Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

"Lions and Tigers and Moogles, Oh My!"

Final Fantasy. Let that sink in for a couple seconds, Final Fantasy. Unless you were born yesterday (even someone under a rock has heard of Final Fantasy!), you know that this is one of the most respected video game series, ever, end of story, period. The latest one over here in the States is Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced, a portable version of the older strategy game Final Fantasy Tactics for the Playstation. How did our old friend Square do this time? Well, let's take a look!

You begin the game with an opening scene depicting a good old fashioned snow ball fight! You are a new kid who has just moved to this town called St. Ivalice and don't really have any friends. Two kids become your friends almost instantly, a loud-mouthed girl named Ritz, and a shy boy that's picked on named Mewt. This snowball fight teachers you the battle system and is just the beginning of a longish game tutorial. The snowball fight ends with our friend Mewt being smacked in the head with a rock buried in a snowball. *This is the point where you bust out the mad sword and cut everything to pieces... well... not quite...* The teacher comes and yells at the bad boys and you three start to walk home when Mewt talks about how he wants to go buy a cool book at a local bookstore. You, being the nice kid you are, decide to invite both over later to read it with your younger brother who is in a wheelchair. When they get there you start to read it and while your sleeping find yourself transferred to a magical kingdom named Ivalice (hey where have I heard that name before?) with Humans, Bangaa (think humanoid lizards that walk upright), Vierna (almost an elf-like type race), Nu Mou (you'll just have to see these guys for yourself...), and MOOGLES (kind of like stuffed animals)! Needless to say, you're very freaked out. When you get there you call a Bangaa you meet a lizard and he, doing what any other Bangaa would do using such a racist comment like that, wants to cut you up. Thankfully, a helpful Moogle named Montblanc comes to your rescue and you end up fighting another introductory battle in this world of magic. Later you end up joining a clan of people with Montblanc and travel throughout the world dispatching evil-doers!

A clan of about 1-30 people (usually you'll have enough for anything you need to do). The battle system is pretty simple but very good. Battles take place on a grid of different environments (deserts, cities, forests, etc.) and with some different landscaping items (high/low elevations, trees, etc.). Battles are conducted in turns with each person fighting getting one turn at a time. On a unit's turn, that unit (unless it has certain negative status attributes which I'll talk about later) can do several things; move, fight, use a class action or item, and wait. Let's break these down:

Move: Lets you pick where to move your unit (certain spaces are colored indicating possible choices). Most melee attacks require you to be close to an enemy so getting closer/farther from an enemy will play a big part in battling. If you move and find you can't do anything you want to do you can press the B button twice to move back (free of penalty and can do it as much as needed, only action where you can do this).

Fight: A standard melee attack (i.e. wacking someone with a staff). Doesn't necessarily do a ton of damage but you'll be using this enough.

Class Action/Item: You can use an item (think potions, phoenix downs, etc.) or use a class action. In the game there are tons of classes (about 20 or so). Each class has at least one or two unique classes (called jobs) and then some standard ones. Some jobs include (not nearly all of them) Archer, Thief, Fighter, Black Mage (basic ones) to Sniper, Sage, Blue Mage, and Templar (more advanced). To get to more advanced jobs you have to have a certain amounts of skills (class actions). These are gotten in a way similar to Final Fantasy 9 where weapons, armors, etc. can have actions associated with them (sometimes only one, sometimes two or three all in different jobs). Once you equip that item you can use that skill. After you battle for a while that character gets the ability to use that skill without having that item equipped. Some skills range from the Thief's (Steal Armor, Steal Exp, etc.) to the Archers (Aim: Legs, Blackout, etc.). Skills can do several things, cause damage, steal an item, cause a status attributes, and so much more. More on this later.

Wait: Your character's turn ends. You get to pick which way the unit faces. An enemy has less of a chance of hitting that unit if it's hitting it head on and more of a chance if hitting it from the back or side.

Status attributes are things which change a unit in a good way or bad. One might be Immobilize which makes it so that unit can't move. Another might be Heal which heals a unit's HP. This makes the game have a lot more strategy. For example, if you are outnumbered, you might try to Immobilize a melee unit near the back so that you can deal with units closer without worrying about fighting the whole force at one time.

Battles generally happen one of two ways, Clan Battles, and Missions. Clan Battles happen when your unit on the overhead map (think a map of the United States with dots in certain places. These dots are connected by arrows depicting how to get from one place to the other. To move simply move your cursor to the place you want to go and hit A. You are here if your not in a cut scene, battle, or shop) runs into the avatar of another clan. Missions are bought from a pub at a city. Yes, that's right, you buy missions. Missions are generally very cheap and if you win you gain quite a profit. There are two types of missions, Battles, and Dispatch. Battles are the normal battle type mission where you have to kill an enemy force, a specific unit, or accomplish a certain goal. Dispatch missions are a bit simpler. To do them all you have to do is select a unit. Then, in a couple of days (moving to another location on the overhead map is a day) or a couple of battles (it tells you what the case is and how long you have to wait), the unit reports back with the results and exp. If you fail a mission it becomes available later from a pub. Missions are were you will spend most of the game seeing as how there are 300 of them! Most are standard 6 on 6 battles but some are a bit more tricky and require more strategy.

Speaking of battles, there is one more major implement, the Judge system. In most every battle there is a judge. The judge doesn't really do anything except move bodies out of your way and give you yellow or red cards. Each battle is governed by a set of laws. Laws consists of two parts; things you can't do, and things you should do. For example, a law for a battle might prohibit the use of swords and recommend magic. If you use a sword during the battle the judge will get really mad and give that unit either a yellow card (think warning with a small penalty) or a red card. If a unit gets a red card it goes to jail. To get that unit out you either have to pay money or put another unit in jail for that units sentence and pay a little bit of money. Not very fun. If you do something that is recommended, you get a Judge Point. Judge points let you use Totema (think the classic Final Fantasy summons) and combos. Combos are pretty cool. If you do a combo, that unit, and any other unit with an active combo skill, gain up on a target for an attack. This can be mucho helpful. A minor complaint is that some of the laws are a bit vague and say something such as Copycat or Ganging Up. Copycat doesn't allow you do the same action as the unit previous it and Ganging Up doesn't allow you to use combos. Only a minor gripe and if you break it you'll only do it once.

Judges aren't really all bad though. After each battle (because of them?), all your units are healed and revived, and all status attributes are gone. Way to go judges! There is a downside however. If you venture into a region known as a Jagd, if your units die, they are gone for good! Be careful, and save!

Saving is pretty simple, it can be done mid-battle or on the overhead map (two save slots). Save a lot! Especially before battles or just after changing a classes job. Make use of that second save slot!

The graphics are very well done, especially considering the amazing depth and massiveness of this game. There's a different sprite for each class and job and an animation for every skill, attack, etc. Sounds aren't bad but you really don't notice them, you're that into the game.

This game has a lot of replay if you haven't guessed it already. With some 20 jobs, tons of skills and units, 300 missions, and a great story, you'll be playing this for a while!

My take: I really love this game. Usually I play a game for about a day or two and drop off. Not so with this game. This has got to be my current favorite game out of any system. The battle system, story, characters, missions, everything is done awesomely and all blends together without a hitch. I salute you Square!

Note to Players of the Original Final Fantasy Tactics: As you may have noticed, this game isn't very much like the original. Which is better? Personally I think that the Judge system and addition of new races pulls this one ahead of the old one. This is a very opinionated question and I'm sure a lot of people will have different views, but this is how I feel. To those who haven't played the original: Play it! You'll probably like it no matter what if you have the patience to get into it.

Summary: Square pulls off yet another awesome game. The games story, various systems, graphics, everything, come together to form something you won't be able to put down. If you like some strategy, or even if you like to just beat things into oblivion, this game will have something for you!

(Since I didn't want to list pretty much everything about the game, I'll just list some of the negatives.)
Negatives:
Some of the laws have confusing or unclear names.
If you save during a battle you can't go back to before the battle (unless you did a regular save before it) unless you die (which isn't good!)
If you have a regular Gameboy Advanced this thing will make you shell out lots of money on batteries!

Overall Rating: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/08/03