This article is the first of hopefully many. RPG Maker Magazine reviews are articles for games not made by RPG Maker, but current gaming publishers. I encourage anyone to write up articles for games as well seeing as we are kind of in the doldrums with RPG Maker games.

So without further adieu: Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSP.

When I first heard about getting Final Fantasy tactics ported over to a handheld, I was excited to say the least. But I was getting so much more. You see, The War of the Lions isn't just a direct port... it's been re-made.

The first thing you will notice is that there are new animated scenes to replace a good few in-game scenes with voice acting to boot. And I feel that the voice acting here was very well done. And speaking of voice acting, the dialog was re-written... and I don't mean for just those scenes, but the entire game. The Lion War has been completely re-translated and fits the game so much better. It's almost like a new experience. Here, let me give you some examples:

In one of the beginning scenes of the game, Agrias speaks with Gafgarian about his rudeness to the princess. After he retorts, she originally says:<br>

"What? How Dare you!"

But in PSP version it was:

"Govern your tongue!"

And remember the Rouge from first battle in Chapter 1:

PS1: "What's this? Just a bunch of kids! What luck!"

PSP: "What have we here... Wee moppets, is it? Our Luck's went and turned for the better!"

So as you can see, the difference here is considerably different. The difference in text could best be described in comparing the New International Version of the Bible to the King James Version. But what's more, they also re-named allot of the skills as well. For example Agrias' "Stasis Sword" was re-named "Judgment blade." To be honest, it takes a little getting used to, but it's I like the change overall.



But that's not all that has changed. There are two extra job classes that the original didn't have. One of them is the Onion Knight job class. There aren't any abilities, but can equip anything. This is a horrible job class at the beginning of the game, but at the end... you can make some sick combos of abilities without restrictions that other job classes give you. And the other is Dark Knight. Outside of having ridiculous prerequisites that require to mastered job classes and 4 more at level 8, you also need to have killed 20 people with the character you want to use this job class... and those 20 people had to have crystallized (or turn into chests). Definitely a challenge for hard core fans.



And even still, there are added characters. You may have heard that Baltier from Final Fantasy XII makes an appearance as a playable characters, but that's not all. You'll pick up even more characters that were unfamiliar to you, like Luso the Game Hunter.

So what else could there possibly be? I mean, it's pretty much have had new everything from the original. How about new features? Since the PSP supports wireless connectivity, you can actually join up with someone and battle your party versus there! I remember arguing with my friends that if there was a way to play 2-player, I'd wipe the floor with them... now there's a way to put your money where your mouth is. But not only can you go head to head, but you can go on co-op missions as well. I believe this missions work the same way they did in Final Fantasy Tactics: Advanced... just with two people. I assume each chooses either two or three characters from their roster and just go at it.

So as you can see, there is so much more to be had with this version of Final Fantasy tactics. If you haven't played it, now is the time. For those who have, it's a new experience. I've almost completed the game and it's kept me very well occupied the entire time. And for this first RPG Maker Magazine game review, I give this game a huge thumbs up.