There’s something rather hilarious about watch AI duke it out. Sometimes it makes no sense in the best of ways, and the tactics used can best be described as “wild.” Such is the case with a new stream, which sees two AI parties of four duke it out in a round of PlayStation classic Final Fantasy Tactics. The parties are randomized before each match, with different classes, equipment, stats, and skills assigned each time. Players can then bet fake money on each team. This stream, named “Final Fantasy Tactics Battlegrounds,” plays out the fights and lets you see if you’re as good at predicting AI as you may think you are. If you happen to win, you earn more fake money that you can spend on even more bets.
This is a mod of Final Fantasy Tactics, albeit one that tries to stick close to the original game. There are a few additions and changes made in the name of balance, but you won’t see anything wild like a white mage becoming a melee tank. If you’re looking to relive some of those classic battles, this may be a fantastic opportunity to do so.
Final Fantasy Tactics hasn’t seen a new entry since 2007’s Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift. There have been a couple of nods to the series here and there, such as protagonist Ramza being a playable character in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, but Square Enix hasn’t shown much interest in it returning in a big way. Still, with remakes of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles on the way, anything seems possible.
Twitch streams of games played in weird ways have increased in popularity. Some require human input, such as the rather famous cultural phenomenon “Twitch Plays Pokemon.” Others see people playing games with controllers they’re clearly not meant to be played with, like Dark Souls with a Guitar Hero controller. And another just involves a pair of AI. Salty Bets sees absolutely random characters fight each other using 2D fighting game engine MUGEN. People watching the stream can bet on the fights and earn fake money in a similar way to Final Fantasy Tactics Battlegrounds.
