Wark Digest #210 - Return To Ivalice
Welcome back to the Wark Digest, your weekly newsletter of new developments and historical insights from the Final Fantasy universe. I’m Chris, aka Hoogathy, and this week a cheer went up from the patient faithful of the Ivalice nation, as a long-desired remake was finally confirmed for release later this year…
This week’s newsletter is 1842 words, a 9-minute read.
At Long Last, Return To Ivalice
What once was spoken of only in hushed rumours or longing cries has become reality; Final Fantasy Tactics is returning to modern consoles with a definitive remaster, The Ivalice Chronicles.
What’s going on:
Sony hosted their State of Play stream on Wednesday night, tucking in just under the hype for SGF and the Switch 2 launch, and The Ivalice Chronicles was among the brand new titles revealed, as a project from Creative Studio III
Before the show, Final Fantasy Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno retweeted Sony’s announcement of the broadcast, which naturally fanned the ever-burning fires of Tactics remaster hopefuls everywhere… and this time, the excitement paid off
The Ivalice Chronicles includes both classic and enhanced versions of the game: the classic aiming for as close to the 1997 original experience as possible, and the enhanced for a modernized presentational overhaul
The enhanced version’s visuals have received “a ground-up graphical overhaul and an updated user interface”
The enhanced version will also feature a new, revised script with “additional character conversations” and full voice acting in English and Japanese, while the classic mode is the 1997 release with the War of the Lions translation
Among the English voice talent announced so far: Joe Pitts as Ramza, Gregg Lowe as Delita, Hannah Melbourn as Agrias, Timothy Watson as Cidolfus, Harry McEntire as Mustadio, Ben Starr as Dycedarg, and Cody Christian as Cloud (with Briana White as Aerith for her cameo appearance)
Overseeing the project as director is Kazutoyo Maehiro, creative director on Final Fantasy XVI and main scenario writer for Heavensward, who worked as a planner on FFT and Vagrant Story at the start of his career
Matsuno is involved, as is fellow Quest veteran and Final Fantasy XII co-director Hiroshi Minagawa, who is the remaster’s art director
In a statement, Matsuno said:
“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 the 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.”
Maehiro’s statement speaks to the project’s cross-generational aspirations:
“We have worked together with a new generation of development staff to enhance and revive the world crafted by the original team of creators all those years ago.”
“When [Tactics] was first released, video game graphics were transitioning from pixel sprites to 3D polygons, and our goal was to combine those two visual styles. For [The Ivalice Chronicles] we tried to respect the feeling of the original while also reworking the game with a modern interpretation. Of course, aside from the visual evolution, we believe the addition of superb voice acting will immerse you even deeper into the troubles and grievances of the pixel-art characters, right down to their very breaths.”
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles will arrive on all major platforms September 30, with a Deluxe Edition offering additional gear; the Square Enix Store offered a Collector Box and game bundle, but the box sold out nigh-instantly—a shame, as it offers some awesome physical goodies (a set of 3 mini chocobo plushes, a set of Zodiac Stone acrylic magnets, a figure of Ramza, art sheets, and a pop-up scene of the iconic church from the game’s intro)
What we thought:
It’s about damn time
Actually, the timing for this long-awaited reveal is pretty great: it comes just as the series is about to catch a lot of fresh attention from the MTG collaboration
FFT isn’t included in the set, but it’s a great opportunity to say “hey, if you like this stuff, there’s this legendary spin-off and it’s getting a remaster soon…”
The split version approach is a solid one, offering the traditional experience separately from the touched-up one (and effectively living up to the historical tone of its subtitle, allowing players to experience both sides)
Admittedly, it’s a little odd that the classic mode is the OG game with the War of the Lions translation, but it’s close enough
Fingers crossed that the enhanced edition’s new script will finally provide a definitive vision of the story (ideally with the return of spell incantations during battle!)
Having fully voiced dialogue is a dream come true, which could really bring the lofty tone of the game to life (and help some of the more Shakespearean turns of phrase make more sense, if the new script still has them)
Speaking of, the Ben Starr campaign of supremacy continues; Dycedarg is a fascinating choice for him
Matsuno’s powerful comments make me all the more eager to play the game again with fresh eyes; FFT has long been one of the series’ most impactful stories, and it will surely resound with a new cohort of first-time players
In a lot of ways, this is a bigger and better result than many would’ve dared to dream—Square Enix and CS3 might’ve hit the nail right on the head in terms of changes and content
This is exactly the sort of midrange experience they need to be offering in today’s market: something fans have been clamouring for that also could appeal to newcomers, that isn’t a shameless cash-in on nostalgia (coughCrystalChroniclesRemasteredcough) or a mobile game with a limited lifespan
It’s also a slightly cheaper title, which can help it stand out
Square’s social team is already hitting the ground running to get the word out, too, so hopefully the hype reaches plenty of new potential players
Creative Studio 3 is pretty much the golden child, huh? The latest mainline game, the cash cow MMORPG, the collaboration with godfather Sakaguchi, now one of the most desired remasters…
What’s next? Well, we just might see more of The Ivalice Chronicles as early as this weekend, at…
Summer Game Fest: What to Expect
June has always meant a deluge of game info is incoming, partly because the hype train for holiday releases needs to leave the station around this time of the year, and because E3 used to happen around this time every year. Now we have Summer Game Fest, its spiritual successor from the makers of The Game Awards, and people are abuzz wondering what this might mean for Final Fantasy and Square Enix…
What’s going on:
Summer Game Fest kicks off today, with the main showcase streaming just a couple hours after this issue goes live
Square Enix is listed as an official partner, meaning they’ll have something to show off at some point—if nothing else, Dragon Quest I & II HD, maybe the Final Fantasy Tactics remaster, and if we’re lucky, an update on Final Fantasy VII Remake for Nintendo Switch 2
PlayStation’s State of Play broadcast is technically part of the SGF lineup, so in a way, the biggest news for Final Fantasy has probably already been dropped
That being said, Square Enix has been keeping Final Fantasy IX front of mind lately, with new illustrations for the game’s anniversary and a steady stream of new merch, so people are hungry to see if it all means anything bigger
What we thought:
As we often discuss, speculation is a funny thing; on Monday the Final Fantasy social team shared a simple post saying “Kain Highwind” and people got out their tin foil hats trying to figure out what it meant… but by the same token, after Matsuno retweeted the State of Play news, insider Jason Schreier made an offhand comment about FFT being a great game, and then a remaster was finally announced
A broken clock is right twice a day, so theoretically all the FFIX speculation will eventually lead to a timely new announcement, but is now that time?
It’s not like they couldn’t be making two big PS1 remasters, but FFT’s big news definitely makes it feel like a FFIX remaster might be further out
…what was that Kain post all about though
Now that Switch 2 is out, it would be a slam dunk to drop a new trailer for FFVIIR with at least a release window, if not an actual date
Given the schedule, if we’re going to get anything new and exciting on the FF front, it’ll be at this evening’s grand showcase, and State of Play already played that card… so as always, I’d recommend keeping expectations managed to little more than a trickle of new footage from known projects, or maybe smaller ports
If anything else, Sunday’s Xbox showcase and PC Gaming Show could see a little tease of some multiplatform titles, like DQ1&2 and FFT
Actually, I’d practically wager that the MTGxFF collab might have as big of a presence at the show, if not bigger, as any actual FF-related software
What’s next? Summer Game Fest just isn’t the same as E3 though, huh? E3 2019 feels like a lifetime ago, when we got an in-depth look at Tifa in FFVIIR, the announcement of FFVIII Remastered, and the one of the most hype trailers ever in Shadowbringers, and those were just the biggest highlights.
Around the Union
As we go on, we remember, all the times we spent together… with games we couldn’t play again if we wanted to. This week we look back with (mostly) fondness at “7 Delisted Final Fantasy Games You Can’t Play Anymore!” Did you devote your time to any of these titles in their heydays? Which one would you bring back to life as an offline version if you could?
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Until next time, kupo!
