[Originally written in June 2008]
Hey guys, how’s it hangin’? I’m your host, Zack Fair, and today we’re looking at an RPG that I feel is very underappreciated. So, owing to the fact that in a little more than a week Final Fantasy Tactics A2 hits American shores, I’m going to take a look at Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. As it came from square we were all expecting a certain level of quality, especially since it was their first tactics game since the original smash hit. However some were disappointed in it for several reasons that I feel are over exaggerated. Here’s how I stack up its facets; onto the review.
Plot Summary: You start out with an angled overview of a bunch of kids throwing snowballs. At least that’s what you assume their doing, throwing their arms around like that. After a little while a whistle is blown, and you probably think “up, recess is over”. Well that’s not the case. Instead they separate into what you soon learn are teams. One kid starts to bitch about how he’s stuck with the weaklings, typical middle school spiel. A red headed girl on the other team, Ritz, calls him a pussy and says she’ll switch with him if he’ll stop bitching. They do so, and the teacher shows up to start the snowball fight. So as you sit there thinking, “Man, why can’t school in real life be this cool?”, Ritz and the Teach begin to explain how combat works in this game. It’s kinda lengthy but real helpful if you’re a tactics noob like I was. This fight is pointless aside from the explanation as each snowball only does one damage and just about after everyone has one turn, a cutscene cuts in showing the bullies ganging up on Mewt cause he’s an easy target. Ritz gets pissed and the bullies immediately turn on her, revealing that she’s not a real redhead but dyes it because it’s completely white. Right when she’s about to pound the snot out of one of ‘em for saying that the Teach steps in and calls off the snowball fight, saying that everyone can go home except for the three main bullies. After everyone leaves, Ritz, Mewt, and your character (who’s default name is Marche) hang back to talk. Mewt says he’s going to the book store and asks Marche if he can join him. He says he can’t because his brother, Doned, just came back from the Hospital but that he should just bring the book to his house and Ritz should come too. They all agree to this and begin to leave. On their way they happen upon a man getting chewed out for something. You find out that he’s Mewt’s Dad and that once his wife died the quality of his work started to slip. After this the friends part ways temporarily and as Ritz and Mewt watch Marche walk off, Ritz asks how much Mewt knows about Marche. She says that though his family may have problems, Marche does too, and not just his brother but that he has no Dad as well. Maybe she was tellin’ him to man up or something? Once they all get to Marche’s house, Mewt breaks out the book and through a cinematic you find out it’s about magic and several races of creatures. They banter and eventually fall upon the subject of making a book, or game, real. Of course Mewt says it’d be awesome if FF was real. That night, the book obliged. It’s pages start to turn and you see an angled overview of what you will eventually learn is the town of St. Ivalice. For those who have played this or the original tactics you all know that the country of Ivalice shares the same name. The camera slowly pans down till you start to see random people milling about their usual night routines, and it begins to change things. Snowy St. Ivalice suddenly becomes the magical country of Ivalice, and its inhabitants become Bangaa, Viera, Nu Mou, Moogles, and various other creatures. Your adventure begins from their…..sorry that was so long ^_^;
Graphics: 9/10 Very well done, especially for an early portable game. Though, because of the nature of the game, the sprites and character interaction can be bland, movement is still their. The artwork on the characters is really what should be noted. Very well detailed and interesting. The environments are also nice and create a fun experience for the many tactical battles you will engage in during the game. Attack animations are nothing too fancy, but it is the GBA so bear with it.
Sound: 7/10 Fun and pleasant to the ear, though no real smash hits like in mainstream Final Fantasies. SFX are well placed, but often leave you wishing for more.
Gameplay: 9/10 If you like tactics style games, this is where it’s at for portable games….well excluding War of the lions…. It takes a little while at first, but once you get into the swing of it, its real easy to handle. Fastest characters take turns first. In a characters turn they can move, attack, use a class based skill, or wait and choose a facing (the direction you’re facing). If you just move and wait your next turn comes faster, and your facing helps you dodge attacks. If you’re looking directly at you’re assailant it’s easiest to dodge, from the side it’s a little harder, and if you’re attacked from behind, you’re pretty much screwed. The same goes for your attacks as well. The rest is also pretty standard. You gain clan members by recruiting them after missions and you can customize any character to become any kind of dual class their race can be. For example, you could have a human ninja/paladin, black/white mage or archer/fighter, and so on depending on the characters race and your personal preferences. Abilities are learned through equipped weapons and armor. Through fights your party for that fight gains ability points. After a character masters and memorizes that ability they can than move on to a new piece of equipment and a new skill. Your clan also has special skills like, tracking and negotiating. I have no idea what they do aside from the fact that certain missions require some skills to be at a certain level. Now for the part that everybody hated, and I can’t blame ‘em for it. The judges. During each match there are a set amount of rules which have to be abided by, lest you face a penalty or even imprisonment. If you don’t constantly check laws before an engagement your most powerful character could be rendered useless. The penalties can also be extremely harsh. While some simply take an item or two from you, others drop character stats, which can completely ruin a character and make you start from scratch! The motto of this game is BE CAREFUL. Always, and I mean ALWAYS, check the laws before a match. Later in the game you can obtain anti-law cards which can help, but often times you either don’t have enough of the kind you need or simply can’t get your hands on the right kind. Something fun though is that the overworld map isn’t preset. For some this is a pain but I found it fun to create my own little country to explore.
Replay value: 6/10 This is where things start to fall apart. Though the game never really “ends”, and there are special missions for those who finished the game, it’s not much. Unless you’re a completionist or are a tactics buff, expect to only play this game once.
Closing thoughts: Damn, that was long XD. Though I put it off for a while, I had fun and I hope you did too. This game is a real nice little tactics game, great for a quick fix of RPG and, though I doubt you’ll find it anymore, you should take a look at it…than again war of the lions is already out and A2 is just around the corner….just do what you want I guess. One thing I’d like to add though is that one of my friends complaints was that after you took an action he claimed the game asked you like seven times whether it was ok and I’m damn sure they only ask once. Also, once you pick a facing, you stay like that. No, “Are you sure?” comes to save your ass if you fucked up. Well, time to end this. A BIG thank you to any of you who read through this, I’m Zack Fair and this was Fantasy Friday. See ya next week when I take a little preview at the follow up of this game, Final Fantasy Tactics A2!
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