Words in italics are actions or thoughts. So, for example, right now he types in the phrase "he types in the phrase".

This is a game idea I had. Since I didn't know where to post it, and I'm an avid FFN writer, I just decided to post it as fanfiction. It's an original story, but based on Final Fantasy Tactics, so I really didn't know what to do with it, but I wanted to post it up. If anybody knows a forum or website where it would be appropriate to put this, I would be much obliged.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"I'm going to bed. What are you doing?"

"Just playing this new game."

"Okay. Your brothers are upstairs watching TV. Don't stay up too late."

"Alright."

Power.

PS3 loading...

The screen goes completely white, then fades in to show sand, most likely from a beach as the sound of waves crashing coincides with foam flowing over the sand. Words slowly fade in...

Final Fantasy Naval Tactics

SquareEnix 2007

PS3

Sony Entertainment 2005

-Press Start

Start.

Three choices appear.

-New Game

-Load Game

-Options

New Game.

-Select Gender: Male or Female

Male.

-Select Character Model

There are about fifty character models, all a mix of Final Fantasy Tactics characters with an anime-style. They look to be from about pre-teen age to one looks like he's in his late twenties. One of the characters has a bishonen face, long, wavy black hair and looks to be about eighteen.

-Select outfit

Outfits range from formal eighteenth-century Naval Officer uniform to goofy pirate models. One of the outfits looks like a cross between a ninja and pirate. I picke it, and it looks pretty cool on my character model, so I choose it.

A mermaid appears on the screen.

"The sea is unforgiving, young sailor, but also contains many adventures and rewards beyond the horizon. But first, would you please answer me these questions?"

"You were attacked by pirates, but fought them off, with some casualties. Do you...?"

-Follow the pirates

-Return to shore to take care of the wounded

Follow the pirates

"Your commander has asked you to complete a important task. You did not complete it in time, due to your own failing. Do you...?

-Tell him you completed the task

-Tell him that you did not complete the task

Tell him that you did not complete the task

"Where did you graduate in your Naval class?"

-Top of the Class

-Middle of the Class

-Bottom of the Class

Heh heh. Top of the Class.

Loading...

"A ship in a harbor is safe. But that's not why ships are built"

-Buddhist Zen saying

A beautifully rendered CG sequence reveals what appears to be seventeenth century British soldiers running through a fortress. Stone shatters as the walls crack around them and the sound of booming cannons can be heard. Following one of the soldiers, he runs out into an open area behind a rampart where several cannon are set up and firing over the edge. As the camera pans out, beyond the rampart wall and down a cliff is the ocean, with a small fleet of ships, about twenty in number, are attacking the fortress. The ships are wooden, with one man of war in the center, which was obviously their flagship, and the rest were smaller ships and schooners. All fired old-fashioned cannon at the fortress. The fortress had several alcoves where cannon were set up, but there were three major ramparts with a large number of cannon leading the defense.

"Fire!" The captain aboard the ship cries out, sending a barrage at the fortress.

"Incoming!" On one of the ramparts, the soldiers duck for cover. The cannonballs smack into the stone or slam into a few of the cannons and wooden palisades set up behind the walls. The soldiers continue to load and fire, while some haul their injured friends into a makeshift infirmary.

Imagine the scene from Pirates of the Caribbean where the Black Pearl exchanged fire with the Port Royal fortress, and you get the idea of the battle.

Deeper inside the fortress, an older man dressed in senior enlisted clothes runs through a hallway with several doors on each side. He pounds on one. "Ensign, get out here!"

Inside, a character quickly gets out of bed and dressed. The character opens the door.

This is where the CG ends. The game switches over to a three-fourths view, with vibrant sprite models for each character. My character walks out of the door and looks at the man.

A text box pops up. My character's portrait pops up.

"Reporting as ordered, Chief!" The first thing I notice is that all the text is done along with voice-overs, so each character speaks their lines.

Chief Dom: "Ensign! Lieutenant Aki has been knocked out of commission! The Admiral needs you to take the fifth gunnery position! Though you're new, he's confidant you can handle it, considering how you high in your class you graduated." Chief Dom's voice is rough and harsh.

Apparently, your starting status depends on where you said you graduated in your class. I wonder what would have happened if I had chosen one of the other two?

Chief Dom: "I don't share his enthusiasm, but we're under attack and we don't have time to argue. Get your behind over there, Ensign... say, what is your name, anyway?"

-Select Name

Ciro

Ciro: "Ensign Ciro."

Chief Dom: "Alright now, move to your position and don't screw up. I'm watching you!"

The Chief moved farther down the hall and pounded on another door. My character began moving the other way automatically without my control. He took a right and went through a door and into another room. This room had a few rifles left on the rack to the right, but otherwise was empty. My character kept moving through the room, through a door, and down another hallway. This hallway had a red carpet and candles burning on the wall. Some portraits lined the walls. White flashes came through the windows and lit up silhouettes of the windows on the wall. Though the graphics were a throwback to the original FFT, the extra power of the PS3 allowed for cool little effects like the cannon flashes.

As my character traveled down the hallway and into the next room, taking another right, I was impressed with what the game developers had used all the extra processing power for when they didn't rely on flashy graphics. The next room was a flurry of activity, as two cannon crews manned, armed, and fired two cannons in a timely matter. As my character stopped to look around for a second, I watched one of the cannon crews operate. Each sprite model was different in some respect, sometimes down to the small details like a scarf or tattoo. One character pushed the cannonball into the cannon, another used that long stick thing to push it down inside, and two more pushed the cannon forward to recover from the recoil that pushed it back every time it fired. They lit the fuse and with a satisfying BOOM! the cannon flew back in recoil but stopped after going a few feet.

Also in the room were soldiers attending to the wounded. Several cots were set up and nurses and doctors assisted the soldiers with helping the injured.

"Out of the way!" My character, surprised by the command, moved out the way just in time to dodge four soldiers run by carrying a rack filled with shot and gunpowder. Behind them, another soldier stopped and turned towards my character.

?: "Ensign Ciro?" While most of the men wore a combination of blue and red on their uniform, this soldier wore an all red uniform with buttons and a red sash. He was also young, looking to be about as old as my character. He gave a little salute.

Ciro: "Yes?"

?: "Sir, I'm Private First Class Nooman. I'm with the Marine Contingent here on the island. I'm also the guide for the fifth gunnery position. Follow me, sir."

My character followed the private into the next room, which contained a large stairway. The crack of cannons became muffled again, but the flashes were still coming in the windows. The Pfc. and my character climbed the stairway.

Pfc. Nooman: "We've managed to hold our ranks, but without an officer, then men won't stay fast for long. This is your first assignment out of the academy, right sir? I know what it's like to be the new guy, so I'll help you out anyway I can. Just give the orders and the men will take care of the rest. They're good soldiers, so they should respond well to you."

The two characters reached the top of the stairs. The stone wall across from them gets smashed by a cannon barrage and crumbles, revealing a hole in the foundation.

Pfc. Nooman: "Ready?"

He opens the door and my character heads through.

On the other side is an extension of the rampart. Four cannon teams are working furiously to load and fire. The camera pans out, revealing two small ships exchanging fire with the cannon teams. After that, it pans back in and focuses overtop of one of the cannon crews. They are a mix. The guys working the cannon are younger, while an older character guides them.

Seaman Brown: "'at was a close one, ey mates? Chief almost got his monthly shave early!"

Chief George: "Shut yure trap, Brown! Officer on the deck!"

The older character turned around and gave my character a salute. "Welcome to the festivities, sir! We await your commands!"

My character looked at Pfc. Nooman.

Pfc. Nooman: "Ready?"

My character nodded.

Battle Start!

I was surprised to see that the battle system was built like regular Final Fantasy games. Each cannon crew had a bar that filled up as time went on. When the bar filled, they were ready to fire. When the bar was loading, you could see which teams weren't ready, as they were busy reloading the cannons. Teams at the ready stood away from the cannon preparing to load the next shot while the senior enlisted fired the cannon. One of my crews' bar filled up. A menu appeared.

-Fire

-Aim

-Item

-MWR

Pfc. Nooman: "Telling the crew to fire will have them fire at their last calibration. This is useful for non-moving or slow moving targets."

Fire

The Petty Officer manning cannon #2 pulled the cord that shot the cannon. The camera moved out to the ships where the cannonball crashed into one ship, creating a good sized hole in the deck with a satisfying crunch. I could see that the ships had already been done some damage, as the ships showed battle damage and some character models were lying around unmoving. One of the ships, the less damaged one, began moving.

Cannon crew # 1 came to the ready status now.

Pfc. Nooman: "That ship is moving! Your cannon crews need to readjust to accommodate for movement. Tell them to Aim. Aim takes a little longer than fire, but allows for more accurate shots and the ability to hit moving targets."

Aim

The cannon crew began moving the cannon around, adjusting for the movement. The Fire command was instantaneous, but this Aim command took some time, enough so that another cannon crew came to the ready while I was waiting.

Pfc. Nooman: "This crew is tired and has taken some casualties. Try to motivate them by choosing MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation). Depending on your situation, this command will make appropriate responses."

MWR

Ensign Ciro: "Don't give up, men! We're holding fast and the enemy is hurting more than us!"

Cannon crew #4: "Aye, aye, sir!"

Pfc. Nooman: "That was okay, but we realize that you're new to this. Just as a tip, as you progress, your performance and choices affect your characteristics. If you do well in certain areas, your ability to motivate your men will either rise or fall, allowing you new options for MWR."

The first cannon crew finally fired, striking a direct hit in the ship's hull.

Disabled!

Chief Gomez: "Good show, boys! Stopped that boat dead in the water!"

The two ships waved red flags.

Seaman Brown: "Looks like they're signaling their friends!"

Chief Gomez: "Look sharp, lads! We got a big one coming!"

A larger ship sailed into our battle area. It was barely damaged and had more guns than either of the smaller ships.

Seaman: "A fourteen gun ship!"

Pfc. Nooman: It's going to be tough, sir, but it's our duty to fight it!"

Battle Start!

Pfc. Nooman: "Oh! I almost forgot! You can tell all your cannons to aim at a single attacker by using the Aim command and choosing all. Try it!"

-Aim

-Aim: All

-Select Target

-14 guns

-6 guns 1 (Disabled)

-6 guns 2 (Disabled)

14 guns

Ensign Ciro: "All aim!"

All: "All aim! Aye aye, sir!"

Their load bars stopped as another popped up below it and all the crews went through their aiming animations.

Cannon #4 got their bearings and went to the ready position.

Fire

Cannon # 4 fired, striking the hull of the ship but not doing much damage.

Cannon # 2 fired automatically once they were done aiming.

Suddenly, the ship was directly parallel to our rampart with all its guns pointed straight at us.

Chief George: "Broadside! Everyone hit the deck!"

Every cannon on the port side of the ship fired at once, sending a wave of 7 cannonballs flying at us. Three struck the stone below the cannons, one hit the fortress above my character, and two struck cannon # 3, smashing it and injuring one of the seamen working it. Another seaman from another crew was injured by flying wood from cannon #3.

A new command popped up.

-Damage Control

Pfc. Nooman: "This is your officer command screen. You can use it to deal with matters at hand that don't concern combat. Right now, we need to do damage control."

Damage Control

Another screen popped up, listing all the damage that had occurred.

2 Injured – 1 severe, 1 wounded

1 Cannon Destroyed

Heavy damage to foundation

Pfc. Nooman: "Since there are no medics out here, we need to get the injured to the infirmary. You can use this screen even when not doing damage control, in order to move around cannon crews or other jobs as you see fit."

Using the screen, I commanded two of the seaman from cannon crew #3 to move their severely injured friend into the infirmary. I also sent the other injured seaman to the infirmary and I moved Chief Gomez to the seaman's place at cannon #4.

Seaman Brown: "The ship is moving to strafe us again!"

Indeed, the ship was turning away from the fortress in order to bring its starboard guns to bear. With the damage from the last attack, we couldn't take another broadside.

All of a sudden, a group of seaman ran in with a cot. I recognized them as the ammo haulers from earlier.

Seaman: "Got some special ammo here for ya, guvner."

Got:

-Grape Shot

-Wrap Shot

Pfc. Nooman: "We can use some of this ammo to disable the ship's rudder and mast and put them dead in the water. Grape shot blows huge holes into ships. The downside is that they are inaccurate. Wrap shot takes two cannonballs and links them together. They're useful for taking down masts. Use the item command in conjunction with the aim command for best results."

Cannon # 1 came to the ready.

-Fire

-Aim

-MWR

-Item

Item

-Grape Shot

-Wrap Shot

Grape Shot

-Fire

-Aim

Aim

-Aim: All

-Aim: Rudder

-Aim: Mast

Aim: Rudder

The aiming bar came up underneath the load bar. When it reached full, they fired. The grape shot struck the rudder dead on.

Rudder Disabled!

Pfc. Nooman: "Depending on your crew's skill, eventually they will be able to do things such as disable cannon or even the ship itself."

Seaman Brown: "We stopped their turn, but they can still get away!"

Chief George: "Leave it to us! We'll take down the mast!"

Cannon # 4, with Chief George and Chief Gomez working the cannon, came to the ready.

Item

Wrap Shot

Aim: Mast

Pfc. Nooman: "Having more experienced people manning your cannons shortens the amount of time it takes to load and aim. This is true for all jobs. You'll see this in greater detail once you get into the fleet."

Chief George: "Take this!" The cannon fired. The shot went out, struck the mast, and pulled it down with a satisfying crunch. On board the ship, sailors dove for cover, some even getting knocked overboard.

Mast Disabled!

The ship stopped dead in the water, with its stern facing towards us. It was a sitting duck.

Pfc. Nooman: "We've got them now! Let all of your cannons come to the ready!"

I waited for the cannons to load, which didn't take long since I had only fired #4, and since it had the two chiefs working on it, that cannon didn't take long to reload either.

All: "All ready!"

Pfc. Nooman: "Check the fire command for new options."

-Fire

-Barrage

Barrage

Ensign Ciro: "Make ready! On my command!"

My character dramatically stepped up to the edge of the rampart and raised his hand in the air.

"Fire!" Ciro dropped his arm and all the cannons fired at once.

The cannonballs raked the stalled ship, blasting through the captain's quarters and out onto the deck where wood and splinters ripped into the air. On the deck of the ship, a large white flag was raised.

Chief George: "They surrender!"

Chief Gomez: "Three cheers for Ensign Ciro!"

"Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah!" The men did a victory dance, and, as a nice touch, the classic Final Fantasy victory music played with additional violin and accordion accompaniment.

-Do you want to save?

-Yes

-No

Yes

"Yawn... I'm tired."

Looks like this game's going to have to wait till tomorrow.

To be continued...