Tetra Master in Final Fantasy IX

Thinking back about Triple Triad (referred to as TT from here on) I’ve broken down four key points that I feel are most important to its success as a minigame:

– Simple rules

– Optional, but fleshed out

– Card game feel

– Card Value & High stakes gameplay

Now I would like to take a look at Tetra Master (referred to as TM from here on) to see how it failed an all four points.

Triple Triad in Final Fantasy VIII

This is the first post in a series called “CCGs in RPGs”.  I put together a list of 7 RPG video games that each have their own mini-game featuring some sort of card game where you can create your own deck:

• Arcomage – Might and Magic VII (1999)
• Triple Triad – Final Fantasy VIII (1999)
• Tetra Master – Final Fantasy IX (2000)
• Xeno Card – Xenosaga (2002)
• Pazaak – Knights of the Old Republic (2003)/ KOTOR 2 (2004)
• Caravan – Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
• Gwent – Witcher 3 (2015)

I decided to start with Triple Triad as it was the game that made me want to start this series.  But going forward I will do them in chronological order of release, continuing with Arcomage Tetra Master.  (While I was researching the Arcomage game, I found out that it is not customizable. Therefore I had to remove it from the list.)