Story & Characters

Final Fantasy, the name that spawned a thousand sequels. As the latest game in the famed Squaresoft franchise, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Gameboy Advance certainly has expectations to fulfill seeing as its predecessor, Final Fantasy Tactics, was regarded as one of the best strategy RPGs on the Playstation (and ultimately stands as an extremely successful example of the genre) and, despite the limitations of the GBA hardware, FFTA (final fantasy tactics advance) for the most part has indeed done justice to the series.
The first thing you will notice once you’ve booted up the game is the artwork. While the game does not feature the amazingly simple but unique art of Final Fantasy Tactics which I personally adore, the style in FFTA is, nonetheless, quite impressive in its own merit. Characters are drawn with a much more “kiddy� appearance (a recurring theme in the game) and the entire art style from then on is much warmer than its grittier father. The various races (Human, Mogri, etc…) are all quite unique, and when you change their “jobs� their clothing changes accordingly lending a nice bit of variation to a single unit. Considering the GBAs capabilities, the in-game graphics are simply wonderful featuring very colorful and detailed sprites battling across equally impressive terrains. The terrains are no longer polygonal as in FFT, which is to be expected, but they are nonetheless beautiful (although the inability to rotate them will cause a bit of anguish at times). Similarly, the impressive lighting and spell effects of the PS original are gone, but the sprite effects which have replaced them more than do their job adequately. One minor exclusion which I feel wasn’t warranted was the removal of spell chanting. While this has absolutely no bearing on the gameplay at all, the various mages chanting their spells before casting them in the original game really lent itself well to the atmosphere. Of course this is a minor gripe, easily overlooked.
As I’ve mentioned many times before, FFTA is just more “kiddy� in nature than its brethren. At its core, the game is about the adventure of Marshe, a kid from a world much like our own, who gets sucked into a book that his friends buy for him. Most of the adventure entails his making friends with the people of “Ivalice� and the quest to get himself home. While this is by all means not a bad story, it just does not seem fitting for a “tactical� RPG, and most certainly isn’t even comparable to the twisting deceitful story that the original FFT drew. While in a “tactical� RPG you would expect some sort of war or conflict, the majority of FFTA takes place in a land of peace (excluding rivalries among clans) with no all-out war ever really taking place. Again, this is a matter of personal preference, but I just didn’t find that FFTA’s story was befitting of a tactical RPG.

Rating: 8

Art

The graphics are some of the best stuff I've seen yet on the GBA. Details on both characters, and background design is very high. Also a new color mode allows you to switch the color around slightly from (LCD1, LCD2, TV). The TV feature is a major plus for those playing on the Gamecube GBA player.
Very well done for a GBA game. The music is very engrossing, and adds to the mood of the battle, and for some reason never seems to get repetitive. The sound effects are great most weapons in the game have their very own sound effect that makes fighting more realistic. Sound effects on spells are very well done also, fireball attacks make crackling noises, lightning bolts have the loud booming thunder sound. The only problem I have with the sound is the noise it makes after your character is killed, but this is almost unnoticeable.

Rating: 7

Sound

The sound effects in the game are fairly standard fare ranging from sword thrusts, magic attacks, arrows leaving bows and so forth. While nothing special, they have actually changed from FFT for the better (swords sound a bit more realistic now). Just don’t expect any of the characters to call out the names of their spells anytime soon.
In terms of music, FFTA is a simultaneous triumph and disappointment. The soundtrack is very fitting for the atmosphere, featuring a score of happy adventurous themes to fit Marshe’s quest. Of course given the limitations of the GBA soundcard, the game cannot audibly compete with its predecessor in terms of music quality, however I have found that the composition in this game just doesn’t seem as complete as the original FFT. The score is not nearly as epic, and there just seems to be far less of it (for much of the game you will fight to the exact same tune for battles on end). I don’t know whether this is attributed to memory limitations, or if the composer simply didn’t bother with more tracks, but I digress as it is a small gripe (then again, I can’t imagine FFT without it’s grand PCM score).

Rating: 7

Presentation

FFTA is probably one of the most complete examples of a tactical RPG you will ever find. Like most RPGs, the player is given a map to wander with towns to shop in and pubs to visit. The game features the return of Square’s infamous “Job System� in which characters can change from various classes (Knight, Black Mage, White Mage, Archer, etc…) in order to use/learn abilities. The game also features various “races� who excel in certain categories and have specific jobs available to them. Thus, keeping a diverse party of followers is a must for the myriad of different missions. All things said a done, there are upwards of 40 jobs (although some are admittedly more or less copies of one another). A player can easily spend as much time tweaking and perfecting their fighting force, as they can fighting in the game’s actual story battles. That being said, in order to advance the story, the player must undertake a “quest� from the local pub owners. Once having “engaged� (a key term in the world of FFTA) an enemy, the game presents the player with the familiar multi-level, chessboard-like battlefield seen in every other tactical RPG. The game still runs on Square’s patented “Active Time Battle System� meaning characters with faster stats will get their turn more often, and otherwise (on the surface at least) the game pretty much plays out like any other tactical RPG (move, attack, cast magic) with but a few notable differences. First, unlike the original FFT, magic no longer takes multiple turns to cast as spells are instantaneous effect. Additionally, JP no longer stands for “Job Points� but rather “Judge Points� as skills are no longer purchased but rather learned from various weapons (not unlike FFIX). Judge points are used to unleash various “Combo� attacks and “Summon Creatures� instead. While this is an interesting change, I feel that the instantaneous magic takes away from some of the strategy of the game as players are no longer required to think 5 or even 10 turns ahead like in FFT. Another twist is the Judge, a seemingly ethereal being on a chocobo who watches over the battle as an NPC. The Judge effectively makes sure that the law(s) of the day are followed during battle which could be anything from the inability to use Magic to a ban on attacks over/under a certain damage limit. Break the law and he/she will hit you with a yellow card. Break two laws and that character’s sorry butt is thrown into jail, and must be bailed out at the player’s expense. Judging from the general public’s reaction, this is a love or hate system. Personally, I like what the laws contribute to each battle and they add an element of unpredictability to them. For many however, it will simply be an annoyance, which puts a cap on their freedom.
The last little gripe present in FFTA, and seemingly with many of Square’s recent games, is that the difficulty of the game is far too easy. Battles are typically limited to around 6 on 6 (the enemy parties sometimes consist of more), but for the most part they are pathetically easy to clear. Even without leveling up by taking extra side quests, if you are moderately skilled at the game rarely will you encounter a battle which makes you really sweat. While the difficulty does become a bit steeper after the initial stages of the game (to accommodate for the player’s learning curve) it never really reaches a point where you are truly proud of yourself after clearing a quest. Unfortunate, but true.

Rating: 9

Final Verdict

8.00 (good)

Reviewed by shobot, Aug 06, 2005

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