The latest update to Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Tactics remaster adds New Game+, and fans are already debating whether Ramza’s story really needs the mode and what fresh possibilities this could open up for the beloved turn-based strategy game.
Update 1.5.0 dropped on June 17 and adds a bunch of UI improvements and adjustments to Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. However, the big draw of this update is New Game+, something the original game never had back in 1998. This allows players to carry over their units and inventory from a completed game save into a new game, and continue to grind these units up to Level 100.
Other improvements in the update include letting you see a unit’s status effects at a glance, and another option lets you instantly remove all gear from a unit (which is, incidentally, a valuable tactic for drawing enemy fire to one character during battle). The new Zodiac Compatibility function on the status screen lets you see how well or badly each unit works together with each other. This sheds light on one of Final Fantasy Tactics’ more mysterious elements: exactly how the star signs of your party members affect aspects like accuracy, the amount of damage dealt and health recovered.
Regarding New Game+, some fans are hyped that the additional mode will enable players to snag multiples of the missable Genji equipment. These pieces of top-tier gear can only be obtained by stealing them from Marquis Ondore during the battle on the roof of Linberry Castle Keep in Chapter 4. It also gives you a chance to pick up any of the optional party members you may have missed out on during your first playthrough.
However, the New Game+ doesn’t include any new difficulty levels or level scaling, dampening the challenge for seasoned players. There is also some continuing disappointment that the Final Fantasy Tactics remaster did not include content from The War of Lions version of the game, which was released on PSP in 2007. This has prompted fans to call on Square Enix to add in aspects from The War of the Lions. These include calls for the restoration of Lions-only content such as FF12’s Balthier as a playable character (a powerful reminder that Tactics and FF12 share the same setting), additional job classes like Onion Knight, and extra story scenes.
Yasumi Matsuno, the director of the original Final Fantasy Tactics, recently explained on X that “New Game+ was a feature I had been requesting since the very beginning of the remaster project. With so many guest characters in the game, I felt that they did not have enough opportunities to shine during a single playthrough. However, due to budget and development resource constraints at the time, the feature was ultimately postponed.” He went on to explain that thanks to the remaster’s commercial success, the developers were able to work on new updates for the strategy game.
Elsewhere, others have questioned if Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles really needs a New Game+ in its current form, as it does not have multiple endings nor challenging secret bosses. Others hope that Matsuno’s comment signals that devs will continue working on the title, perhaps adding on some more optional endgame content like a brand new dungeon.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
