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The W - Video Games - Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Review
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Excalibur05
Knackwurst








Since: 19.1.02
From: Minnesota

Since last post: 2906 days
Last activity: 2774 days
#1 Posted on
Final Fantasy...back on Gameboy? You don't say. I was a huge fan of the original Tactics and the Final Fantasy series in general. In fact, some of the Game Boy games that still make their way into the machine are the "Final Fantasy Legends" games from 10 years ago. I've got a copy...Let's review shall we?

Background:

You are Marche (or whatever you'd like, I always switch Square's nicknames), the new kid in school. You don't really have any friends, you don't have a father, and your brother is very ill. One day during a battle system tutorial cleverly disguised as a school sponsored snowball fight, you meet Mewt and Ritz who quickly become your friends. Mewt shows Ritz, your brother, and you a book which seems to have some sort of strange (magical even) writing in it. The kids spend some time pondering what it would be like to live in a world of magic, and finally decide that they'd like to end up in the world of Final Fantasy, their favorite game (hahaha Square). The Magic Book, being magic and whatnot fulfils their wish, and the kids get seperated into the world of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Shortly thereafter you're introduced to your first soldier and get a little lesson in etiquette. Then you're off on the story.

Story

Marche is trying to find his friends and get out of this crazy land. To do that, he needs to help out his clan (which you can name) do odd jobs and missions in their competition with other clans. They consist of two types of mission. The first is a simple fetch quest (which may require certain items or skills) and is the easiest, as you don't need to physically do anything but choose who goes out on the quest, however, these quest tend to eat up time, and while they do, you're short one soldier. The second type is the battle quest. It is the most common type of quest, and obviously the most difficult. Each quest must be purchased (the harder the quest, the more expensive it is, which also goes for story v. non-story quests, advancing the story is more pricey), however you can usually at least double what you paid the information dealer (found in bars across the country) as well as haul in some weapons or items along the way, some quests are timed by the way, so don't take too many on at one time and miss one. As you progress through the quests, new locations are opened and things start to unravel a bit more.

Grade: B

Comment: It's an interesting little diversion from your standard Final Fantasy story fare. Obviously things start a bit more complicated than they might, but the story's clip is only as brisk as you make it, and there's plenty of fun to be had just taking monster bashing or monk saving jobs when you get sick of dealing with the clan wars.

Gameplay

About what you'd expect, I'd think, if you'd played Tactics before. This plays more as a "Final Fantasy Sequel" (i.e. not a direct sequel, but a new story with twists and tweaks to the engine). People can choose either to attack (given a range), use one of the skills of their jobs (i.e. special attacks, stealing gil, a health boost, etc., jobs are changable before a mission and at the travel menu screen), move around the board, use magic, or just wait it out until their next turn. Turns move from the fastest individual on the board to the slowest. One of the more interesting features is the "judge" an observer who enforces the "laws" of the land. Laws are attacks (i.e. Sword use, bow use, fire attacks, paralysing attacks, etc) and skills (guarding or items use for example) that are restricted from use in this battle. If you ignore the judge, you will be penalized according to the severity of the crime (1-5). An infraction may land your soldier in jail, where you'll have to go bail him/her out. Luckily, the jail is in your home town, but it can be a hassle if you find yourself away for a while, so try not to make too many mistakes. Travel on the outer board is on a world map (which you lay out however you want, however there IS a way the game would like you to do it). There are locations and towns. Locations are places in which missions occur and "treasure" may be hidden (via the "Treasure Search" option). Towns have bars (where you can pick up new missions, for example), a shop (for equipment and items) and a location specific spot (for example a holding pen for any monsters you may have captured for use later on). The interface is fairly smooth if not completely inutitive (there's quite a bit of menu jogging to get exactly what you want), though at times it feels a tad clumsy (however I've only found that to be especially true when you're first trying out new jobs, eventually you either just find your own shortcuts around the inaddequacies of the system or you learn to deal with it). You do get the feeling that everybody from the mages to the soldiers to the beast masters might have a purpose as you move on, and you'd be surprised to find how many times you're right.

Grade: A-

Comment: I'd probably rate it the full monty if the interfaces felt a bit more intuitive. There are just some things (Skill selection, for example) that you have to navigate what seems like just one too many menus to get to. And that's the problem, everything just seems like it's just one menu too deep. Even something like attacking takes several button presses. Maybe it SHOULD take several button presses, but the end result is battles where your clan should just clean up taking quite a bit of effort to complete. The actual game itself, however, with all it's options and skill sets and missions is fantastic. The AI, in case you might be wondering, is serviceable. Sometimes it picks odd targets (my soldiers were whiping out a group, which continued to focus almost entirely on my archer despite the fact that she was doing almost no damage to them, and they were no longer at long range), but it has fairly good survival instincts, and it isn't stupid by any means.

Sound

I wasn't expecting much, and not much is pretty much what I've got. The song tracks are cute, but pretty standard fare when compared to any other games of this era (Golden Sun springs to mind). They are solid musical scores...but when you compare them to their big brothers, you'd much rather just have a CD player and your headphones. Everything else is pretty...once again...standard. Swords clank, arrows twerp, monsters rumble and people oof and cry as they die.

Grade: B-

Comments: A few years ago this would all have been state of the art, it's still cool now, but it's nothing terribly special. But, again, that's what I was expecting.

Graphics

As graphically impressive as it could be given the hardware. Locals and characters are wonderfully modeled, and the profile pictures (in a very Final Fantasy/Anime-style are very well done). There's no really fancy animations (no super summons like on the PS1 or 2), but the game is more designed around the thematics of the battle itself and not the visuals, which in many ways is a better deal.

Grade: B+

Graphically it's a leap forward from most GBA games I've played. The graphic arts people put a lot of effort into the backgrounds and it shows. Character sprites really haven't changed all THAT much from any of the other GBA games, but that's not anything bad. You know?

OVERALL: A-

If you liked Final Fantasy Tactics, I probably don't need to convince you of anything. If you weren't you probably won't like this one either, because they haven't really changed the base enough to make it a different enough game to change your mind. So to anyone who hasn't playd FFT or to those who are undecided, go out and get it. It's going to take you a while, and it paces itself with a lot more emphasis on figuring out exactly what it is you're doing than any other Final Fantasy. The game is only as linear as you make it (by which I mean that there is a very linear storyline, but you determine when you follow it). It's good stuff, highly recomended, but then again it's not for everybody.



Wisconsin Badgers: 2-0 (Uh...Akron? Defense, don't allow that many points ever again. Now if Lee Evans could score from the one every week, that'd be great)


Minnesota Vikings: 1-0 (Had me scared there at the end, but the defense was mega-solid, and the offense looked good. Dare I hope for a good year?)
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EddieBurkett
Boudin blanc








Since: 3.1.02
From: GA in person, NJ in heart

Since last post: 54 days
Last activity: 1 hour
#2 Posted on
Good review. This sounds like pretty much everything else I've been reading about it. (The only bad stuff are the limitations imposed by the GBA.) After hitting a bunch of stores in the area today, I have to ask how you got your hands on a copy one day early?



Low tide for the time being.
Excalibur05
Knackwurst








Since: 19.1.02
From: Minnesota

Since last post: 2906 days
Last activity: 2774 days
#3 Posted on
If I told you that I'd have to kill you...before Nintendo killed me.



Wisconsin Badgers: 2-0 (Uh...Akron? Defense, don't allow that many points ever again. Now if Lee Evans could score from the one every week, that'd be great)


Minnesota Vikings: 1-0 (Had me scared there at the end, but the defense was mega-solid, and the offense looked good. Dare I hope for a good year?)
Twist of Fate
Bauerwurst








Since: 2.5.03
From: Adelaide, South Aus.

Since last post: 7232 days
Last activity: 6514 days
ICQ:  
#4 Posted on
Final Fantasy 7 is the be all and end all of Final Fantasy.
8 was ok for abit, but then it sucked.
9 was completely crap and childish with it's little animal people.
and i didn't really get into my PS2 as much as i was expecting to, so i didn't get into 10.



vsp
Andouille








Since: 3.1.02
From: Philly

Since last post: 6468 days
Last activity: 2723 days
#5 Posted on | Instant Rating: 0.00
Of course, the Tactics games are so different from the "main" Final Fantasy line that they're just about impossible to compare directly...




"When WCW tries to be racy, it's generally about as light-heartedly entertaining as watching a man rape a woman in a chicken yard." -- Dark Cheetah
MollyFan2K2
Blutwurst








Since: 26.6.02
From: Ware, MA

Since last post: 6150 days
Last activity: 6096 days
#6 Posted on
    Originally posted by Twist of Fate
    Final Fantasy 7 is the be all and end all of Final Fantasy.
    8 was ok for abit, but then it sucked.
    9 was completely crap and childish with it's little animal people.
    and i didn't really get into my PS2 as much as i was expecting to, so i didn't get into 10.


Did you ever play any Final Fantasy game for the Super Nintendo? Just curious.

If you did, you'd know the be all and end all of Final Fantasy is FF6.



A shark on whiskey is mighty risky, a shark on beer is a beer engineer.
Scott Summets
Sujuk








Since: 27.6.02

Since last post: 7340 days
Last activity: 7308 days
#7 Posted on
    Originally posted by MollyFan2K2
      Originally posted by Twist of Fate
      Final Fantasy 7 is the be all and end all of Final Fantasy.
      8 was ok for abit, but then it sucked.
      9 was completely crap and childish with it's little animal people.
      and i didn't really get into my PS2 as much as i was expecting to, so i didn't get into 10.


    Did you ever play any Final Fantasy game for the Super Nintendo? Just curious.

    If you did, you'd know the be all and end all of Final Fantasy is FF6.


And if you went back further you'd know it's FF2 (I guess its been retconned into being correctly called FF4 like it is in Japan, but damn it it has been FF2 to me since 91!)



Have you tried the Chai? It's tea!
MollyFan2K2
Blutwurst








Since: 26.6.02
From: Ware, MA

Since last post: 6150 days
Last activity: 6096 days
#8 Posted on
    Originally posted by Scott Summets
      Originally posted by MollyFan2K2
        Originally posted by Twist of Fate
        Final Fantasy 7 is the be all and end all of Final Fantasy.
        8 was ok for abit, but then it sucked.
        9 was completely crap and childish with it's little animal people.
        and i didn't really get into my PS2 as much as i was expecting to, so i didn't get into 10.


      Did you ever play any Final Fantasy game for the Super Nintendo? Just curious.

      If you did, you'd know the be all and end all of Final Fantasy is FF6.


    And if you went back further you'd know it's FF2 (I guess its been retconned into being correctly called FF4 like it is in Japan, but damn it it has been FF2 to me since 91!)


No, I still have to give the nod to FF6. Don't get me wrong, FF4 was my "first love" of RPGs. FF1 was ok, but FF4 was just awesome. The reason I think FF6 is better is because of the graphics, larger story, villain (heck, my AOL name is AnimeLordKefka), and less cliched plot points(Although sometimes it does just feel good to beat a good ol' big bad guy in black and protect those crystals.) The two are neck and neck with me, but I'd give the win to FF6 by a nose.

However, Cecil is still a badass, Edge is still the man, and I will always *heart* Rydia.



A shark on whiskey is mighty risky, a shark on beer is a beer engineer.
EddieBurkett
Boudin blanc








Since: 3.1.02
From: GA in person, NJ in heart

Since last post: 54 days
Last activity: 1 hour
#9 Posted on
Dig the topic change!!!

I'm now doubly surprised at your ability to get Tactics a day before release, as my girlfriend went to her local EB games on Monday and put her $5 down to pre-order. When she returned after work on Tuesday, the clerk said they still had yet to recieve their shipment. They said they'd call (and never did), so now it looks like tomorrow is the earliest she'll get it.

Of course, *I* won't get to play it until Thursday or Friday when I head down to her place. And I'll be bringing my 'cube and GBA Player, too. It'd be wrong for me to head down Thursday and spend all day Friday playing while she's at work, wouldn't it?



Low tide for the time being.
drjayphd
Scrapple
Moderator








Since: 22.4.02
From: New Hampshire

Since last post: 757 days
Last activity: 341 days
ICQ:  
#10 Posted on
MollyFan: I still don't quite get the *wuv* for FF4. FF6 is still the King Shit of Final Fantasy Games, and FF5 (don't remember where it came out in the US, but it wasn't out for the SNES... maybe a PSX compilation?) is pretty damn good, too. FF4's not bad... I just can't get into it as much.

As for FFTA: It's not a game that's gonna make me run out and buy a GBA (I'll do that in due time, of course), but I'd play it. I haven't really played a whole lot of games like this... I think the closest one I played was Ogre Battle. But I will say this: I'd do whoever was the actress playing Ritz in the ads.



Today's Out-Of-Context Quote, Courtesy of hardygrrl:

"...between the grime layer and the Seventies game show host hair, I'd rather rim Undertaker after a White Castle/Schlitz bender."
Lexus
Andouille








Since: 2.1.02
From: Stafford, VA

Since last post: 1453 days
Last activity: 199 days
#11 Posted on
    Originally posted by MollyFan2K2
      Originally posted by Scott Summets
        Originally posted by MollyFan2K2
          Originally posted by Twist of Fate
          Final Fantasy 7 is the be all and end all of Final Fantasy.
          8 was ok for abit, but then it sucked.
          9 was completely crap and childish with it's little animal people.
          and i didn't really get into my PS2 as much as i was expecting to, so i didn't get into 10.


        Did you ever play any Final Fantasy game for the Super Nintendo? Just curious.

        If you did, you'd know the be all and end all of Final Fantasy is FF6.


      And if you went back further you'd know it's FF2 (I guess its been retconned into being correctly called FF4 like it is in Japan, but damn it it has been FF2 to me since 91!)


    No, I still have to give the nod to FF6. Don't get me wrong, FF4 was my "first love" of RPGs. FF1 was ok, but FF4 was just awesome. The reason I think FF6 is better is because of the graphics, larger story, villain (heck, my AOL name is AnimeLordKefka), and less cliched plot points(Although sometimes it does just feel good to beat a good ol' big bad guy in black and protect those crystals.) The two are neck and neck with me, but I'd give the win to FF6 by a nose.

    However, Cecil is still a badass, Edge is still the man, and I will always *heart* Rydia.


Edgar will beat all them with his chainsaw.

Seriously, FF6 may not have been as graphically impressive as FF7, but I still gotta give the nod to it based on it's sheer awesomeness. Atma Weapon, Kefka, the guy with the sword techniques that I named after myself all the time so I don't remember his Square name, as well as every of 14 (including Umaro and the copycat guy) hidden characters having distinct and unique abilities and attributes (except the Copycat guy, who'd just have the awesome Blitz ability anyhow.)

Geez, I'm getting all nostalgic now...





Kane gets flustered that he didn't get to do something silly this week. Ho hum.
drjayphd
Scrapple
Moderator








Since: 22.4.02
From: New Hampshire

Since last post: 757 days
Last activity: 341 days
ICQ:  
#12 Posted on
Lexus: His name was Cyan. Copycat guy was Gogo, by the way.

Although I don't see anyone giving FF2 (Japanese version) any credit... interesting experience system where you... ya know, get stronger based on what you actually do. Haven't played very far into it, but that's because I have no attention span.



Today's Out-Of-Context Quote, Courtesy of hardygrrl:

"...between the grime layer and the Seventies game show host hair, I'd rather rim Undertaker after a White Castle/Schlitz bender."
Scott Summets
Sujuk








Since: 27.6.02

Since last post: 7340 days
Last activity: 7308 days
#13 Posted on
In terms of FF6/3 I felt all proud when I took down Kefka's tower at the end and Kefka with just 3 people, one in each sub group. I used Terra, Celes, and Strago. Gave Strago the Gem Box and Economizer, and he would just do the ultra cheese Quick/Ultima, Ultima/Ultima, Ultima/Ultima. Terra had an Economizer and was the healer and also could bust out a smaller Quick and Ultima combo. Celes though rocked the party with Gengi Glove and Atma Weapon and the other best sword (forget the name) and the Offering and would hit 8 times and use Quick to get even more. Also if anyone wants to level guys super quick, take a strong guy and a weak guy in to the Dinosaur forest, since you have 2 guys EXP grows twice as fast for each guy, and give the weaker one the EXP Egg. You should be able to easily pop T-Rexs for hella exp.



Have you tried the Chai? It's tea!
EddieBurkett
Boudin blanc








Since: 3.1.02
From: GA in person, NJ in heart

Since last post: 54 days
Last activity: 1 hour
#14 Posted on
Finally got to play the game for a decent amount of time.

After adjusting to the changes, I really like this game. I just wish they hadn't changed as much as they did. Although most of those changes were necessitated by virtue of the GBA, I miss the old interface. Although I'm normally very supportive (defensive?) of Nintendo, this game makes me wonder why the couldn't fit even ONE more button on the GBA. I don't mind playing on the GameBoy Player, but the select button on the SP is rather annoying to try to hit.

I do like the various graphic mode for the various devices. I have yet to see how it looks on a decent tv, however.

I'm still too early in the game to comment on the story or the difficulty (it's been easy so far, but I'd like to think its just that I'm that good). I'm still adjusting from the mindset of the old style of play, and trying to figure out how to best build characters up. (How do you know when someone has mastered a given class? Is it even possible? In the old game, I'd wait until someone had mastered something to move them on. I don't want a party full of the starting classes simply because I didn't know to advance everyone...)

I also miss the "equip best" option. Equipping characters takes way too damn long now, especially since I'm more concerned about ability advancement than I am about the stats each item gives.

The mission system is fun. The clan system is neat. I like how you can avoid the random clan battles.

Overall, this game is so good that I'm willing to risk my girlfriend's wrath and swing by Target to pick up a copy for $30, instead of using my hers on the weekends. She might be mad I'm *wasting* my money, but at least we'd get to try out the multiplayer, which looks promising.

Plus, I like how my dopey beastmaster looks like Eeyore.



Low tide for the time being.
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- thecubsfan, NCAA 2006 (2005)
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