After a total of 61 hours—the last dozen of which were spent grinding Job Points and farming the best rare weapons—I finally wrapped up my first playthrough of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles.
Though I still have the optional Midlight's Deep dungeon to clear, I had planned to take a break before returning to the epic tale of Ramza Beoulve. My plans, however, are now changing much sooner than anticipated. This is all thanks to a handful of exceptional community mods available for the PC version of the game, which are already prompting another full playthrough. These mods dramatically enhance the gameplay, promising an experience even more engaging than the last.
Content Restored: Dark Knight, Onion Knight, Balthier, and Luso Are Now Part of The Ivalice Chronicles
Last month, I reported on how a dedicated fan began restoring the content cut from the War of the Lions version, which serves as the basis for the current mobile versions of the game. Not content with just bringing back Balthier with his devastating Barrage skill, which can break the 999 damage cap with ease, and the ever-useful Luso, modder TriggerHappy has now restored for generic units the two Jobs cut from the War of the Lions: Dark Knight and Onion Knight.
The implementation of these Jobs in Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles is flawless. The mod also adds a paging system to the job menu, allowing the game to display more than 19 jobs. Unlocking them, like in War of the Lions, requires some effort, though.
| Job | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Dark Knight | Level 8 Black Mage, Knight, Geomancer, Dragoon, Samurai, and Ninja |
| Onion Knight | Level 6 Squire and Chemist |
The high Job requirements to unlock the Dark Knight, in particular, are well worth it. This Job has long been infamous for being extremely overpowered, thanks to its Darkness Job Command, which grants the unit not only HP and MP restoration with Sanguine Sword and Infernal Strike, but also great damage in wide AOE with Abyssal Blade, at the cost of HP.
Introducing New Jobs: Blue Mage and Red Mage
Dana Crysalis didn't stop at job restoration; they also implemented two brand-new Jobs inspired by the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance games: Blue Mage and Red Mage.
These versatile spellcasters are available right from the beginning of Chapter 2 and are assigned to the special generic units Alicia and Lavian. This finally gives these often-overlooked units a meaningful role, allowing them to learn monster abilities and use a variety of magic spells from other spellcasting Jobs. Even in its current state, this mod is a must-download to spice up the experience, especially for players who previously struggled to find a use for Alicia and Lavian.
Heretic Ramza: The Story in the Job Title
One of the few criticisms of the original game was that Ramza's special job, Squire, remained unchanged for the entire game, despite his significant character development. While The Ivalice Chronicles addresses this by changing his Job to Gallant Knight in Chapter 4, the Heretic Ramza mod by Serbagz takes this concept to its logical and emotional extreme.
With this mod, Ramza’s special Job title now reflects his standing in the evolving narrative:
- Chapter 1: Noble
- Chapters 2 & 3: Mercenary
- Chapter 4: Heretic
Once he earns the Heretic title, Ramza also gains the Fell Knight's Shadowblade and Duskblade abilities. This highlights an excellent story connection: though Gaffgarion was ruthless, he acted as a temporary mentor in Ramza's darkest days, making the acquisition of the Fell Knight's signature abilities a fitting—and powerful—bit of character growth. It offers a great contrast to Delita, the commoner who became king with the support of the church.
Level Scaling: Necessary Rebalance
With the introduction of new, powerful Jobs and abilities, the potential for overwhelming the game is high, especially since enemy levels in story battles typically don't scale.
Thankfully, the Level Scaling mod by Dana Crysalis ensures this doesn't become an issue. By implementing enemy level scaling even in story battles, the game remains highly challenging even after you engage in heavy grinding. This gives a real purpose to those fine-tuned character builds and ensures every story battle requires genuine tactical effort.
Are you being pulled back in? I Know I Am
After learning about all these mods, I couldn't wait to install them and see how they make Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles an even better game. Needless to say, they do. Although I had planned only for a quick test, I ended up spending a few hours exploring the new features, further condemning me to my fate: experiencing the War of the Lions again. Not a bad fate to succumb to, as the game is still one of the best tactical RPGs ever released, decades after its original release.
Are you being pulled back in as much as I am? Tell us in the comments which of these mods you think will make your next playthrough memorable!
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