Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
by Nintendo
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Video Game Reviews of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Customer Review: Brilliant GBA game laid low by annoying "features".
Summary: 2 Stars
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is a fun and addictive game...to a point.
Probably the best feature of the game is that it's perfect for the Gameboy Advance..or at least for frequent short play instead of long sittings. It's quick to hop in to, doesn't have a whole lot of plot for you to forget (this was kind of a downpoint, but having played the game on and off over about 3 months it's become a good thing), and you can make accomplishments with about 10-15 minutes of gameplay (or even save during game in a pinch). It's perfect for travelling.
The gameplay is fun and addictive. It's been a while since I played the Playstation original, but the classes seem better and more balanced, and more meaningful when you combine abilities. It's a great way to kill a half hour here and a half hour there.
Now the things that drag it down.
The Law system is by far it's most annoying feature. It's basically a list of things you can't do in a particular battle. There are two results to breaking said law: 1) for a minor transgression, you get a yellow card. after the battle, it will do somethingbad to your character like lower stats, etc. 2) more severe violations of the law (usually KOing someone with the illegal move) will take you out of the battle and put you straight into prison. The problem is that the yellow card doesn't effect your opponents, because what happens after the battle is irrelevant to them, and usually 2-3 enemies every battle have an ability that converts any severe violations into a yellow card, so they never get removed from battle. In effect, the Law system is a restriction on you and no one else. Also, if your main character ever gets a severe violation, it's game over for you.
The further into the game you get, the more annoying it gets to be because they become more general and more numerous. You'll end up in battles where Swords, Fight (the basic attack command), and color magic (white, black, red, etc) are all forbidden. Great, so you've got about 1 character that can do anything worthwhile, meanwhile the other team is all suited up perfectly to not have to deal with those laws. Sometimes in a long drawnout battle you'll forget what the laws are and accidentally break one. It sucks to get gameover just because after a 45 minute battle (because 90% of your moves are handicapped it gets hard to win quickly) you accidentally break some obscure law like attacking the same opponent twice in a row.
Which brings me to my next complaint. Not all of the laws are clearly spelled out. You'll remember what they are after the first time you break them, but knowing ahead of time is often not possible. For instance: "knightswords" will be banned. None of the offending weapons are labeled as such, so you don't get to know if you're going to break the law until you actually do. Similarly: "ganging up" has something to do with multiple allies attacking the same enemy; hard not to do when it's the last enemy on the board.
The Judge who enforces these laws (one in every battle) also is sort of annoying himself. He stands in the battlefield and takes a turn (and a space) like everyone else. He takes his turn extremely slow though...just sitting there for 20-30 seconds at a time most often, and then moving somewhere or rearranging KOed bodies for some reason. It breaks the momentum of the game.
Customer Review: FFTA is one of the best GBA games available
Summary: 4 Stars
I never played the original tactics game, so for me this was a whole new experience. I was amazed at difference between this game and classic final fantasy games. But being different doesn't mean its bad. The story to this game was a bit confusing at first but it does straighten out quickly. Probably the best feature of the game is the job system. Just giving characters different jobs and mastering the multitude of skills will keep you busy for hours on end. Also, as you progress through the game, the backgrounds change drastically with each area making this one of the most beautiful GBA games I've ever played. The only real flaw with this game is that the battles do become repetetive after a while, but with the varying jobs, each battle is a little different. If you're big on RPG's then this game is a must-have.Customer Review: Not quite advanced
Summary: 4 Stars
I was ecstatic to hear that this game was coming out, and bought it on the day of release in Japan (since I'm half Japanese). I'm a huge fan of the original Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT) for the PS1, and playing FFT Advance on the GBA was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps the game would have been better if it lost the Final Fantasy theme and title; I was looking forward to something that was similar to the first FFT, which was to me, perfect (although a two-player mode would have been amazing).
I didn't find the story interesting and the quests quickly became stale. Weapon-based ability gaining was also a chore. Didn't find it fun that I had to defend my land from bandits either. Laws were very annoying as well.
As you can see, I had a lot of complaints. However, the game's production is very good, from the graphics to the music.
PROS
+ Nice graphics
+ Interesting character designs
+ Nice music and sound effects
+ Nice menus/interface
CONS
- Uninteresting plot
- Weapon-based ability learning
- Questing system
- Defending land from bandits
- Judges/Law system
- Needed a few more music tracks in battles
Customer Review: My review
Summary: 3 Stars
I guess to begin with I am a fan of the original Final Fantasy Tactics, thats why I picked up this game. Over all the game play was good , it has a great system to it and you can easily sit there for hours playing it, but the story line is so incredibly terrible that I'd have to say I would never have even continued playing it if I wasnt a fan of the original Final Fantasy Tactics. I really cannot emphasize how incredibly terrible the story line is, mabey if I were a 12 year old it would be alright. Either way other than the story its good to go, and pretty inexpencive as well. If you liked the first FF Tactics I'd suggest giving it a try.Customer Review: amazingly addictive!
Summary: 5 Stars
this is a very engaging game, one which i managed to easily play for more than twenty hours in the first week i had it, and i'm not even that avid of a gamer! the universe is just so absorbing