Re-live the war, with extra goodies.

When doing a remake of one of the greatest PS1 games of all time, you would think "lets just make a port of it to a handheld, and let them buy it." Bearing the name Final Fantasy in general would guarantee high sales. But knowing Square, they don't work like that. When they port, they nearly remake the entire game, re-translate it, add a few extra goodies, and transform it into a completely new game. That is what came with "Tactics: The War of the Lions."
Story: Even though I do know the story of Tactics by heart, this game changed that completely, and for the better.The re-translation made took most of the events into new light, and more understandable light. Some of the more confusing things were made clear, and with it, the entire game. The new scenes added much as well, especially the new cell-shaded scenes. I was thoroughly entertained by the story alone, and every time I replay it, I discover new things about the story. The new scenes added much as well, such as what Delita did during the main game, and the new scenes concerning newcomers Luso and Baltheir.
Gameplay: Nothing new in this department, but why fix what isn't broken? It was fairly entertaining, and fit with the story. The tactical value the game isn't that good compared to many modern games, since you could win this game using just "attack" alone and keeping strong soldiers. But the games AI is somewhat varied, but for the most part, isn't that intelligent. They usually place themselves into the worst places possible. But as you get further into the game, and the number of jobs increase for both you and the AI, it becomes slowly better. The new jobs are a nice touch, but are useless if you can't play multiplayer. Speaking of which, multiplayer was a very good idea to add to the game, but works at a snails pace. But the game offers some great challenges if you go along with it.
Audio/Visual Nothing new in this department either. Spells and summons got a nice make-over, and the new CGI cell-shaded scenes were a great touch. But mostly it looks the same, only brighter. Music isn't memorable, but it fits into the game, and sets the tone and mood for the game. A nice annoyance on the few seconds lag between spell casts and the appropriate sounds isn't all to good, but only a few people would care.
Conclusion To wrap this up, this game is a worthy addition to anyones PSP library, and will take a nice chunk of your time to finish it. The new content and re-translation makes this a pick-up for anyone who enjoyed the original Tactics, and to put this in handheld form makes it even better. The only problems are with the audio lag (which isn't a big deal at any rate), the wanting of more content, and the slow moving multiplayer. But these do little to detract from the games overall presentation, and the nostalgia it brings.