We Almost Got a Sequel To Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Tactics

Remember the PlayStation era? No, the original PlayStation era. Back in the mid-90’s. It was truly something special. And Square Enix was a huge part of it, bringing us a handful of classics like Einhander, Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII.

But there was also Final Fantasy Tactics, a thrilling role-playing adventure that continues to be one of the better games in the series legacy despite the fact it wasn’t as popular as VII. That said, some fans have been wondering why we never got a true sequel to that game. Well, we almost did. Almost.

During a live broadcast today over on Nico video, the director of Tactics, Yasumi Matsuno, appeared with members of his team who are now hard at work on the latest add-on to Final Fantasy XIV, titled Return To Ivalice. And during this live stream Matsuno revealed some cover art indicating that, at one point in time, a sequel to Tactics was in the works.

The project was originally in production way back when Vagrant Story was still on the drawing board at Square Enix where Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi began planning out the project. Under the name Final Fantasy Tactics 2, it appeared to have a lot going for it including an innovative new battle system and a number of fresh new characters.

Originally, Square Enix was looking at handling the development of the game themselves. But it ended up being outsourced for some reason. Still, the vision was kept true to what both Sakaguchi and Matsuno wanted and its development continued for some time.

Ultimately, it ended up being scrapped. Matsuno didn’t state an exact reason as to why it was never completed but he noted that it was for “a number of reasons.” More than likely, Square simply moved on to more elaborate projects, ones that would end up being bigger sellers for the original PlayStation at the time.

It is a shame that Final Fantasy Tactics didn’t get to continue on as planned but that’s the way it was for some franchises at the time. Secret of Mana wouldn’t see a new addition to the series for years after the release of Legend of Mana; and Chrono Cross never did get a follow-up despite fans begging for one for several years.

Maybe we’ll see a Tactics sequel emerge down the road. Fingers crossed!

You can check out the original Final Fantasy Tactics on PlayStation. You can also buy the digital version for PlayStation 3 and PS Vita/PSP.

(Hat tip to Nova Crytallis for the details and screens!)