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:: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for GBA Review |
Nintendo loyalists have been missing out on the Final Fantasy Franchise for what felt like an eternity. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance has been one of the most anticipated GBA games since it was first announced. But was the hype worth it? Yes. It was. ….A lot. Seriously. A lot. A lot a lot a lot a lot a lot. I mean it.
I’ll avoid going into storyline details for all the people who would really rather experience it themselves, but I’ll just say “friggen awesome”. Those who are more accustomed to the normal Final Fantasy battle and story style may be disappointed, because this game is about combat. You won’t waste hours searching some random cave looking for some stupid pendant to give to some annoying little girl so she’ll give you the key to her father’s attic so you can find a map to lead you to another cave where you must go to stop some random enemy from doing some generic bad deed that’ll destroy the world. What you do is go to the pub to pick up your mission. You’ll point your cursor on the world map where you need to go to do your mission. You’ll go to this place. And a battle will occur. Simple. Yet awesome.
The star of the game is the job system. Changing a character’s job is as simple as going through three menu screens, and choosing what you want this character’s job to be. Different characters have stats more suited to different jobs, and typically characters of the same race will have quasi-similar stats. Humans are relatively balanced,. Moogles are more suited to special attacks as Animists or Jesters. Bangaa are combat war-machines. Nu Mou are the magic powerhouses. Viera are best suited to distance attacks, and make competent archers. Your character will be equipped with items and weapon, some of which will teach them a special skill. As your character battles, they will remember the skill permanently, and if you’re satisfied, you can change their job, or change whatever weapon or armor they’re equipped with so that they can learn new skills. It’s really awesome, and the different jobs make for a very balanced strategy RPG.
The graphics are extremely detailed and simply beautiful, and I think set the standard for any game on the GBA. Animations are smooth and clear, and character designs are creative and interesting. Though there is this weird problem with all the human characters… their close-up picture which appears on status screens mostly seems to be this weird generic gender. Y’know, the character could either be male or female, and it’s hard to tell. This makes things really confusing, but it’s just a minor problem in a sea of gorgeous perfection. Frame rate is steady, even when there are 12 characters on screen, all walking and battling.
FFTA’s soundtrack is well suited to it. Light-hearted and enjoyable music is always playing during Tactics Advance, and this makes it extra convenient that the bundle pack you can order from Nintendo comes with stereo headphones for the GBA SP.
There’s also a LOT of gameplay in this little cartridge. I’ve completed about 68 of the 300 missions in the game, and I’ve put in about.. 27 hours of time. Oh yeah, that’s the other thing. Once you start playing this game, it’s impossibly hard to stop.
So, here we are, the final paragraph. I give this game 5 out of 5 eggs. It’s pure RPG perfection, and stands for everything that’s right in this world. Do yourself a favor and pick this game up. Don’t argue with me about how you don’t even have a game boy. Just buy it. NOW.
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| Reviewed by Shoshi Eggshell ::
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