Job system

While each game in the Final Fantasy series features their own systems, such as the Materia or the Junction system, one that has reoccurred most often series has been the Job System, also known as the Class System or the Job Class System. The basic concept of the Job System is that each player character starts as a blank slate on which to choose character classes, much like computer RPGs, and has development directly controlled by the player's decisions.

While this system was a fundamental element of Final Fantasy initially, today it finds much more use in the Final Fantasy Tactics sub-series, as the Job System puts heavy focus on complex statistical decisions, which suits a Tactical game, over the plot-related character development that modern Final Fantasy games have become more involved in.

Each game that has featured the Job System has expanded on it and changed it in their own ways.

Final Fantasy
The Job System in the original Final Fantasy, much like the rest of the game, is some what simple in comparison to it's incarnations today. At the start of a new game the player picked one of six available classes for four different characters, much similar to the popular computer RPGs of that time such as Ultima (whose influence on the series has been noted often, most especially in the older games). Each class featured their own unique ability the player could use, such as the Thief's ability to Flee or the Black Mage to use a Black Magic spell. Upon reaching a certain point of progress in the game, the four classes the player chose for his characters would all upgrade into a masterful version related to their basic starting class (i.e. a Thief becomes a Ninja). While basic, this was the starting point for the Job System to gradually progress from.

Final Fantasy III
In Final Fantasy III the system was somewhat similar in progression compared to the first Final Fantasy, but had a good deal of changes and improvements to it. One major change in particular is instead of picking a class at the start of a new game and being locked into it, all the characters started as a basic "beginning" class (The Onion Knight/Onion Kid in the NES version, Freelancer in the Nintendo DS remake). Eventually after making some progress basic Jobs such as the Thief and White Mage would make themselves available for the player to select, but in addition the player was allowed to freely change between Jobs whenever they wished and make accumulating progress in each. Also expanded where the individual Job abilities, with advanced ones such as the 'Scan' for the Scholar and 'Steal' for the Thief.

Like the first Final Fantasy, reaching a point in the plot will bestow the player with new "advanced" or "master" versions of classes - except in Final Fantasy III this will occur up to 4 times (including the first encounter yielding the basic Jobs) and you do not need to make progress in a "basic" class to use the "master" one (the master classes make themselves available depending on their power - i.e. the most powerful classes will be available last).

Despite that, having your characters undergo progression through drastically different branches of Jobs can be both a blessing and a curse as statistics gained during a class accumulate into the permanent abilities of the character - a Thief will not make as powerful of a Knight as a Warrior would, yet that Knight will be quicker than one that developed from a Warrior. The capability to freely manipulate the development of your characters as the player wishes became one of the integral parts of the Job System in Final Fantasy III.

Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy V retained the concepts of having a basic starting Job which to make progress with and the ability to freely switch between classes while retaining progress in each. New to the Job system, though, was the concept of Ability Points and multiple skills per Job to be purchased by them. After a successful battle, AP would be earned along with XP and the player could use this AP to gain one of many skills available to the Job chosen in a way similar to gaining levels for a specific character, as jobs now multiple abilities instead of just one. This became another major part of the Job System and contributed to more flexibility and diversity available to the player.

In addition, the concept of having a "basic" class, such a Warrior, and an "Advanced" class such as a Knight became less prominent. Instead the game offered a variety of very different classes to the player, which bore little relation to each other. The classes present in Final Fantasy V included past staples such as the White Mage and Thief, but also included new ones such as the Blue Mage and Samurai which became staples within their own right in the series.

Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI's presentation of the Job System included many classic Job types, as well as a few that unique to the 11th installment, but changed some of the mechanics of the system to be more in line with computer MMORPGs, which in a way is a modern version of what occurred with the first Final Fantasy. Most jobs retain their archetypal expertise and many abilities commonly associated with the jobs from previous installments. Other aspects of the system do remain such as the player picking from one of 6 basic jobs to start with, the same 6 original jobs from the original Final Fantasy. Players have the option to change job it at will, similar to Final Fantasy V or Final Fantasy Tactics. This is unique to Final Fantasy XI among MMORPGs. Once progress has been made on a character to level 30, more advanced jobs types make themselves available to be pursued via specific quests made available at that point.

Final Fantasy X-2
As the Tactics series was now in existence to facilitate the Job System and the primary Final Fantasy games began to gravitate towards intricate plots over intricate statistics, Final Fantasy X-2's system was a compromise between these two polarities. More acute details of the Job System were shred in favor of putting production values to other things important for this release, but it still manifested in it's own way. Referred to as Dresspheres, the Job System in Final Fantasy X-2 operates more or less like Final Fantasy V, with new Jobs making themselves available as you make progress through the game. The major change of the job system in this game was that Yuna and her companions could now change jobs in battle.

Only a few of the "classic" jobs were present in Final Fantasy X-2, which featured fewer classes in general, as it tried to establish entirely new types which had been yet unseen (and are still currently unique to the game) while still being accessible.

Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System
The original version of Final Fantasy XII had no clearly defined Job System. The Final Fantasy XII International version (only released in Japan) now gives a new version of the Job System, called the Zodiac Job System. Characters are given twelve special License Boards to choose from, each one corresponding to one of twelve Jobs and a Zodiac Sign. Each board has special Licenses which give each Job its special equipment and abilities. Once a character chooses a Job, they can never be switch out. Characters who do not choose a Job cannot receive LP.

Though most of the Classes represented in the Zodiac Job System are purely traditional such as Black Mage, White Mage, and Knight, several were renamed just for this game. For example, the Class usually called "Dragoon" has now been named "Uhlan".

Final Fantasy Tactics
Being in a game genre which focuses heavily on number crunching and player decisions, the Job System expanded intensely in Final Fantasy Tactics. In this game, the ability to freely change Jobs at will was more heavily structured. Instead of swapping in and out, the character had to make a planned progression of their character abilities to reach the destination they wished, such as to be a Ninja a character must have the prowess of an Archer, the agile skill of a Thief and the knowledge of a Geomancer - all of which find a distant root in the basic Squire class.

Starting off the player would again be given a 'base' Job as a starting point, but instead there were now two: the Squire (combat focused) and the Chemist (support focused). After choosing which their characters will be, progress is made much similar to Final Fantasy V's method of accumulating AP and spending it on skills - which have further increased in number per Job and have multiple categories such as 'Movement Skills' and 'Reactive Skills'. As the character develops in their Job further, new Jobs make themselves available and as you change between them skills will now be able to be transported over to the next (unlike Final Fantasy V, where skills were restricted to their individual Jobs). This addition of mixing skills (along with the jobs themselves) and the statistics gained from them further developed the Job System and also became integral parts of the Tactics series.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance resumes the progress of the Job System where the original Final Fantasy Tactics left off, again providing the same structured character progression and blending of skills. Changed, though, is how the skills are obtained and how to access particular Jobs. While Final Fantasy Tactics used Final Fantasy V's system of accumulating AP and spending it on a list of possibile skills, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance has the character learn their skills from the equipment they are wearing (much like Final Fantasy IX, which in turn was much similar to Final Fantasy VI's Esper system).

While worn, the skill present on the specific item is ready to be used, but once unequipped it is no longer available. To make the skill a permanent part of the character, the player must build up a specific amount of AP while it is equipped in battle. As the availability of equipment is limited to the progression of the player, this makes the development process somewhat more linear in regards to skills.

Despite that, the character options available to the player were expanded further by introducing character races such as Moogles and Nu Mou, who all had different varieties of Jobs and progression paths available to them. With that, many new classes were able to be introduced in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and many long unused classes found a revival, without seeming out of place (as the classes fit the personalities of the races) or overwhelming (as each race has their own limited and mostly unique sets of Jobs). This allowed players to add in more decisions on how they will structure their parties.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Final Fantasy Tactics A2, being a direct sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, is for the most part the same in regards to the Job System. Many smaller mechanics were heavily tweaked to the wishes of players and it is sort of a 'refined' version of what was present in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. New races and many new Jobs were added to the game, furthering complexity in regards to those aspects. It features the most Jobs of a Job System game, with a large majority of them being new creations.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
Like in the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance games, the Job System is based upon tribes, with certain tribes being limited to certain classes. The Clavats, however, can use all four Jobs. There are only four basic classes: Black Mage, White Mage, Thief, and Warrior.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Some reccuring and iconical jobs in the series appear as job cards in the "Duel Colosseum", each having their own effect.

Jobs outside of the Job System
Several Final Fantasy games that do not feature the Job System often apply specific job archetypes to some characters. Though they cannot change Jobs, their roles are often direct references to Classes from the Job System.

Final Fantasy IV
Playable characters in Final Fantasy IV are all listed as having a particular job, but with the exception of Cecil, none of the characters may change their job assignments during the game. Each character has several static abilities that are usually the same the Job they represent. In the world of Final Fantasy IV, many NPCs can be seen to hold certain Classes. Classes are usually cultural groups; the kingdom of Eblan is ruled by Ninjas, Mysidia is home to White and Black Mages, Fabul is ruled by Monks, and Baron's army consists of Dragoons, Dark Knights, and Black and White mages.

Final Fantasy VI
The game Menu of Final Fantasy VI lists every playable character as having a Job, though usually not the same as the traditional Final Fantasy ones. Every character has set abilities similar to Final Fantasy IV. For example, Locke Cole, who is similar to the Thief Class, is not listed as such. Rather he is called an "Adventurer".

Final Fantasy IX
Most playable characters in Final Fantasy IX are references to past Jobs in the series. Characters often dress in manners similar to the Classes they represent: Vivi looks exactly like a traditional Black Mage, Princess Garnet is seen in a White Mage's garb towards the beginning of the game. Only Amarant Coral seems to break this pattern, as he does not have a clear Job Class. Like in Final Fantasy IV, NPCs also have Jobs. The Black Mages are a race of manufactured weapons. Some Jobs seen, like Red Mages, cannot even be used by the player.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Unlike the original Final Fantasy XII or the Zodiac Job Class version, the playable characters in Revenant Wings all have set Job Classes. For example, Penelo is a Dancer. The Classes cannot be changed during the game in any way. Also, Sky Pirate enemies in the game have Job Classes, often ones that the player does not have access to. These enemies all have special skills similar to those that the playable characters learn during the course of the game.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
Some armor characters can equip are named for certain certain job classes, with some abilities based on that class. For example Magic type armor, like the Black Mage armor can give AI characters the Black Mage's Eye which automatically make them cast magic during battle. These abilities depended on the armor crafted and what bonus material is used when making them.

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