Counterfitt's pick #9 - Final Fantasy Tactics

With a top ten list like this it's hard to say something new about any game, and I really have to acknowledge it with this game. Final Fantasy Tactics is a tactical rpg as good as they get. Until recently this was a very hard game to get a hold of, commonly selling for upwards of $100 on ebay. Just recently a port has been delivered to fans via psp, allowing more people to play and the rest to understand the convoluted plot. The English translation was a distractingly negative point in an otherwise shining idea of a game. In fact the world of Ivalice the game is placed in is said to be spelled four different ways throughout the story.

Of course, the story and translation must fall to the side when the subject of gameplay arises. If you are not an expert, you will find yourself grinding levels and abilities, or facing the game over screen regularly. Using familiar ff character classes, a turn-based grid-based combat is the core of tactics. As you level up characters' classes, new classes become available and a big part of the game becomes training your characters in hopes of finding a new class. Of course, if you've played console games during the past ten years, you already know this.