Final Fantasy Tactics

Final Fantasy Tactics is a 1997 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation. It was released in Japan in June 1997 and in North America in January 1998 by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the first game of the Tactics sub-series within the Final Fantasy franchise, and the first entry set in the fictional world later known as Ivalice. The story follows Ramza Beoulve, a highborn cadet placed in the middle of a military conflict known as The Lion War, where two opposing noble factions are coveting the throne of the kingdom. Production was begun in 1995 by Yasumi Matsuno, a newcomer who had created the Ogre Battle series at Quest Corporation. Matsuno's wish was for an accessible tactical game with a storyline focusing on class-based conflict and the rewriting of history. Matsuno acted as director and writer, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi was producer, and the battles were designed by Hiroyuki Ito. Multiple other staff members were veterans of the Ogre Battle series, including artists Hiroshi Minagawa and Akihiko Yoshida, and composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata. The game received critical acclaim and has become a cult classic since its release. The PlayStation version sold over one million units in Japan during 1997, and over 2 million worldwide by August 2011. It has been cited as one of the greatest video games of all time. The world of Ivalice became the setting for multiple other titles, including other Tactics games, and the 2006 mainline entry Final Fantasy XII. An enhanced port of the game, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, was released in 2007 as part of the Ivalice Alliance project. An expanded remaster for eighth and ninth generation consoles and Windows, subtitled The Ivalice Chronicles, was released on September 30, 2025.