Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of The Lions - Gameplay

Gameplay

Following the trend of Final Fantasy video games on PlayStation systems, The War of the Lions features full motion video during certain scenes. These videos are rendered using cel-shading, a technique giving the illusion of hand drawn animation. Because of the PlayStation Portable's screen size, the game features a 16:9 aspect ratio, as opposed to the previous 4:3. The developers added sequences with visual arts illustrated by Akihiko Yoshida, and the game is complete with new episodes and cutscenes that were not in the original title. Developers wanted the game to suit both new players and players that have experienced the original title.

The game adds two new character classes; the Onion Knight, taken from Final Fantasy III, and the Dark Knight, which was previously only available to one character, Gaffgarion. The Dark Knight in this game has added abilities and thus the original Dark Knight class was renamed to "Fell Knight". The Fell Knight class is still unique to Gaffgarion. In addition, The War of the Lions contains new characters, including Balthier from Final Fantasy XII. Balthier is said to have an "important role", branded as a heretic in search of the "Cache of Glabados". He joins Ramza, the protagonist while he searches for his sister. Another new character, a monster hunter named Luso from Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift also joins Ramza.

Another addition to the game is a wireless multiplayer mode, both for co-operative and competitive play. In competitive play, opposing teams may place traps onto the battlefield, and these traps are hidden from the opponent. To ease identification, teams are assigned colors. The battle ends after a set number of rounds, and the team with the most remaining HP is declared the winner. The winner may then receive an item randomly generated from treasure chests.

Other additions include new items and equipment and an increased character party limit, as well as new scenes that flesh out the backstory of existing characters and explaining more events beyond what the player sees through Ramza's eyes.