Final Fantasy Tactics (1998)
While Vandal Hearts will always have a special place in my heart, Final Fantasy Tactics completely revolutionized my understanding of what types of stories games could tell. Not only did the hero not live to tell the tale, the true history of what happened was ultimately buried with him. While Final Fantasy VII examined corporate exploitation and militarism, Tactics interrogated political power and religious dogma. Even optimizing the job system to create a teleporting, dual-wielding ninja of death wasn’t enough to come out the other side alive. History only remembers the victors. — Ethan Gach
