When Final Fantasy fans think back to 1997, one game comes to mind. FF VII may have become one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, and one that gamers across the world have experienced, but in the same year, Squaresoft began the Tactics series. These spin-offs of the numerical series mix the gameplay of a classic RPG with a strategy-based combat system. The game that was made, Final Fantasy Tactics, became a cult hit, even though limited numbers of people could be distracted from FF VII for long enough to try it. It spawned a GBA sequel and a DS title to come later this year, but now Square-Enix are finally giving players the opportunity to play through the original once more. But is War of the Lions the classic that it used to be?

As the first title in the Ivalice Alliance set of games, WOTL 'surprisingly' takes place in the world of Ivalice. Last seen in the brilliant Final Fantasy XII, Ivalice is a huge world that is plagued with turmoil at all times. The titular war in question forms the basis for the story, one that sees so much double and triple crossing that you're bound to get confused at some point. This isn't to say that the story is bad; on the contrary, it's one of the most interesting and original stories that Square have ever come up with. The game does away with repetitive stereotypes, presenting characters that are genuinely interesting, even if they speak in a nearly impenetrable olde worlde tongue. The hero, a soldier named Ramza, is more than just a tag along, something that FF XII suffered from, being involved in the story from start to finish. As a PSP title this is up there with the best and for storytelling on a handheld system, Square-Enix need to be congratulated, even if the plot is the same as it was a decade ago.

Your journey takes place over a massive world map, one that you travel across in a methodical fashion. Rather than moving through one area to the next, you select each location from a massive map, one that expands considerably as the game progresses. When you stop at a location you are either granted immediate passage or thrust into battle. Towns can also be visited, with shops for you to buy wares and recruitment offices available if your party is low on numbers. The Pub can also be used to request missions, although it isn't as important here as it was in FF Tactics Advance. This is the main difference between this and its spiritual sequel; you have a specific story to go through and so you don't need to complete the side quests at all. You'll want to though, thanks to the maddening difficulty, but more on that later.

The battle system in Tactics is both straightforward and rewarding at the same time. You move your squad of up to six characters across an isometric board and, as their turn comes around, you tell them what abilities to perform. The battle menus are easy to navigate, giving you access to the various abilities quickly and efficiently. And there are a lot of skills to learn. Taking elements of the job system found in FF III and V, Tactics allows units to learn hundreds of abilities, each corresponding to a specific job. These are learnt by obtaining JP, acquired through the use of a certain job's skills. Spending these points on new abilities is vital for increasing your characters' repertoire of skills, becoming second nature when you get into the depth of the game world. The job system on offer here is so extensive that even hardcore FF players will find it hard to master all of the available techniques!

Given that the game's system of control and gameplay is relatively easy to grasp, you'd think that the difficulty would be low too - but you'd be wrong. Taking hardcore to the next level, completing some of the tougher missions can be a game unto itself. Make a mistake early in a battle and you'll soon find that after wasting twenty minutes trying to salvage your mess, all hope is lost. There was a point where I was stuck on a battle for an entire month, playing the game every day, religiously. And after I achieved what felt like was the impossible, I found myself faced with another battle, one that was even more difficult. This isn't helped by how hard it is to level up, as at certain points only one area is open to venture into. Gaining lots of abilities early on is hugely important and could mean the difference between enjoying the game and just getting frustrated. This is further hindered by the way that after a certain amount of time your fainted characters die permanently. This can mean that thirty hours' worth of training can be lost within a few seconds, something that can make a grown man physically cry. If Ramza dies it's an automatic Game Over and with some battles placing Ramza in a position where he can't be healed, this becomes terribly annoying. This is possibly the hardest game on PSP, showing once again that the games of today don't hold a candle to the difficulty of yore. Even so, you can still enjoy battling your way through Ivalice; you just need some patience and an expectation of a rough time.

In addition to the extensive single player section of the game, Square-Enix have given Tactics veterans the opportunity to play a multiplayer mode, similar to that found in the GBA release. You can engage in both Co-op and Versus play against another PSP owner, battling for exclusive items that cannot be found in the main game. You can fight each other or computer controlled foes in a tourney to keep the most HP, something that isn't present in Ramza's quest. The well-executed gameplay of the main game translates perfectly to multiplayer and gives players of the original an excuse to come back to Ivalice one more time.

WOTL looks exactly the same as it did on the PSOne, which isn't as bad as it sounds. Even though the environments look blocky and the magical attacks lack the necessary punch, the sprite designs come to life on the PSP's screen. This may be the early stage of 3D, but it can still look good, even today. The sound is as good as expected with an FF game and, apart from some dodgy sound effect timings, the audio really shines. Epic themes entice you to fight on, making for some memorable tunes that you'll keep on singing even after the battle is well and truly lost. But by far the best addition are the full motion cut scenes with voice acting. Using an original cel-shaded style and the first voice acting for a Tactics game, the game is worth playing if only to enjoy these gorgeous sequences. For fans of the PSOne game, seeing and hearing your beloved characters like this is amazing and Square-Enix should seriously consider making a film that has the same style as this, with both the visuals and the voice acting being as top notch as they are. All in all, War of the Lions won't set your PSP on fire with beauty, but as a port, all of the design and feel of the original is still intact, which is all that matters to die hard fans of series anyway.

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions is the PSP version of a classic Final Fantasy that people missed out on. Replace PSP with DS and you have the same situation that we had with FF III earlier in 2007. The same problems occur here, as the difficulty will put a lot of people off, yet there's no denying how good the gameplay of Tactics really is - and was, way back in 1997. Everything about the game is polished, from the job system to the excellently conceived story. The graphics are as good as they ever were and the music is just as brilliant as you would expect, so the high difficulty is worth overcoming once you get into this epic game. If you have a PSP and you're looking for some strategy RPG action then you need look no further. It may be far more difficult than its main competitor Disgaea, but it is instantly more accessible, giving you a great time even if you are stuck. This is fantastic adventure that Final Fantasy fans and RPG fans alike will relish, leaving newcomers to decide whether or not they are up to the challenge of saving Ivalice.

Reviewed by Sam Atkins for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).