Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles' Kazutoyo Maehiro on important updates, changes, and the legacy of FFT (Exclusive)

I recently had a chance to preview Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, and not only that, I had a sit-down discussion with Kazutoyo Maehiro, the director of the upcoming remake. This is important for so many reasons. Maehiro-san not only worked on this upcoming remake of FFT, but he was also the Event Planner for the original PlayStation title. If that weren’t enough, he was Battle System Designer for FFXII, Main Scenario Writer for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn/Heavensward, and worked on Final Fantasy XVI.

The man has a rich history with Square Enix and has succeeded everywhere he’s been. Heavensward is easily one of my favorite stories in the whole eleven-year history of the MMO. Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the most important games to me, and is a game with a rich, noteworthy legacy.

It told a compelling story that is still relevant in today’s charged political climate, and featured innovative gameplay that is emulated by other developers to this very day. It was a pleasure to speak with Final Fantasy Tactics’ director Maehiro-san, and learn about what this upcoming release means to him.

Note: This conversation took place with the aid of a translator, who facilitated the chat between me and Maehiro-san. All footage contained in this article is in development, is subject to change, and was provided by Square Enix.

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Kazutoyo Maehiro opens up about Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles, important changes that were made, and much more

First, thank you for taking the time to chat with me. As someone who played the original Final Fantasy Tactics when it came out, I’m very excited to see it come back. What does it mean to you, as one of the original developers, to be working on the game again?

Talk about images you can hear, as a longtime fan. (Image via Square Enix)

Maehiro: When I played the original game, I was involved in playing the original game. I was very much a new developer at the time. Now that it's been 28 years, I'm involved as the director of this project. When I think back to myself back then, 28 years ago, I definitely didn't want to lose to myself. I also felt that if we were to, for example, fail with this project, that would be almost disrespectful for the original staff who were involved in the game. In that sense, I did feel a lot of pressure.

But now that the game is complete, of course, we do still have some time until the launch of the game, but it is still such a great game. I’m very relieved to say I'm still waiting for the game to be released, but I'm relieved. I feel that it's a great game to play.

Jason: Well, it plays great!

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It’s pretty common knowledge that the original source code has been “lost to time”, which is certainly unfortunate. What were the greatest challenges that went into recreating the game?

Wise words from Barbaneth Beoulve. (Image via Square Enix)

Maehiro: When it comes to this project, really, the main objective or the main ambition was to take the original Final Fantasy Tactics game and give it a rebirth for modern consoles. As you mentioned, the biggest obstacle that we had to face was the fact that the source code of the original game was lost.

So we had to dig up a lot of old materials, like the game that launched, the old product of the game, as well as the Master Disk that had been in the archives, as well as the smartphone mobile version of the game as well. So the game project itself was actually starting with digging up all these older reference materials.

As a result of that, I do feel that we were able to recreate the original experience. That's something that I'm very proud of.

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Since everything’s been remade from the ground up, I did notice something when I was playing this new version of the game. I wanted to see if one of the more popular glitches, the JP Glitch, still worked. Unfortunately, it did not. I was admittedly disappointed by that. When remaking the game and creating the new UI, was that something that was taken into account - these various older glitches, while not game-breaking, were still useful to the player?

If the JP glitch were still around, this Black Mage would be far more powerful (Image via Square Enix)

Maehiro: I mentioned earlier that we referenced a lot of the older versions and several different versions of the game as we tried to recreate this one. And of course, within the original games, we did see that there were several bugs, for example.

And when it comes to some of the bugs that, for example, would actually be an advantage for players, we didn't necessarily think that those were much of an issue. But there were, of course, other bugs and such that were included that were much more on the critical level. So when it comes to both the classic and enhanced versions of the game, you know, we definitely did want to revise those.

On the flip side, when it comes to the enhanced version, it also features an overhauled UI. But another sort of consideration is that if we were to keep some of the original bugs and such, then it might actually present technical difficulties with what we wanted to do with creating some of your UI as well. And so, from that perspective as well, we wanted to, again, create a new UI. And so it's just some of those bugs we weren't necessarily able to fix as well.

Somehow, I find I dislike Argath even more (Image via Square Enix)

Jason: I just really missed that one in particular. It made creating a useful Calculator so much easier. You could just sweep through all the caster classes super easy!

Maehiro: In that case, I do get the sense that you're definitely a better player than me, I'm pretty sure. So, to you, I definitely recommend maybe experiencing the game in full through the Tactician on the highest difficulty setting.

Jason: That’s what I was doing in the play session. [Laughs]

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While Final Fantasy Tactics is known for its gripping story and fantastic gameplay, it’s also known for some . . . fights that are considered “unfair”. In particular, Limberry Castle (Elmdore/Celia/Lede), the Grogh Heights Monk Random Encounter, Riovanes Castle (Wiegraf), and the random encounter with like 15 chocobos. I still have nightmares about that. Have any of these fights been adjusted or changed to make them easier?

Final Fantasy Tactics was known for its brutal difficulty for beginners; that's all been changed, and it's a good thing (Image via Square Enix)

Maehiro: When it came to the enhanced version of the game and the different various difficulty settings have been implemented. There were certainly players who wanted to play the game, but couldn't because it was so difficult.

And so for those people, we wanted to be able to have a little bit of a casual, what's called a Squire Mode, within this game. And then, of course, for the players who did play the original, who also love the genre, we wanted to be able to have a standard of a Knight Mode. And then, for example, when it comes to the veteran players, you know, you wanted to be able to have a little bit more of a challenging experience that is going to be in the Tactician Mode. And so for each sort of demographic, you wanted to be able to have a difficulty setting that sort of fits and suits them the best.

That said, when it comes to Final Fantasy Tactics overall, he does feel that the actual content itself, and by content he means the story, is the same across all three. So he does feel that for any type of users or players, there's going to be something that they can enjoy through this game.

And then you mentioned in your question, for example, the Battle of Riovanes Castle, or the battle with numerous chocobos, generally speaking, we did make some adjustments to the difficulty. But, overall, the difficulty is the way it was in the original game.

Jason: Okay, because [Final Fantasy] Tactics is one of three Final Fantasy games I had to completely start over from scratch in. In Final Fantasy Tactics, I got to Riovanes Castle, and I was only using one save file. I was clearly not ready, and I probably spent five hours trying to beat Wiegraf and just getting smashed! I didn’t even get to phase 2 with Velius! And so I learned a very, very important lesson: To have more than one save. [Laughs]

There were quite a few stages that could feel downright unfair if you didn't prepare enough for them (Image via Square Enix)

Maehiro: When it comes to the difficulty of each of the battles, we did keep the difficulty of the original. That said, as a way to actually make the experience a little bit more friendly for players overall, using, for example, the combined sequential battles that have been, we did implement a new feature that allows people to be able to restart battles at the beginning of that.

And just overall, we just included features that actually make it so that rather than changing the inherent difficulty setting or the difficulty of the game itself, players would be able to just pick and choose what way would best suit them.

So that was kind of the way that we wanted to be able to support and follow them. And another feature as well was during battles, if you're ever in a pinch, you can also return to the world map at any time as well, so that's another feature. But yeah, that said, I do feel that it still stands that the important thing to do is to always ensure that you do have multiple save files in case anything unexpected happens.

Jason: One thing I noticed while I was playing, speaking of changes, is that once you’ve moved, you can back out of that movement. Instead of “Oh, I went a square too far, and now Throw Stone won’t land. Guess I’m dead!”

Maehiro: Yeah, as mentioned, it could definitely be just to be able to redo movements within the map. That was something that, even with the original game, there were definitely a lot of players who voiced that they'd love to be able to do something like that.

Jason: I was one of them! [Laughs]

Maehiro: And so with this game, we wanted as many players as possible to give the game a try, and so we definitely wanted to implement that from that perspective too. That said, you know, again, the approach here wasn't that we wanted to lower the difficulty of the combat. We wanted it to be more comfortable. And so I do think that, through that, even the fans of the original game would still be able to have an enjoyable experience.

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This is a question that a lot of people have asked me personally, and so I figured, since I'm going to be here, I may as well. Is there an option for a remixed or remastered soundtrack, or is it just the original OST?

Honestly, I'm perfectly fine with the original score/BGM. A remaster would have been cool, but it's not a dealbreaker (Image via Square Enix)

Maehiro: Generally, when it comes to music for this project, this is an intentional choice, but we basically went with the original soundtrack. There is a reason for this, actually. My personal philosophy when it comes to music and the soundtrack that you experience in the game, it stays with you, it’s memorable.

Even if time passes, and, for example, you forget the story itself or the visuals in the game, I do feel that music is something that people still might find themselves humming to at times. And so I think that music is just something that really etches itself in the heart of players.

And so, yeah, just for example, I remember a project where the ambition was really to do a full remake, for example, and we may have wanted to consider, you know, maybe doing an orchestral arrangement of the music. But because this game was, you know, a remastered version of the original OST, we wanted to be able to reflect the music for that as well. Yes.

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Makes sense. I also want to go back briefly to in-game balance. Specifically, the unlockable characters’ balance. Because some of the optional party members are much stronger than others. You’ve got Cidolfuls Orlandeau, who is way up here [gestures broadly], then you’ve got Rafa and Malark somewhere down here, and all the way at the bottom, you have Cloud.

This was weird because you had to almost complete the entire game to unlock him. It took entirely too long to power him up, get his Limit Breaks, and then you also had to find his Materia Blade! Was there any consideration to rebalancing some of the Guest/Unlockable characters?

Who's better than Cidolfus Orlandeau? Nobody, that's who! (Image via Square Enix)

Maehiro: Cid is definitely an iconic character within Final Fantasy Tactics, and so if we were to consider maybe making adjustments to maybe make him look a little less strong, then he just felt like he wouldn't be the same character anymore.

On the other hand, when it comes to characters like Rafa and Malak, as well as Cloud, I do feel that there probably was a feeling that their abilities were harder to use. And so, kind of given that we wanted to ensure that the Mantra moves [Truth/Untruth] that Rafa and Malak use, as well as the Limit Break that Cloud uses, would be easier to use. And so we made refinements to be able to kind of do that as well. Especially when it comes to Cloud, he's actually already equipped. He comes equipped with the Materia Blade.

Jason: Oh God. [Laughs] Oh good!

Maehiro: From the beginning, I do feel that he would be a much more useful character. Of course, that begs the question, though, since Cloud already comes equipped with the Materia Blade, originally in the game, you'd have to obtain the sword itself, and so that might beg the question, then, what is gonna be there?

Jason: Oh, that's a good question.

Maehiro: People look forward to finding out. Yeah.

Jason: Like, I used Beowulf a lot, and I used Cid a lot. I only really used Rafa when I went into the Deep Dungeon. Thanks to her naturally low Brave, it helped with getting powerful items in the Deep Dungeon.

Maehiro: You're definitely very knowledgeable. As a developer, that makes me very, very happy.

Jason: I've done a lot of reading and a lot of playing of Final Fantasy Tactics over the years!

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I appreciate that this version combines the War of the Lions script/voice acting with the original game’s gameplay, but what about the content of the War of the Lions edition, such as the extra unlockable classes? As you just hinted at, maybe there’s something new at the Volcano now! Is there anything new players can look forward to?

While I love the updated translation, I can't help but miss seeing "L I T T L E M O N E Y" pop up slowly on the screen (Image via Square Enix)

Maehiro: So when it comes to War of the Lions, at the time that it was released, of course, we did implement new features, I mean, new characters were introduced to the game, such as Luso as well as Balthier. And so I do feel as though the experience that the games were presented at the time was a very complete game in and of itself at the time.

When it comes to Ivalice Chronicles, really again, the ambition was to be able to recreate the game as quickly as possible, since it had been 30 years since the game launched. And so, you know, the original game was the base for that game, and that was really sort of the goal here.

That said, that doesn’t mean we didn’t use anything that was included in the War of the Lions version. As you mentioned, the script is taken from War of the Lions, as well as the cutscenes, which utilize the Cell Shaded effect, which are included in the game as well.

When it comes to new features with this game, we intentionally did not do anything that would be defined as a new type of gameplay. The main idea, or fundamental approach, is that we wanted to take the gameplay of the original game and make it more accessible and playable for a modern audience. One example of that that you saw in the play session was the Combat Timer that’s been implemented.

In the original game, for example, to know and understand the turn order of the characters, you had to really dig deep to look at that. But with this game, because it’s been visualized and brought to the surface, I do feel as though the experience is that much more accessible and easier to play.

Another feature included, for example, the Fast Forward feature for battles, as well as being able to search for tips and the main menu as well. I do feel like the overall experience is more comfortable for players overall.

Jason: I was so glad to see the Turn Number next to the character’s health! That might be the most important change. I liked how the Turn Order was presented in a sort of Final Fantasy X style. It’s always very clear what’s going to happen next. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve accidentally hit an enemy boss with Protect, Shell, or Cure 3!

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What is the legacy of Final Fantasy Tactics to you? No matter how beloved the Final Fantasy franchise is, this is one of the ones that is almost always brought up. What do you think this game’s legacy ultimately is?

It's a tale as old as time (Image via Square Enix)

Maehiro: When it comes to the original Final Fantasy Tactics game, I definitely think it was a game that really was definitive within a genre that otherwise was smaller, I suppose? Kind of a bit more niche as a genre. But I think it was a game that really helped broaden the popularity of that genre.

It really was a game that had a spectacular game design, story, and music. Because all three of these factors were so polished and refined, almost complete, I feel that’s what led to the game being considered a legendary title.

The story in particular is one that I feel that even after almost 30 years has passed, is still a story that resonates with people today. Of course, we want our fans of the original game to enjoy the game, aside from that, I do hope the story of this game is something that reaches a new audience. If they’re able to enjoy it, then I will just be so thankful.

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Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles releases on September 30, 2025, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. In addition to this interview with Maehiro-san, I also went hands-on with the game. What is the FFT Remake like? Is it something veterans and newcomers alike are going to love? You can learn more about it here.