Motivated by the positive feedback during my heat of the current review competition, I have been inspired to shift from the soundtrack reviews that nobody was reading, to some actual game reviews. So, on to the review!
Final Fantasy Tactics A2
For me, I have a love-hate relationship with tactical RPG's, I can't stand the Fire Emblem games and I'm a little afraid from what I read to try Atlus' many franchises in the genre, but one series that I always enjoy is the FF Tactics series (if it's not too early to call it that).
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 is not only a great addition to that series, but a near perfect example of how a sequel should be done. It seems like an easy formula; keep what worked, add or take out things to fix what didn't. Yet so many franchises always seem to overdo one or the other. FFTA2 achieves a harmonious balance of the two, and a better example of a sequel I do not know (Okay, I do. It's called Shadow Hearts: Covenant, but for the sake of the review, that's not important).
Let me confess right now that I've only been playing the game for two days now, but I feel I have enough of a grasp of the game's many facets that I do not need to go further to write an accurate and comprehensive review focusing on the subject matter of making a sequel.
Again, what Square Enix did right with this game was to focus on the problems that Final Fantasy Tactics Advance had , and fix them. So to go about explaining just how they did this, I'll provide a handy problem (with FFTA)/solution (in FFTA2) layout for most of this review. Like so:
Problem: Too easy.
Solution: Added a Hard Mode.
Got it? Alright then, here goes:
Problem: Having 250 quests and missions was a great way to make the game last a really long time, but keeping track of all those quests was frustrating and made even the most organized person feel like they were running around in circles.
Solution: With 300 quests and missions this time around, one would think that it would be even more frustrating to keep track of them all. Thankfully, the game provides players with an easy to read chart to keep track of available quests, completed quests, and even quest loot for those times you need to track down a rare item.
Problem: Micromanagement. Obviously, taking care of your miniature army is going to be an integral part of any tactical RPG, but I know I'm not the first one to sometimes find the task daunting and sometimes overwhelming. It's easy enough at first, but things can get confusing if you don't play for a while and forget what you were doing.
Solution: Things are always going to be a bit chaotic when you're trying to train over 20 different characters, but in FFTA2 the load is lightened if just a little. For example, your characters will be doing little victory jumps if they've learned a skill since the last time you showed them any love. Navigating between characters in the many different submenus has also become less of a chore.
Problem: Defeat all enemies again? Big surprise there.
Solution: I think this is best described with an anecdote. I was playing this morning and got a mission to protect some Beastmaster by not letting the creatures on one side of a mountain pass make it to the other side by crossing either of two bridges. I figured this would be easy enough, I'd kill the creatures on the other side, then wait out the 4 turns before the mission was a success. However, I was surprised to learn that when I killed one creature, another took it's place, forcing me to play an entirely defensive position. Yet another mission had me killing Dreamhares until I thought I had the right amount of the correct loot, at which point I would report to an NPC on the battlefield. Needless to say, I was happily shocked by the vast variation among missions.
Problem: Why the HELL am I supposed to be following these stupid laws!? What kind of messed up tyranny sends people to jail for using the wrong spell element?
Solution: For the sequel, the role of Judges in Ivalice has changed a bit. Clan members can only be revived if they have the protection of Judges. This "adjudged" status also allows clans to access benefits and rewards provided by the Judges. The catch, of course, is that adjudged clans must follow the nonsense laws that are set for each battle. Sure, it's still strange that there are dictators occasionally outlawing the use of multiple-targeting skills, but at least it makes SENSE this time.
That about covers all the major fixes, though it doesn't really sum up the additional things in FFTA2. I could, for example, talk about the game's variation of Final Fantasy XII's Bazaar system, or the new auction house feature, or tell you how good or bad the story is once I've played the game longer. However, for this review I wanted to focus solely on the elements that make this game a prime example of a sequel done well, and I think I've covered all that.
I recommend this game for any fan of the Tactical RPG genre, even if you're one of the many who are sick of seeing the name Final Fantasy. And just so I don't come across as a fanboy, I will leave you with two complaints. First, considering I have a party of trained fighters, I find it discouraging that wooden fences are considered obstacles. Second, from what I've heard so far, the soundtrack is composed of recycled tracks from the original FFTA and FFXII, there's no excuse for that level of laziness.
Seriously though, go buy this game.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2
For me, I have a love-hate relationship with tactical RPG's, I can't stand the Fire Emblem games and I'm a little afraid from what I read to try Atlus' many franchises in the genre, but one series that I always enjoy is the FF Tactics series (if it's not too early to call it that).
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 is not only a great addition to that series, but a near perfect example of how a sequel should be done. It seems like an easy formula; keep what worked, add or take out things to fix what didn't. Yet so many franchises always seem to overdo one or the other. FFTA2 achieves a harmonious balance of the two, and a better example of a sequel I do not know (Okay, I do. It's called Shadow Hearts: Covenant, but for the sake of the review, that's not important).
Let me confess right now that I've only been playing the game for two days now, but I feel I have enough of a grasp of the game's many facets that I do not need to go further to write an accurate and comprehensive review focusing on the subject matter of making a sequel.
Again, what Square Enix did right with this game was to focus on the problems that Final Fantasy Tactics Advance had , and fix them. So to go about explaining just how they did this, I'll provide a handy problem (with FFTA)/solution (in FFTA2) layout for most of this review. Like so:
Problem: Too easy.
Solution: Added a Hard Mode.
Got it? Alright then, here goes:
Problem: Having 250 quests and missions was a great way to make the game last a really long time, but keeping track of all those quests was frustrating and made even the most organized person feel like they were running around in circles.
Solution: With 300 quests and missions this time around, one would think that it would be even more frustrating to keep track of them all. Thankfully, the game provides players with an easy to read chart to keep track of available quests, completed quests, and even quest loot for those times you need to track down a rare item.
Problem: Micromanagement. Obviously, taking care of your miniature army is going to be an integral part of any tactical RPG, but I know I'm not the first one to sometimes find the task daunting and sometimes overwhelming. It's easy enough at first, but things can get confusing if you don't play for a while and forget what you were doing.
Solution: Things are always going to be a bit chaotic when you're trying to train over 20 different characters, but in FFTA2 the load is lightened if just a little. For example, your characters will be doing little victory jumps if they've learned a skill since the last time you showed them any love. Navigating between characters in the many different submenus has also become less of a chore.
Problem: Defeat all enemies again? Big surprise there.
Solution: I think this is best described with an anecdote. I was playing this morning and got a mission to protect some Beastmaster by not letting the creatures on one side of a mountain pass make it to the other side by crossing either of two bridges. I figured this would be easy enough, I'd kill the creatures on the other side, then wait out the 4 turns before the mission was a success. However, I was surprised to learn that when I killed one creature, another took it's place, forcing me to play an entirely defensive position. Yet another mission had me killing Dreamhares until I thought I had the right amount of the correct loot, at which point I would report to an NPC on the battlefield. Needless to say, I was happily shocked by the vast variation among missions.
Problem: Why the HELL am I supposed to be following these stupid laws!? What kind of messed up tyranny sends people to jail for using the wrong spell element?
Solution: For the sequel, the role of Judges in Ivalice has changed a bit. Clan members can only be revived if they have the protection of Judges. This "adjudged" status also allows clans to access benefits and rewards provided by the Judges. The catch, of course, is that adjudged clans must follow the nonsense laws that are set for each battle. Sure, it's still strange that there are dictators occasionally outlawing the use of multiple-targeting skills, but at least it makes SENSE this time.
That about covers all the major fixes, though it doesn't really sum up the additional things in FFTA2. I could, for example, talk about the game's variation of Final Fantasy XII's Bazaar system, or the new auction house feature, or tell you how good or bad the story is once I've played the game longer. However, for this review I wanted to focus solely on the elements that make this game a prime example of a sequel done well, and I think I've covered all that.
I recommend this game for any fan of the Tactical RPG genre, even if you're one of the many who are sick of seeing the name Final Fantasy. And just so I don't come across as a fanboy, I will leave you with two complaints. First, considering I have a party of trained fighters, I find it discouraging that wooden fences are considered obstacles. Second, from what I've heard so far, the soundtrack is composed of recycled tracks from the original FFTA and FFXII, there's no excuse for that level of laziness.
Seriously though, go buy this game.
