Players had been eagerly anticipating any news of a possible Final Fantasy Tactics remake or remaster long before the existence of such a project was hinted at as part of the infamous Nvidia leak. But the leak ended up bearing fruit once again, with Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles set to arrive this September for all major platforms, marking the first time Final Fantasy Tactics has been available on a current-gen console in nearly 20 years. And while it's great to see Square Enix preserve one of its more beloved PS1 classics in this way, looking at The Ivalice Chronicles' contents also makes it feel like a bit of a missed opportunity.
Following The Ivalice Chronicles' reveal at the June 2025 Sony State of Play showcase, keen-eyed fans immediately began comparing the screenshots from the trailer to the 2008 War of the Lions release of Final Fantasy Tactics. What they found was evidence that this new remaster was faithful to the PS1 original at the cost of the new content added to the game's 2007 PSP release, which Square Enix later confirmed by announcing that none of the new characters or jobs exclusive to War of the Lions would be included. The Ivalice Chronicles might be a faithful remaster of one of Square Enix's best games playable on modern hardware, but not necessarily a "definitive" version.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles’ Reveal Leaves One Major Question Hanging
While Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is confirmed as a remaster of the original PS1 title, another FF remake is nowhere to be found.
The Ivalice Chronicles' Additions to Final Fantasy Tactics Feel Somewhat Incomplete
To be fair, the changes that Square Enix is making to Final Fantasy Tactics via The Ivalice Chronicles aren't inconsequential. Far from it, in fact. In addition to the slight visual uplift that retains the original's iconic visual style, The Ivalice Chronicles features a new revised script (overseen by creator Yasumi Matsuno, no less) and some quality-of-life additions that streamline aspects of character progression and job growth. Taken as a whole, these changes are welcome adjustments to a game that many would consider a peak PS1-era title, but they act as if other versions of Final Fantasy Tactics don't already exist.
When Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions was released in 2007, it was freeing Final Fantasy Tactics from a decade of console exclusivity and celebrating Square Enix's history in the intervening years. It featured new jobs and playable cameo characters from other Final Fantasy titles, new cutscenes, and multiplayer functionality. Learning that none of these additions would be present in The Ivalice Chronicles feels like a bit of a missed step, even if its faithfulness to the original release is a commendable effort toward game preservation.
The Ivalice Chronicles' Missing Content Could Be a Silver Lining for Final Fantasy Tactics' Future
On the other hand, The Ivalice Chronicles' opting out of including War of the Lions' additional content could lend credence to rumors suggesting that Square Enix has plans for the Final Fantasy Tactics franchise beyond just a remaster. Recent comments from Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles director Kazutoyo Maehiro seem to point to the possibility that the game's remaster is the first step in Square Enix gauging player interest in the franchise before rolling out other projects. If this is the case, it would make sense for the studio not to lay all of its cards on the table at once with The Ivalice Chronicles.
It could very well be that The Ivalice Chronicles' faithfulness to the original Final Fantasy Tactics is a deliberate move on Square Enix's part to offer fans a preserved experience mirroring the PS1 version, while saving additional content for either a potential sequel or DLC content drops at a future date. It's a safe bet that most fans would agree that more Final Fantasy Tactics is never a bad thing, but whether that future comes to pass remains to be seen. For the time being, it would have been nice to have The Ivalice Chronicles offer a greater incentive to players who never stopped playing Final Fantasy Tactics in the almost 30 years since its release.
- Released
- September 30, 2025
- ESRB
- Teen / Fantasy Violence, Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Mild Language, Drug Reference
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Franchise
- Final Fantasy
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- PC Release Date
- September 30, 2025
- Genre(s)
- Tactical, RPG, Strategy
