Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions for PSP

GF Rating

9

Excellent

One of the best tactical RPGs ever

posted by Pathos (PASADENA, CA) Oct 11, 2007

Member since Dec 2005

21 out of 23 gamers (91%) found this review helpful

Final Fantasy Tactics is one of those cult classics that graced the PSX and never saw wide release. Its re-release on the PSP is a good, but not great translation of the original game. Thankfully the original is so amazingly spectacular that it makes up for any lack of technical prowess in the remake.

FFT is, simply put, one of the best Tactical RPGs ever made. In fact, it might be one of the best RPGs ever made - it has a deep and politically-minded plot, memorable characters and a pretty decent length. The combat system is exemplary and is honestly enjoyable enough to sink hundreds of hours into. This is one of those rare games where the gameplay, music, storyline AND art direction are all absolutely top notch.

The PSP remake is good, but not great. The retranslation helps a lot, as the original release was so badly translated that I played through it 4-5 times and never really quite figured out some of the subplot intricacies due to botched English. The new FMVs are a great addition and really fit the style well. Oddly, though, there are some technical issues that still remain: Some slowdown, some de-sync'd sound, things like that. The multiplayer is also not quite as good as it could be.

Conclusion: Get this game. FFT is so good that you could play it with sticks in a sandbox and it would still be fun. Thankfully this remake is much, much better than that. Now I just have to go back to praying for FFT2.

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GF Rating

8

Very Good

Remake Decent, But Fail to Give Justice

posted by eziel110 (HAHIRA, GA) Nov 8, 2009

Member since Nov 2009

2 out of 2 gamers (100%) found this review helpful

Pros:
New remake of the cinemas are really GREAT!
Game graphics are same as classic.
Cleaned up story line and language translation.
Portable :)

Cons:
New classes are really not that great.
Multiplayer aspect forces you to play multiplayer for hidden items.
Screen is sometimes difficult to get use to and adjust.
Control function is a little different and takes a little time to get accustom to.

Overall I have put 100 hours into this game and it is still one of my favorite Final Fantasy games in the series. The best thing is being able to play it anywhere. But the remake doesn't do the classic much justice.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

One of the best rpg's is back

posted by Chuku1981 (FREDERICK, MD) May 25, 2008

Member since Jul 2007

1 out of 1 gamers (100%) found this review helpful

I've played this several times over back as a PSone title loving each moment of it.

Playing it again was truly a hit of nostalgia. There's been a few changes to this title, some fantastic, some "Eh". The "eh" changes are a lot of the dialogue has been paraphrased, some has been replaced for a better feel. (Sadly I remember a good portion of the old dialogue) ex. In the opening scene, after a kidnapping twas shouted "Blame yourself, or god!" A nice powerful line, now been changed to dialogue from the kidnapper to the victim. (giving the kidnapper more of a caring "Please co-operate, this truly is for your own good" feel.

Also, another "eh" aspect that has been changed is the spell casting. Seemingly 5% of the time when a spell was cast for the PSone the words have been taken out. (aka "Time has come, crash down upon the wicked, Meteor!" "Refreshing breeze, blow in energy, Cure!" Etc) though, that I can live without easily.

Some of the "olde English" dialogue has been toned down a bit. Turning the characters speech from "Macbeth" to "Lord of the rings". Though the remaining fact as to what makes this story so great above other rpgs is the brilliantly Shakespearean storyline is perfectly intact.

Now a huge wow, and most obviously changed aspect. There are now beautifully done cutscenes. (Apart from the charging 'chocobo-knights' in the beginning of the original) the cutscenes are FANTASTICALLY drawn. And voice acting is beyond good, and so fitting to the characters and time-period. (by all means youtube it to seen what I mean)

One bad thing I suppose couldn't be helped. Some lag w/ in battle effects. Newcomers and people who weren't overly fanatic probably wouldn't even realize it, but graphically heavy spells lag a bit, for instance, cure3(now curaga) before would take 3 seconds for cast animation, now takes 3.5-4 secs.

All in all, a great second take on something so near flawless to begin with.

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GF Rating

6

Above Average

An excellent remake with technical issues

posted by Garylisk (SAINT LOUIS, MO) Oct 12, 2008

Member since Jun 2008

5 out of 6 gamers (83%) found this review helpful

If you enjoyed the original FF Tactics on Playstation 1, chances are you will enjoy this as well, with the minor exception of some slowdown issues. The added custscenes, features, and classes make for a very solid game, but any special attack or item with any sort of movement or particle effects essentially cuts the framerate in half and makes the game animation move slowly. This can get quite obnoxious.

But with patience, this game should be enjoyed.

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GF Rating

7

Good

Some classics don't port well

posted by Vignirsson (SANTA CRUZ, CA) Oct 14, 2007

Member since Nov 2005

13 out of 23 gamers (57%) found this review helpful

And that is what I am saying to myself after playing this. It was a good idea to try and port this over, but there are some issues that leave it wanting and make the PSOne version that much better.

Story is the same story as before, Ramza's epic struggle against the world and himself, so on and so forth. If you have played the original, then you know what this is all about.

Gameplay is the same as well, grid movement and attacks accordingly. However, where it suffers here is the lag time on special moves. Where as the PSOne version suffered from lagging special moves late in the game, it was slight. I shouldn't have to painfully wince when I watch a basic spell like Fire grind gameplay to a halt.

All other attacks are hyper speed, same as movement. Speech reads nice and clean and sprite movement, even though it is still slightly dated, is nice and smooth. Not sure why they had problems with the special moves, but they did.

Graphics are dated, if you are used to the high quality and detail on current gen systems, you will probably be disappointed by the look of the sprites. If you grew up playing this game, you will feel the heart warming smile creep on your face as you see Ramza move on the screen.

The extras are interesting but not a deal maker. The cutscenes are quality sketch and cross hatch style animation, but certainly do feel tacked on. The new characters that exist are not a deal maker for me either, but then I didn't like Final Fantasy XII at all. Your mileage may very with this statement.

All in all, it was a good attempt, but the flaws in this could be just enough to turn away some people as well as the dated graphics. I loved the original and I will probably break it out to play it again after writing this interview. Sometimes classics should just remain that way, you know? Stop trying to bring back the dead to milk more money out of them...

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

Best PSP Game So Far

posted by CaptPidge (GRAND FORKS, ND) Oct 19, 2007

Member since Aug 2007

4 out of 8 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

if ya loved the original this is one you need for your psp

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GF Rating

7

Good

Lazy and Ugly, but still 'Good'

posted by BradLee (SOUTH ELGIN, IL) Oct 21, 2007

Member since Oct 2005

3 out of 7 gamers (43%) found this review helpful

A REMAKE would have been nice, but instead Square Enix chose to give us yet another rerelease. It's business, they know what they're doing. There are plenty of rabid Tactics nutsos out there who would buy the game just because of the title. Money in the bank.

Cynicism aside, this is not a BAD rerelease. The entire script has been overhauled, but while the dialogue certainly makes more sense now, I find the attempt at Shakespearian Olde' English more distracting than riveting.

The FMVs are an unwelcome addition. I always thought of Tactics as the bastardchild of the Final Fantasy series, partially because of the lack of flashy videos and fancy graphics. But now that idea is somewhat ruined with the FMVs.

This wouldn't be so bad if the videos worked, but they don't. The artistic style of Tactics has always been odd, but seeing the noseless faces in full motion action is just creepy. They look like manequins come to life in some unholy marriage between Final Fantasy and the Chucky movies.

But worse than any of that is the slowdown. In tactics it was almost unnoticable, and it actually appeared intentional since the slowdown would only occur at intense spots. But now the slowdown is such that oftentimes the sound of the attack will come a second or two before the graphic. Not only is this annoying and distracting, it is simply unforgivable. Why add in cheesy, creepy doll-faced FMVs to supposedly add to the graphic appeal when the game itself doesn't even run smoothly in the first place?

On the plus side, they've added two new classes, but I can't comment on them, because I haven't gotten that far. I simply refuse to play a game I loved ten years ago when it is so lazily translated to the PSP.

The game is still 'good,' but that's only because the original was 'fantastic.' If you've played FFT before, pass this up. If you haven't, I guess this is worth checking out. But really, Jeanne D'Arc overshadows this game in every aspect.

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GF Rating

3

Bad

Deep and interesting, but difficulty kills it

posted by ByakuyaSix (TUCSON, AZ) Aug 12, 2008

Member since Jun 2008

2 out of 6 gamers (33%) found this review helpful

I'm sorry. I'd like to say something nice about this PSP port of the PSX classic, but anything positive I may have had to say about it is simply killed by the game's non-negotiable, pain-in-the-behind difficulty that nearly cost me my PSP after frustratedly dying for the hundredth time on the same mission. Instead, I'll leave it at this: if you're a strategy blowhard that can wade through a complex, counter-intuitive menu system and incredibly one-sided battles to get to the rather cliche story, there's some fun to be had. Otherwise, avoid this like the plague.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

Same old, same old

posted by zzsuperman (MARLTON, NJ) Aug 2, 2008

Member since Oct 2003

1 out of 3 gamers (33%) found this review helpful

This game was great when it came out on the PS1, and it still holds up well today. The new cutscenes are beautiful, but there's no way to skip through the old cutscenes, which really drags out the game for those of us that have played it dozens of times already. There are new classes, which is interesting, but there are only two, which feels kind of cheap considering there's really not much else new. Look, I like the game just fine, just like I did 10 years ago. But you know what would really bump this game from a 5 to a 10? A new story.

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GF Rating

4

Weak

FFT: War of the Lions

posted by Shoesta (KANSAS CITY, MO) Mar 1, 2008

Member since Jan 2008

1 out of 5 gamers (20%) found this review helpful

I am a huge fan of Final Fantasy Tactics for the PS and for the GBA, but when I popped War of the Lions into my PSP, I was sadly disappointed. What really did it for me was the bad camera angles that prevented me from seeing my characters on the battlefield. I would have to constantly shift the camera back and forth. It created a unnecessary obstacle that this game could have done without. Furthermore, the job class system was a bit more then confusing because you were accumulating JP for classes whom skill weren't even equipped. And the final blow for this game would be the death system. When you have a character that dies, you have so many turns to revive him or her before he or she is permanently gone from your clan roster.

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

Far inferior to Fire Emblem

posted by Thebunny (CHARLOTTE, NC) Sep 13, 2008

Member since Feb 2008

1 out of 10 gamers (10%) found this review helpful

Very similar to Fire Emblem, and yet FAR inferior. Don't recommend a rent.

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GF Rating

7

Good

Good Game

posted by RPlayer (RIVERSIDE, CA) Sep 1, 2011

Member since Mar 2007

I am sure this is a very good game, just not for me. I am not "into" the strategy type games.

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GF Rating

2

Really Bad

Bleh fustrating

posted by ralinsilve (LOS ANGELES, CA) Aug 19, 2011

Member since Nov 2007

Lack of a skip button for the cut scenes is a little ridiculous. The game lags on the FPS quite often and the terrain itself makes the game hard to see what is going on. The camera angles are always off and its hard to tell sometimes what/where you are clicking.

The difficulty level is pretty insane considering the lack of "tactics". That or maybe i have to grind my way up before i can even attempt the 3rd mission with the mages and archers. I like my game with difficulty and a large degree of challenge, but this is not challenge. The game just not paced right and the balance just doesn't seem to be there, the computer just seems to have all the skills and abilities where you have just a basic attack.

Go with Tactics Ogre its a million times better.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

wow

posted by greenman30 (CONYERS, GA) Dec 22, 2009

Member since Feb 2008

one of the better games in the ff series (well in my opinion) yes its a strategy game but it somehow just feels so right. whats so great about this game is the story line. dont know how they got all that stuff to fit on the psp and then more but if your a ff fan this is definetly a must play

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GF Rating

3

Bad

The game GCI is great

posted by hillbilly2 (RED OAK, TX) Oct 29, 2009

Member since Oct 2008

The Graphics for the movie parts are great but the game in itself is slow the battle system is way to slow did not hold my interest and i love these type of games most the time.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

Perfect can be improved!

posted by yousparkle (BOCA RATON, FL) Sep 12, 2009

Member since Sep 2009

FF Tactics: War of the Lions is nearly exactly the same as the original Playstation 1's version of Final Fantasy Tactics, which was HUGELY taken for granted. One of the best games EVER! I totally recommend playing this game. If you like fire emblem, this is KIND OF like it, as far as the movement of the board works. Definitely play it if you're a FF fan.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions

posted by smorri1 (ANTELOPE, CA) Mar 5, 2009

Member since Sep 2005

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions is a nice strategy rpg. I've never played a strategy rpg, but I like this one it's fun to play and very easy to understand. I like all jobs i can get, and the CG cutscenes are beautiful, I like the shell shading cartoon look it's great. I recommend this game to anybody who likes Final Fantasy. Great job Square Enix.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

a bit disappointing

posted by RedFist (LOS ANGELES, CA) Feb 22, 2009

Member since Feb 2009

i've heard alot of hype about this game
but when i got it i was a bit disappointed
the game speed was slow, the controls were limited & story was a bit boring
i was expecting more...:(

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GF Rating

8

Very Good

Love the tactics

posted by asiangirl (SAN DIEGO, CA) Jan 13, 2009

Member since Jan 2009

i love this game. great story line and a very fun tactics. i enjoyed this game all the way to the end. trust me you wont be disappointed.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

a must have for SRPG gamer..

posted by dulun21 (CHANDLER, AZ) Aug 14, 2008

Member since Aug 2007

but for those who like fast paced gameplay.. you should steer clear of this at all cost. Most SRPG are slow paced.. taking forever to win a battle.

only rent if you like this type of game.. if not stay clear from it.

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GF Rating

10

Perfect

Final Fantasy Tactics!

posted by KraiHavok (GREAT FALLS, MT) Aug 2, 2008

Member since Feb 2008

I played and loved this game when it first came out on the original PS system. For anyone who has not played it before, this is one of the all time classic turn based games. It has an awesome moving story, continuous action, and unique rpg character building and customization. For older players, the game has gorgeous new animated sequences between important sory sections. Having not played this game in almost 10 years I have fallen in love with it all over again.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

It was not as good

posted by ROCKSGT (FOUNTAIN INN, SC) Jul 8, 2008

Member since Mar 2007

The game was alright but not as good as the original one for the GBA because it more complicated the it. The reason it wasn't as good was the first gave a list of weapons and it all depended on how much money you had. In this one you had to be a skilled healer to become a black mage and that through me off. But other than that it was a fair game.

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GF Rating

4

Weak

FOR FFT FANS ONLY

posted by StigMurder (SAINT PETERS, MO) Jun 15, 2008

Member since Jun 2008

If you havent played the first one then dont bother with this...get a diff rpg..this one has horrible camera angles and the computer does most the work..avoid.

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

final fantasy tactics: war of the lions

posted by finalf7 (ABILENE, TX) May 28, 2008

Member since Feb 2007

this game sucked if u want to rent a real final fantasy game get final fantasy crisis core

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GF Rating

9

Excellent

FF: Tactics WoTL; like waiting in a chow line!

posted by Heinzman (SUNNYVALE, CA) Apr 14, 2008

Member since Mar 2005

By that I mean to say that the new port of Final Fantasy Tactics is almost fantastic. There is one reason that is noticeable and never really goes away throughout the entire game. Load Times.
When I got FF Tactics I was excited to get right into it. I started off by going to the tutorial section, what a bore. I'm not sure how they could have improved it, but each page seems to take a little longer to get through than it should. However the information is useful. I've only ever played FF Tactics: Advance, which has a variety of the same fundamentals, but WoTL has a significantly more complicated party roster status screen. Be that as it may, it's not hard to get started, and while some of the less useful features such as AI programming may be overlooked, as long as you pay a decent amount of attention to jobs, abilities, and equipment you should be fine.
Overall the game is great. Excellent story, particularly for a tactics game, beautiful new cut-scenes, look like a mix of cel-shading and an animated comic book, complete with voiceovers, (only during these cut-scenes, the vast majority of the game is text only).
The job system keeps a constant interest in the characters you use, which makes up for the fact that they're story developments on the weaker end of FF's.
The controls work pretty well with the PSP overall, leaving the only thing I'd want being complete camera control, it's limited to two mode zoom in zoom out and two aerial angles, neither of which give you a perfect view of the battlefield, plus 90 degree rotation.
Which leaves the load times. They're not really horrendous or render the game unplayable, they're just not fast, which can be distracting and make you loathe casting spells. In addition moving around the status menu takes a hair longer than would be convenient. But in the end even these load times do not distract from how good this game is, it just makes it Good Times, instead of great ones.

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Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions for PSP Reviews by Gamers

Release Date

GF Rating

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ESRB

Buy