Parents' Guide to

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions

By Andrew Bub, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Deep, rich, and challenging role-playing game.

Game PSP 2007
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Warri
Warri Adult
August 4, 2010
age 9+

Should be 9+

The violence is mild and it's fantasy,language is mild but can be offending for younger childrens and there is very little suggestive themes

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
Omfgigorawr
Omfgigorawr Adult
June 3, 2010
age 14+

Final fantasy tactics is a great game with a lot of good strategy planning.

This particular Final fantasy has changed the series for the better. As it is a strategy rpg instead of traditional rpd final fantasy games. It requires a good amount of strategy and planning before you jump into combat. Such as deciding whether to bring the healer(priest,chemist) or the warrior(knight,squire,dragoon,etc..) but it depends on the situation more. In the game you will encounter a number of characters, some more interesting than others. The violence is not an issue, as the blood is not detailed enough to be a problem. There is language, such things you will hear in a medieval time and movies. As the game is a bit like that. The story is at times pretty mature but it usually stays understandable. The game itself can draw you into it causing you to lose track of time easy if your doing really good. Your character can be a good role model, as your fighting to keep a number (oddly high) of not so good characters from gathering special orbs and being able to transform into nightmarish demons to take over the world. There are parts where politics can confuse and some moments which represents the church as the enemy at times and can be a bit eerie at times. The game is suitable for younger audiences but you may want to make sure your child knows there is inappropriate language at times. But other than that the game will taking a good amount of thinking and planning to beat, but within an hour or so it should become easy.

This title has:

Too much swearing
Educational value
Great role models
See all 2 parent reviews

What’s It About?

The Final Fantasy series of video games is very popular, but only older fans remember the game's brief foray into the smaller "tactics" genre. Now new fans can explore the "tactics" version with FINAL FANTASY: THE WAR OF THE LIONS. It's the original 10-year-old game with new stuff added, everything updated, and the gameplay intact -- now presented in a portable form for the Sony PSP handheld. For those new to the genre, a tactics game, particularly one like this one with role-playing elements, demands a lot of strategic brain power. You must read a lot, constantly fiddle with your characters' stats and equipment, and pay close attention to the weaknesses of your enemy.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (2 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

The game is beautiful, with lovingly rendered battlefields and well-defined characters. The turn-based combat found in War of the Lions is tactical war-gaming at its best. The game offers challenging battle after challenging battle. This is the type of game where party composition and how characters are moved and positioned matters above all else. Side attacks, back attacks, making extra sure to maximize the power of a certain spell -- all these matter a great deal, and these battles and your progress in the epic story hinge on learning them.

The only problems with this game are the substandard manual and the shallow and tedious tutorial. It's almost like the designers figured that only fans of the 1998 version were going to buy this game, so they didn't really need to spend much time explaining how to play it. Players must be willing to learn mostly by trial and error. Fortunately, for those willing to put in the time to learn the complexities, the game rewards the players' efforts with a deep, rich, and challenging game.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether playing a medieval fantasy game sparks interest or questions about real medieval history. How do you feel about the "might makes right" nature of this kind of game? How did you solve particular problems and difficult missions in the game? Also, the characters are cute and child-like -- how do their looks affect your response to the game?

Game Details

  • Platform: PSP
  • Available online?: Available online
  • Publisher: Square Enix
  • Release date: October 10, 2007
  • Genre: Strategy
  • ESRB rating: T for Blood, drug reference, fantasy violence, mild suggestive themes
  • Last updated: November 4, 2015

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