Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles snags New Game + mode in surprise update

Square Enix has released a surprise update for Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, adding New Game + alongside some quality of life improvements to the remade classic.

Update 1.5.0 is out now, with the New Game + feature doing exactly what you would expect it to. You can restart the game’s campaign and retain all the unit levels, item data and more from a previously completed playthrough.

On to the Quality of Life features, and you can more easily check a unit’s zodiac sign and compatibility, check status of a unit when selecting a tile to move or target, retain things like camera view in battle and auto-proceed status for cutscenes, and more. There’s also new language support for China and Korea.

It’s a nice surprise for fans of the game, which was an accomplished remake of the PS1 original Final Fantasy Tactics. In our review of The Ivalice Chronices, Nic said, “Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles faithfully and lovingly remasters this deep and complicated classic for modern console. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it, and it has been amazing sinking back into the world of Ivalice. If you can get past some of the retro gaming pitfalls above, you will see a game that absolutely loves the franchise it’s in, with nods to Final Fantasy lore scattered throughout. If you’re a fan of either Final Fantasy or Tactical RPGs, we strongly recommend you pick this up.”

Here’s the full patch notes:

New Features

• New Game + has been added. This feature allows you to start a new game with unit levels, item data, and more carried over from a previously completed playthrough.
• The Zodiac Compatibility function has been added. You may now check a unit’s zodiac sign and compatibility from its status screen.

Adjustments

• When selecting a tile to move to or target with an ability, you may now check the status of a unit under the selection cursor.
• “Remove All Equipment” has been added to the Equipment & Abilities section of the unit status screen.
• Job unlock conditions are now displayed more clearly for those currently locked, via the Job section of the unit status screen.
• During battle, the camera angle and zoom settings are now retained for the entirety of that battle.

New Settings

• The “Maintain Auto-proceed” setting for cutscenes has been added. To activate it, go to the main menu’s Options tab, followed by Settings, then Gameplay, and use the “Maintain Auto-proceed” toggle.
• The “Ability Incantations Guaranteed” setting has been added, which ensures that dialogue spoken when using certain abilities is always performed. To activate it, go to the main menu’s Options tab, followed by Settings, then Gameplay, and use the “Ability Incantations Guaranteed” toggle.
• The “Ability Cursor Memory” setting has been added, which retains the cursor position in the Abilities section of the battle menu. To activate it, go to the main menu’s Options tab, followed by Settings, then Gameplay, and use the “Ability Cursor Memory” toggle.
• Minor text changes have been made in all languages.
• Certain sound effects have been adjusted.
• Overall stability has been improved.
• Other minor issues have been resolved.

New Languages

• The enhanced version now includes text support for Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean.
• To change the enhanced version text language, go to the General Settings menu’s Language tab and select a language from “”Text Language (Enhanced).””

Source; Steam

Tags: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles