I loved Final Fantasy Tactics back on the PS One. I even bought FFT Advance, but it doesnt have the same draw. (Tried too much for a story if you asked me)
Case in point, is there any other game like FFT for PS1?
How does LOTR Tactics shake out? Should I assume that since it has Tactics in the title, its going to be on par with FFT?
I don’t know about other titles for the PS1, but other tactical RPGs you may want to research include Tactics Ogre, Shining Force, and Disgaea.
Consider buying a PS2. Disgaea 2 has just come out which is pretty much the best FF-Tactics type game. Plus there are many variants of the game system in various PS2 games (some with free movement rather than moving on a grid) that are also worth trying. Disgaea 1 is unfortunately a collectors item, so you won’t find it cheap. Purcell Tactics and Phantom Brave are probably cheap secon hand now.
The really worthwhile PS1 games tend to be collectors items ($20 + ) so it makes sense to upgrade to the PS2 if you can where many good games can be had for around $10 and you can still play PS1 games on the PS2.
The ‘main line’ for recent turn-based-strategy games in that mode is going to be the myriad titles published by Nippon Ichi for the PS2, that Bippy refers to. My personal experience with them is that the gameplay is alright but the story and feel of the games is just a bit too… anime, for my enjoyment anyways. Okay, so I don’t really like “stereotypical” anime at all and the Nippon Ichi games tend to be extremely heavy on it 
Some other good stuff, though, includes:
Shining Force is the lowest common denominator of the genre. SF2 for the Genesis is the best, IMO, and is tons of fun even if it’s pretty simple. It was my introduction to the genre so it has a little place in my heart 
Note that virtually all of the new “Shining” games for various systems are not, in fact, continuations of the main-line SRPG series, though there was a remake of SF1 for the GBA that was reportedly quite good.
Tactics Ogre, for the PS1, and Tactics Ogre for the GBA: It took me a little bit to get into these because FFT was my first experience with anything in the genre more complicated than Shining Force, and Tactics Ogre is… well… a bit different, in some ways. Once I got into it, though, it’s a great game, and I actually just bought the GBA game and am enjoying it so far. The PS1 version, at least, is a similar sort of story to FFT - though FFT is probably my personal favorite video game storyline ever.
Fire Emblem is, many will tell you, the “original” SRPG series, as FE1 came out for the NES a loooonnggg time ago. Only, the first one to be released in the US was FE7 for the GBA (just named Fire Emblem for the US release); it was hugely successful, and 8 and 9 have subsequently been released for the GBA and GC, respectively, with the next installment tentatively announced for the Wii. I have heard that the early games were kept from English releases because they dealt with themes that were too mature for Nintendo’s US image; I have no idea if that’s true. Either way, all three games are excellent both in terms of gameplay and in story. If you have access to the japanese versions in any manner, FE4 and FE6 are great as well.
Well, probably not - particularly because there is a not insignificant group of people out there who rank FFT among the greatest games ever, for any platform. Either way, though, GameSpot gives LOTR: Tactics for PSP a 6.5, which is pretty low for them since anything worth playing generally gets a 7 or higher by default (GameSpot doesn’t differentiate that well at the high end, but if they give something a bad review, it’s usually worth noting).
If I think of anything else I’ll inevitably be back. I LOVE these sorts of games and turn-based-strategy in general.
I’m a big fan of Dai Senryaku VII for my Xbox. Can anyone recommend me anything similar for the Xbox?
You could try Suikoden, which is the game that I moved to right after I finished FFT. It’s been years since then, so I couldn’t give an accurate comparison from memory, but I liked both of them.
The quest is to find the “108 Stars of Destiny” which are 108 different people, each of whom bring certain skills to the group, either in battle or in building your castle.
In addition, there was quite a bit of amusing side dialogue between the player (usually me, although we did get my sister hooked on it, too) and the watchers (whichever roommates happened to be home at the moment) as to whether Gremio was a guy or a girl.
[QUOTE=Bippy the Beardless]
Consider buying a PS2.
[QUOTE]
I didn’t mean to imply that I didnt have one. 
The first game review I read of that called him a ‘she’, so I was very confused for a while.
Suikoden and Suikoden 2 are among my favorite games, though.
Vandal Hearts on the PlayStation is fun, although far too short. Disgaea, I loved, weird as it can be at times, and also Makai Kingdom, but those are for the PS2.
I’m sure there’s more, but I can’t think of them off the top of my head, at the moment.
And Shining Force 1&2 on the Sega Genesis are just keepers, if you don’t mind going retro.
This is probably a little off target, but I’m a big fan of the MMORPG Dofus . The combat is turn-based and “tactics” style (i.e. grid layout, move points, action points, etc.).
I don’t buy games often, and when I get around to buying something and find a title I want to get, it’s usually all out of circulation, so I thank God for used titles at game stores. I’ve gotten quite a few cheaply that net so much cash online it’s disgusting.
At least they have ‘greatest hits’ versions for 20$ a pop on some of the older, harder to get, more expensive titles. I can’t remember when I saw a copy of Suikoden 2 or Final Fantasy Tactics go for less than 60-80$ or more online on auctions and the like. (Yeah, a quick ebay search reveals Suikoden 2 priced at 60-90$+. One person even has it for 130$. And even the strategy guide goes for 60$+)
I recently had to fork over ungodly amounts for Digital Devil Saga 1, because I got the second game and missed the first. Atlus games tend to go out of circ fast, which is sad, because they have some really good titles. They did ‘Tactics Ogre’, if I’m not mistaken.
Vandal Hearts 2 for the PS2 is also fun, and longer. Front Mission 3 is a giant-robot version of this kind of game.
Good game, but long; when I bought it the clerk said “Welcome to your new career !”.
Good game, but not the kind of game the OP was asking for.
Vandal Hearts 2 is really weird. Each turn has both sides move units simultaneously, although I still recommend it.
Most of Nippon Ichi’s games are like FFT, including the afforementioned Disgaea.
Advance Wars for Gamboy Advance and DS also fit the bill, with a more modern setting.
I’ve only played FM 4, but that game is pretty awesome. It has a decent story and voice acting, but the coolest thing is the mecha combat system. You can customize the weapon loadout and team combos pretty heavily, and you will need to have a good mixture of specialties to do well at the game. Some of the later missions tend to take a long ass time to finish. You can save in the middle though. There are a lot of bonus objectives that get you cool new equipment, but unfortunately they aren’t very obvious. In some cases you basically have to know about them from outside sources, or get lucky and do them by accident.
Fire Emblem on the GBA is also very good. It’s a little less complex than FM 4, and it’s fantasy based, but it has a bit of the same strategic feel. There is no ressurection of dead characters after the first couple of missions, though (in the early misssions they don’t die, they just get injured for a while); coupled with no mid-mission save, this can get fairly frustrating. But the game is cool enough that I can forgive that.
Yeah, the Suikodens are ordinary RPGs with a few tactical scenes mixed in…except for Suikoden Tactics, which is supposed to be pretty good.
I would strongly recommend the Fire Emblem games, both the two for GBA and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for the Game Cube. They are excellent tactical RPGs with a wide range of characters and classes to choose from.
Let me third Fire Emblem. Its’ a totally engrossing game. My favorite part is that every character has a distinct and memorable personality, but just the main characters.
[QUOTE=Meeko]
[QUOTE=Bippy the Beardless]
Consider buying a PS2.
Seriously then splash out the $50 for Disgaea 2. It is a little cutesy and very anime like but also a great game.
Has anyone tried the Final Fantasy Tactics game released recently on the GameBoy?
I considered buying one just for that game.
It wasn’t released recently. It came out late 2003.
That being said, I’ve played it and enjoyed it. There is a good amount of customization in your units and the combat is entertaining.
That being said, a lot of people are annoyed by the game and it’s Law system. Basically, every day (in game time rather than real time: the day changes every time you move on the over world map) there is a set of laws. These laws come down to one action being illegal and another being encouraged. Performing an illegal action will get you a yellow card and doing it again will get the offending character ejected from battle.
The problem is, they pick some stupid things to outlaw. Sometimes, for instance, damaging a specific race (humans for instance) will be outlawed. Other times, the Fight command will be illegal. It’s very irritating when your party includes a number of physical units, all of whom are forbidden to attack, or when damaging your enemies is illegal. You can, how ever, circumvent the laws with anti-law cards or just wait to fight until a day when the laws suit you better.
I forgot to point you toward the reviews here. They may be of use in deciding whether you want to try FFTA or not (what with it’s sometimes irritating quirks.)
Yeah, I’ve been very dissatisfied with the entire FF franchise lately. Ever since VII, Square has been adding more and more arbitrary weirdness. Instead of adding to the game experience, the weird stuff just feels tacked on.