Final Fantasy Tactics released on the original PlayStation 27 years ago, but it changed significantly from its initial version. To celebrate the classic’s anniversary, game director Yasumi Matsuno shared images of the game’s original RTS gameplay.
The game was originally designed as an RTS title instead of the turn-based tactics game that came out in 1997. However, due to the original PlayStation’s extremely low resolution, the game was reworked into the version we know today.
“We had hoped to continue development with the aim of creating an RTS like Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, but unfortunately, this was scrapped, and the game ended up being released in its current form,” director Yasumi Matsuno told fans on Twitter.
“The strong jaggedness is due to the PlayStation's resolution at the time being 256x224.”
The Ogre Battle games are quite different from Final Fantasy Tactics. While Matsuno’s screenshots of Final Fantasy’s scrapped RTS show close-up action, large parts of the game would have involved navigating huge open fields, which would have been difficult with the PlayStation’s low maximum resolution.
This is why Tactics’ original inspiration, Ogre Battle, was a Nintendo 64 exclusive. While its lack of a CD drive made huge RPGs like Final Fantasy impossible, its maximum output resolution of 640 x 480 allowed games like StarCraft to release on the troubled console.
In the end, the Final Fantasy Tactics we did get was an instant classic, one with a remaster on the way. While it may not be as successful as Final Fantasy 7 or any numbered Final Fantasy, it holds a special place in fans’ hearts almost 30 years after its release.
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