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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.

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!

It's all about strategies and tactics

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is a very different form of RPG. Like Crystal Chronicles, Tactics uses a completely different approach in terms of battle system. Battles are still turn based but the way you control the party is very different. Regular FF games in the numbered series have your party and the enemies lined up on different sides and take turns to attack. However, in Tactics, it employed a similar system with the N64 RPG Aidyn Chronicles: you have you to move around the battle field, find vantage points to get the highest damage rate to yoru enemies. Unlike Aidyn Chronicles, which you have a very free choice of locality in terms of positioning your party, Tactics employed the grid system. So instead of a battle arena, you have your party standing on a grid battle field with varied landscape and how many grid squares you could move will depend on how fast and what level and jobs your characters are. Similar to Aidyn Chronicles, you need to position your characters at favourable spots e.g. at the back of your enemies, or standing on a higher ground in order to score the best possible damage on your enemies. The good part is the system will show you the possible hit rate and damage you would score so that you can trial and error before actually carry out the actions. It might sound hideous to taditional turn based RPG players, especially hard core FF players, but it does provide you a lot more fun in determining what kind of strategy you should use: team work or individual attacks.

Battles are carried out in form of clan wars and clan mission. Clans are basically yoru party. You can have any number of people in your clan as long as you welcome them into your party, however, at the most you would only be able to use 6 in any battle. There is a huge variety and combination possibility for clan members as there are Human, Viera, Ni Mu, Bangaa and Moogle for you to choose from, and each race have their strength and weaknesses that are compatible with a huge variety of jobs to be mastered. So you would need to plan on how you want your clan to develop in the long run.

Clans earn their living by taking up missions and involving in clan wars. Missions are in the form of action mission, dispatch mission and negotiation mission. Action mission involves real battle controlled by yourself but the other two involve dispatching your clan members to handle them themselves. So the more well trained your clan members are the higher chance for you to be successful in those missions. Again this involves the tactics and strategies of developing your clan members.

The story is unfolded during different missions (and they tend to me more expensive ones too) so if you want to proceed with the story you would definitely need to buy missions from the pub. Also your characters will level up automatically provided they score experience points with successful actions during the battles. So if you intend to train up a strong clan make sure everyone got a chance to participate in various battles. Further the stronger your clan, the bigger is the sphere of influence of your clan and the better negotiation power your clan will have in the world of Ivalice (your clan will level up in a similar manner as your character).

In all, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is a very strategic RPG game which is pretty addictive to players. Nonetheless, when you first start the games, battles might take ages to finish until your characters are strong enought to cause one or two hit kills. Lastly, always advice team works in battle and the most important is, you can link up with another GBA game with your friends and use two clans or more together to explore the world of Ivalice. Doesn't this sound cool?

Take Your Tactics, Son

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Those of you who played Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2 and liked it know what a wonderful experience it is to conquer a strategy game. That is what this is. A fantastic showing of strategy that blends well with the story-driven swordfighting of the RPG. Yes, it is true this is not the most difficult game out there, nor is it the deeply powerful experience of most 80+ hour RPG's. But, it is a good time waster and will find it's way to wriggle into your daily routine.
So Take your Tactics, son and report to me in the morning. You'll feel better.

Handheld Final Fantasy, What next?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well first of all, I love it, simple as that.. Now when you get cheated it's judged... =P Die you stupid Cheaters! =P But When you actually play the game, it's like holding the PS2 controller moving people around... My friend said, when we saw it in Nintendo Power, that it looked like a piece of junk. She ended up LOVING IT! (She said the same thing for Zelda: The Wind Waker, loved that too.)

Aloha.

Fun, no complaints

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is addicting. Like caffine addicting. Seriously, this game is fun. The story starts out rather childish with apperntly shallow charecters, but as it progress, say about, for me, twenty hours into the game, you see that it's actually closer to a story about escapeism. The battles are just sweet, though sometimes (Very begining) there appears to be too much talking. The discover new areas thing was fun too. Now off to face down the final boss who I hate because my most powerful charecter is a paladin, paladins only do holy damage, and it's immune to holy damage.

My first Final Fantasy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love this game I mean it's so hot. It's fairly challenging. In the beginning it's weird and somewhat difficult to understand in the beginning. But the game is fairly priced and fun and for people who know final fantasy you get healed between battles. This game is pretty good if I cursed there would be a lot of words positive ones describing this game.

argh!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: February 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I couldn`t put it down! Best game ever! It drove me insane... Total finish time: 46 hours, 17 minutes. I love every second. It is the most amazing game. I highly reccommend it!!

(not a Square fanboy, OK??) A StrategyRPG for your wishlist!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

After playing the original FFT on Playstation, I can say this game lives up to the challenge of recreating the same environment on the Gameboy Advance. Looks incredible....graphics are crisp/well-defined, there are large battlefields to explore, and spells look better than the Playstation. While there is a huge job system, it is not complex to learn or master. With over 300 battles to play, you can rush to the end and miss many items to come back later. In that regard, the replay value is very high. Even if you find every single item, I'd say the length of the game (40-120 hours) can more than make you forget a few places you've been.

Now a gripe I have is with the music. It can wear on you after awhile. I tend to enjoy good battle music, but the in game music drags and very often you might spend 5 minutes before a battle changing your characters' jobs & skills around. Don't want to have bad music there, as it can take away from the skills you'll need for the upcoming battle.

There are many unique attributes to the game, including to effect a battle using an item you previously won (or found) on a Mission. The environments still play a huge outcome in how the battle progresses. I like the whole idea of the recon/item missions. You could send a weak character out to pick up a rare item and their stats will come back improved. Later on, you can only find the rarest items by sending one powerful character out on the recon/item missions.

SquareEnix RPG's are well-known for their epic stories. Does not apply here. The entire game (**spoiler ahead**) is focused on the main character's ability to stop his brother from keeping him trapped inside a fantasy world. So you'll meet up w/ your little brother, have a few words, maybe fight a battle, and then you go about your recon/item missions. There are plenty of epic battles, but the story here lags a bit. I still give FFT high praise for its handling of subjects not often expressed in an RPG.

FFT: Advance has been called a 'kiddie RPG'. Not true. It's not Mortal Kombat...yeah... but it stands up to other RPG's on GBA and many on PS2 & GameCube. You'll find challenge, good music, many hours of play and an overall sense that you enjoyed yourself once you reach the ending (which is a bit predictable in my mind ;)

Pros: Incredible graphics, characters have personalities all their own, somewhat challenging battles, over 300 missions, cool LinkUp play, very good replay value

Cons: In game music gets a bit old after awhile, your characters are too darn powerful (challenge goes way down the more you build them up), music drags (again), not many LinkUp capabilities.

Play this if you liked: Golden Sun 2 or any Square RPG.

On a 10 point scale, I give this game 8/10 overall.

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