AKA "Hello to a Legend"
Welcome! This is the thread for all discussion of the first TLS Community Playthrough of 2017! And yes, we well be playing through Final Fantasy Tactics together. This is very likely my second-favorite game of all time and arguably the ultimate implementation of the FF Job System. It represents Yasumi Matsuno's debut as a game director for Squaresoft and introduced us to the world of Ivalice. This world later contained games such as Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and A2, and of course, Final Fantasy XII. All of these games have involved Yasumi Matsuno as director, Akihiko Yoshida as character designer, and Hitoshi Sakimoto composing the music. In addition to this being good simply based on these three being good at their jobs, it does give the games a familiar feel, even though they are not very closely connected to one another.
This game isn't easy. I don't think it's brutal or anything, but the "tactics" in the title isn't there for show. Fortunately, Omega/Kimble has posted a handy tip guide here, and don't be afraid to ask questions here. He or I will be happy to help.
Now, for the details:
How do I take part?
I've divided the game into 13 or so chapters of roughly 3 or 4 hours apiece. I will post the next chapter every five days. As so many of you are playing this for the first time, and it's a bit nontraditional, I'm thinking the first chapter (which you will find below) will go until this coming Monday to allow everyone to scope around and get a feel for the game's systems.
You should endeavor to reach the listed target by the date shown, and here you can post your thoughts, as well as respond to discussion questions that I will prepare. That said, you can complete them at any time, if you wish to play ahead or if you fall behind that's not a problem. But as Flint observed last year, the better you stick with us the higher the chances of you playing the game to completion.
Also, as with previous playthroughs, we've usually had a Saturday afternoon hangout/stream of the week's chapters so you can watch at a semi-convenient time for NA and Europe if you are unable to play with us. We'll work out the logistics of this later.
How do I get the game
Okay, now this gets a bit complex. There are two versions of this game. The first was released for Playstation 1 in 1997. This version is available, obviously, for Playstation on CD, PS3 and PSP from the PSN Store (for $10 in the US), and emulator.
The second is Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions which is a remake for the PSP released in 2007. This version is available on PSP (per Lith it is $10 on the Square Enix store), as well as iOS/Android. If you have a tablet I think that version could be viable, but I don't think I would want to play it on cell phone.
What are the differences? Well there are several, the biggie is the retranslation. The original translation was contemporary with FF7's but I would say it came out even worse. The new translation matches the Shakespearean tone of the story with a pseudo-Victorian voice. Some Tactics purists don't like it, I think it's phenomenal. Additionally, important cutscenes previously done in-engine have been voiced and pre-rendered in gorgeous living-painting-styled cell shaded graphics.
If you don't have either version and are trying to decide, some advantages of the original are as follows:
- The game is easier as JP Costs for most job abilities are lower. This may help you keep pace with the playthrough if you were concerned about that.
- This version lacks stutter/slowdown that the remake mysteriously picked up, especially just as a magic spell casts. I honestly didn't notice it, but watching side by side there's no doubt about it.
The advantages of War of the Lions version are:
- The original Japanese difficulty if that's important to you.
- Additional content including new battles and sidequests, two new jobs (Dark Knight and Onion Knight), and new characters - specifically cameos from later games in Ivalice.
- There are two Multiplayer modes that are only accessible from the PSP version and local only. But if you happen to be playing with a friend in person, they're actually quite rewarding.
- The aforementioned voiced and prerendered cutscenes and the retranslation. The retranslation included some name changes and fixed the names of several job classes (Wizard>Black Mage, Priest>White Mage, Lancer>Dragoon, etc.). And just as an example here is a non-spoilery excerpt of the two translations that I think effectively illustrates the difference:
So there you have it, regardless of which copy you have, or which decision you make, the games aren't so different that you can't play along. I will personally be playing War of the Lions, but the number of chapters or major story events won't change.
How do I set up an emulator
If you want to emulate the original version, I use ePSXe. Here is the site with the downloads, simply click the applicable version, likely for Windows or Mac OSX. Once you have that, the instructions here outline the setup. Note that the two things you will need are PSX BIOS, and the Tactics .iso file. We can't directly link to those, but a google search took me to them pretty reliably, and you can PM me if you require additional help. But when you download those things, just place them in the folder for the emulator and follow the instructions to open them.
(If people are using a different PS1 emulator these days, feel free to let me know.)
If you would prefer to emulate the War of the Lions version, a good PSP emulator is PPSSPP. This can be downloaded here (again, select either the Windows version or Mac OSX, depending on your computer). You will not need a BIOS for this, simply the .iso file for War of the Lions. Again, PM me if you have trouble finding it.
In both cases, place the .iso in the same folder as the emulator for ease, open the emulator and run it from the menus. The menus will also allow you to set your controls and mess with other settings.
Where are the chapters
I will update this post with links to each chapter as their posted. The first chapter will be my next post.
1. 'Tis your birth and faith that wrong you, not I
2. But when the pillars of that life came crashing down, I did not stand and watch them fall
3. Are you friend or foe?
4. The Legend of the Zodiac Braves
5. A man cannot prosecute a war on his own
6. I played my part, yet still Ivalice runs red with blood
7. It is -power- that rules Ivalice
8. A beast of legend - the Holy Dragon
9. The wind bears it onward now
10. Do I look like someone familiar?
11. We have a score to settle from Riovanes
12. Now know regret, a traitor's recompense
13. But I do know this: The true hero of this tale was the man forgotten.
Thanks to Pixel for throwing that banner together for me on short notice!
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Not really sure why though.