Final Fantasy Tactics: The War Of The Lions By Squimpleton on Dec 17, 2008 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

Whoever came up with the idea of putting Final Fantasy Tactics on the PSP was a genius. The original game was great - graphics were adorable; music is memorable; there were 19 jobs to choose from; you had many characters; battles were intricate and the storyline was expansive.

Now on the PSP, it has a way better translation, some actual cutscenes with a beautiful art style that is part painting part cell shaded cartoon. Some jobs and characters were added, and so is the ability to do extra missions with friends, or battle against them.

The battle system is obviously the core of Final Fantasy Tactics. It is all about strategic thinking - one wrong move and you can jeopardize your situation. You have to think carefully about where each character goes; when they get to move; how long their attacks take; whether they can reach the enemy; if they're in an optimal placement for attack the enemy without misssing; their aptitude to make, and take magic damage; their zodiac sign and compatibility against the enemy's zodiac sign. To some this is too much to think about all at once. To others, this is the delight of a true strategy game. However the game can get hard because of this. After all, once you pick where to move you can't cancel it. Then you need to pick an attack and you can't cancel that either - you also have to do moving and acting in this precise order. The battles can get difficult as regular monsters adapt their levels to your highest memberss, even if they're not in battle.

Battles can take around 20 minutes - perfect for bus rides. Since the battles don't go on until you chose what to do, this also makes a great game to play during commercials. Tell them what to do, then let them act while you watch TV. Commercials come back, and you're back to giving out orders.

The only drawback is that some aspects of the game are laggy (magic moves, special sound effects, etc..). While these aren't unbearable, for anyone who has recently played the original PlayStation game, these new lags will be obvious.

Otherwise this game can be recommended to anyone who enjoys a difficult strategy and/or RPG game.