G-News

We’ve already peered into the depths of the import version of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, the PSP remake of Square Enix’s classic PlayStation strategy RPG. Now we’ve had some time to battle our way through the localized version of the game — and it’s an impressive localization, at once eclipsing the English version of the PS1 original and making the Japanese release from a few months back look only half-finished.

Technical Issues

The Japanese version of the game sold respectably in May, but it suffered from a number of notable shortcomings. The most frustrating was the constant slowdown that plagued the battles; seemingly every small action caused the PSP to stutter briefly, and many visual effects (particularly those from magic spells) caused the game speed to slow to a crawl. The U.S. edition of the game doesn’t completely smooth over these issues, but they’ve been dramatically reduced; now the technical issues are about on par with the minor slowdown exhibited in the PS1 release and are no longer distracting.

A simpler (though no less significant) improvement comes in the CG cinema sequences sprinkled throughout the game: Formerly silent but for soft music, the movies are now fully-voiced. This changes the feel of the game considerably, sharpening the personalities of major characters like Ramza and Delita. The movies have seen a second change in the U.S. version of the game: The black screens of Ramza’s silent, introspective text have been excised, presumably because they’re more a Japanese storytelling technique and would have felt somewhat out of place in the U.S. version.

Disappointingly, the one other technical flaw of the Japanese version hasn’t been addressed: The game’s sound still lacks the reverb of the PlayStation original, giving the excellent score by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata a slightly flat feel.

New features

New for remake (and something we didn’t get to explore in the Japanese edition) is the two-part multiplayer component. The first part is the expected head-to-head combat in which two parties square off and compete to see who lasts the longest. The second is a cooperative mode which allows two players to delve into a dungeon together to complete set missions.

A few special rules apply to muitiplayer. No deaths are permanent — although your characters may surpass the three-turn limit after being taken down to 0 HP, they won’t be lost forever. Secondly, your opponent’s creatures can’t be poached, nor can their human warriors be talked into changing sides. Finally, the Calculator class is verboten (a tacit admission by the developers to a fact every Tactics pro knows: the Mathematics skill has the potential to completely break the game).

Multiplayer is ad hoc only — no online play.

Two new job classes have been added to the game, although they require considerable effort to make the most of. The Dark Knight class only becomes available by gaining formidable amounts of experience in a wide variety of classes (including rather incompatible jobs like Knight, Black Mage and Geomancer); the trade-off is a powerful warrior capable of using advanced techniques, including the ability to sacrifice HP to inflict extra damage on foes. The Onion Knight class, on the other hand, is easy to earn but is limited to strictly physical attacks and earns no job points; instead, it gains strength as you master other classes. To make full use of the class and its massive bonuses, you need to master sixteen other classes, not including Squire and Chemist. So, good luck with that.

At the other end of spectrum are the two new recruitable characters, Luso from the upcoming Final Fantasy Tactics A2 and Balthier from Final Fantasy XII. They’re much easier to acquire and greatly bolster your party’s power. Luso is essentially Ramza with an ability to poach monsters, but Balthier is much better — a combination Engineer and Thief with the ability to inflict high damage and status ailments from a long range.

The retranslation

Of course, the biggest change for the U.S. release of War of the Lions is its complete top-to-bottom retranslation. The original Tactics offered excellent, challenging gameplay, but its intricate and twisting plot was rendered practically incomprehensible due to its slapdash localization. Not only were major plot points misrepresented, but basic character and location names were presented inconsistently from one reference to the next. Square Enix has taken huge strides to change this for the PSP remake, rewriting the game’s copious text to mesh stylistically with its Ivalice Alliance peers, Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII.

The new localization covers every corner of the game, from dialogue to backstory to the extensive tutorials by Professor Darlavon (formerly Daravon). Even character names have been changed; Ramza’s father Balbanes is now Barbaneth, Hitler Youth aspirant Algus Sadalfas has become Argath Thadalfus. Locations have been renamed to sound more medieval: the Sweegy Wood is now the Siedge Weald. The result is a world that feels steeped in European heritage, with heavy Gaelic and Scandinavian influence (two of my party’s randomly-named characters are Helvynya and Cwengyth). All out-of-place Japanese names are gone, too — the Hokuten knights are now the Order of the Northern Sky, which means the same thing but makes more sense in a kingdom where samurai and ninja are said to come from a distant land.

More importantly, the new script completely redefines the story, transforming it from a confusing jumble of half-coherent garbage into a genuinely compelling tale of class discrimination in a kingdom wracked by war and political upheaval. Every line has been rethought and rewritten in a suitably refined manner. For instance, Ramza’s rather odd ultimatum of, “Surrender or die in obscurity!!” has become, “Lay down your swords or die clutching them!”

Take, for instance, the Gariland Military Akademy headmaster’s speech at the beginning of the first chapter, in which he sends Ramza and Delita and the other apprentices on their first true mission. Compare the dialogue in the original version:

You have a mission! As you know, barbarians are rapidly increasing here in Gallione. The traitorous Death Corps detest the royal family. We cannot overlook them. We will begin exterminating these traitors. By order of our Master. Larg’s Knights stationed at Igros Castle and many other groups will participate. Your duty is to support the flank. Specifically, you’ll go to Igros and help guard it…. Cadets, ready your swords! A gang of tortured thieves is trying to sneak into this town. We’ll begin preparations now to keep them out of town! Come with me! This is the frontline of operations! That’s all! Prepare immediately!

To the retranslated version:

The Order of the Northern Sky has an assignment for its knights apprentice. As I’m sure you’re already aware, the number of brigands roaming Gallionne is on the rise. Among them, the Corpse Brigade… a seditious lot with a grudge against the Crown. Rogues such as they must be dealt with. The Order has been commanded to undertake an operation to eliminate the Brigade — an operation of a grand scale. We will not be acting alone. The Order will be joined by, among others, His Excellency Duke Larg’s royal guard, stationed at Eagrose. This will leave Eagrose Castle undermanned. Your task will be to proceed there, and support us from the rear by bolstering its defenses…. I’ve just received word that a band of thieves routed by our knights flees here to Gariland, seeking refuge. We will move to stop them, and finish the task of our brothers. You, young apprentices, will accompany us. This is but a squall before the storm of battle. Prepare yourselves at once! Dismissed!

Although it conveys the same basic information, the new script has been expanded significantly and gives a much clearer picture of the game’s situation and the task for which the cadets have been summoned. This added clarity is applied universally; we’ve played up through the end of the game’s first chapter and have come away with a much better understanding of the nature of the plot, the conflicts and the various motivations that drive the enormous cast of characters. (There’s even a bit of self-referential humor to be found in places, including references to bards of a spoony nature….)

And while some might complain that the new script is too high-falutin’ or pretentious, bear in mind that Tactics deals largely with politicians and clergy, powerful members of the noblest castes of society, and that much of the conflict in the early portions of the game stems from the clash of the different strata of Ivalice’s society. The precise, formal language fits the high-born characters; many low-class foes speak in far rougher dialects.

Still, what really matters is that it presents the masterfully-crafted plot in a form that actually makes sense. For the first time, one of PlayStation’s finest games will have a story to match its gameplay, which should definitely pique the interest of the game’s most devoted fans. Tactics will arrive in the U.S. with new script in tow at the beginning of October.