Overview

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Review

Release Date: 09.08.2003
Platform: Game Boy Advance
Developer: Square-Enix Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Nintendo of America, Inc.

Reviewed by Andrew McClure on 10.29.2003

Review Rating: 9/10

User Rating: 7.81/10

The original Final Fantasy Tactics for the PlayStation is considered by many to be a modern classic, and one of the best games on a system with truckloads of modern classics. Ever since its release, fans have been clamoring for a sequel. Now, a mere six years later, Square Enix finally delivers, and it was well worth the wait.

The first thing that you’ll probably notice is the graphics, which are easily the best that I’ve seen on the Gameboy Advance. The colors are bright, the sprites are detailed, and the animation is slick. In fact the only real difference between this and the original is the lack of 3D battlefields which isn’t all that big of a deal. In fact it seems that the graphics are a bit too detailed. There is also the occasional slowdown during battles, but since it’s a turn based Strategy RPG a little bit of slowdown isn’t that big of a deal. The sound is less impressive, which is par for the course on the GBA. The music isn’t bad enough to never turn the sound up, but you aren’t going to be humming any of the tunes any time soon.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance tells the story of four young friends: Marche, the new guy and our hero; Doned, Marche’s wheelchair bound younger brother; Ritz, the tough girl; and Mewt, the introverted young boy with a less than stellar home life. Their adventure begins when Mewt purchases a magic book which transports them into the world of their favorite game which is of course Final Fantasy. Marche wakes up in a strange world called Ivalice in a strange town with strange people and…ah it doesn’t really matter. This isn’t Shakespeare; heck, it isn’t even the original Final Fantasy Tactics. The best things that I can say about the story is that it’s well translated and it doesn’t get in the way of my enjoyment of the game.

But the gameplay. Oh the gameplay. If you’ve ever played the original game then you’ll be able to jump right in and if you’ve never played a Strategy RPG before, don’t worry; there’s a tutorial snowball fight at the beginning. FFTA uses a variation of the Job system from its predecessor, but in Ivalice there are five different races: Humans, Moogles, Viera, Nu Mou, and Bangaa. Each race has their own set of jobs so only Moogles can be gunners and only Bangaa can be Dragoons. The new system makes the job selection a little more limiting but I don’t view that as a bad thing. In the original game I would constantly find myself in situations where I didn’t have the right class and just got reamed on the battle field. In FFTA, I rarely ran into a situation where I didn’t have a character that was right for a specific situation, but if I didn’t the battle was merely harder not impossible. Also rather than learning new abilities as you gain levels, FFTA uses a system very similar to the ability system in Final Fantasy IX and by “very similar” I mean exactly alike. Essentially, certain pieces of equipment have certain abilities attached which can be permenantly learned when you gain the right about of AP by completing missions. It’s actually a very well balanced system where you have to decide if you’re going to stick with a weaker weapon in order to learn a better ability or go with a stronger weapon and a weaker ability.

Probably the most important change from the original is the way you move the story along. In the original you move from one battle to another in a straight line where as FFTA uses a looser mission-based system. Your clan goes to town pubs where you can purchase info on missions which can range from fighting evil clans to picking flowers. Not every mission is a battle though. Some are dispatch missions where you send single party members out for a set amount of days or battles and others have you interacting with other clans which can be solved through battle or through helpful bribes. Completing certain missions unlocks new locations on the world map or new missions. Also, rather than having random battles, various clans will walk around the board and occupying the same area as them will initiate a battle. I’ve never been a fan of random battles so I’m all for this is just the icing on an already delicious cake to me.

The biggest innovation in the game is the new Law system. Every battle is presided over by a Judge, a plate mail wearing referee riding a chocobo. One day you won’t be allowed to use Color Magic and the next day Items are illegal. If you do happen to break the law then you’ll be either slapped with a yellow card or a red card. Yellow cards will cause the character to get a penalty at the end of the battle (which can be anything from losing a couple status points to forfeiting all your prizes from the mission). If you leave a yellow card on a character they can cause failure on dispatch mission. Don’t worry though, because they can be worked off by spending some time in the Sprohm jail. If you get multiple yellows in a single bout or you break a high level law you might be getting yourself a red card which will send your character right out of the battle and into jail. Always make sure you check the laws before selecting your characters for battle and a helpful press of the select button will tell you exactly what each law prohibits. A couple hours into the game you gain law cards which add a lot of strategy to the game. Anti-law cards can remove a particularly troublesome law for you and law cards can create laws that can shift the battle to your advantage.


At the end of the day, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is just fun. You’ll find yourself going through the missions not to advance the story but to get some new items or abilities or to just make your clan the baddest mothers in all of Ivalice. The story and music are definitely a step down and the law system can sometimes get frustrating, but with fantastic gameplay and graphics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is one of the best games on the GBA. Some will complain that the game is too easy but I’ve always thought that the original was too hard, so taking the proverbial heat down a notch was good move in my opinion. Even if like me you weren’t that big of a fan of the original, you should definitely give Final Fantasy Tactics Advance a chance; you might just be pleasantly surprised.

Box art