With the excellent news that Final Fantasy Tactics is to receive a revamped and re-energised outing on both Switch 1 and Switch 2 on 25th September, the game’s creator and director, Yasumi Matsuno, has taken to the internet to share some personal thoughts.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles sees both the original 1997 version of this absolute belter released in a pack alongside a revamped edition, which you can check out in the reveal trailer at the bottom of this very article.
In the wake of the reveal, which has excited a lot of very old gamers up and down the internet, we’re sure (alongside those who just like really great strategy games), Matsuno reflected on the world as it was when he sat down to write the game back in the 1990s, a time when, as he explains, Japan was in turmoil after its economic bubble burst. He says he created heroes to help lift spirits in an adventure where the repressed seek to turn the tide.
FINAL FANTASY TACTICS THE IVALICE CHRONICLES
Nearly 30 years ago, the collapse of Japan’s bubble economy engulfed the nation’s financial institutions in mountains of bad debt, triggering a wave of corporate bankruptcies, a sudden and extreme rise in unemployment rates, and stagnation of Japanese society as a whole. It was an era when many were robbed of hope, when dreams were measured by their price tag.
Against this historical backdrop, I crafted a story. It was the story of Ramza, a young man who fought tirelessly against the entrenched social class system.
It was the story of Delita, who sought to take advantage of this confusion and despair to advance his own social position. It was a story of a peculiar destiny, in which friendship and betrayal intertwine.
And now, in 2025—a time when inequality and division are still deeply rooted in our society—I offer this story once again.
The will to resist is in your hands.
YASUMI MATSUNO – ORIGINAL SCRIPT, SCENARIO WRITER AND EDITOR
It’s depressing to dwell on just how little we humans seem to learn over time, really, and it’s always a shame to see someone who has created such magnificent art in response to these issues have to repeat the same message so many years later down the line. Of course — and as Matsuno says as he signs off — the will to resist is in our hands!
Or at least it will be when this revamped odyssey arrives in just a few months’ time.
Looking forward to returning to a revamped Final Fantasy Tactics? Let us know in the comments!