Final Fantasy Tactics Remake: Why The Ivalice Chronicles Was Rebuilt From Scratch

The Ivalice Chronicles team had to remake the original Final Fantasy Tactics’ source code from scratch

Get ready, Final Fantasy Tactics fans! The highly anticipated remake, *Final Fantasy Tactics — The Ivalice Chronicles*, wasn’t just a simple remaster. According to a Bloomberg interview with director Kazutoyo Maehiro, the development team faced an incredible challenge: they had to rebuild the game’s entire source code from the ground up!

This isn’t just about modernizing an old classic. Maehiro and his team discovered a significant hurdle: the original 1997 source code was lost. This unfortunate situation is a relic of unstandardized industry practices from the 1990s. When Square Enix translated the game from Japanese to English for its global release, they would often overwrite the original Japanese code. This meant that for *The Ivalice Chronicles*, the team had no starting point.

So, how did they pull it off? It was a massive undertaking, almost like detective work. The team painstakingly recreated the source code by playing the original 1997 game, consulting the game’s master disc, and referencing the 2011 re-release, *Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions*. In a fascinating twist, Maehiro even revealed at a PAX West 2025 panel that they gleaned crucial lost information from fan-made databases and preservation efforts, acknowledging the incredible work of the community!

Beyond the code, Maehiro also shed light on other interesting development decisions. One major topic of debate was the character Count Cidolfus Orlandeau, affectionately known as Thunder God Cid. This powerful character, notorious for being incredibly overpowered when he joins your party, sparked discussion about whether he should be “nerfed” in the remake. Maehiro ultimately decided against it, explaining that Cid’s immense power is integral to his role in the story. To ensure balance without diminishing Cid’s legendary status, the team opted to buff other characters instead, evening out the playing field in a different way.

Looking ahead, Maehiro hinted at exciting possibilities for the future. If *The Ivalice Chronicles* performs well (and we certainly hope it does!), he suggested that we might see sequels for the Final Fantasy Tactics franchise or even brand-new strategy RPG titles in the future. The dedication to this remake, despite the monumental challenges, shows a deep commitment to the series, and that’s fantastic news for fans everywhere.