Final Fantasy Tactics was first developed in 1995 by Yasumi Matsuno, who was originally from Quest Corporation, where he created the Ogre Battle series, before joining SquareSoft.

The concept for Final Fantasy Tactics was envisioned by series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi in 1993, but he was too busy developing the mainline Final Fantasy titles to bring this tactical RPG vision to life.

The game world, Ivalice, was entirely new and original to Final Fantasy Tactics, but it was later revisited in Final Fantasy XII and Vagrant Story.

Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII appears in the game as a hidden, unlockable character.

Like Nintendo’s Fire Emblem series, character deaths in battle can be permanent in Final Fantasy Tactics—unless the character is revived within a limited number of turns.

The original English release was known for its poor translation, which was significantly improved in the War of the Lions remake for the PlayStation Portable.

While Final Fantasy Tactics was released well after Nintendo’s Fire Emblem, it helped inspire some of the modern Fire Emblem games through its innovative gameplay features.