History VideoGame / FinalFantasyTactics

It has been re-released three times. The first was on the [=PlayStation=]'s "Greatest Hits" line, though it still remains hard to find for that console. The next was for the UsefulNotes/PlaystationPortable: the VideoGameRemake ''Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions'', which added FMV cutscenes, a few new secret characters, and (in the new translation) more elevated language to capitalize on the game's tonal resemblance to the book series by George R.R. Martin ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' (the two share not only an emphasis on politics and motivation, but an inspiration in the real-life UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses). Finally, ''[=WotL=]'' was re-released for [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]] and {{UsefulNotes/Android|Games}}.

* CallingYourAttacks: Though you only actually ''see'' the incantations on-screen 10% of the time or so, every spell in the game and many other abilities have incantations that end in the spell's or move's name. Only the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation version has this, though, possibly because of the [[GratuitousEnglish Engrish]].

* BodyArmorAsHitpoints: Along with MP depending on the armor. The exception is shields, which boost evasion percentage-wise.

* BodyArmorAsHitpoints: Along with MP depending on the armor.

* NintendoHard: A borderline case, but ''Tactics'' can be '''very''' unforgiving to players who don't think their JP spendings through. Anyone who buys their abilities unwisely is going to suffer some ''nasty'' combinations of AwesomeButImpractical and/or UselessUsefulSpell.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Several names are spelled incorrectly in the original script. In the original, names are sometimes spelled differently in the ''same conversation''. The remake confuses things even further, with some names correcting obvious translation errors and others seemingly changed just for the sake of changing them.

''Final Fantasy Tactics'' is a GaidenGame entry in the [[RunningGag pants-twistingly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, first released on the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}} in 1997 in Japan and early 1998 in America. It combines TurnBasedStrategy with a RolePlayingGame, and is the first game in the series to take place in the world of VideoGame/{{Ivalice|Alliance}}. Due to the immense resemblance and many developers shared between the two series, particularly Creator/YasumiMatsuno, the game can be seen as a CreatorDrivenSuccessor to ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre''.

** Male units have an extra 7% boost to their HP and 25% boost to their physical attack, whereas female units have an extra 7% boost to their MP and 25% boost to their magical attack. As such if you want to get the most out of your units, it's best to play this trope straight and have your male units stick to physical jobs while having your female units stick to magical jobs. Even among the special units only Ramza and Cloud are exceptions, with those two having the female MP/MA bonus in addition to their male HP/PA bonus, which makes them the only ones naturally good at fulfilling a physical/magical hydrid role.

* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: Male units have an extra 7% boost to their HP and 25% boost to their physical attack, whereas female units have an extra 7% boost to their MP and 25% boost to their magical attack. As such if you want to get the most out of your units, it's best to play this trope straight and have your male units stick to physical jobs while having your female units stick to magical jobs. Even among the special units only Ramza and Cloud are exceptions, with those two having the female MP/MA bonus in addition to their male HP/PA bonus, which makes them the only ones naturally good at fulfilling a physical/magical hydrid role.

** Yes you can abuse degenerator traps to grind your units' stats up infinitely and thus never have to deal with the LevelScaling random encounters getting stronger than you, while you get access to one as soon as you reach Zeklous Desert, which is accessible after only five story battles in Chapter 1. However grinding this way takes a ''really long time'', far longer than conventional grinding would, and heavy use of the JP Gain Up/JP Boost ability in conjunction with smart JP investment will do a lot to keep you ahead of random encounters anyway. Plus the game is easy enough as is, getting severely inflated stats through this grinding method is more a BraggingRightsReward.

* EverythingButTheGirl: [[spoiler:Delita.]]

* EvilIsSexy: Invoked by [[spoiler:the Ultima Demons disgused as]] Celia and Lettie. [[spoiler:Being able to pick their appearance, they pick skimpily dressed blonde babes.]]

* InUniverseGameClock: See TakeYourTime below.

* WesternZodiac: The holy stones are all named after the constellations, and a SuperBoss is the "thirteenth," Serpentarius. Each Zodiac has a specific set of affinities and weaknesses as well.

** Mildless less so in ''War of the Lions'', where Dark Knight becomes a generic class that Ramza has access to. Its skill set mirrors Gaffgarion's skills, so it makes sense narratively for Ramza to be able to learn them after spending a year or more as Gaffgarion's protégé.

* DavidVersusGoliath: It's impossible for Ramza to obtain any of the powerful special Knight classes, yet he must face them several times in battle, including a one on one duel. In fact, Razma doesn't have access to anything special, save a few exclusive skills for his Squire class.

* TheDreaded: [[spoiler: The boss fight against Belias is considered to be infamously difficult for novice players unprepared for it. This is compounded by the fact that the boss fight is part of a multi-stage sequence and if the player needed to grind levels/jp and they had a single save file, they couldn't, and the only thing they could do was start the game over. Additionally, Belias is a giant humanoid-ram demon with four massive arms and calls himself "The Devil", and tells Ramza how much he wants to hear "screaming humans". None of that sounds good.]]

* TheDreaded: [[spoiler: The boss fight against Belias is considered to be infamously difficult for novice players unprepared for it. This is compounded by the fact that the boss fight is part of a multi-stage sequence and if the player needed to grind levels/jp and they had a single save file, they couldn't, and the only thing they could do was start the game over. Additionally, Belias is a giant humanoid-ram demon with four massive arms and calls himself "The Devil", and tells Ramza how much he wants to hear "screaming humans". None of that sounds good.

* Main/AmbiguosEnding: Sort of. While the events of the game's story are rather clear-cut, [[spoiler: the same can't be said about the Durai Papers themselves. While the game makes it clear Delita's reputation and the church won't survive the reveal of the papers, we actually never see the fallout of the reveal, nor if Ramza's place in history gets reassesed in Ivalice or not.]]

* {{AmbiguosEnding}}: Sort of. While the events of the game's story are rather clear-cut, [[spoiler: the same can't be said about the Durai Papers themselves. While the game makes it clear Delita's reputation and the church won't survive the reveal of the papers, we actually never see the fallout of the reveal, nor if Ramza's place in history gets reassesed in Ivalice or not.]]

* AmbiguosEnding: Sort of. While the events of the game's story are rather clear-cut, [[spoiler: the same can't be said about the Durai Papers themselves. While the game makes it clear Delita's reputation and the church won't survive the reveal of the papers, we actually never see the fallout of the reveal, nor if Ramza's place in history gets reassesed in Ivalice or not.]]

* BladeOnAStick: The entire point of the Dragoon class. Well, that and the jumping.