Mobile gaming is slowly staking its own authentic claim in the gaming industry amidst the seemingly eternal debate concerning whether or not it constitutes “real gaming,” with severalmajor franchiseshaving jumped in with widely loved and celebrated titles. Gamers and non-gamers alike would be familiar with landmark achievements likePokémon Go, for example.
RELATED:FF7 Monopoly & 9 Other Final Fantasy Board Games You Had No Idea Existed
Final Fantasyin particular has taken several shots at getting a foothold on the platform, having amassed a relatively healthy catalog of mobile games, both spin-offs and unique titles. As one of gaming’s mostrecognized and most successful franchises, this shouldn’t come as a shocker. But among these titles is an underappreciated gem known asFinal Fantasy Tactics S,a game for which information is more than a little difficult to come by — until today. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
8Japan Only Release
Many fans outside of Japan have not heard of this title, and for good reason.Tactics Snever received a release outside of the country. This left fans in the United States and other regions with only screenshots and trailers to look at, not to mention the endless speculation.
7New & Unique Jobs
Jobs, such as the monk fromFinal Fantasy Tactics(featured above), have been astaple of manyFinal Fantasytitles. The flexibility of this system allows players more freedom in playstyle choice by providing them an easy escape from the all too common RPG trope of a rigorous class system.Final Fantasy Tactics Schose to take this in full stride and offered over 30 jobs for players to utilize.
RELATED:Final Fantasy: 5 Reasons The Buster Sword Is Best (& 5 Reasons Gunblades Are)
Alongside classic job offerings like Red Mage, Dragoon, or Alchemist, there were some particularly unique classes rarely, if ever seen in other games beyond this obscure mobile title. These included imaginative takes such as the Air Samurai, Judgemaster, Piscodemon, and many more besides.
6A Unique, Standalone Title
While the mobile gaming trend has had an influence on many major franchises, many developers simply opt for a simpleport of their popular titles.Square Enix did not want to take this path, instead choosing to add a completely new story, gameplay elements, and so on. The intention was to provide even mobile players with a fully fleshed outFFexperience.
As one might infer from the title, itwasbased on one ofFinal Fantasy’smost beloved and well-received spin-offs —Final Fantasy Tactics,which holds aMetacritic score of 83%. Regarded by many to be the best tactical JRPG ever made, some believe iteven surpasses Nintendo’s legendaryFire Emblemseries. Despite this, Square Enix was heavily set on making this mobile title different and unique. It contained its own very unique mechanics, all around different gameplay, and as mentioned, unique job titles. It certainly was its own unique item.
5The Battle System
Interestingly, combat inFinal Fantasy Tactics Sseems as if it was largely hands-off. In fact, it was very much automated. While players could assemble their party and so forth outside of battle, the battles themselves were carried out independent of player agency, and they were actually afforded the option to skip to the conclusion.
4Online Based Gameplay
At the time of the game’s release, Square Enix had been experiencing a significant degree of success with their online-based titles (and obviously commandtheir own considerable corner of the MMO markettoday). It comes as no surprise then thatFinal Fantasy Tactics Shad a significant multiplayer component as a selling point. The gameplay featureda pretty heavy emphasis on its multiplayer aspect, with players joining clans and competing against other clans in online tactical combat.
3Pre-Registry Bonus Involving A Familiar Face
Fans that pre-registered forFinal Fantasy Tactics Sreceived the special character Agrias Oaks. For fans of themainlineTacticstitlethey will recognize Agrias as a fan favorite, a Lionsguard to the royal family. This character not only has good personal development but also provides players with excellent gameplay options.
2Character Design By Ryoma Ito
The character design forFinal Fantasy Tactics Swas led by the legendary Ryoma Ito. Ito is known for leading the character designs forFinal Fantasy IX, X, andHeroes of Mana. Ito’s designs are regarded as being much more lighthearted and upbeat than the typicalFinal Fantasyfare. For this reasonTactics Shad a more whimsical and cartoonish flair to it.
RELATED:Final Fantasy 14: 5 Best Classes For Beginners (& 5 To Avoid)
1Did Not Last Long
Final Fantasy Tactics Sonly had server support for about a year, lasting from 2013 to 2014. It seems that players were none too enthusiastic about this release and did not want to invest their precious time into it. This is unfortunate as the game had an excellent concept and a great team working on it. Square Enix seemed to recognize this quite early on in the game’s life cycle and elected to pull the plug. While they’ve managed to turn around such disasters as they did somewhat recently withFinal Fantasy XIV, there would be noRealm Rebornto follow this one, and the game would fall into relative obscurity.
NEXT:10 Longest GBA RPGS (& How Long They Take To Beat)
