Final Fantasy Tactics - The War of the Lions (USA)
PSP
🇬🇧
Reviewed in 2007
86
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✪ Reviewed on August 12, 2023
80
The definitive cut of Final Fantasy Tactics with voiced cutscenes, two FFXII guest characters and a rebalanced ruleset. The grandeur of the Ivalice story has lost none of its bite; an all-time tactical landmark.
Your verdict
Category
Tactics1 player12+
Description
Enhanced PSP edition of Final Fantasy Tactics, set in the War of the Lions in the kingdom of Ivalice with Ramza Beoulve. Published by Square Enix, released in Japan and Korea in May 2007. Grid-based turn-by-turn tactical battles, two bonus characters from Final Fantasy XII, ad hoc multiplayer mission, fully voiced cinematics. Japanese and Korean versions.
Final Fantasy Tactics - The War of the Lions review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Detailed sprites and illustrations by Akihiko Yoshida, checkerboard battlefields and painted cutscenes: the tactical RPG unfurls a medieval elegance of rare refinement. The finesse of the line and the richness of the settings overflow with cachet. This art direction, polished and timeless, stands as a peak of the genre.
Under the baton of Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata, the music unfurls a medieval orchestra of rare nobility and gravity. Each tactical battle rises like a martial fresco, underlining the political harshness of the story. This symphonic breadth, of European elegance, remains a benchmark of the tactical RPG.
Against a backdrop of a war of succession, two childhood friends whom everything divides take opposite paths, one toward the shadows, the other toward the throne. A political tale of Shakespearean darkness, it depicts class, faith and betrayal with rare density. Long a cult favourite, its adult writing ranks it among the greatest scenarios of the RPG.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"Mild"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Deploying units across the grid, arranging jobs and weighing every strike sets up a tactical loop where the slightest skirmish begs for just one more turn. Learning hundreds of abilities and building the ideal squad chains objectives and rewards. The uneven difficulty catches you off guard, but the depth of the job system and the darkness of the tale hold a rare grip.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Plunging into the War of the Lions in the kingdom of Ivalice unfolds a tactical-RPG of fearsome depth, rich in jobs, characters and demanding battles. Optimising your units, exploring the classes and combing the additional content demands dozens of hours. That density, a masterpiece of the genre, offers a lifespan tactics fans cherish.
Final Fantasy Tactics Shishi Sensou, the portable version of Square's cult tactical RPG, retranslated and enriched with cutscenes and content, often held as the classic's best form. Distributed in a limited run, it appeals to SRPG fans attached to this genre peak. Its desirability rests on this status as the definitive version of a revered work and a measured physical distribution rather than mere availability.
Is Final Fantasy Tactics - The War of the Lions still worth playing in 2026?
Final Fantasy Tactics - The War of the Lions, known as Shishi Sensou in Japan, is the definitive Final Fantasy Tactics version, with voiced cinematics, two FFXII guests (Balthier and Luso) and rebalanced gameplay. Ivalice's scenario has lost none of its bite, and the Job system stays among the deepest in tactical RPGs. An absolute anthology tactical. An absolute peak today.
