According to writer and director Yasumi Matsuno, the story of Final Fantasy Tactics was inspired by working at Square, and the wider socioeconomic conditions the game was made under. In a 1999 developer interview, Matsuno explained that the themes of class conflict were influenced by Square's heavily stratified organizational work culture, where some staff members were described by him as "like royalty" due to their skills and high social capital. He doubted that newer and less experienced employees would be able to reach those same heights despite their efforts, and reflected this in the game's anti-hierarchical themes. In 2025, he stated the game's atmosphere and criticisms of capitalism were influenced by the aftermath of the 1992 Japanese asset price bubble burst. The despondency and hardships from the ongoing stagnation of Japan's economy served as a "historical backdrop" for the characters of Ramza, "who fought tirelessly against the entrenched social class system", and Delita, "who sought to take advantage of this confusion and despair to advance his own social position." Matsuno felt these themes allowed the game to still be relevant in the current year, during which he felt "inequality and division are still deeply rooted in our society."

In October 2020, a Facebook account known as "Leftist Gamer Memes" posted a meme depicting Wiefgraf saying left-wing rhetoric in a similar vein to the anti-capitalist themes in Final Fantasy Tactics:


This meme would be shared so much that other users and internet sources began to mistakenly cite it as a real quote from the game. The game's writer and director Yasumi Matsuno eventually discovered the meme and clarified it was a fake quote, but nonetheless saw it as "something I would have written." He felt the meme's appeal stemmed from people dropping the game after its first chapter and not fully seeing the rest of Wiefgraf's character, stating:

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, he stated that the original name for the song "Remnants" was "zun zurizuri zunzun" in reference to the rhythm of the opening motif. However, this name was too long, and it was shortened to "zun zun".

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Masaharu Iwata, he stated in the description for "Under the Stars" that he figures “‘I should write a normal song’, but when I do, oh my!” He also commented that the frequency range on the song’s instrumentation was “a little overstuffed”.

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Masaharu Iwata, he stated that when his older brother Sakimoto heard the "Night Attack" theme, he said to Iwata that the theme sounded like it was done by a foreigner trying to write something that sounds "Japanese". Iwata took it as a harsh comment, but agreed with him, admitting that he was too influenced by playing a lot of Western games at the time. He really wanted the atmosphere to feel like a night raid, but the latter half of the song "sounds like all the soldiers are dancing around or something".

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Masaharu Iwata, he stated that the "Decisive Battle" felt out of step with the game's historical period. He felt it was more like "a muscle-bound action hero wielding a gatling gun in one hand", instead of wielding sword and sorcery, and apologized if it sounded a little phoned in, adding "I'd do it differently now".

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, he joked that he wrote "Bloody Excrement" while he was thinking about the game's protagonist, Mr. Forest Bear, a "pleasant, heartwarming tale of Mr. Bear’s family adventure, that's really never explained", and that his original idea for the song was to make it feel like a pleasant, heartwarming story of Mr. Bear’s family adventure.

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, he stated that he'd tried to evoke "the feeling that you were fighting in the midst of mother nature all around you" for "A Chapel".

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, he stated that the "Random Waltz" theme was his very first battle theme he wrote, and it served as something like a test for different sampling techniques he wanted to experiment with, which he found very memorable. He also stated that, at the time of this interview, when he thought back on when he wrote the theme, it felt like it was 5 years ago, but it was actually only half a year.

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Masaharu Iwata, he stated that the title for "Back Fire" is actually “Chotto Otona no Daakuman” (“A More Mature Darkman”). A few years prior for the game Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, he composed the last boss theme named “Darkman Abikyoukan” (“Darkman Pandemonium”), which he described as an "up-tempo, kind of insane sounding song" on a level of madness that "Back Fire" couldn't quite reach, hence the title.

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Masaharu Iwata, he stated that "Run Past Through The Plain" ended up being the third battle theme. He thought that the two previous battle themes were too "in your face", so he decided to create a song with a central melody that sounded more friendly. Eventually it ended up sounding like "something you’d hear at a matsuri (local festival)".

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Masaharu Iwata, he stated that the theme for "Unavoidable Battle" was the first battle theme he created. Before "Unavoidable Battle", he created another battle theme before it, but it felt too happy-sounding, so the team rejected it. As he reflected on it, he created "Unavoidable Battle" to be a more pointed, exaggerated song, while the rejected music was re-purposed and used for the Unit Introduction theme, which is played over the opening demo.

In a 1997 interview with the game's director Yasumi Matsuno, found within the Famicon Tsuushin magazine, he was asked if terrain effects were in the game. He reponded:

In a 1997 interview with the game's producer Hironobu Sakaguchi, found within the Famicon Tsuushin magazine, he was asked how the development of the game started. He responded:

"The title “Final Fantasy Tactics” was actually something I thought up four years ago. We even took out a trademark on the name. I’m a strategy game fan myself, and I had been thinking about what Final Fantasy would look like as a strategy game. I’m the type of person who comes up with a name first, so nothing much else had been concretely set down, but there was a “Final Fantasy Tactics” design document that I had made then. Unfortunately I was caught up in the development of the main FF series—which were coming out at a quick pace, one every 12-18 months—so my plans for FFT remained unrealized. But it is true that the kernel of the development goes back 4 years, to 1993."

In a 1997 interview with the game's director Yasumi Matsuno, found within the Famicon Tsuushin magazine, he was asked if his "grand, dramatic" music would be in the game. He responded:

"Actually, in the beginning the idea for the music was more in-line with Sakaguchi’s tastes: exciting, energetic, and upbeat music. But owing to the direction we decided to take with the game—or my personality—we changed it. If FFT had mainly involved Humans vs. Monsters battles, then I think exciting, upbeat music would have been very appropriate, but in this strategy game your opponents are other human beings, and that kind of bright, upbeat music wasn’t working. There’s also the fact that Final Fantasy Tactics takes place in a hard, serious world. So I think it’s only natural for the songs to be similar."

There are unused jobs that were applied to NPCs who never appear in combat.

Arc Duke is assigned to Barinten.
Art Witch is assigned to Balmafula.
Bi-Count is assigned to Rudvich.
Bishop is assigned to Simon.
Cardinal is assigned to Draclau.
Duke is assigned to Larg.
Another separate class named Duke is assigned to Goltana.
High Priest is assigned to Funeral.
Phony Saint is assigned to Ajora.

There are five unused variations of fanfare present in the game files.