Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles review: A masterpiece updated for modern audiences

After previewing Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles, I couldn’t wait to get hands-on with it again. Forty or so hours later, I can safely say that this is one of the best remakes that I’ve ever played. It retains the key elements of the original and adds features and mechanics that should have been included in the PlayStation release. While there are some very minor nitpicks (No JP Glitch), my experience has been truly satisfying.

However, there are a few things that upset fans, and that’s okay. No, this version doesn’t have the War of the Lions content. Kazutoyo Maehiro, Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles’ director, explained that in a recent interview.

The purpose of this game is to be a retelling of the original story, with just that content, and honestly? They nailed it.

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Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles tells a story that is still worth telling in 2025

Without spoiling anything, Final Fantasy Tactics is a story of war, and how it affects everyday, normal people. It’s a story of dirty politics and a church desperate to keep its hold on the common folk. Perhaps one of the most important themes or details of this game is the difference between the truth and the narrative.

A solid question, even in 2025, from Dycedarg Beoulve (Image via Square Enix)

The truth offered to both players is significantly different than what people in power offer up throughout this story. The latter offers a different version of the truth, their narrative. It’s still pretty relevant in modern-day politics. It’s a game about the manipulation of the truth, of social class disparity, and so much more. It’s a deep game, and the developers of this Final Fantasy Tactics remake give the fans so much information.

In the Chronicle section of Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles, there’s the State of the Realm, for example, which shows the various political factions and what’s going on in each step of the game. You also have an Encyclopedia that updates when major characters go through changes.

A lot is going on in this game, politically speaking. The State of the Realm makes following it all simple (Image via Square Enix)

You also have the Events, which highlight all the major story points of the game. It’s all very easy to find, alongside important reading materials like the Scriptures of Germonique. It’s such a deep story, and it’s easy to get lost in everything this game offers.

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Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles features a huge series of important quality-of-life changes

Yes, Final Fantasy Tactics was an iconic, genre-defining title in the world of turn-based strategy RPGs. That’s not something anyone could question or doubt. However, there were definitely things the game could’ve used at launch, but are available here in The Ivalice Chronicles.

Did you not mean to move here? You can fix it, as long as you haven't completed an action or ended their turn (Image via Square Enix)

When it comes to combat, for example, you can back out of movements instead of being forced to commit to them. There are so many times when you make a movement, but an attack simply is just a square or two too far away to hit. Instead of ruining your turn and potentially losing a battle, you can back out and try again!

Speaking of battle, having the full turn order, complete with upcoming spells/skills, might be one of the best changes to Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles, period. It’s similar to what you’d find in Final Fantasy X, and makes understanding the flow of battle so simple.

If a battle is too difficult, or it’s a random encounter you simply feel is too overwhelming, you can also just go back to the World Map at any time! Did you jump into a boss battle ill-prepared, or remember that if you just equipped everyone with Flame Shields, Rubber Boots, and Thieves Hats, that a certain fight goes from world-shattering to completely pointless? Just reset the fight back to the Formation section! You can change jobs, gear, etc., from there, without having to reset the whole game.

Just look at this beautiful, easy-to-understand UI! (Image via Square Enix)

You can even make removing Monster Eggs from your party screen so much faster. I think my other favorite update to Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles has to be that you get a choice in fighting random encounters. You can reject them and move on! No more saving just to move four spaces on the world map.

All of these changes are important and worth having in the game. If you miss the original, archaic version of the game, you can just play that within the confines of this remake, too! While I enjoy the original, I vastly prefer The Ivalice Chronicles with its many updates.

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The most important question: What is combat like in Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles?

I played on Tactician, but if you prefer something a bit less demanding, by all means! Play your way (Image via Square Enix)

I played Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles on Tactician difficulty, which is supposed to replicate the difficulty of the original game. I can say with confidence that it did just that. There was only really one frustrating thing about it, though. In the first, say, 7-10 hours of the game, where I did the majority of my grinding, every enemy with a counterattack landed theirs 90-95% of the time.

I’ve never seen that many counter hits in my entire life! It seemed to even out after that, but it could be down to me just having terrible RNG luck. I can accept that, as it’s kind of part of my brand.

Thanks to the various updates and QoL changes, combat is a dream in FFT. Even down to simply getting ready for battles. In the original game, you could only see a tiny portion of the map when selecting your units. For random encounters, you can even see the enemy placements, so you know who to put where.

Just being able to see where exactly everyone will stand in battle is a nice touch (Image via Square Enix)

For major story battles, you can still see the whole map, but not the enemy placements. It's nice to see where a unit will actually be standing at the start of a fight. This may have been a limitation for the PSX, but I truthfully do not know.

As is tradition with this game, your characters take turns moving, depending on each unit’s Charge Time. When their Charge Time reaches 100, they can take a movement and action. There are plenty of ways to influence this, too. All the strategies and tactics you remember from the original still work, too.

Monk/Squire with Two-Swords? It’s there! Do you want to do Arithmitician Graviga+Mime? Go for it! Whatever strategy you used in the original, provided it wasn’t from a bug, it’s here and it works.

This was a weird change, as it pertains to Archer, but I think it will still be okay in the long run (Image via Square Enix)

There’s also a change that I’m a bit iffy on, if I can be honest. For Dragoon and Archer jobs, they use a system of attacks like Charge +1, +2, et cetera. Instead of being able to pick which Charge you want to use, it picks the maximum amount in combat for these Jobs.

The charge time doesn't start out ridiculous, but it can sure get that way by the end; it felt a bit balanced, at least. Honestly, I don’t really use Dragoon much, because I didn’t think it was really a Job that fit in my overall strategy. I do feel like it’s something people should keep an eye out for as they play.

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The presentation of Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles is nothing short of spectacular

Having a fully-voiced Final Fantasy Tactics on modern consoles is fantastic (Image via Square Enix)

The visuals for Final Fantasy Tactics are gorgeous; I love the style of the cutscenes, and the voice cast is phenomenal. In particular, Ben Starr as Dycedarg Beoulve is inspired casting. Hearing Cody Christian as Cloud Strife once again was fantastic, as well.

Gregg Lowe as Delita Hyral, Paul Panting as Goffgard Gaffgarion, and Hannah Melbourn as Agrias Oaks were also remarkable. The whole cast was great, but those were probably my favorites among them.

The UI design was also fantastic, though I won’t lie, I do miss the Job Circle from the original game. The world map is beautiful, and the art design is superb. The only minor nitpick I have is that in the original version of the game, it’s just a little too pixelated.

That’s probably something that couldn’t be avoided, if you consider the original resolution versus modern. That said, even the original game was still great in this collection. Both versions are standouts, but the remake is truly a must-play.

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Final thoughts

From important story battles to intense optional fights, FFT delivers on all fronts (Image via Square Enix)

Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles is a nearly flawless recreation of one of my all-time favorite games. The frustrating battles were still just as rage-inducing as ever, but the updates and quality of life changes made it so easy to get a party set up and to go back and work on things if I made mistakes.

I have very fond memories of the original release of this game, and I still own the copy I had way back then. It didn’t disappoint me in the least, other than perhaps the distinct lack of the JP Glitch. Look, it just made getting spellcasters ready just a bit faster, okay? There aren’t many remakes that have genuinely made me feel this much joy or satisfaction; perhaps the closest is Dragon Quest III.

If you were a fan of the original, you’ll love this. If you perhaps skipped it because it was archaic, difficult, and complex, you’re going to want to dive into this version. It’s accessible for players of all experience levels, and gives you all the information about the game and its systems that you could want.

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Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is a must-play for fans of the original game (Image via Square Enix & Sportskeeda)

• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Steam)
• Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 (Code provided by Square Enix)
• Release Date: September 30, 2025
• Developer: Square Enix
• Publisher: Square Enix