25 Years of Final Fantasy Tactics

Final Fantasy Tactics launched in Japan on June 20, 1997. To celebrate the sub-franchise’s 25th anniversary, we’re sharing our Final Fantasy Tactics memories.

My Final Fantasy Tactics memory is a sad one! I arrived fashionably late to the PlayStation party and acquired a system long after launch. Which meant I didn’t get to its games for a while! I’d purchased a used copy of FFT and meant to play it! I did get into a few battles. But an ex-boyfriend indefinitely “borrowed” it.Which means I didn’t really play it until War of the Lions for the PSP. Given the extra classes and refinements, that probably wasn’t the worst thing. — Jenni

I’ve got two main Final Fantasy Tactics memories. The first dates back to a few years after the PS1 release, when I was in high school and found out that the copy of Tactics that was given to me as a birthday present was worth several hundred dollars on a website called “eBay,” but only if it was in good condition. Sadly, my copy wasn’t.

The second memory came after the game was relaunched as Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions on PSP, receiving a new translation, and crucially, a number of exclusive cutscenes. The best of them is one celebrating eternal Saint of Lady Knights Agrias Oaks’ birthday. Despite having some real “you have to buy the guide to even know this happens”-type BS requirements, the little scene is lovely and has slowly colonized all my memories of this classic game. People may occasionally argue that the PS1 version was better, but this scene proves them wrong all on its own. — Josh

The original Final Fantasy Tactics is fun! It’s great! But my heart lies with its GBA successor. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance swaps a visual style that hasn’t aged technically quite as well for one that still looks stellar! It swaps a tough onboarding process for one of the best tutorials in gaming history. And perhaps most importantly, it doesn’t swap the core tactical system that made the first game so great. I’d love a Tactics remake that polishes up its shortcomings, for sure. But Advance doesn’t need one to be a blast. — Graham

What are your Final Fantasy Tactics memories? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter! And read our other handy roundtables for more thoughts from the Siliconera team.