The Final Fantasy series is known for having a creative fanbase, and fans of its spinoffs are among the most dedicated out there. Final Fantasy Tactics is one such sub-series, with it being one of the more well-known spinoff series.
Final Fantasy Tactics is a strategy-focused spinoff of the ever-popular Final Fantasy series. The sub-series is commonly praised for its great storytelling and deep strategic gameplay, but has not seen a new game release in a very long time.
The Orbonne Monastery is an important location to the Church of Glabados and houses a massive library in its basement. In Final Fantasy Tactics, the story begins here and it appears as the game's first battle location and has since appeared in other games such as Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and Final Fantasy 14. The location is represented by Paul Metcalf's 3D printed art piece in stunning detail, with terrain that looks right out of a tabletop RPG and small character tokens standing atop the pathways. Moss grows on the main building and each tile of the pathway is represented with careful shading.
The 3D print is, of course, painted and has added materials to represent the location better. Adding these details, however, is a craft all of its own, commonly seen in tabletop board games where terrain is made to represent the locations characters would do battle at. Considering Final Fantasy Tactics plays similarly to these, the style is right at home with Orbonne Monastery. The representation shows a detailed view with near one-to-one accuracy to the original game.
Final Fantasy Tactics is compared to Fire Emblem often, but despite Fire Emblem's continued success Final Fantasy Tactics players remain adamant that the Final Fantasy spinoff series deserves a return. With so many fans still remaining since its 1997 debut, Final Fantasy Tactics endures as an interesting part of Final Fantasy's history as a series. The sub-series saw several sequels and its turn-based gameplay has inspired many games since, such as Project Triangle Strategy and Fae Tactics.
Final Fantasy Tactics, despite its popularity, has not seen a proper entry since Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift in 2007. A return to the Final Fantasy Tactics series or a re-release could bring the deep tactical gameplay to modern audiences, while iterating on the gameplay to bring even more improvements. For now, though, the fans continue appreciating and paying homage to the classics, waiting patiently for a new release.
Final Fantasy Tactics is available for PlayStation 1.