Released in 1998 on the PSX console, this game had one of the most interesting tactical combat with an immersive skill customization. Most of us who've played it had a rough time dealing with it for the first because this is a hard game if you don't know what you're doing with your units, especially the main character Ramza.
Ramza didn't have any special class but his initial squire job gets better as you progress along the story of the chapters. You could build any character any way you want them to, some of them are really overpowered if you look at it.
Me, the first time I used Ramza, I had issues on what he should be and more on that, I had a lot of builds for him as a squire. Or if you wanted him to be an overpowered beast, you could just give him math skill and let him obliterate every single enemy on the map, but if you wanted more of a challenge, give up on math skill instead.
Back then when I was a kid, I wanted Ramza to be somewhat of a Holy Knight, you know, like the job Agrias, Delita and Wiegraf had or maybe even like Gaffgarion who was a Dark Knight but this couldn't happen, now that I think about it, it would be boring if he had access to special jobs because then you wouldn't be interested on changing jobs and you'd be sticking with being a Holy/Dark Knight until you've finished the game!
Don't worry, Ramza is still unique compared to the generic units you have, his MA or Magic Attack value is naturally high just like that of females that's why you could make him a spell caster via wizard or if you've got a lot of money, you could put the Draw Skill as a secondary ability and wreak havoc on the map with Muramasa or Kikuichimonji and buff your team with Masamune or even heal them with Murasame, he truly is a natural leader if you think about it.
I love the battle quotes they say before doing a spell or skill, it just adds more value to it!
"Pure light! Shine on bloody impurity! Holy!"
"Summon all ghosts of the sword! Attack! Muramasa!"
"Inscript the dark god into a rotting body! Flare!"
The story was gripping! It kept you at the edge until everything unfolded. So many antagonists and plot twists that will keep you grinding for your levels just to beat every challenge the game gave you. Though there are a lot of enemies, there's also a good amount of allies that joins your cause and fight for what you fight for.
The music from every scene or battle scenario was exactly what you wanted, every sing note or score that was used for this game blended perfectly! I really loved the Trisection which was the boss battle theme because it gets you pumped up for the fight by just listening to it.
The game had a lot of jobs to explore and a ton of skills that you would take hours just to mix and match the ones you think were perfect! This game's replay value is so high that even if you've finished it, you'll keep on playing and you'll still learn more things that you previously didn't know you could do from your first run.
Great tactics game that'll make your inner strategist come out! I play this game every now and then and it never gets old, it just ages well even after 17 years since it came out, I won't even be surprised if you feel the same way about this classic game like I do.
