tavern in every single city in every single chapter just in case you might miss something. Or just visit Gamefaqs, your choice.

Would've been so much nicer if it didn't take about 3 button presses for a single attack (where FE Awakening takes 1)

You can options menu that particular "feature" away.

 

[balladbird]

What makes the PS1 version better?

I personally prefer the PSP version, but typically those who like the PS1 version better have a fondness for the narmy translation. The translation of the PSP version is faaaaaaaar more accurate, but they also threw in the ye olde linguistics of FF XII to make it fit into its universe better.

Outside of that, there are a handful of glitches in the PSP port. None of them are game breaking, but a few can get annoying. Certain spells will cause the game to slow down while they're being cast, and that kind of thing.

For me, personally, the more accurate translation and the addition of balthier (everything is improved with the addition of balthier) make the PSP the go-to version.

As to getting into it... It's a very narrative driven game, even more so than any other game in its series. You have to be a fan of all the politics, double-crosses, and character intrigue... or barring that, a really big fan of tactical RPGs.

Honestly, I first played FFT in 1998. Game of thrones came out years later, and the thing that made me instantly love the show/book series was how much it reminded me of FFT in terms of tone... to the point where the series could have been called "Final Fantasy Tactics the series" and i'd have believed it. so, if you're a fan of GoT, chances are you'll find something to love in tactics.

 

[Tilly]

What makes the PS1 version better?

I personally prefer the PSP version, but typically those who like the PS1 version better have a fondness for the narmy translation. The translation of the PSP version is faaaaaaaar more accurate, but they also threw in the ye olde linguistics of FF XII to make it fit into its universe better.

Outside of that, there are a handful of glitches in the PSP port. None of them are game breaking, but a few can get annoying. Certain spells will cause the game to slow down while they're being cast, and that kind of thing.

For me, personally, the more accurate translation and the addition of balthier (everything is improved with the addition of balthier) make the PSP the go-to version.

Aren't those prerendered vids also exclusive to the PSP version? Those are pretty awesome.

 

[DrOswald]

What makes the PS1 version better?

I personally prefer the PSP version, but typically those who like the PS1 version better have a fondness for the narmy translation. The translation of the PSP version is faaaaaaaar more accurate, but they also threw in the ye olde linguistics of FF XII to make it fit into its universe better.

Outside of that, there are a handful of glitches in the PSP port. None of them are game breaking, but a few can get annoying. Certain spells will cause the game to slow down while they're being cast, and that kind of thing.

For me, personally, the more accurate translation and the addition of balthier (everything is improved with the addition of balthier) make the PSP the go-to version.

Aren't those prerendered vids also exclusive to the PSP version? Those are pretty awesome.

Yes, but as a point of detail, the PSP version would more accurately called the War of the Lions version as it has been released on several platforms.