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It Really Doesn't Seem Real

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 97 / 103
Date: September 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I'd like to implore you to NOT compare this game to the FFTactics for the Playstation. For just a moment, weigh this game against itself. Evaluate it for what it IS, and not what it isn't.
People may be upset because this is not like the original. But for that reason I am very thankful. Not to say that the original Tactics wasn't wonderful; it remains one of my favorite FF titles to date. What I mean to say is that it's different. I know that the story is not as mature as the first one. I know that the music is not quite as bombastic as that of the original (From what I've heard so far, anyway). But Final Fantasy Tactics Advance presents its own story, its own set of characters and its own battle system, which in my opinion is just as good as that of the first Tactics.
The Job system has been redesigned, and takes into account what race a character is. While it's true that both a Human and a Moogle can obtain the Thief job, there are differences in stats and abilities due to their racial diversity. There are five different races, and each one has advantages and weaknesses, along with several Jobs that are unique to that particular race. This new concept is amazing and innovative, and results in very different, customized characters.
Abilities are obtained through the use of specific items, much like the ability system of FFIX. Many items boast abilities for multiple classes, and each ability takes a certain amount of AP (Points received at the end of battles or side quests) to fully learn. Once a character completely masters an ability, they no longer need to have the item equipped to use that skill. Needless to say, this interesting system will lead to hours upon hours of gameplay.
Concerning the story, I do not understand everyone's complaints. While it's a fact that the original FFTactics had a much more serious storyline, that does not mean that this one is not just as entertaining or creative, because that is exactly the type of plot Tactics Advance offers. That said, I must admit that so far (I'm about six hours into the game) there is not as much CONTENT storywise, but what's there certainly shines. Three young people who have grown tired of the cruel, boring life of the norm awaken mysterious writings within an ancient volume of unknown origin. The book morphs their world into the realm of Final Fantasy, one that they have all longed for. Differences emerge when the three attempt to decide whether to go home or stay in the adventure.
From whatever angle you look at it, this game is undeniably exceptional. Consider the fact that this is a GBA game, and you MUST commend SquareEnix for this masterpiece.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the store to get a ton of batteries.

Simple, yet addictive.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 25 / 29
Date: November 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The premise of the game is dirt simple, in that it's just a series of battles/missions, over and over. Yet I can't put the thing down. I get that determination - "I must make my characters stronger! Level up! Better armor!" and it's addictive.
The battle scenes are turned based and play out slowly, and as such, you can play this game for a very long time. After twenty hours of game time, I was still not even 1/3 finished. Plus replayability is high, because you can create a new clan with an entirely different character makeup.

Worthy addition to the FFT line

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: January 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

After the very successful and fun Final Fantasy Tactics game that was on the Playstation 1 in 1998, it was only expected that a follow up would come in the not to distant future. Little did anyone expect that it would be on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.

The premise behind the new version of the scaled down game is the same. You start out with a hero who has to build a team of fighters of variying classes to take on others in turn based battles with each character on each team getting a seperate turn to take out various enemies on the field with their moves. All the classes are traditional Final Fantasy classes that we have seen through out the years in various FF games. Only unlike the PS version of the game this time the classes are seperated by race of the character you have in your party.

There are five races that you will meet in the land of Ivalice where the story takes place. Humans, Viera, Moogles, Bangaa and Nu Mou are the races that will fill up your team. Each race can hold certain jobs with only a few jobs being able to be used by more then one race. In typical FFT way, you must level up by fighting in battles and learning skills that a particular job can hold to retain them for later use even if you change your job to another one. Half the fun is building up characters with the various skills and jobs and building a dream team that is totaly under your control. You can have magic users, warriors and specialist all working on one grand team complimenting each other in perfect unison.

The game play is fun and pulls off a tactics type environment as well as can be expected on the GBA. The graphics aren't stunning like the first FFT game due to the system it is on but it does pull off everything graphicly well enough. Summon spells and magic looks stunning and you can clearly see what is going on without difficulty of making out each character is supposed to be. The game is colorful and easy enough to understand. There is some strategy to things as depending on where you stand when you are about to attack can make things easier for you. Also the various status of you or your enemies at the time of attack will matter too. Like if they are asleep you will hit them 100% as they can't defend you. If you face them with their back to you you will hit them more then 50% due to them having to turn around to defend themselves.

The game itself is a lot of fun but far from perfect. The storyline is a tad on the weak side, almost being secondary to the whole experience of playing the game. The game has the weird notion of making the main characters realizing that they are in a "Final Fantasy" game the whole time. Making many mentions of how the series is their favorite and everything they are going through is something out of a Final Fantasy game.

The story of the game is basicly a group of kids one being a new kid and another being a shy kid who lost his mother years ago and has been depressed and the last being a girl who is more of a tom boy all find a book that seems to date back decades in time. As they open the book something weird unknowing to them occurs. They go to sleep and wake up only to find their whole town has been transformed into a world out of a Final Fantasy game and now Marche the new kid has to figure out a way to get home while the boy who lost his mom, Mewt has become the prince of the land and enforces tough laws that must be followed during every battle or else you can be penalized or even be put in jail. Marche now must destroy crystals in order to get closer to bringing the world back from what seems to be all a figment of Mewt's imagination.

The story doesn't even seem to matter after awhile though, and even the writers didn't seem to focus to much on it. The game itself is fun just by building up your characters and classes and doing the missions and tasks that you will have to in order to expand through the game. The laws though get annoying after awhile. They add challenge to the game which is needed but sometimes they are just annoying rather then challenging. Laws are basicly what you can and can't do during said battle and it randomly changes every battle. Sometimes you can't use bows other times you can't use magic and as the game progresses more and more laws that can't be done are added making things harder as now you have 3 laws rather then just 1 that you can't do during a match.

It can be quite a tasking challenge at times to sort out what missions you have to do, what battles you have to do and what weapons have to be changed to learn new skills and will keep you more then occupied all the while. No its not up to the same standards and excellence that the PS1 version of the game was but that is only expected given the different abilities that the two systems can do. You definitely will get your monies worth here by adding this worthy addition in the FF line to your GBA. Its a game you can play often as you can always build different classes and try and get differnet abilities and weapons you never had before and its a lot of fun. There are some negatives to the game but no game is perfect and this pulls off the transition well enough to more then satisfy. A little more story and less annoying random battles that you have to do would have been nice (you will see that defending areas in battles will get to be draining and boring at times) but the pros definitely out weigh the cons.

Highly recommended is getting a strategy guide for the game as it will make your life easier when you have to figure out what weapon gives you what abilities and what you need to form what class. It can come in very handy when you have to over come the limitations of what info can be shown on the screen at a time when it comes to what you have over what you don't.

Over 300 missions, 34 jobs and multiplayer abilities this is a game that will keep you more then occupied as you navigate through the vast world of Ivalice. Check it out, you won't be sorry you did if you are a fan of Tactics games or a good role playing game.

Strategy at it's best!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: July 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Embark on a quest through over a hundred missions in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Marche and his friends Mewt and Ritz come across an ancient magical tomb and when they open it, it transforms their small town of St. Ivalice into a medevil type kingdom of Ivalice a warring nation. You assume the role of leader of an army and you watch the action, not controling the actual fighting but commanding the army, much like a game of chess. The gameplay is very much like the original. Utilizing the same magnificent job sytem as the previous and the new law sytem which makes strategising even more difficult be ready for a complex gaming experience which actually takes skill to play. Although the plot isn't as engaging as the previous this game is just as good as the original. ALthough this game isn't for everyone I would generally reccomend this to the casual through hardcore RPG gamer. I gave this game five stars because:

-Great strategic gameplay

-Relatively good graphics

-Engaging story

-Extremely addictive

I hope you found my review helpful. Go and play this game!

Go Clan Nutsy!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: September 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have been anticipating this release for some time. I got it the first day it came out in the states. I have been playing it for the past 2 days. It is great! Its not a sequel to FFT nor is it a re-release. It's a different game. The story is a different approach for the FF series, you start of as a young boy in the present time whom him and his friends, who aren't the most popular kids in school, perchase an old looking book with strange symbols on the cover (Never Ending Story anyone?), and get thrown into a world of monsters, magic, knights and quest; the world of Final Fantasy, where you are the leader of a small clan competing against others for turf to rule the streets of Ivalice (a much less sinister plot the original FFT). Remember in FFT how you got to go to the pub and send some of your characters of on missions? Well this game focuses on that, you get to go on the missions your self and fight them or dispatch when necessary, there are no random encounters, except when you run into a rival clan looking for trouble on the map, and you have to [beat them].

The game has a large learning curve so it can be appreciated at any age, and can still provide a challenge for us more mature players. Like any of the other Final Fantasys the music is fantastic and the graphics are masterful and cutting edge. The game system is much like FFT for the PS1, there some cut corners but they make it up with a few surprising changes. It can be confusing at first, but after a while it all makes sense and is most challenging and enjoyable, and will provide over a hundred of playing hours in order to unlock everything. This is the best title on the GBA and you would be crazy not to get it. If you're a fan of Final fantasy your crazy not to buy a Gameboy Advance SP just to play this game.

Well thanks for reading! I'm going to get back to playing now; some other clan wants to start sumthin...

Better than the original? Yes!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: October 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

It's easy to understand why the original Final Fantasy Tactics sold for about twice what was being charged for new games before it was re-released in the Greatest Hits collection. It's flawless fusion of strategy into a well developed character role-playing system blew away gamers back then, and the formula has been revamped, redesigned, and resurrected to be used for the new Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

It would have been easy for Square Enix to just release a port of the original game and watch the cash flow in, but the guys at Square Enix are way too loyal to the customer to let them just experience the same things over and over again. They are always redefining the role-playing genre, sometimes with lackluster results, such as Saga Frontier, but sometimes with a game that so far ahead of the rest that I must just lean back and marvel in its fantasticness. Ahhhh...

Issues had to be addressed to get all the menus onto the tiny screen of the GBA, and the issues were addressed perfectly. All of the information you could want is conveyed to you without making you ever feel bogged down or annoyed. The presentation of the menus is so inconspicuous that the only time you ever notice it is when you are in awe of it.

The time that it takes to get into a battle has been reduced for the GBA version. There is no waiting around to start battles, allowing you to play this game literally anywhere. You can get a whole battle done and saved while you shower, ride the bus, walk to lunch, or wait at a red light. You may even find yourself hoping that you miss the unusually long light near your house. You know the one I'm talking about.

The story is awesome, the cut scenes are often hilarious, and the characters are lovable. This is what I've come to expect from Square over the years, and I was actually surprised by how well this whole game came together. The character development is superb, allowing the mastery of many different jobs.

There are laws placed in the game that present a unique challenge in each place you fight. Not being allowed to use fire magic is one example. Breaking the law will get you sent to prison, and this adds a nice bit of strategy and helps bring the whole package together perfectly.

To describe this game as a perfect game is to insult it. It so neatly sidesteps perfection on its way up that perfection no longer notices it isn't on top anymore. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is. And it's laughing at perfection.

FFTA: Final Fantasy Tactics for Amateurs

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: September 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

After a long absence from Nintendo, Square finally brings Final Fantasy back to Nintendo consoles. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance seems like a promising game, but for those who really enjoyed Final Fantasy Tactics on the original Playstation, this is a completely different experience.

The game begins with a turtorial (actually a snowball fight) to help you get adjusted. You play as Marche, a young boy who has just moved to the town of St. Ivalice. He engages in a snowball fight at school where he becomes friends with Mewt and Ritz, two fellow classmates that are constantly picked on. After school, Mewt goes to the library and checks out a book with a title too hard to read but over time, the tome has been referred to as "Final Fantasy." Marche and his friends soon talk about how great it would be to be in a game. When the three go to sleep the world around them suddenly changes and they awaken in the Final Fantasy universe. Marche now decides he wants to go home but neither of his friends want to.

The story, for Final Fantasy, is weak. Compared to the series (and its big brother on Playstation) this story lacks creativity and insight. The story is too simple and predictable and there aren't really any breathtaking twist that the FF series is known for. In all essence, its childish.

The gameplay in FFTA isn't all that bad. The cutscenes before each engagement are a little long and can't be skipped (and if you lose the first battle you'll have to sit through the tutorial AND long intro all over again). But battling is simple and easy to get used to. Much like most tactical games you move a certain number of spaces and then act.

FFTA puts a twist on battling, and its not one to be too fond of. Each battle now has laws and a judge to moniter the battle. If a character breaks the law (friend or foe) they're issued a card. A yellow card is given for a minor offense and a red card for a major offense. At first this seems creative but as the game goes on you have to deal with more and more laws. Soon they get annoying. They change each time you go to a new location but soon the game incorporates three laws per battle. Laws that soon they enemy never seems to break. Some laws don't let you use items, some even restrict the fight command! Then there are some of the more stupid laws such as preventing you to heal your characters or even to do damage to a monster! Soon, the laws become downright annoying.

Along battling, there are lots of subquests that go along with the normal missions. There are 300 missions in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. That means you'll be able to fight lots of battles and raise your characters to the fullest right? Unfortunately, only 1/3 of these missions allow you to do any interaction. The other 200 are simply "dispatch" missions where you'll send a character out for a certain period of time (either after a certain number of days, certain number of battles or certain number of enemies killed) and they'll either return with a success or failure.

Then there are the abilities. In the original Final Fantasy Tactics after each attack you got Job Points and Experience points. You could spend your Job Points to learn more abilities. This would've been good to bring back but instead FFTA makes you learn abilities by what weapons you equip and earning AP. Most weapons require 200 or 300 AP. Every now and then you'll find one that needs more. From each encounter with either a wandering clan or after a mission you'll get anywhere from 40-80 AP. It won't take you much time to figure out that you'll learn abilities quite slowly. Especially since, once you get further into the game battles begin to pace even slower. ONLY characters who participate in the battle get AP and if you send on on a dispatch mission only the dispatch gains AP.

The visual look of FFTA is astonishing and it runs quite well. The graphics aren't 3D but 2D only isometric, so it looks 3D. This is nice but sometimes characters become to crowded amongst each other and the judge will also get in the way. Since its isometric, the camera is at a fixed angle so you can't move it around. The game is VERY vibrant and colorful and showers some nice eye-candy. A GBA game has never looked this good before.

I wish I could say the music is as good as the graphics. FFTA doesn't really have "Bad" tunes. Mostly the game suffers from not having enough tunes. The soundtrack doesn't have a variety. It doesn't sound as good as the original on PSX and even for GBA it sounds lackluster when compared to other games such as "Golden Sun" or "Castlevania: Circle of the Moon". The soundtrack is also very limited. So limited that I got very tired of hearing some tunes and turned the volume down ever once and a while. The sound effects are very nice though and when you KO a character they give a little scream that sounds very realistic.

The last problem with FFTA is how easy the game is. The original Final Fantasy Tactics... well... actually required you to use tactics. This one doesn't require nearly as much strategy. In fact, as long as you have a character who is equipped with a good weapon you'll be able to win everytime (you won't even have to worry about healing unless the laws are totally against you). There are more varieties of job classes in this one but you really won't find yourself switching to learn abilities all that much.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is by no means a bad game. Its a little too easy and too childish for the FFT veteran but it can be enjoyable if you make the most of it.

OVERALL:

On the positive side

+Beautiful Graphics!
+A few good tunes
+Good voices
+A variety of job classes
+Judge system makes the game unique but...
+Easy and simple to play

But of course with all the good stuff there are the bad things

-You can't rotate the camera in battle, when characters get bunched up its hard to place them when you can't see!
-The soundtrack isn't big enough, and the music isn't as good
-Abilities take too long to learn
-The Judge System is downright annoying
-The game is TOO easy

Addictive and fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: September 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Having read other reviews I found myself scratching my head wondering what these people are talking about. I have been playing FFT:A for the past 3 days and I am so hooked it's not even funny! Every chance I get I sit down and play this game!

I think the deal here is if you like strategy games, you will absolutely love this game. There is so much to do and you really get involved in the gameplay. I loved tactics: ogre but I never finished it because it got old.. Not so with good ole Final Fantasy Tactics! I find myself wanting to keep playing and playing it. The cuteness is there yes, but I got past it because of the great gameplay that is there. Sure it's got alot of sugery cuteness in the characters... big deal. This is just a great game! In my opinion it blows away Tactics: Ogre and even Advance Wars! I am 35 and I cannot see any little kid playing this. It's deep and involved and more strategy than most kids could probably figure out (but then I cannot figure out Yugi-Oh or Pokemon - so maybe I am underestimating what kids can play nowadays). Honestly I don't see this geared towards kids at all. I am a huge Final Fantasy fan and also a big strategy and RPG fan. This is more than I ever could have hoped for (and it's portable).

Of course if you are not a strategy game person I can see where these other reviews would fit. It's not for everyone.. But for those of us that do like these kinds of games this is truly the NEW KING on GBA!

So what are you waiting for??? GO BUY IT NOW! ;-)

a great time occupier

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: August 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is a good game. It has an easy to understand turn-based battle system, which, while it is a little slow, allows you to plan out your moves. Each battle is like a chess match, requireing strategy and focus. While this game actually has little plot, it has enough to keep you interested, and for some reason, you find yourself playing more and more, hoping to buy that new weapon, or praying that you'll level up.

If you like RPGs that play like a chess match, I strongly reccommend this game. I have had a lot of fun with it.

A great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: September 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy Tactics surpised many Final Fnatasy gamers at the sudden twist in Gameplay and style, which ultimetly led it to be a cult classic in the gaming world. Now Final Fantasy Tactics advanced has arrived with a little lighter storyline, same style graphics, gameplay, and more.

The story here is that you the main character are the new kid in the town of Ivalice (the kingdom in the first game)and one day you are in a snowball fight. Your partners are your friends Ritz and Miku. Miku is a small lad who is always picked on and ultimetly you lose the fight. Later on that day Miku shows the main characters a book of magic which ultimetly launches them into the world of Final Fantasy.

Now the games not perfect, in fact now I shall list up the pros and cons.

Pros:
1: Gameplay, graphics, and menu systems are identical to the first.
2: The story is compelling and it keeps you going.
3: The new jobs and attack options are breaths of fresh air.

Cons:
1: You cannot rotate the map, which ultimatly hurts some areas of battles (for you can't see around corners).
2: With the exception of one area, none of your characters can die. They may fall in battle but there is no timer to where they die for good if not revived.
3: The difficulty is uneven. Some battles are really easy and some are barbarically difficult. This is mostly due to a new option called Law Cards.

While the pros and cons are about equal overall this is a great game to own in your GBA library, and a highly addicting title.

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