It finally happened. And it happened while I was looking away.

Years and years of asking for Final Fantasy Tactics. "Final Fantasy Tactics remake?", or something to that effect, posted on social media before every major showcase. That was my bit. Press send.

A new entry seemed unlikely, but a remaster or remake was plausible. I'd heard whispers, online and off, and the release of the sublime Tactics Ogre Reborn in 2022 further convinced me that Tactics was on the cards.

However, with each new Tactics-less showcase, I became less sure. Each time Square Enix announced a new remaster of some back catalogue, 6/10-RPG that only four people liked, I became increasingly convinced that Tactics' turn would never come. Passed over, time and time again, for lesser games.

I was on the school run. There's no time for State of Plays when the day's just beginning; a child needs to be fed and harried out the door, and work prep has already begun. But I was sure it had happened. Leaks, cryptic messages and deleted social media posts gave it away the day before, and I knew to check my messages as I went about my morning chores, even if I couldn't watch it unfold live. Sure enough, there it was: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, multiplatform on 9/30. I watched the video an hour later with a big smile on my face.

It had finally happened.

I first became aware of Tactics in the late '90s. We had a Final Fantasy magazine that was released alongside FFVIII. It included a feature on Square games that had not been localised for the PAL market but might be of interest to Final Fantasy fans. Each game's blurb came with a prediction regarding its chances of landing on European shores. From memory, the writer wasn't all that optimistic about Tactics making an appearance. I took note, and a couple of years later I imported a US copy, alongside the FF Anthology. I adored it.

When I first moved to Japan, I picked up a PS1 Greatest Hits copy of Tactics for language acquisition purposes. Predictably, I struggled, because it was in a foreign language, and I quickly gave up! A couple of years later, and I was having the best of times with the PSP War of the Lions port, which remains my final full playthrough. I put off attempting a replay in recent years, just in case a new version popped up.

I'm sure the latest remaster will eclipse War of the Lions. I'm delighted to hear that the original version, with some minor tweaks, will be part of the package. I'll keep an open mind regarding the voice acting and I'm interested to learn more about the renewed interface and gameplay refinements. I'm hoping many of the additions that featured in later versions of Tactics Ogre will also be included here, especially the ability to rewind moves. And I'm very encouraged by the inclusion of some of the original development team, including, it would seem, involvement from Yasumi Matsuno.

Tactics aside, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a State of Play quite this much. Recent streams had not been for me, and I was concerned that my taste in games had strayed too far from the mainstream, i.e. the youth, and that I was doomed to never again enjoy one of these PlayStation showcases. Turns out I was wrong. Although youthful tastes still confuse me, there was plenty here to keep me entertained. Lumines Arise is right up my street, Pragmata looks very Capcom, which is a good thing, and I'll always have time for Suda 51 weirdness, even if my curiosity is often greater than my actual desire to play his games. Anyway, I definitely want to see more of Romeo is A Dead Man. That poor girl in Silent Hill f really needs a shotgun, Cairn piqued my interest, and although I'm not that bothered about Mortal Kombat, I do have a lot of time for Digital Eclipse and I want to see what they've done. I don't need any further convincing to play MGS3 Delta; Sword of the Sea looks lovely, though perhaps a little too familiar, and IO Interactive's 007 game and Ghost of Yotei are prime "I'm not that excited but I'll almost certainly enjoy it when I finally get around to playing it" games. Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls is visually bright and appealing which, when it comes to fighting games, gets you more than halfway there with me. A great show, and hopefully we've got several more to come over the next few days of not-E3.

Anyway, Final Fantasy Tactics at last! Now I must pine for something else unreasonable on the eve of each new showcase.

That'll be new TimeSplitters, of course, because I have exceptional taste.