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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.

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.

If you like FireEmblem, you'll love this

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: August 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I didn't think I could enjoy a turn-based RPG as much as FireEmblem but this game actually blows it out of the water with how much deeper it is. The only thing FireEmblem has above this game is much better story-lines.

Difficult but Fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: August 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game makes chess look like child's play. This is an EXTREMELY difficult and VERY cerebral game. If you like a good challenge, then this is the game for you!!

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!

some notable flaws but worth a try if you liked other FFT games

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: August 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Its obvious a lot of effort went into making this game so some of its flaws are surprising. Many of the issues dont become apparent until you are well into 20 hours into the game. First, one of the new races has the ability to cause 400 points of damage using health potions as damage with a 99% chance of succeeding. This pretty much ruins any difficulty in the game right to the end of this very long game. It doesnt help that the enemy AI isnt very hard to beat. Just build an army and make sure to keep acquiring new abilities as you go. Most of the new "jobs" arent as useful as the usual mage, thief, and warrior jobs. But the biggest flaw is the story, which is truly boring from beginning to end. I had fun with the game but the above is just a smattering of some of the issues that eat away at what could have been an awesome game. It gets 3 stars, but only just barely.

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.

Great game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: July 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is quite a step up from the original Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced (though still in my opinion not as good as the original). I would have given it 5 stars had I not also picked up Tactics Ogre (for the advance), which is by far a more in depth and amazing game. Even for how old it is.

...A Great Stand Alone Game and Sequel...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

In the same vain as its predecessor, Final Fantasy Tactics A2 welcomes you once again to the world of Ivalice where you are reintroduced to the various races/inhabitants of the world: Bangaa, Nu Mou, Viera, Moogle, and the Humans/Humes. This time around, there is the introduction of two new races and a series of new job classes as well.

Graphics:

For everyone familar with FFTA, you would know the worlds were rich with detail and color and the characters animated quite nicely out on the battlefield. Each race had their own appearances and features that made them distinguishable from the other races in the game.

FFTA2 retains its predecessor's graphics. While the game's graphical engine remains identical to its predecessor's, the special effects used for spell skill and tech animations are a breath of fresh air as they were all redone and appear quite flashy.

Story:

In the same vain as Marche in FFTA, Luso opens a book and finds himself immersed in the world of Ivalice. Most of the game is comprised of gameplay; however, the story slowly developes. While definitely not the highlight of the game, it is intereseting unless you found FFTA's story to be uninteresting.

Music/Sound:

Some of FFTA's music can be heard throughout the game. A portion of the game's soundtrack is all new. One of the boss themes were straight from Final Fantasy XII. The music is a light-hearted and beautiful symphony that creates its very own mood varying from battle to battle and scenarios/situations.

The sounds and sound effects are similar to that of FFTA. The same can be said about the sounds each character makes when they are KO'd, but with better audio quality.

Control/Playability:

The game has a 30-60 minute learning curve. Similar to FFTA, the game puts you in a tutorial scenario; however, the game immediately throws you into a real battle this time. It can be thought that the game may have somewhat assumed you've played its predecessor; though, still taking the time out to teach you the basics.

The game is FULL of customization. With the inclusion of two new races AND a series of new jobs (some including the "extra" job classes introduced in the Advance version of Final Fantasy V) you would be spending a lot of time customizing your clan members alone.

There are SOME new objectives present in this sequel. Some jobs may require you to pick up items on the battle field OR simply visit a series of locations on the map to complete quests.

The Law System:

Its back, but is a lot less annoying (or detrimental) to battles this time around. Rather than a character breaking a law and getting thrown into prison, this time around, your clan loses the privilege you choose at the beginning of the match. In addition, you are unable to revive fallen clan members for the remainder of a battle.

Replayability:

This fits into a truly replayable game. Even after the Main Game is complete, there is still more to do. Customization plays into being one of the hugest reasons to replay the game.

Pros:
+This Game can be Played Over and Over!!! Better than Replayable
+Two New Races
+Many New Job Classes
+Improved Law System
+Varied Mission Objectives
+New Special Effects
+Great Music
+Some Cool Cameos

Cons:
-Story May be Childish or Unappealing...
-This story was used before...
-The Graphics Engine was used before
-The changed method of inheriting new equipment and Job Classes MIGHT be unappealing

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.

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