This is probably my favourite piece of dialogue from a game this year:

Those who would lead prefer that history suit their needs, and rewrite it to see that it does. And why shouldn’t they? The fault lies not with them. The reeking masses yearn for gods and miracles. It is their opiate, and they consume it greedily. The people do not endeavor towards greatness, but rather mire themselves in their petty strifes – shackles on the feet of man. Their leaders give them no more than that for which they clamor. It is history’s oldest and most oft-repeated tale. Do men exploit this weakness to dominate their fellows? Mayhap they do. But they succeed only because the people are eager to know such dominion. Gods are only illusions born of man’s fear. It is they who see this charade for what it is and join in the pageantry who are to blame.

That’s from Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, the US version of a Japanese PSP remake of a 1997 Playstation game.

I know that there are gamers who will never play Japanese RPGs because the cutesy super deformed graphics put them off but I’m here to tell you that there are some great game experiences to be had if you can get over that.

(Image source: Square Haven.)

As noted previously, the AI in Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is tougher than in turn-based games. As a result, your party members will die more often than in most games.

Death is handled a little differently in FFT. Units whose health have been reduced to zero are deemed KO’d. They fall with a dramatic (if tinny) scream and kiss the floor. You can revive a KO’d unit in three ways: item, spell or by completing the battle objective before the KO timer winds down. If you fail to revive a KO’d unit within three turns, that unit is gone forever.

This mechanic makes battles very, very tense indeed with many a battle requiring a desperate rescue attempt to save a fallen party member. It also leads me to replay battles I’ve won simply because I lost a valuable unit.

Interestingly, the KO mechanic applies to enemy units as well and you will sometimes see enemy units reviving their fallen comrades. This leads to comical situations which see you hacking down the same unit turn after turn.

The KO mechanic doesn’t apply to characters you’re meant to protect during a battle. If they fall, you’ll get a Game Over screen immediately.

Battles in Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions are challenging. The advantage in battles swing one way and then the other, and I’m rarely certain of victory at the outset.

This is partly because I’m not very good at assessing the threat levels of foes at the moment but it’s mainly because the AI in the game is very good. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever played a turn-based CRPG with AI this impressive. Foes retreat when seriously injured, heal themselves and then rejoin the battle. It’s remarkable to see.

In my most memorable battle in the game so far, I confronted a sextet of foes on the rooftops of the Clockwork City of Goug. They didn’t seem a tough bunch: a pair of Thieves, a pair of Archers and a pair of Summoners. We felled four of them, leaving a badly injured Archer and a Thief. The advantage was definitely ours but not for long.

The surviving Thief made use of his Steal Heart skill and charmed my Thief who in turn charmed my Chemist who subsequently revived one of the fallen foes. From 5 to 2 in my favour, it changed to 3 to 5 in theirs.

I did eventually win the day when my charmed units regained their senses but for a moment there, it looked as if I would be reloading a previously saved game yet again.

(Image source: Square Enix.)

Having completed Disgaea, I’ve started Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. Like Disgaea, FFT is an excellent turn-based strategy game for the PSP. Unlike Disgaea, FFT takes itself very seriously indeed, thank you very much.

I haven’t progressed very far into the storyline but initial impressions are very favourable. This is the best written game I’ve played in a while. The game was first released for the Playstation in 1997 but the game script was apparently written during the Middle Ages. If you can’t differentiate between aught and naught, fain and wain, you will have trouble parsing the dialogue. I’m by no means complaining. The last game I played had dialogue about a horse wiener so any attempts to add class is welcome.