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Pleasing Sequel

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you're looking at this review, chances are that you're probably familiar with the Final Fantasy Tactics series. If not, then this is definitely the time to try it out.

Final Fantasy Tactics was the first in this series, and it was definitely a big hit. It uses a grid battle-system like most other tactics games. However, Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift adds a lot of new material, including hundreds of quests and a variety of new jobs. And if you're a fan of customization, then this will strike your fancy. I've come across so many bizarre, yet exciting combinations of skills and equipments which lets you create some pretty powerful units.

There are also other interesting changes like the bazaar system and the auction system. You obtain loot from enemies and quests and depending on the combination and ranking of the loot, you can create specific weapons, armors, and etc. This bazaar system thus rewards you for completing quests and being thorough, letting you obtain lots of ingredients for creating some pretty interesting equipment early on in the game. Besides having to create equipment, you can bid for some relatively rare/uncommon equipment at auction houses. The newly implemented auction houses seems like a mini-game, in which you bid for items using a supply of tokens.

As for gameplay, the battles aren't too difficult; except the law system can be quite frustrating on more than one occasion. The percentages and AI also seem to be unforgiving, for example, having 60, 70, 80% accuracy still results in quite a bit of missing the target. The judge's laws make another appearance, and though it isn't necessary to follow them, they definitely have their benefits (Clan boosts: Regen, Speed ^, etc; Being able to Raise; Bonus loot).

Although some people digress about the sprite animation and 2D gameplay, I find the art and background detailing to be a great deal of fun and fitting of the attitude/atmosphere of the game. I've already put about 50 hours into FFT:A2 and I'm still finding it pretty fun to play around with the combinations. The jobs, skills, and stat growth definitely add to the replay value as well.

Overall it's been a really fun experience, there's a lot of interesting new features such as the auction house, the bazaar, and clan points/traits. If you've played any of the previous FF:T games or enjoy customizing a little too much, then you probably will like this game too.

Not the best SRPG but still okay

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I just finished this game and I have to say overall I wasn't impressed. I did over 225 quests before I went to the final battle so I spent a lot of time on this game. The story was pretty lame not really enough to keep you intrested. The game play itself was slow, some of the judges laws were just plain stupid and the payout for following them wasn't really worth it. The graphics were okay they reminded me of the 1st Zelda game that came out for the orginal nintendo. Overall the game is basic in every way once your done playing it there is nothing to make you remember it or to play it over again.

One of the best DS titles I've ever played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Spinoffs of the main "Final Fantasy" series tend to be somewhat lower quality than the main numbered entries. See, for example, Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus and Final Fantasy X-2. I enjoyed both of those games, but they weren't really anything special. Fortunately for those who just can't wait until Final Fantasy XIII comes out in order to get their fix, there is Final Fantasy Tactics. The Tactics series has always been fantastic, and this one is no exception. Of course, as a tactics game it's not exactly fast-paced, but then again, if you're just looking to blow some things up, Final Fantasy is hardly the way to go. The depth in this game is simply astounding: there are nearly 400 quests, 56 jobs to master, including secret jobs and hidden clan members to unlock, hundreds and hundreds of unique pieces of equipment, and over a hundred hours of gameplay. The core gameplay itself is also very polished and well-balanced, although as I said it moves a little slowly. There are only a few minor quibbles I have with this game: the story isn't particularly gripping, and the music is pretty lackluster although not obnoxious or overly repetitive. However, these minor trifles in no way make me doubt that this game deserves a five out of five rating. If you're a fan of Final Fantasy or strategy titles, you're missing out on a whole lot of fun if you haven't bought this game yet. It's only left my DS twice since I bought it, and only for a few minutes each time.

An improvement in everything but story

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

For the most part Final Fantasy Tactics A2 is a great game. The game play is sharp and well organized and most importantly it is very fun to play. I keep finding myself saying that I'm only going to do one more quest but inevitably that will stretch out into several more. There is a good variety of quests and a great number of side quests so it should keep you entertained for a while The graphics, sound and music are about on par for a DS game in general and don't significantly detract from or enhance the game.

The game isn't perfect though. The most obvious defect is the games lackluster story. It comes of as a secondhand ripoff of "The Neverending Story" down right to the fact that naming a person transports the protagonist into the story. Also you will find that not all of classes were created equal and and at least one of them is downright useless.

Despite this the overall quality of the game manages to shines through and makes this game a worthy addition to anyone's collection.

A nice game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is a nice game and to me improves allot in comparison to its predecessor on the gameboy advanced. The graphics are nice and smooth and there are tons of features and job classes to sink into as well. My only complaint is with its ridiculous law system. The laws sometimes state you cannot cause more damage that set amount or your not allowed to miss a target. I mean its a little absurd. Another thing I am not happy about is the fact that random battles do not occur to help you train through the classes and get your characters stronger for quests you want to take on. The last thing I am disappointed with is the fact that you cannot keep monsters you tame in Final Fantasy Tactics on the PSOne you could not only capture monsters to join your team but level them up to become advanced versions of themselves and sometimes you would even get them to breed and you could raise new ones to help you fight in battle. But I guess allot of my disappointments arise from the fact that I really really liked the first Final Fantasy Tactics and nothing has come close to reviving its glory.

not bad, but..

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance was one of my favorite games for the GBA (5 stars for sure), so I had high expectations for this game (3.5 stars). It's not a bad game, but it could have been much better. It feels like more good things were taken away from the series than were added to it. I thought that the law system in the previous game gave it more depth. In this game, it's more of an annoyance because only YOUR characters are punished for breaking the law. When the law is broken, you lose the ability to revive any KO'd characters, which can become annoying. The graphics and music are similar to the previous game. I often found myself thinking that some of the graphics for attacks in the previous game shouldn't have been changed, though others do admittedly look improved. There are significantly more missions than in the previous game, but a lot of them seem similar to each other or as though not much thought was placed into their conception. With so many missions, the main storyline and side plots can be forgotten easily (though they are not very deep). On the plus side, there are a couple of new races and several new jobs for each race to play around with. Also, this game has plenty to do in it, so it should keep you busy for a while (if you like strategy/rpg games). There's a lot more I could say about this game, but I'll wrap this up by saying that those who haven't played the first one will probably like this game more.

Mission: Success!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

FFTA2, like its predecessor, sports a rather simple storyline, but don't let that convince you this game won't be much fun or be very long! The fighting system has built on FFTA, changing some things that weren't so good and adding in new jobs, abilities, and races.

The sheer amount of time you can spend with this game is amazing! There are hundreds of quests you can run aside from those that progress the main storyline- most involve fighting, but some just require you to talk to a particular person or bring someone a special item. Instead of being repetitive or dull, most of the missions are quite entertaining, with recurring NPCs and subplots. I've played for over forty hours and I still have plenty of things I want to do!

Anyone who enjoyed the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance would definitely enjoy FFTA2, as well as anyone who likes strategy games with plenty of things to do in them!

Classical FF Tactics gameplay, and not much else

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The Final Fantasy Tactics series traces its roots back to the venerable game of the same name on Playstation, and the gameplay hasn't changed much in the intervening ten or so years. This is a good thing, since the original game was remarkably enjoyable and deep. Of course, there are minor differences between this game and FFT or FFTA, but the core of the gameplay is identical. You still command a small group of characters who can accept various jobs, each with its own (more or less) unique set of abilities, and combat other armies and monsters on a top-down grid of squares.

However, the story in this game is seriously lacking. While the original FFT had an engrossing (if poorly translated) plot, this game has virtually none at all. Because the game is structured around quests, many of which are optional, there is no focus on the central plot line since you may very well take on multiple optional quests in between two "main storyline" quests. The main storyline is also very forgettable, and I found some of the sidequest storylines more interesting than the main story.

Nevertheless, if you approach this game with the expectation that you'll find classic FFT gameplay and a subpar story, you won't be disappointed. There are lots of missions to complete for the thorough gamers out there, some of which are rather challenging, so if you stay interested throughout this entire game you can expect this game to last about a hundred hours or so.

A promising return of the franchise without much break throughs

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Square-Enix has been churning out games after games for their most popular franchises. So it is not surprising to have a sequel to the extremely popular Final Fantasy Tactics Advance on GBA a few years ago. Same as the previous Tactics games, the world is set in Ivalice as part of the Ivalice Alliance series.

A2 inherited quite a number of features from its predecessors in the Ivalice world - a whole array of ridiculously diverse job classes with different degree of customisation. What added to the system of A2 is the new job class that are related to FF XII, which introduced the green magick category for now the new class Green Mage. Also all the summons or espers in FF XII are now back in A2 but instead of assigning them on the license board you can summon them through equipping certain accessories that you get in various quests. Also the Seeq race is back for A2 and now controllable characters that you can recruit.

Treating A2 just as an extension to previous Ivalice games will be unfair though for it does introduce new elements to the world. The most easily spotted being the new Grias race - the flying race that can reach high places on the field to grab those exotic treasure chests that contains items that you could not find in shops or bazaar. They proved to be quite useful on the field as compared to the slow Seeq race. A2 also reintroduced geomancer, one of the most useful jobs (in my opinion) and works in a complementary way with the Viera's Elementalist class. Due to the presence of two new races, there are quite a number of new job classes available for you to choose from and play around to create your favorite army. Not all of them are useful and some skills of different jobs are actually the same when executed on the battle field, so leaving you wondering why they have those skills and jobs anyway.

Story wise, it is similar to Tactics Advance about a boy or teenage got teleported to the world of Ivalice after opening an ancient tome. The objective was to fill up the pages and go back to the original world. Nothing much of a very interesting story. But the great improvement story wise are all the side quests that weave themselves either into the main story or run their own storylines themselves. Clearly in those storylines, the theme are more mature and also provides a very different angle for you to look at some of the story characters.

The battle system still plays on a grid structure, and you have to think about your direction of attack and elemental properties. The Judge system is back but less annoying than its predecessor as now you don't need to bail your allies out from the jail anymore but you lost the Judge protection and won't be able to revive your fallen allies inside the battle if you broke the law. Also a welcoming addition is the Clan Privileges you can maintain (and acquire through Clan Trials) throughout the battles if you comply with the laws. These Clan Privileges could prove to be tide turning if used appropriately in different battle context. Square-Enix has done away with most random battles in A2 but all battles are now mission and quest related - including the rare random battles that pops up according to what time of the year and what other clans are in control of the area. Most of the skills effect play out beautifully on the DS and the will tempt you just to apply them to look at how pretty they look on the small screens. However, in a very Tactics manner, from time to time you will run into very frustrating battles that really test your tactical skills and thinking even prior to the battles e.g. what to equip and what jobs to bring into the battles. Further certain job classes may not behave in the same way you remembered as in the past so you might need a bit of adjustments to get use to what they offer.

A2 has a variety of gameplay to make it less monotonous. The injection of FF XII's bazaar system is one of them although the titling of items are as random as ever and you will need a walkthrough to get what you want without wasting certain hard to come by materials. There is also the Clan Trial for you to obtain bonus Clan Privileges to give you an edge to the battles. Also the Auction House allows you to get goodies and cheaper prices for items if you control certain turfs under your name. These are all welcoming additional gameplay that offer a better variety of experience although for most of the time you don't necessarily need to complete them to complete the game.

In all, A2 is a welcoming and stable addition to the Tactics franchise but it certainly didn't revolutionise the franchise as the predecessors did. If there is another Tactics game for Square-Enix under the Final Fantasy banner, they will need to work harder to make sure that the franchise won't go stale.

best final fantasy ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: July 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

i just got this game yestarday and ive played it for 12hours & 38min and 58sec i was was playing tactic adv about 3years ago and got to 316hours on it than decided it was time to play a diffrent game and 3 years later 2 months before relese i was gonna buy it again cuz i lost it but just when i saved up enough money to buy it my monthly issue of nintendo power had a reviw about a2 and i had to buy it this game is the best game ive ever purchased its well worth the cost with hundreds of hours of replay i know ill be playing it over and over again

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