It’s hard to imagine a franchise that goes so far as to create huge, immersive worlds full of captivating characters as Final Fantasy. With this quality comes complexity. Sometimes navigating worlds can be tricky, and some get a little lost in lore. The sheer size of these worlds means they will often expand to other games and even other media. For example, the Fabula Nova Crystallis series started with: Final Fantasy 13 but spanned a total of seven titles across multiple platforms. Before that, there was the Ivalice Alliance series, which was based on the complex timeline and world of Ivalice.
Ivalice was first introduced in 1997 Final Fantasy Tactics for the PS1. Video game designer Yasumi Matsuno created Ivalice as a world that combines magic and machines, allowing the two to coexist. This mix of medieval setting with machinery and technology gives Ivalice a distinct, memorable look and feel. The hatching of Final Fantasy 12 was followed by an announcement that marked the beginning of the Ivalice Alliance series, and it is chronologically the first of four titles in this collection.
Final Fantasy 12
The twelfth main line Final Fantasy game released on PS2 in 2006. It was a critical and commercial success, winning several Game of the Year awards. Some of the newer elements it introduced, such as the controversial Jobs and Gambits systems, divided opinion. However, it was another huge, sprawling JRPG that provided gamers with hours of content to enjoy. Final Fantasy 12 follows the adventures of protagonist Vaan and the sky pirate Balthier during a period of war between two empires, Archadia and Rozarria.
With a typically well-crafted story and lots of sideline content, Final Fantasy 12 was a great experience, even if the characters weren’t as memorable as some of the more popular people from various entries. Final Fantasy 12 was not classified as part of the Ivalice Alliance collection until its 2017 reissue, titled Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age. At this point it became the first chronological entry in the collection.
Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings
The next game on the timeline is Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings. Released for the Nintendo DS in 2007, it takes place just a year after the events of Final Fantasy 12, and again shows Vaan as a full-fledged sky pirate using his own airship. With gameplay similar to the Final Fantasy Tactics series, the game could be played from start to finish using the Nintendo DS stylus, which was a common gimmick at the time. The game introduced a floating continent of Lemurs and was much more lighthearted than FF12.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift
The third chronological game is Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift, which was released in 2008 for the Nintendo DS. The game follows Luso Clemens, a young troublemaker who is magically transported to the world of Ivalice. The game also features cameos from some of the main characters in Final Fantasy 12namely Vaan and Penelo. The gameplay is largely similar to its predecessor, with turn-based combat taking place in a grid-like arena. Despite the prologue and epilogue taking place in St. Ivalice, the future state of Ivalice’s world, most of the events in the game take place shortly after. FF12 and FF12 Revenant Wingsbecause of the character Luso and his friends experiencing time travel.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Chronologically is the last game in the Ivalice Alliance series Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lionswhich was released in 2007 for the PSP. The game is an updated version of the 1997 Final Fantasy Tactics for PS1, with new playable characters, a visual overhaul and other features, including unique cutscenes. It is set more than 1000 years after the events in FF12, and finds Ivalice in a dark time due to a mysterious event known as the Cataclysm. The popular title kept all the things that made it original Final Fantasy Tactics such a highly regarded game, including the mature tone, difficulty and some popular gameplay mechanics like the track system.
Other games set in Ivalice
While the Ivalice Alliance only includes four titles, there are still a few games in the world of Ivalice. One is 2000 wanderer storyone not-Final Fantasy title that was confirmed to take place within the same universe. It was released for the PS1 as an action-adventure RPG, but had no shops to buy items or interact with other characters. These mechanics were highly unusual absences for a JRPG, but it still garnered high praise from critics.
There is also Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, which is a spin-off set in a different version of Ivalice. It was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003 and introduced new characters while sharing several traits with the original Final Fantasy Tacticsthough it’s not an actual sequel.
Cutting through Ivalice’s intricate timeline, all of these titles had one thing in common: their strong review scores. It seems that regardless of the character or adventure, having the Final Fantasy game set in Ivalice almost always guarantees quality. For those who want to discover everything there is to know about Ivalice, there is a wealth of content to discover.
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