Final Fantasy Tactics: Pokemon Mode Rundown

Final Fantasy Tactics: Pokemon Mode

The genesis for this idea (or at least my version of it) comes from wondering as a kid how hard it would be to beat the game using only monsters, before remembering that Ramza is required for all story missions. I felt like it would dilute the spirit of the challenge to use him, and trying to keep him out of the fight didn't seem like much fun either. It wasn't until much later that I realized how closely the dynamic of one human and 4 monsters resembles a Pokemon trainer and the idea became exciting again: I could use Ramza purely as a support unit to heal and buff Pokemon, unable to damage or interact with enemy units himself.

In addition to that, I also wanted to explore the full roster of monsters in the game, and enforce variety in my lineup. I had to Catch Them All, and I had to complete a story battle using each one at least once, with it having one successful action (attacking the enemy or buffing a friendly unit) and not crystallizing during the fight. And starting at Chapter 3, I could only bring one Pokemon of each type with me per battle -- no lineup of Ramza and 4 Chocobos.

There are other possible restrictions I considered, such as enforcing how many consecutive battles I could use the same Pokemon, requiring a full enemy team wipe during one-target missions, restricting the use of unique Squire abilities like Yell and Cheer Up, mandating that each Pokemon get at least one kill to count as a story victory, among others. But I wanted the flexibility to explore the challenge on my first attempt to ensure I'd have the ability (and patience) to finish it without having to back down from any rules I set. There are countless variations on this theme, and others could (and likely already have) attempt their own version of it.

Here's a quick rundown of the experience I've had up to this point (25% through Chapter 4):
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The early section of the game is a grind, requiring a minimum of 3 battles to unlock Mediator for Ramza (Chemist 2 -> Priest 2 -> Oracle 2 -> Mediator). Once I had Mediator, I could start inviting monsters. I used some of my generic human units in random battles while catching my Pokemon, but set a limit that I had to use only monsters in Dorter Trade City and beyond.

I didn't do anything to restrict guest units in story battles, as it would be difficult to prevent them from performing actions, and perhaps even impossible in fights where guests join you fully equipped and within one turn of the enemy (Delita and Agrias's Holy Sword skills come to mind). Delita and Algus were a helpful on-ramp in Chapter 1 as I built out my team, but it still required a lot of care and luck in most fights.

Ramza's moveset is critical to build out as soon as possible. I found I couldn't spare the turns for support buffs like Haste and Protect in many cases as he was my primary healing source. The only monster with reliable healing is the Yellow Chocobo, which is helpful but difficult to carry on its own. I prioritized Priest and Chemist, but also made sure to learn Moogle, Fairy, and Golem from the Summoner set. Golem can be a huge help: It creates a shared HP pool for the entire party equal to the caster's Max HP and blocks physical damage from human units until that pool is gone.

Invite was the only source of catching Pokemon in the wild, but monsters in your lineup will generate eggs as you move between nodes on the map. These eggs include all 3 tiers of each monster type, appearing at any level between the highest and lowest in your party. This makes it possible to fill out the Chocodex by catching a monster of one type and breeding the other two, which becomes much easier once you have two adjacent non-combat map nodes you can travel between.

While this method might seem to simplify the challenge somewhat, higher tier monsters appear at rarer intervals, their levels might be lower, they might have worse Zodiac compatibility, and they might not have the Brave/Faith of your existing Pokemon, especially if you've been permanently boosting it with Squire and Mediator abilities. This led to an interesting tradeoff as the run progressed: Ramza often outpaced the level of his Pokemon, and higher level versions could appear in eggs, but I would have to weigh that against the investment I'd put into my current team.

I had some knowledge of how damage is calculated for monster attacks going in, but supplemented that with a GameFAQs guide. Most of the basic monster attacks use Brave as part of their damage formula, but many secondaries use PA or MA only. This meant that it was beneficial to boost a Pokemon's Brave over the course of several battles (5 Brave points during a battle grants 1 permanently, and this works in reverse, too). No monster attacks use Faith in their damage formula, so it could be beneficial to systematically lower it for Pokemon who are susceptible to enemy magic attacks -- but this would also make it harder for Ramza to use support and healing magic on them.

In the first two chapters, I was surprised by the utility of a few monster classes I'd long considered useless. I was able to get a few clutch victories by bringing a Bomb class Pokemon to low HP and having it self-destruct near a group of enemies, revive it, and destruct it again. The Mindflare's ability to use Confusion and Berserk on multiple tiles could turn a fight around if I could get it to proc. Finding a Dragon early gave me a tank and primary damage dealer, which many monster classes struggle with. The Red Panther class's mobility made it useful for kiting and isolating enemies. The Bull Demons are monstrously strong if you can maneuver them. And even once I got the powerhouse Red Chocobo, I would still often leave it out of the lineup to use a Yellow Chocobo instead for supplemental healing.

Having gotten through the major roadblock of the game, Riovanes Castle, I've been pleasantly surprised by this challenge. I have had to stop and grind, or replace monsters with higher level versions to keep up with Ramza's level curve, and in rare cases use Yell to give Ramza enough additional turns to keep my team alive. And certain units like the Red Chocobo and the Minitaurus/Sacred eclipse the range and damage of most of the other classes in the game. But there are creative use cases for far more of the monsters than I was expecting, it hasn't felt like a slog, and I haven't felt funneled into tedious grinding or always picking the One Option That Wins. The enforced variety hasn't hamstrung me, and I'm really enjoying the way the challenge loops between strengthening my team, finding new Pokemon, and making strategic choices about when to get story battle wins for all 51.

I think it does require a lot of background with the game and understanding of its mechanics, how to manipulate the turn order, Ramza's reaction abilities (Auto X-Potion is a godsend), and Brave/Faith levels of your Pokemon. The Wiegraf/Velius fight practically begs for exploits and specific loadouts. But I'm having a great time with it, even more than I expected to have.