Yoshi-P Is Ready for a New Final Fantasy Tactics — And Square Enix Should Listen
Stop living in the past.
If you’ve spent any amount of time following Final Fantasy online in the past few years, you’ve probably heard the rumors and desperate demands for a remake of Final Fantasy Tactics. The long-requested remake has been denied again and again, so despite multiple supposed leaks confirming its existence, it sometimes feels like a dream too big to be realized. But if recent comments from two of the most important figures in Final Fantasy history are anything to go by, fans actually may not be thinking big enough.
Naoki Yoshida, producer of Final Fantasy 16 and director of Final Fantasy 14, was recently asked about Square Enix’s potential return to the world of Final Fantasy Tactics during a PAX East interview. While he didn’t spill details on any projects in development, he did echo sentiments that fans of the series can agree with.
“We love Tactics as well,” Yoshida told TheGamer. “It’s probably about time that we do a new one.”
Final Fantasy 16’s producer doesn’t see how Final Fantasy Tactics could work in its world, but he’s ready for a sequel.
As Yoshida pointed out, Final Fantasy 16’s development team includes several people who worked on Final Fantasy Tactics, so it’s not a stretch to suggest the game could be on their minds. However, he shrugged off the idea that the setting of Final Fantasy 16 could serve as the basis for a sequel. “How would we even do the Eikon versus Eikon battles in that style?” he asked.
Rather than remaking the original Final Fantasy Tactics or recreating it in another game’s setting, Yoshida’s comments seem to suggest that if we are to see a return to the series, its developers may be more interested in trying something entirely new.
The director of Final Fantasy Tactics seems to share the sentiment that fans should focus more on games with new ideas, rather than get stuck in the past. Around the release of Unicorn Overlord earlier this year, Yasumi Matsuno took to social media to ask players to give the strategy RPG a shot. After posting a picture of his copy of the game, Matsuno fielded comments from fans comparing Unicorn Overlord to Final Fantasy Tactics and Ogre Battle, which he also directed.
“You should discard memories of past games,” Matsuno replied. “Then, please play the new game with a fresh perspective.”
Unicorn Overlord earned the approval of Final Fantasy Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno earlier this year.
A Final Fantasy Tactics remaster was one of the games listed as in development in a leak from Nvidia in 2021, but so far, its existence has been denied by both publisher Square Enix and Matsuno. Whether a remaster does eventually surface, both the series’ creator and arguably Square Enix’s most beloved current director have made it clear that a brand-new game is the more exciting option. And while a new Tactics game hasn’t been revealed, this may be the best time in years for such a project to be underway.
Tactical RPGs are something of a niche genre, usually blending complex stories with deep strategy mechanics, making them a bit tough for newcomers to approach. But in recent years, more tactics RPGs have been breaking through to mainstream success, and some of the best have come from Square Enix itself.
In 2022, Square Enix released the tactical RPGs Tactics Ogre Reborn and Triangle Strategy. While the Tactics Ogre remaster performed well and pleased fans, it’s Triangle Strategy that could be the better model for a potential Final Fantasy Tactics sequel. It introduced an interesting, in underused, negotiation system for the player’s army to make big decisions, along with some great environmental interactions in combat. With Final Fantasy Tactics now past its 25-year anniversary, there’s no doubt that its remaining team members at Square Enix could cook up something just as fresh with decades of experience behind them.
Games like Triangle Strategy show the time is right for a tactical RPG revival.
Square Enix could also take inspiration from the success of other studios’ games. Baldur’s Gate 3 dominated gaming conversations in 2023, and while it’s a very different kind of tactical RPG, it shows there’s a real hunger among players for the genre and room for innovative takes from developers. Unicorn Overlord, too, proves that players are interested in a revival of the old-school genre with modern flair and new ideas.
Upon the release of Unicorn Overlord, Matsuno said that he hopes the game goes on to sell 1 million copies — which it’s well on its way to. While that was simply a wish for the success of a game he enjoys, but the game’s stellar reception could also send a message to Square Enix. If a game as idiosyncratic as Unicorn Overlord from a lesser-known developer got such a positive reception from Final Fantasy Tactics’ creator, it’s hard to imagine a better sign that the time is right for Square Enix to rally a team for the new Tactics game fans have been waiting decades for.
