Final Fantasy Extreme - Final Fantasy T - FFT

Final Fantasy Tactics is not a regular console turn-based RPG, but rather a Tactical or Strategy RPG, following more in the footsteps of such series as Ogre Battle and Fire Emblem. Rather than focusing on training only a few members of a party at a time, you are given control of a small army to engage in large-scale battles. The battles are not focused so much on attacking and using magic, but also moving around the field, using long-range attacks, and attacking from different sides to take advantage of the enemy's defenses. Final Fantasy Tactics is not something you can easily win by simply building up and using the attack command over and over. Because not only do you have to worry about training up to 16 fighters, but the monsters also level up with you. This means only using 5 characters or so through most of the game then building up your weaker ones near the end of the game to catch up won't work. Your warriors must constantly be put into battle if they wish to remain of any use. And the sheer amount of characters you control requires you to be figuring out the best situations for each character to use.

But at the same time, there is still a ton of customization within each character, which is what makes the system so good. Final Fantasy Tactics revitalizes the infamous Job system, popularized by Final Fantasy's III and V. And, as with the jump from FF III to FFV, the Job system has become even deeper. The system begins with each character in a starting class, usually a Squire or a Chemist. As characters fight in these classes, they gain JP (Job Points), which allows them to progress through their jobs. While gaining job points works like experience in that after a certain amount is reached the characters excel to a new level in their job, the points themselves can also be used to learn new skills. Each job is specialized for a certain skillset, so if it's a skillset you want it is best to keep the character in that job until it is mastered. However, if you find that certain jobs have only one or two skills that appeal to you, it is perfectly fine to get only enough JP to learn those skills and move on. Jobs beyond the base jobs only become available after characters have become experienced enough in their current jobs. This system of classes provides an almost infinite number of combinations for one character, let alone the cast of over twenty you will encounter in the game.

One can spend a lifetime figuring out what sequence of classes will provide the perfect stats for a character, also adding in the large variety of equipment to further specialize your character. Experimentation is your friend, as you may discover that characters you would think as fighters may not really shine until you try them out as a mage, and vice versa. A Geomancer can make a deadly elementalist and at the same time be a formidable warrior at the front lines. And even beyond class abilities are their armories, which can make your knights more powerful, your Wizards more feared, and your Thieves and Ninjas more agile. On the contrary, you can also make your Ninjas stronger, your Wizards more powerful, and your Knights more agile if you so desire. Characters in your party will soon find each one has a specialized purpose to be carried out. One might be your Meat-shield- strong, heavily armored, and there to absorb damage in the front lines as your archers and chemists take position to fire. Another might be your elusive Thief/Item finder, hanging in the shadows, quickly appearing behind enemies only to swipe their rare equipment. The list goes on.