Final Fantasy Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno shares early development sample images of FFT when it was planned to be an Ogre Battle style "RTS" (auto-battler?)
One of the reasons I wish protos leaked more often is so we can have the sprite assets for stuff like this. I know these are probably mockups but ooooof they are pretty
I really wish we had more Ogre Battle style games. Ogre Battle 64 was good shit but it suffered from balance issues and some incredibly opaque mechanics.
Vagrant Story and it's non-linear dungeons and deep weapon crafting system walled me as a kid. I wasn't able to beat it until I was an adult and had the internet and a guide.
For sure like the final product more as I find the game's aesthetic of sprites on 3D planes very appealing. But this is cool! The art style reminds me of Bahamut Lagoon.
I was talkin about this with my wife last night, since Unicorn Overlord came out this is now a subgenre. They have the structure and autobattling of an RTS but the unit micromanagement and instanced encounters of a tactics RPG. I settled on calling 'em "Hybrid Tactics" games?
i wish more games let you mess with the systems and create levels and stuff, i've always wanted to play as the magitek armor in ff15. in fact, in most final fantasy games, i love every aspect of visual design, with the major exception of any and all named/protagonist characters. what can i say, i'm just not into excess zippers/buckles or huge shoes or skimpy dresses, but those goons in sci fi armor in ff13 on are dope as hell
Thinking back on it, VIII had the most realistic dressed protags of classic Final Fantasy honestly. Squall wears a leather jacket. Quistis has a dress type thing, same with Rinoa. Zell has jorts. Selphie has overalls and Irvine has a trench coat. They meshed well with the fantasy sci-fi world.