Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

"Fire Emblem, eat your heart out."

This game is excellent. When I first bought it, it was because I didn't want Banjo Pilot. Now I've come to see that decision as a godsend. This game is not only amazingly rendered, but also challenging. It's hard to see that anymore (Metal Gear Solid, maybe). It's unlike other Final Fantasys - no dumb ATB non-movement system, but instead an ATB system WITH movement. The only other thing that is similar is the fact that there are Moogles. And some of the weapon names. It puts a new twist on the Final Fantasy franchise.

Story
7/10
It's a little more far-fetched and complex than usual. Normally, FF has a quest to complete, bad guys to murder and random people who sell you things, oblivious to the war raging not 4 meters away. This has all that, but it's quite...odd. For one, a storybook changes the entire human world into a place called Ivalice. A few more species spring up overnight too (and you meet only two human females...). There are wars flaring up everywhere between Clans, which are like big family groups (families don't exist anymore).

**SPOILERS**

The hero's best friend turns out to be the big enemy, who isn't the enemy at all. To return to the human world, our hero must destroy 5 crystals and their guardians, who unexpectedly join up as the story progresses. Not only that, but suddenly hero-boy is Public Enemy No. 1. Great. Ritz, your female friend, tries to kill you to stop the world returning, and the Queen of Ivalice turns out to be a floaty blue thing that likes to force great pain on you because of Mewt (your best friend). And all this because little bullied Mewt wants his way. Sort of pointless, really. Still, it's still trademark Square. There's enough random characters to sink the Titanic. An eccentric Card-maker, a disgruntled sage trying to murder you and a long-dead moogle knight all co-exist in the muddle of a land. Odd, but enjoyable.

Gameplay
10/10
Innovative indeed. Instead of the ol' level-up and learn skill basis, Square have created a totally different way of learning skills. Equip a weapon, and you gain a skill (usually). Unequip it, and you lose it. How to keep the skill? Simply equip the weapon/armor/thing it question for a few battles, and you master it. Each skirmish nets all combatants AP, and skills require this to master. Once you master a skill, it's yours to command for the rest of the game. Some techs are harder to master than others. The ever-present Ultima moves require 999 AP. This sounds low, but it isn't. First Aid, on the other hand, requires a mere 100 AP. Easy. You start out with some basic classes. Black and White Mages, Archer, Soldier, White Monk, that sort of thing. Master those classes's skills to gain new pathways, to even more skills. Joy unbounded. Moving on the world map is easy. Point and press is all. Another aspect of the gameplay is the quest function. Go into a pub and ask the bartender for requests (quests). Accept and deploy. Some require you to send out party members. Some are battles. Some unlock new quests. It's quite a fun little system.

Battle System
10/10
I'm not being generous. It is, simply put, the most astonishingly simple, yet awesome battle system ever invented. It's comparable to Fire Emblem, but with less random blueness, and a lot more sprite detail (hard to imagine, I know). You move your characters, then perform a technique (or perform, then move. Hard to imagine why Fire Emblem and other games like that disallow this feature). The techniques are all basic. Fight is a weapon attack. Then there are two slots to put in class techniques. By class techniques, I mean the moves unique to certain classes (Chivalry is Paladin-only, Blue Magic is Blue Mage, etc, etc). One slot is automatically filled with that class's tech. The other is modifiable, allowing for a top-notch tech combo. For instance, combine the Viera archer skill of Blackout with the Assassin skill Last Breath. It's a great and fun system allowing for all types of combos. Attacks have more chance of hitting from the enemy's side and back (that's right, you choose the side to face). You can use heights and obstacles to your advantage. The combo and ultimate attack feature is still there. It's just harder to use. Combos require the mastering of a combo skill. They then need at least 1 JP to use. JP are Judge Points given by judges to battle victors. Ultimate attacks are summons, which hit all foes for stupendous damage. They require 10 JP, the max. Quite a nice system, and not only is it easy to master, it's challenging.

Class Design
9/10
I love the class design. There are 5 races. Humans, Moogles (cuddly mouse things), Viera (bunny girls), Nu Mou (intelligent beast type animals) and Bangaa (Talking lizards, as Marche says). Each race has a certain attribute. Humans are all-rounders. Moogles are mech-wise. Viera are fast. Nu Mou are quite intelligent, which makes Bangaa the strong, slightly dumb race. The humans get a lot of choice. Archers, mages, warriors, even ninjas! Moogles have a few mages and classes that utilize technology (Gunners and Gadgeteers). Viera have classes that require speed - archers, assassins, certain mages - and Nu Mou have a lot of Magic-users. They also have some animal-based classes. You can guess the Bangaa way of life (strength above all...). You can chain these classes together for devastating effect.

Graphics
9/10
The graphics are nice. The problem is, the summons look a lil' wonky, and every non-unique sprite is the same. The spells look as good as the PS2 versions, and sound better too. The character design itself is good enough to make you sick and the portraits are drop-dead awesome. Can't complain here. My personal favourites are the Blizzaga and Thundaga techniques. Adrammelech is also great to look at.

Difficulty
7/10 (10/10 if you don't train)
Hard to begin, easy at the end. It simple to overtrain, even if you DON'T want to. This is because you want to master those skills. You gain levels unknowingly, and because of that, I had a lv43 by Chapter 8. Some weapons have ridiculous stats. The Orihalcon, while easy to get, has an astounding 60 power (that's high in this). If you want challenge, just go through with no extra training (nigh impossible).

Linking
5/10
Seriously. It deserved that score. Only Co-op, no PvP. Stupid, stupid, stupid. However, you can get some nice things via this. Also, the missions are random, and you need to have a strong sense of teamwork to do it. It develops teamwork too. Still, PvP would be fun beyond belief in this game. Unfortunately, there isn't any. So it gets a 5.

Weapon and Items
10/10
The names and design of these equips and items are great. The ever-present: Excalibur, Masamune, Nirvana Staff, Godhand. They've all been included. There are a fair few categories. Swords, Broadswords, Knightswords, Spears, Staves, Rods, Knuckles, Instruments, Bows, Greatbows, Rapiers, Katanas, Daggers, Guns, even the Souls of animals! Great design. The items, on the other hand, are equally well-planned. The potions are there, as are the ethers. Elixirs, Phoenix Downs and Antidotes too. Some more blurred ones - Maiden Kiss, Soft, Bandage - they are all there, they will all be used, they all rule. Kudos, Square, kudos.

Secrets
10/10 (3/10 if you use a guide)
This is a great game. There's enough little tweaks to make anybody squeal. Secret characters, the extra Judge missions, stealing rare items in general, it's all great fun. If you use a walkthrough, the fun is spoiled though.

Music/Sound/FX
8/10
Novel to begin with. That's all. Kudos to Nobuo for another well-composed score, but it gains an irritating touch whenever you are struggling. I don't even bother - I turn it down. The FX are nice. All attacks have a 'whack' sound and magic has a glimmery type sound. Nice and fun.

Replay Value
10/10
Finish all 300 quests (no mean feat), complete the extra missions, get all of your characters to lv50 with all skills, finding those secret characters, then starting again with a database of knowledge. It's so fun, you have to do it to understand.

Price Value
10/10
I would have happily paid a grand for this little beauty. It's brought me 120 hours of fun. Buy it now. Don't even think of renting/borrowing. Just buy and play.

Congratulations Square. You've done it AGAIN. For the umpteenth time, might I add. We look forward to more amazing titles like this in the future. Get this game, and you'll love every moment.

10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/21/06