After nearly three decades, one of Square Enix’s most beloved tactical RPGs is making its grand return. At Tokyo Game Show 2025, we had the chance to sit down with the team behind FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice Chronicles to discuss how they’re bringing this classic to modern audiences while preserving what made the original so special.

Director Kazutoyo Maehiro and Producer Shoichi Matsuzawa shared their insights on the challenges of updating a 30-year-old masterpiece, from casting voice actors to balancing nostalgia with accessibility for newcomers.

Bringing Characters to Life Through Voice Acting

One of the biggest additions to The Ivalice Chronicles is full voice acting, something the original game never had. This presented unique challenges for the development team.

“It is typically difficult to be able to 100% meet the expectations of what players might envision when it comes to voice,” Maehiro explains. “Considering that it has been 30 years since the original game was released, I do understand and believe that each fan and each player may already have an idea within their own respective minds about what each of the characters should sound like.”

The team worked closely with Matsuno-san, the original script writer, to ensure the Japanese voice casting matched the characters’ essence. For the English version, they made a specific choice to use British actors rather than American ones. “The game itself is a medieval setting and so we felt that that would be a much more fitting casting choice,” Matsuzawa notes.

The voice cast includes recognizable Final Fantasy veterans like Ben Starr (Clive from Final Fantasy XVI) playing Dycedarg and Brianna White. However, Maehiro emphasizes that casting decisions weren’t based on previous Final Fantasy involvement.

“We really have the selection process happen regardless of whether or not they have been involved in past Final Fantasy titles.”

Balancing Classic Gameplay with Modern Convenience

The development team faced a common dilemma when working with classic games: how to update without ruining what made the original special. Their solution was to create two distinct versions.

“Our main goal was to make sure that current and newer players would be able to pick it up and give it a try,” Maehiro says. “We strongly felt that we should not break the wonderful gameplay of Final Fantasy Tactics and the deep story of the game.”

The enhanced version focuses on quality of life improvements and convenience features, while the classic version offers “a much more faithful recreation of the original experience” for longtime fans who prefer the game exactly as it was.

When it comes to the beloved job system, the team decided against adding new jobs. “We really do feel that overall was already really refined for the original Final Fantasy Tactics,” Maehiro explains.

“We don’t have any new jobs that have been added for this game, however we have made adjustments to both the job and abilities to make it easier for players to enjoy.”

Making Complex Systems More Accessible

One area where the original game fell short was explaining its intricate mechanics. Systems like Zodiac compatibility and the Bravery and Faith parameters were never fully explained to players.

“It’s definitely true that when it came to the original game, even though it was a very granular sort of mechanic, that wasn’t something that was really thoroughly explained to the players,” Maehiro acknowledges.

The Ivalice Chronicles addresses this with detailed explanations and guides scattered throughout the game, plus a Chronicle menu with parameter explanations. Matsuzawa adds that “battle and kind of like the expected damage output within combat, that’s something that is also shown on screen too.”

Adapting Dialogue for Voice Performance

Adding voice acting required more than just recording the existing script. The original dialogue was written to be read, not spoken, which created challenges for natural delivery.

“If you were to kind of take that dialogue and then read it as is, we felt that it would almost come across as unnatural,” Maehiro explains. The team made refinements to ensure natural pacing and momentum, working with the original scenario writer Matsumoto-san.

These adjustments resulted in more character exchanges and revealed “another layer to like the emotions of the characters that you might not have felt in the original.”

Visual Design Philosophy

When it came to updating the game’s visuals, the team had many options available, from HD-2D styles to full polygon rendering. However, they chose to stay true to Final Fantasy Tactics’ unique identity.

“What makes Final Fantasy Tactics unique, what came to mind was the charming pixel-based style and artwork as well as 3D asymmetric map,” Maehiro says. “Those two combined is really what we felt is like the defining identity of the visuals for Final Fantasy Tactics.”

The result is a visual style that “doesn’t undermine what really does truly feel like Final Fantasy Tactics and also gives it an additional layer of warmth.”

Looking Toward Global Audiences

The team has been surprised by the international response to the game, particularly from Asia. While the initial release has limited language support, they’re actively considering expansions.

“We didn’t translate the game into Asian languages in the past, so we didn’t think that we would get such a big response,” Matsuzawa admits. “We haven’t really implemented some of them in their past titles. So we didn’t really expect that there would be this much appetite.”

The enhanced version was built to make adding new languages easier, and the team is “actively considering adding additional language support for Asia regions” through future patches.

The Motivation Behind the Remake

For Maehiro, the decision to remake Final Fantasy Tactics came from personal experience. “A few years ago, I myself actually had an opportunity to be able to play through the original Final Fantasy Tactics,” he recalls.

“I really kind of felt that I was able to reaffirm the fact that despite the game having been released nearly 30 years ago, the game design and the story itself certainly had a very timeless quality to it.”

The goal was simple: make FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice Chronicles accessible to players who have never experienced it before while preserving everything that made it special for longtime fans.

As our conversation wrapped up, both developers expressed gratitude for the community’s support. “We really truly weren’t expecting to see this much of a positive response for the game,” Maehiro says, promising that they’ll continue working to make Final Fantasy Tactics available to as many players as possible.