FIRST COMMENT, wooooooot!

Cute new haircut, babe. Or in the high-brow words of the Spoony forumites: “I’d hit it.” =D

FIRST COMMENT, wooooooot!

Cute new haircut, babe. Or in the high-brow words of the Spoony forumites: “I’d hit it.” =D

Yeah I bought FF Tactics: War of the Lions for PSP and the game is too repetitive.

Nice review. Have you gotten around to playing Civilization Revolution? Pretty fun game. Picked it up for $11 when my local Sam Goody was going out of business.

Nice review. Have you gotten around to playing Civilization Revolution? Pretty fun game. Picked it up for $11 when my local Sam Goody was going out of business.

If you want a good turn-based game, go check out Valkryia Chronicles on the PS3. But yeah, Final Fantasy Tactics is repetitive.

If you want a good turn-based game, go check out Valkryia Chronicles on the PS3. But yeah, Final Fantasy Tactics is repetitive.

If you want a good turn-based game, go check out Valkryia Chronicles on the PS3. But yeah, Final Fantasy Tactics is repetitive.

Tactics on the PS1 cracks with a sickening snap if you play it with just ramza. One character running around with math skill and Holy and Excalibur = lol. If you want to give it another go, there’s a walkthrough on Gamefaqs.com for a Solo-Ramza game. It’s actually a lot easier to play with just Ramza instead of a squad once it gets rolling.

The Judges seemed to be a lot more Bullshit in A1. They actually removed Red card characters from combat, and you had to go to jail and bail them up. From what I could see in A2, breaking laws just removed bonus’s available at the end of the combat.. which seems a lot more lenient then A1.

Tactics on the PS1 cracks with a sickening snap if you play it with just ramza. One character running around with math skill and Holy and Excalibur = lol. If you want to give it another go, there’s a walkthrough on Gamefaqs.com for a Solo-Ramza game. It’s actually a lot easier to play with just Ramza instead of a squad once it gets rolling.

The Judges seemed to be a lot more Bullshit in A1. They actually removed Red card characters from combat, and you had to go to jail and bail them up. From what I could see in A2, breaking laws just removed bonus’s available at the end of the combat.. which seems a lot more lenient then A1.

While I do agree that the judges were ridiculous at times, at least they’re not as annoying as they were in Tactics Advance. Not getting an experience bonus sucks, but having your character sent to jail and then having to pay thousands of Gil for bail is just bullshit.

While I do agree that the judges were ridiculous at times, at least they’re not as annoying as they were in Tactics Advance. Not getting an experience bonus sucks, but having your character sent to jail and then having to pay thousands of Gil for bail is just bullshit.

I would say if you are liking tactical RPGs that the new Fire emblem shadow dragon would be a good choice. ijust came out on eusday in the US but has been out in europe for about 2 months and is very nicely pressented and very deep but can be a little difficult because once a character is dead, they’re gone. for good.

hope that helps, although if you already know that i apologise for wasting time/text

I would say if you are liking tactical RPGs that the new Fire emblem shadow dragon would be a good choice. ijust came out on eusday in the US but has been out in europe for about 2 months and is very nicely pressented and very deep but can be a little difficult because once a character is dead, they’re gone. for good.

hope that helps, although if you already know that i apologise for wasting time/text

I agree with your review of A2. But I beg you, go back and play FFT for the PS1 – and take it seriously. I’m a huge RPG fan – I’ve played all the FFs, all the classics. FFT is my most favorite game of all time, better than Chrono Trigger, better than FF6/3. I’m serious. Please replay FFT and take it seriously!

Play Fire Emblem. It abstracts away the annoying micromanagement without sacrificing any depth.

Play Fire Emblem. It abstracts away the annoying micromanagement without sacrificing any depth.

Oh Spoony. Kiss me. Kiss me, you man.

Y’know the most bullshit law of all? The Dmg2 laws. Yeah. Maybe I’m remembering this wrong, but say it’s Dmg2Animal, and you can’t negatively afflict any monster on the field at all. So how do you win? Oh shit, you don’t. I’ve tried all the backdoors, short of an antilaw card, to get past this. You have to lose. And you had goddamned better have a close savepoint or you’ll be so pissed you WILL stop playing for days.

It’s a fun game that you’ll stop playing well before unlocking everything you possibly can. Just like FFTA1.

I actually feel like seeing you play FFT now, even though there’s not nearly as much stupid shit to poke fun at which would make a video actually funny.

Oh Spoony. Kiss me. Kiss me, you man.

Y’know the most bullshit law of all? The Dmg2 laws. Yeah. Maybe I’m remembering this wrong, but say it’s Dmg2Animal, and you can’t negatively afflict any monster on the field at all. So how do you win? Oh shit, you don’t. I’ve tried all the backdoors, short of an antilaw card, to get past this. You have to lose. And you had goddamned better have a close savepoint or you’ll be so pissed you WILL stop playing for days.

It’s a fun game that you’ll stop playing well before unlocking everything you possibly can. Just like FFTA1.

I actually feel like seeing you play FFT now, even though there’s not nearly as much stupid shit to poke fun at which would make a video actually funny.

Well since everyone is chucking out suggestions I guess I’ll throw one into the hat.
Disgaea is a pretty good S-RPG. It’s pretty easy to wrap your head around the basics of the game, you don’t have to switch armour after to learn new skills because all your characters learn new spells as they level and said spells level up the more you use them.

Well since everyone is chucking out suggestions I guess I’ll throw one into the hat.
Disgaea is a pretty good S-RPG. It’s pretty easy to wrap your head around the basics of the game, you don’t have to switch armour after to learn new skills because all your characters learn new spells as they level and said spells level up the more you use them.

Dude, if you can play the original on Playstation, it was a MUCH better game and it didnt have the judges, it also isn’t as cumbersome as the new ones. It is really fucking hard though.

Oh I agree about the style.
Their clothes and architecture is so random. It looks like everyone is trying to be better at cosplay than to actually wear clothes.
The style is also not consistent in any way. You can look at some guys and think they are from FFX or something.
The tech also jumps between (in ffXII) being in a Medieval city, and in the next moment your on a space ship with laser sensors.
They also use magic to excuse everything in the game.

Subtlety, consistency and less cosplay for the sake of cosplay.

I hate the world of Ivalice. I could go on for hours.

Oh I agree about the style.
Their clothes and architecture is so random. It looks like everyone is trying to be better at cosplay than to actually wear clothes.
The style is also not consistent in any way. You can look at some guys and think they are from FFX or something.
The tech also jumps between (in ffXII) being in a Medieval city, and in the next moment your on a space ship with laser sensors.
They also use magic to excuse everything in the game.

Subtlety, consistency and less cosplay for the sake of cosplay.

I hate the world of Ivalice. I could go on for hours.

i agree that this game was very, very boring for me. so boring that i couldnt even finish the game, and this is coming from someone who has played every major final fantasy game and really likes VIII.

btw, looking forward to part 9. although i do like VIII, your “review” is very funny.

i agree that this game was very, very boring for me. so boring that i couldnt even finish the game, and this is coming from someone who has played every major final fantasy game and really likes VIII.

btw, looking forward to part 9. although i do like VIII, your “review” is very funny.

The Judges aren’t bullshit 90%, or even 99% of the time…they’re bullshit ALL of the time. I mean, what the hell? The game is restricting me on how to play it? Isn’t it hard enough without all the laws?

On another note, it would be funny to be able to argue with the judge…OBJECTION!

I have played FFXII, hated it but wont take it against any other game in that setting, it would just be silly. It would be like hating Vagrant Story because it takes place in Ivalice, I would have to be a completely blind dumb shit to even consider that a reason to not like a game. It’s not about setting, it’s about story and gameplay which can be incorporated in that setting. My biggest problem with FFXII is that they changed the writers original story to make it appeal to a younger audience when it would have been better if they kept Basch as the main character instead of adding 2 characters that have nothing to do with the story. This along with a few other things bothered me about FFXII.

I have played FFXII, hated it but wont take it against any other game in that setting, it would just be silly. It would be like hating Vagrant Story because it takes place in Ivalice, I would have to be a completely blind dumb shit to even consider that a reason to not like a game. It’s not about setting, it’s about story and gameplay which can be incorporated in that setting. My biggest problem with FFXII is that they changed the writers original story to make it appeal to a younger audience when it would have been better if they kept Basch as the main character instead of adding 2 characters that have nothing to do with the story. This along with a few other things bothered me about FFXII.

Man, I love your comments, spoony. I was telling my friend about the same bullshit laws you encountered (I’m about the same distance into the game so we probably even encountered them in the same levels) – in the order you mentioned them – over MSN AS I was watching it (with him watching it as well), and we both lol’d when we go to the point in the vid where you mention them, cause I think thats what EVERYONE felt playing it. How’d the playtesters not fuckin’ catch that bullshit?

Man, I love your comments, spoony. I was telling my friend about the same bullshit laws you encountered (I’m about the same distance into the game so we probably even encountered them in the same levels) – in the order you mentioned them – over MSN AS I was watching it (with him watching it as well), and we both lol’d when we go to the point in the vid where you mention them, cause I think thats what EVERYONE felt playing it. How’d the playtesters not fuckin’ catch that bullshit?

I remember when i played Final Fantasy Tactics for the GBA and thought it was way to repetitive. Looks like time haven’t sweeten it.

Great review Spoony, as always! Me love u long time

I remember when i played Final Fantasy Tactics for the GBA and thought it was way to repetitive. Looks like time haven’t sweeten it.

Great review Spoony, as always! Me love u long time

Whoa, seventy pages just for instructions. DAMN! That’s not cool at all. Would take aeons to skim the sucker through :D

Hey. Your second complain is exactly what you have to do for many Korean Online Games. Yes it is complicated and it takes about 1000 hours too ‘clear’ or be the highest level in these games but many people still enjoy it and make you feel that the game is ‘real’ and not just a ‘game’. Well I guess video games are not supposed to be played for like 1000 hours LOL.

Hey. Your second complain is exactly what you have to do for many Korean Online Games. Yes it is complicated and it takes about 1000 hours too ‘clear’ or be the highest level in these games but many people still enjoy it and make you feel that the game is ‘real’ and not just a ‘game’. Well I guess video games are not supposed to be played for like 1000 hours LOL.

you make a metion of it
but what do think of the fps2 game final fantasy 12

you make a metion of it
but what do think of the fps2 game final fantasy 12

I got beaten to saying to try Valkyria Chronicles for a good turn based game but I’m going to say it anyway. It is a breath of fresh life in the genre. Sure the cut scenes can be a bit over long and pointless but comparde to basically anything else Japanese or RPGy it manages to stay decent in the respect. The WW2 esque setting (with a fantasy twist/not as lazy as WW2 with aliens) and storybook motif manage to keep it some what realistic but at the same time not grim drepressing and rendered in grey. The combat on the other hand is just superb, just try on the PSN to get a feel it’s so intuitive that describing will really overcomplicate it. Also it nicely mixes unit load out and squad composition you can just stick with the five classes and do well by using them cleverly or you can delve deep into who works well with who and what special bonuses and weakness each character has. Plus ALL UNITS OF THE SAME CLASS LEVEL UP!, no griding a unit in combat instead just spend the rewards after the battle on what you want.

oddly enough i agree with everything you said (except the for the managing of the chars, i really enjoy that)…BUT i love this game im 45 hours in and i play it when ever i have down time. as a matter of fact my DS is sitting in standby right beside me.
Im not a fan of Final Fantasy in the least, i think they are boring, but tactics yeally has me.
as for the multiple character selection, I like it, it makes it easier for the laws, i have 6 main and 4 spares incase i cant use magic or ranged or something. the laws are annoying but its really keeping me from flying through the game with 6 elites.
anyways, goodjob

oddly enough i agree with everything you said (except the for the managing of the chars, i really enjoy that)…BUT i love this game im 45 hours in and i play it when ever i have down time. as a matter of fact my DS is sitting in standby right beside me.
Im not a fan of Final Fantasy in the least, i think they are boring, but tactics yeally has me.
as for the multiple character selection, I like it, it makes it easier for the laws, i have 6 main and 4 spares incase i cant use magic or ranged or something. the laws are annoying but its really keeping me from flying through the game with 6 elites.
anyways, goodjob

I probably didn’t express myself well enough to explain why I didn’t like the job system of Tactics A2. Not only do you have to switch jobs, but you have to constantly manage equipment specific to those jobs. The abilities you learn for each job are specific to the piece of equipment, not the job itself. So a White Mage carrying nothing learns nothing; he has to carry a Rod long enough to learn Cure, then carry a Healing Staff to learn Cura.

This is a major switch from simply learning class abilities through experience. Now you have to be in the job AND be carrying specific items before you can learn abilities. It’s extremely frustrating having to keep this in mind for over six characters, each of which has at least a dozen jobs to choose from, and each job has several powers to learn.

man, did you miss the original Final Fantasy Advace for GBA? A2 is just the enhancement of that version. and i tell you the judges though you in the jail for red cards in the FFA. I don’t know about the others, i don’t hang out at FFA fan sites, but all i did (and my girlfriend did the same) is just keep 2 tiers. one – as you said – elite. and the other team for dispatch jobs. of course second tier take some time to advance from time to time in real combats. well, team development is really 1/3 of the game. actually, at first i played FFA on GBA (almost did it to the end), then i tried original on PSX and didn’t like it. i don’t know why, the combats are not so obvious for the beginners, i guess.
thanks for the review, you rock. i know you love this game, don’t you.
mougles are so cute, my gf say so.

man, did you miss the original Final Fantasy Advace for GBA? A2 is just the enhancement of that version. and i tell you the judges though you in the jail for red cards in the FFA. I don’t know about the others, i don’t hang out at FFA fan sites, but all i did (and my girlfriend did the same) is just keep 2 tiers. one – as you said – elite. and the other team for dispatch jobs. of course second tier take some time to advance from time to time in real combats. well, team development is really 1/3 of the game. actually, at first i played FFA on GBA (almost did it to the end), then i tried original on PSX and didn’t like it. i don’t know why, the combats are not so obvious for the beginners, i guess.
thanks for the review, you rock. i know you love this game, don’t you.
mougles are so cute, my gf say so.

I have to say that this game is a vast improvement over Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The judges in A2 are still annoying, but nowhere near as much as in Advance. At least in A2 you’re able to see the laws on screen at all times not like in Advance. Oh and you don’t have to worry about breaking one of four laws in effect and getting a red card then having the unit that violated that law removed from play.

I have to say that this game is a vast improvement over Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The judges in A2 are still annoying, but nowhere near as much as in Advance. At least in A2 you’re able to see the laws on screen at all times not like in Advance. Oh and you don’t have to worry about breaking one of four laws in effect and getting a red card then having the unit that violated that law removed from play.

[QUOTE]
… you have to be in the job AND be carrying specific items before you can learn abilities. It’s extremely frustrating having to keep this in mind for over six characters …
[QUOTE]

and that’s were pen and paper are you friends. really.

[QUOTE]
… you have to be in the job AND be carrying specific items before you can learn abilities. It’s extremely frustrating having to keep this in mind for over six characters …
[QUOTE]

and that’s were pen and paper are you friends. really.

That’s a lot of medical supplies on the table behind you. Are you feeling okay?

Wassup Spoony…

I will say, if you don’t want to be a hardcore player, you can pretty much get by with only training 8-9 characters, and only six of them really need to be paid attention to. I did this with my playthrough and it went fine. FYI – when you open the screen, any character who has learned abilities will be hopping up and down. Makes for easier managing, which is what Tactics in general is about.

That said, I always get confused with the jobs myself, so I use the handy job chart on gamefaqs.com. You might want to check it out, because it sounds like you’re still earlier in the game. It’ll make getting the advanced classes a lot easier with that in front of you saying what you need to unlock them.

I agree with the BS judge things though. Some of the technicalities are ridiculous.

final fantasy tactics A3: the tale of the giant pizza cutter
how the A2 guy got his weapon…..

Nice review Spoony ! And I agree on every point you made. I know everyone wants you to go on reviewing FF8, but please please keep doing what you like. Being forced to do something only makes it boring.

This made me remember that I actually own Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Gameboy Advance. Haven’t played it in ages and I can’t seem to find it now but whatever, I do remember that it had much of the same problems you mention with this game. It too had a lot of character management and it was really repetitive but I could live with that. But the judges (and the rules) were absolute crap, although in that game there were cards which you could use to modify the rules if you had the proper card. The problem with that was that the good and useful cards were pretty rare/hard to get, and you were always saving them for boss battles because if some really bullshit rule was applied in a boss battle, you were screwed (like ‘no melee attacks’ and your party was highly effective in melee, but not too good in anything else. [Though I guess you could call that an issue with the players unbalanced tactic and that's when the rule changing cards really come into play, but that doesn't change the fact that the rules are still really, really annoying]. If they’d only get rid of the judge/rule system it would be much more enjoyable, but I guess that would be taking a part of the whole experience away.

Great review as always, Noah Antwiler is the coolest, the only competittion he has are AVGN and Nostalgia Critic, I wish he had a TV show. Good fun.

70 pages? So what, Civilization 3 had like 300 pages and all the games of the 90′s had more than 70 pages.

I’ve only ever seen other people playing Final Fantasy Tactics games. What was said here pretty much repeats what the others have been saying. It’s not necessarily that they’re bad games. It’s just that they’re more for people who absolutely love to spend hours and hours messing with their characters. That’s certainly not me, or a lot of the other gamers I know, which is probably why I never even bothered with the Tactics spinoff.

I kinda enjoyed the game, but I agree with your points. The thing that pissed me off the most was the fact that, unlike FFT 1, the judge’s rules did not apply to the enemies. That is balls, it takes all the cool rule-changing strategy out of the game.

I’ve been playing FFTA for the gameboy advance for years now, literally. its just something I can pick up and play automatically (like you said with turn-based games). I haven’t played this yet (don’t own a DS), but it sounds like more of the same, with more annoyances. I’ve gotten to the point where the more judge laws the more strategy i have to use (and that’s a bonus, frankly, cause it would get boring otherwise). but the item management… that’s utter crap. They should have implemented a way to moniter the talent-learning more closely, like a screen that shows how’s learning what, and from that screen you can swap out items for new ones.
Either way, I guess it looks like I’d like FFTA2, even if i’ve been playing its predecessor into the ground…

I agree with your points about judges COMPLETELY!!! The battles got REALLY crazy in my opinion when things like “Fight” were banned. Especially in the beginning of the game that was the worst law you could get.

Also, I kinda like the micromanaging aspect of the game. Although that is most likely just me.

LOL @ the giant pizza cutter.

ik quit playing FFTA2 after abuot 20 hours of gameplay, not cause i disliked it that much but mostly cause of the mediocre storyline and the repetitive gameplay, besides of that i got Disgaea DS and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon wich are just more fun to play to my opinion. Didn’t mind the judge rules that much btw.

70 pages for a manual is even too much for a TBS on a Handheld, FE:SD has 36(european version) and Disgaea DS(wich can be even more complex then FFTA2 if you want to dig out all of the game and the extra mode wich was not in the PS2 version) only 35(minus 9 if you pass the online tutorial)

I played Tactics Advanced on my gba years ago, not that impressed.

Generally just killing everyone on the screen, tons of management as explained.

Story was just some alternate world and it going back to how it was.

And the world is just a board, and each area is just a board with no illusion of being in another world or feeling like you are exploring, just boards it felt like.

Maybe it’s just not for me though, I like to go across the world and get into quick fights and such without that amount of management.

Golden sun was great for me.

Hey Spooney,
I have always liked your reviews and i especially like your FF8 reviews I find with all your reviews its pretty unbiased and comical how you point out the obvious flaws in a game that a lot of fans blindly ignore.

I also agree with you for Tactics A2 with the points you made and I must say yes the judges are annoying and I have played the first Final fantasy Tactics Advance game for the GBA and A2 the judge system was a lot better than in the first. for an example in A2 theres only one law to follow where in the GBA one there was up to 5 laws to follow in one battle.

secondly in A2 sure breaking the law took away your clan privilege, the Exp and item bonus’ and prevented you from reviving KO’d party members least in this one you don’t have to worry about having to go to a jail town and bailing out a clan mate or having to get a pardon.

its still busywork like you said to master all the characters specific jobs and abilities and so far the only species that has it easy are the Hume’s because they are the ONLY species in the FF12 universe that can learn dual wield and use two weapons at once cutting the learn rate in half or learning two abilities at once.

I also played the PSX Final fantasy tactics and the re release for the PSP I liked it better than the two advance games because it allowed for multiclassing, sure i would like to see the FF12 species in war of the lions along with some of the final fantasy tactics advance jobs but i don’t like how the veria has nothing but archer and magic jobs or how the Moogle jobs are gimmicky as hell.

any way i just wanted to say yes there’s quite a lot of busy work in the newer final fantasy games what is this a new take on game design i know that the first tactics final fantasy was pretty linear but it allowed for better customization and better multiclassing the advance games are nothing but boring level grinding and repetitive missions. Oh well least they didn’t remake it into another final fantasy 8

You’re STILL gonna continue FF8? This may as well be a Let’s Play.

Anyways, you wanna know a BS law? No Missing. Like, seriously, how do I PREVENT that? It’s basically god that determines whether I get violated or not. The judges must enjoy their job, and I always thought Ivalice was being treated like an MMO in this game. NO ONE takes anything seriously. Towns and shit are AUCTIONED OFF.

And I officially think FF8 is b0rked, BTW.

Spoony,

You’re right. I didn’t even think about it right now. I do get pissed when those Judges throw out crazy rules. I know I have been hit by that charm and break the rule loophole a million times, also the knockback one, which is the biggest crock considering you hit the guy before he was two units away.

Another one of the bullshit rules that can be exploited by the enemies charm spell is Damage <50 (WORST RULE EVER!) in which you can’t do more than 50 damage. By level ten you’re doing 60-80 damage no problem without using powered attacks. The only guy who can throw under the damage belt is a Ninja using the veil spells, which only do 9 – 12 damage… those battles take forever and i usually just break the rule anyway in the sake of time.

If you like strategy games, try Disgaea.

Hah, if you think that 70-Page Instruction Manual is bad, you should sit through all of Daravon’s tutorials in the first FFT…that’s just murder. Oh yeah, don’t bother yourself with the Advance games, just pick up War of the Lions for the PSP and that’s all you’ll need.

I also played the first FFTA on the GBA, and after investing about 20 hours or so into it, I got bored with it for the same reasons. Too much management, and the battles were the same every time. I hated playing each stage over and over for quests.

I haven’t tried disgaea yet (I mean to pick up a pre-owned copy at some point), but shining force is a great example of how a tactical RPG should be done. Sure, its a little simplistic, but the 3rd especially had enough depth in it to give it some real replay value, and more importantly it never made you do the same battle more than once (unless you chose to do one of the endgame ‘levelling dungeons’ several times). This approach also allowed for the story to take the forefront, and most of the characters had something to set them apart from the rest – which made you think about who you needed in your squad, rather than relying on levelling the same bunch all the way through.

Personally I like the micromanaging…I honestly have no idea why, but I get a sense of accomplishment after fucking around with all my characters for 10+ minutes and making them perfect. The first Tactics on PSone was great, Tactics Advance…not so much. Sounds like Tactics A2 is more of the same, only they made the Judges worse, and I didn’t think that was possible.

I haven’t played Grimoire Rift yet, although I have played the first Tactics Advance, and was a huge fan of that game. I admit that the judges are, in fact, total bullshit, and will inflict more harm onto you and your clan than good. I suppose it’s just something one has to deal with, as much as it sucks balls.

I never had problems with the time spent on managing my clan, but I can see why others would find that part of the gameplay tiresome and boring. It does take alot of your time away from the “action” of the game.

Your complaints are pretty valid Spoony, so don’t fret.

don’t know if you have ever played any of them or not, but you should try the fire emblem series. the new (remake) is coming out for the DS, but i recommend you try the first one to cross over to America (7th in the series) on the GBA and my personal fav (never played any of the japanese ones though)

I’m going to sound like a hugeass nerd for this but:

* Moogles are supposed to be a cross between moles, bears, and bats. Their name is a corruption of the Japanese word for mole. This used to make more sense when they had squinty eyes and lived in caves.

* The thing on a Moogle’s head is called a pompom. It’s a sensory organ – Moogles use it to communicate telepathically with eachother over long distances, like some psychic form of the internet.

I was the kind of player who had 6 guys I kept as my main fighters. Here’s why I quit though; For one reason or another I put off saving for a while, even as I’m getting all my guys new abilities, new jobs, new weapons, and all that good stuff. The fights were so easy I figured I could just save when stop playing and be fine. I get into a fight with a bunch of bombs or whatever, and as I’m placing my characters, I fuck up and end up going into battle with just one guy, with no way to win. I can’t run from this fight, I can’t reset the game, I can’t bring more guys out, I just have to watch my piddly little fighter get gang-raped by a bunch of bombs while I can only hope to god I get a continue option or whatever after the battle. Needless to say, it goes straight to the title screen after I lose, and all my data was lost, setting me back a good 4-5 hours of micromanagement and leveling. Haven’t played it since then, I just don’t want to deal with it.

I was the kind of player who had 6 guys I kept as my main fighters. Here’s why I quit though; For one reason or another I put off saving for a while, even as I’m getting all my guys new abilities, new jobs, new weapons, and all that good stuff. The fights were so easy I figured I could just save when stop playing and be fine. I get into a fight with a bunch of bombs or whatever, and as I’m placing my characters, I fuck up and end up going into battle with just one guy, with no way to win. I can’t run from this fight, I can’t reset the game, I can’t bring more guys out, I just have to watch my piddly little fighter get gang-raped by a bunch of bombs while I can only hope to god I get a continue option or whatever after the battle. Needless to say, it goes straight to the title screen after I lose, and all my data was lost, setting me back a good 4-5 hours of micromanagement and leveling. Haven’t played it since then, I just don’t want to deal with it.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced sucked hard >.<
It was way too complicated, and the laws were stupid. Who the hell thought adding laws to FFT would be a good thing?
Anyways, I didn’t play FFTA2 because I hated FFTA, and personally I don’t understand at all why Square would bother making a sequel. But I did love the original Final Fantasy Tactics

If you like turn-based games, I suggest Fire Emblem.

Preferably Radian Dawn, since it’s really long and you can save during battles.

You think those rules are bad? Wait until you get into a fight with a bunch of thieves and the rule is that you’re not allowed to get robbed. Seriously, by being the victim of a robbery you’re breaking the judge’s law… ugh.

Yey, more FF8 coming up =)

I have the FF12: revenant wings for the DS. Kill monsters in screen etc… It was pretty fun, but it made me use my head too much…Alot of micromanaging… And I did not even finnish it because the last missions kept kicking my ass…

All true. FFTA and FFTA2 are garbage due to all these reasons.

its so complicated because the japanese looooooove shit thats so over the top and complicated (see: mgs4)

I thought it was a fun little game. spent quite a lot of time with it, but near the end I just wanted to get it over with. Wasn’t to inspired to do all the quests either.

Yeah, that’s why I hated the original FFTA. The original Tactics is a classic in my book, but FFTA was a letdown from the get go. And I gave FFTA 2 chances.

So, yeah, I’m sticking with the original. Had I a PSP I’d get Lion War. It may be an update of an old game, but I’d rather have a better old game than an annoying new game.

The part about not keeping 24 guys fined tuned and stuff reminded me of Fire Emblem. Love the game, but I don’t actually keep everyone leveled up. *laugh*

ANYWAY!
Great review, as always.

You should really try the PSP remake of the original Final Fantasy Tactics, they did a great job of fixing the bad translations so you can actually follow and enjoy the story, which is pretty epic for that kind of game. Plus there are no judges, so none of that crap.

really, the only part you didn’t get was the biggest hate of this game. when you start a new mission, everyone starts with 0 mp, but gain 10 per turn.
um…. yeah, goodbye mages, you’re useless. Goodbye nu-mou, the mage race, we barely needed you.
Seriously, they made a race that’s slow, weak in physical abilities, and now take the only thing good from them and kick them right in the balls, there you go the new nu-mous.

I like FFTA and all, but I do have to agree the judges are bullshit.

You got FFTA2…instead of Chrono Trigger DS?

And yeah, I didn’t like the artstyle of FFTA2, or FFTA (for GBA) for that matter. They picked up all of the vices of Tetsuya Nomura’s house of fashion design (over-the-topness, impracticality)

Tell you what, Spoony. Go to your store and look for Etrian Odyssey (or Etrian Odyssey 2), or what out for the release of The Dark Spire (all of which are DS games, too, so they shouldn’t cost you much). Etrian Odyssey is pretty much Wizardry with mini-boss type enemies called F.O.E.s that can literally wipe out your team in one hit unless your carefull.

Of course, as others mentioned, if you’re into tactical RPGs, there’s always Fire Emblem/Advance Wars.

The “dingleberries” are pom-poms, btw.

Let me start out by saying that I love Final Fantasy Tactics. In fact i still think it is one of, if not the, best tactics based game on any console. (fanboy rage here i come)

On the other hand when I played Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, I almost took a sledgehammer to that piece of crap.

I hated how the job system from tactics got thrown out the window . Really who was the bright light that thought the changes were a good thing, Race based jobs?, Skills learned from weapons? honestly wtf? Who likes that crap?

The other annoying as hell part is how the judges could ruin your plans with their ass backwards laws. Sorry mister Knight, melee attacks are illegal in this fight o_O.

The game would have been redeemed though if you could just fight and kill the judge instead of taking the stupid penalty for breaking a law. I mean you can kill freaking demigods but cant fight the damn judge.

Had pretty much the same experience with FFT:A. I really don’t understand this fixation with mcromanaging/minimaxing. I have the rest of my working life to tinker with numbers when I get paid/invest/make out a budget. Likewise, the IRL government will try to ruin everything i do with arbitrary penalties, which I must obey without recourse. Why would I want that in my escapism unless it was the set-up to a vicarious revenge fantasy? Lemme kill a judge dammit!
I wanna pull him off his stupid chickenhorse and stab him in the throat.

To all the FFTAfags:
I haven’t played the games,so all your raging over the judges got me thinking. Let’s say you begin a battle,the judge barges in and puts up a shitty-ass law that completely screws you over. Are the laws random? In other words,is it possible to keep resetting the mission until you get a law that doesn’t suck total ass?

FFTA for the Gameboy Advance is the Same Gameplay and Judges. omg i hate those fucking Judges especially later on into the game where u have to fight later bosses basically you going to be up against two restrictions

its like why the hell let me fight if i can’t use non of my fucking moves, but the game is pretty good and how dare you diss moogles! lol

Yeah I have to agree with you on this, I havent played the DS one but I did play the GBA and all the rants you had (Judges, too many jobs, too much micro managing) where there and from the sounds of it there even worse. I did like the GBA game for awhile untill I got fed up with the judges. At least FF4 for the DS was great.

NucleaRaptor:
In the first FFTA, you could get around getting awful laws by wandering around the map and wasting ingame time since the laws change over time. So, yeah, it’s possible to game the law system if you felt like constantly checking the current laws before heading into battle.

Don’t know the situation in FFTA2, but I imagine it’s pretty much the same thing.

If you wanna play tactics then play the original PS or psp ones. It takes everything gay from these advanced games and makes it good.

My god, I have that same shirt 0_0, already friends say I look like you Spoony, now we have the same shirt. Why are you my doppelganger?

Anyway, I’ve always hated the job system, far to much to juggle for a game.

Heh, I actually really love the game boy advance version, I clocked over 9k hours on it, I had one member of each race, made them into gods and face raped everything that got in my way… but those judges, what use are they!? I love turn based tactics and FF tactics on PS got me into it, hard. The judges though…. Jesus nonexistent tap-dancing H. Christ was square thinking bringing that in… at least in tactics advance the judges were there to be oppressive, it was the plot, you pissed off the government and they added more laws, but you still fought on till you whooped the whiny prince’s ass. But to bring the law system back? …. you know, I’m sitting here bitching about it, but I’m on the next tab on firefox, buying the fucking game…

Final Fantasy Tactics on the PS1 is one of my most favorite games ever: a strong contender for first place. I’ve played it countless times, using countless builds, experiencing wildly different games each time.

Both of the Advanced titles for the GBA are complete bullshit. They’re poppycock. Fiddle faddle. Codswollop. Their very existence disproves the presence of a benevolent God in the universe. The Judges are bullshit, the character design is bastardized, the plot is trivilized, and the entire experience demeaned. And to defile the JP system by learning all your abilities through equipment? I mean that was fine when FF9 did it, but there’s already an established, complex job system in place. There’s no need for such frivolous convolution.

In short, this review was spot on. Keep on truckin’, Spoony.

<3

PS
FF8 is garbage too. If you can make it past disc three I will be both amazed and pitying.

Just some advice to make things easier:

Don’t let people into your clan. You get no bonuses for having a big clan and sticking with the original six will turn them into a walking death squad by the end.

Also, make an outline of the jobs you want to use and maybe some other abilities you want. I know that’s a big hassle and it sucks to do so, but it makes the long haul grind a lot faster and more focused.

And the Fitting Room in shops makes the buying a lot easier too.

Just some advice. Hope they help out with your game.

PS. I have no idea how Luso even walks around with that shit on.

Just a protip for ya. In the situations that you’ve stated where rules are easy to break, those are actually *preset* battles and rules that you need to switch your strategy up in so you don’t lose. For example, in the case where you can’t hit an enemy more than one space away; if you have an object in the way (either the terrain, or another player), criticals do not knockback (because there’s nowhere to knockback to).
If you want to see REALLY brutal laws, there’s a fight where the rule is “Don’t get pickpocketed”. Against a band of thieves. Each of them with 3 different stealing skills. That was an entertaining fight to solve; and you feel like a badass for completing a match with laws obviously stacked against your favour.
You might also want to note that laws only apply to you (since only you have clan benefits); so forcing the opponent to break the law won’t do shit (In FFTA for the GBA, enemy rulebreakers can be penalised/removed from play, as long as they aren’t boss characters). A bitter, but logical truth.

I did enjoy the first for the GBA, though the laws would screw you over at times. (Not quite as often as what seems to be happening to Spoony, but I did have a battle with monsters that could only be defeated by magic, only to have a law against using magic.) The story also felt very childish, the box-art made all the characters look like women, and I had no clue that it took place in the same world as FF12. (I haven’t played it, so it didn’t bother me.)

The PSP version doesn’t have laws and you don’t have to switch out equipment to gain skills. I know Spoony’s thoughts on the PSP though.

Some of the more diehard fans of FFT have come together and produced an updated version of the game called FFT 1.3. Basically, it’s a patch that balances the jobs, and tries to make it more challenging. If you want to play a REAL fft game that you have to take seriously, you can play this. To do it, all you have to do is have an iso of the game, and then apply a patch. Details here:
http://www.ffhacktics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=449

And while using an emulator and save states makes the game more fun.

And FFTA 1 and 2 were decent distractions. But they’re just dumbed down versions of the original game. Not a real sequel. All of your complaints are valid.

Oh, and just to warn you: FFT 1.3 will kick your ass. You have to take it totally seriously. Enemies level up with you, all the battles are changed around to be more difficult, etc. It’s not impossible, but it’s meant for more seasoned veterans of FFT.

You never went back to the instruction book.

You pretty much got it for me. I loved the original FFT, but as much as I tried I could not get into the FFTA games. One reason was the judges which you nailed. I just found it annoying to have to deal with random rules in battles. The game is already complex enough as is, it doesn’t need this kind of BS. But my other reason is that I found it much harder to take the plot of the Advance games seriously. FFT, the original was a pretty deep and dark medieval story , war, backstabbing, conspiracies, and… *spoiler* demons from hell trying to destroy the world.
I thought it was a good storyline, especially coming from square at a time when they were shifting the image of the Final Fantasy games to cater to anime and j-pop fanbase. But, the FFTA games, plot wise just didn’t hook me. So some kid finds a book, ends up in wonderland and goes around doing job missions with a group of buddies. It just doesn’t do it for me. Albeit the first FFT game did have something like this, but it was a side-quest, not the main game.
All my opinion though. I don’t consider the Advance series to be sequels to the original FFT. The advance games really feel like they cater to a different audience. So, still waiting here for a proper sequel.

Oh, and that character art of the main guy. I don’t know what that is supposed to be, but that is not a sword.

Sir, you are right. FFTA2 is the more inferior of the sequels to FFT. Might I suggest you play FFTA for GBA, though? Seriously, it’s got a better story, less confusing nonsense in the leveling (though some… OK, most of it is still there) and the judges aren’t as dickish, not to mention you get antilaw cards in that game. What are antilaw cards, you ask? Why, I’ll tell you! Basically, you meet this nu mou rebel dude who makes cards that can nullify laws, as well as law cards that you can inflict against the offending party (oh, yeah, I forgot… the enemies in FFTA actually have to abide by the laws too!) It can be a game breaker, especially when you preview the monsters you’re fighting and the laws you’ll be facing so that they’re screwed over by the judge and you’re free and clear to do whatever you want! Now THAT’S tactics, baby!

Oh, and I guess the Jagds aren’t in FFTA2 either… that’s basically a wondrous fairyland where there are no laws, and you can do whatever you want!…

… oh, but if a character is dead at the end of the mission, you lose the character forever. That part’s a downer. Keep lots of Phoenix Down on you!

Seriously, you’ll play FFTA and say “What the hell is wrong with Square Enix thinking by screwing this game up?” It’s no grand medieval opera like FFT, sure, but damn if it doesn’t hold you over better on the train.

haha that long title has nothing on:

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Souless Army.

Good review. I’m getting into turn-based games as well, Fire Emblem to be exact.
Hope to see more good stuff from you! :D

Okay let’s get one thing straight, the enemies in FFTA do NOT abide by the laws.
Yes, they’re supposed to. But they don’t. They’ll always violate laws but will never, ever recieve a red card so will never be removed from the field, and yellow card penalties don’t affect the AI at all since those are dispensed after the battle.
Moreover FFTA was a confusing shit fest that makes A2 look like a masterpiece.

FFT is the only truly fun game of the “series”. No Judges, no item skill learning, a coherent, well-thought plot and character designs that aren’t horrendous.

I enjoyed this game a lot personally, although I agree that the Judges can be real dicks sometimes. One time I even managed to get “Move exactly 2 spaces” as a law, and my first character had to either move 3 to move, or not move at all. The micromanagement didn’t bother me, but this is probably because I played through the easy way of a main team of 6. And although the character designs don’t bother me all that much, I still really really REALLY hate Luso, both in design and as a character.

You should try Disgaea DS, its just as mind numbing but without the judges and while you are allowed and encouraged to broom your characters they will still get useful if you just level them up and you can ignore the micromanaging all together if you pass a “lower enemy level” law in the senate, the only two things i hate about the game is that you dont get any bonuses for height like you did in the first FFT and stealing is too freaking hard

“Both of the Advanced titles for the GBA are complete bullshit. They’re poppycock. Fiddle faddle. Codswollop. Their very existence disproves the presence of a benevolent God in the universe.”

I wouldn’t quite put it that way. I’d consider them as part of a separate universe. Of course, I’ve only played the first GBA one.

You want a difficult strategy game? Try Yggdra Union…

Man, FF Tactics for the PS1 is my second faveorite game of all time. (After X-Com)

But I must say, both of the FFTA games are terrible beyond words, mostly because of the judges.

I bought the one reviewed here.

Saw a judge in like my second fight.

Turned it off and returned it.

How could they fuck up such a classic, it’s infuriating.

Dude, Noah, I’m in complete agreement with you. Well, as far as Advanced and A2 go.

I personally loved the original Tactics and even bought it’s remake on the PSP when I had one. Of course, they did change a few things.Like now you can be a Dark Knight and Onion Knight. Both classes are interesting, but ONion Knight’s weird at first.

Anyway, I’d suggest you not only stop playing A2 before you get more deluded by Judges and shitty job systems and get a PSP Emu or a PSP so you can play Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. Vastly Better, even if it does have Luso in it >>

I hated FFTA2, but the first FFTA was pretty fun. Unlike FFTA2, FFTA had a system whereby the player could negate or add rules to a specific fight. That’s right, you could negate those annoying laws that prevented you from killing the other team efficiently, and you could screw them over by making new laws with the power of law cards. You got law cards early into the main story as well.

I do agree that the Equipment/Job system employed by the FFTA series (and Final Fantasy IX) is annoying at times, but that isn’t the main reason I would use to explain that those games suck. I’d go with more obscure, menu-based criticism that would be less entertaining.

Anyway, even if I disagree with parts of this review, I’ve got to say that it was fun to watch. Thanks again, Spoony!.

Two words. Tactics Ogre. The original before Final Fantasy Tactics, much better in my opinion.

I saw your review of FF:Tactics, and it seems like you’re not too much into the massive amount of min-maxing and micromanagement compared to actual plot and gameplay. Might I suggest the new (and older) Fire emblem games. It’s similar to tactics, but it’s a bit more linear in terms of stats. You don’t have to minmax them so much. It’s a bit more plot focused, and it makes a bit more sense in terms of artwork style.
There’s a lot less “bullshit!” moments.

Hey Spoony! Another great and informative review! If you’re looking for fun turn based strategy on the DS, I would try Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon which just came out last week…a few frustrating elements some time like it being a tad difficult to discern between who is a regular enemy and who is an enemy you can convert to your side, and it does get a bit cluttered when you have a ton of guys all at the same time to micro manage, but otherwise plenty of fun. That, or Advance Wars (but avoid Days of Ruin, apparently the design team listened to too much Linkin Park before making it).

VIOLATION!! lol you should use that in another review. but still i never played but what i dont get is if the judges pass laws down that you cant cast fire (for example) the game should make sure that you can’t in that exact fight right?

I am a major fan of the tactics advance series. I played the original for over 90 hours before I lost it and I got about halfway through this one before school hit and left me with nearly zero free time. That being said I can’t argue with you on most of these points (I don’t really care enough about setting to swing one way or the other and moogles just don’t seem to irk me). If you don’t like micro management then this game will have you infuriated. I personally do enjoy this aspect of the game but I’m the freak who obsessed over EV training back when poke’mon was the big thing. The judges are infuriating at times but believe it or not they where actually toned down in this sequel. In the original tactics advance if you violated laws you could be fined severely, lose the ultra rare equipment you were wearing, or even worse the characters could immediately be sent to jail where you would have to pay through the nose to get them back. Compared to those days the new judges are pushovers…

what about a violation count
that would be weird

awesome stuff

yeah, the judges are pretty much the reason i haven’t moved beyond the ps1 tactics.

Just throwing in my 50 cents.

At least the game has the decency to actually tell you after each quest (ALL battles are quests, btw) whether or not any of your characters learned new abilities. That makes is somewhat easier, but not much.

Also, restricting the amount of jobs you give to each character helps a lot. On my first time playing I eventually gave like 6 jobs to each guy. Now, while I was playing that wasn’t so bad, but when I took a couple of months break and came back I had NO idea what jobs my characters have taken, what abilities they have learned and what equipment they need. So, I started over and restricted everyone to just 2 jobs. You can only have two abilities on each character anyway so not a big loss. (ALWAYS remember to sell your extra items at the store. Otherwise you’ll be wondering whether or not you need them.)

Yes, the Judges are bullshit. Yes, you will get pissed off at them really fast. But I think they’re supposed to bring in some variety in the battles, so you need to think of different strategies for each battle depending on the laws they decide to bestow upon you. Still annoying as fuck though.

(Also, you’d think that the facts that it has ‘Advanced’ in the title and the 70 -page manual were kinda hinting that this was going to be a pretty complex game. Oh well.)

Why do the judges even exist in the game anyway? It seems like if you really wanted to restrict playing to add challenge, you can just do that yourself by saying, “okay now I’m going to get through this fight without casting any magic.” Instead the game forces you to play with those restrictions. It really seems like it’s added to intentionally reduce the enjoyment people could get out of the game. Just sounds like a bad design decision.

I know my younger brother would love this game, but as for me…probably not. I mean, I agree with your views. If a game is going to be too COMPLEX and too COMPLICATED, then…where’s the fun in playing it? I guess if someone likes a serious challenge, then that’s fine, but as for me…I don’t like games that become so “restricted” that it takes the fun out of it.

Spoony, I’m a real FF nerd and I love this game and I have only one thing to say.

You’re right.

Yeah, you’re right, and I’m not sad about it. Like you said, most of the thing present in that game, like the simple storyline for example are typically FFT characteristics.

And yes, the judges are annoying. But, they aren’t useless. They preceed back to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance on the GBA, and appearantly people liked them, cuz they added challenge. So, Square just listened to its fans and put them back in.

And the title is definitly too long, a thing that many japanese games suffer, since the japanese people seem to love long titles.

Overall, I agree with you, but I enjoy and like the game more than you do. Its a taste-thing I guess.

The amount of time it took to min/max everyone after you’re on your own in the original Final Fantasy Tactics was exactly why I stopped playing.

Did I hear you say “more Final Fantasy VIII”?
Oh my god! You totally made my night. I really like the FF8 reviews. Part 8 was awesome.

Just one thing. The Tactics Advance games differ from the original in a couple of important ways. FFT had an extremely complex storyline that was absolutely the focus of the game, and this bears no resemblance to the quest-fest that are the FFTA games. Please don’t make a comparison like that.

Also the original did not have bullshit judges.

And yes just get a squad of 5-6 guys and tell the rest to fuck off.

btw if you want a portable turn-based strategy game, Tactics Ogre: Knights of the Lodis or whatever it was was a really fun game.

The first Tactics Advanced, the judges were total bitches to you. Yes, in this game they fuck you over in many many ways, though in the first game they had three laws on you at once, and if you broke the law twice for a person they went to jail and you had to bail them out.

One good aspect about Advanced 2 is the enemies you fight are around equal level as you as you level up, most enemies stooped at 30 in the first Advanced, which made it dam easy later on. The last boss and the secret last boss were dam easy, that your main charter if around level 40 could it it on by themselves.

Spoony, while I agree that having a good small team has its advantages, what goes against it is the fact you can send people out to do other quests at the same time you do another one, which makes the game far longer doing quest by quest. Say you sent your fencer who has other classes also on it, and say you end up in a fight , which allows six guys, sure you have another guy in your party though most are half assed since you devoted time on only the six, then what? You have weak charter not even to par with the one already out.

I agree the story is a let down…..the first one was better, and that was not even good either.

whoever said that tactics for Advance and Ds were bad… well you can go suck some testicles you moron, those were by far the best of the tactics….. Only reason a few of the idiots who do not like the nintendo tactics is because they got to use there brain and “Switch weapons and Armors” well boo hooo…. who gives a shit if you got to use your head a litle bit, it might actually do you fools some good.(only the FFT1,FFT2 haters)

Not necessarily bad, it just takes too long to feel like you’re accomplishing anything in a Final Fantasy Tactics game. Square included way too many options to the point where you’re spending most of your time out of battle minimizing undesired effects and maximizing the ones you want for everyone used in battle. If Square streamlined the way items are handled through bulk processing (buying and then equipping the best items for each and every single character every time the shop updates does not take intelligence, it just eats up a lot of your of time), cut out all the redundant classes and abilities, this would make the game more lean. This means spending less time mindlessly organizing banality outside of battle and engaging more time in battle which equals me being able enjoy what I originally bought it for, to improve my tactical abilities.

Until Square makes more intelligent decisions, which isn’t happening, I’ll stick to Advance Wars and Fire Emblem, thank you very much. Everybody I was interested in over there has already left for *deep breath* Brownie Brown, Grezzo, feelplus Inc./Sacnoth/Nautilus, skip Ltd. and probably a few more companies I’m missing.

I gotta agree with bushidogamer. This is just kind of a standing issue with a lot of rpgs anymore which spoony’s touched on in his FF8 stuff. Any game where you bring customization to this level starts to lose something in character development since their abilties are never well ‘defined’. You can change anyone to anything so really their individuality fades a great deal. The sad thing is I’ve seen a tactics style game done properly, the main characters all having defining characteristics and such. This would be disgaea as a series and hour of darkness in particular since I’ve had the most experience with it.

Disgaea’s system is intensely customizable, allowing you to improve, modify, and tweak every item and weapon including your healing items and such if you really wanted to. And with the exception of magic, all the skills are based on what weapon someone is equipping. But with characters who are involved with the story also get a set of personal skills. This is how they handle the ‘flavor’ of each character. For instance laharl, the main character and overlord to be has lots of flame and explosive style abilties, most of which look incredibly impressive as well they should.

It’s just proof it’s possible to do this kind of thing and still give the characters some semblance of idenity. Otherwise there’s really no reason not to just grab a random handful of characters from your list in a tactics title and setting them to what you need before going into battle.

Spoony, though you are wrong in a sense that the game isn’t worth while, you are right that it’s bullshit half the time, if you go back and play the original FFT you will see there are no judges, but now its don’t do this, and don’t do that, when you play the first FFTA you probly see the red card so many times it just annoys the crap out of you, how would you feel in FF12 if the judges just appeared and said you cant hit this guy with swords…or you cant use your lvl 8 magiks…or how ever its spelled…. and im a hard core gamer, Ill sit threw tremendous amounts of suckage and continue to come back for more..and that stuff is the kind that really pisses me off.

I’ve never played these tactics games but i would love to. The only thing I might hate are the judges everything else i can deal with

great review

Let me tell tactics and tactics advance is 2 fucking diffrent series.
also tactics is just harder then the tactics advance.
what you are playing is final fantasy tactics advance 2.
Advance only onne thing on story that is related. Ivalice.
Tactics on psx and on psp is not so bad games compared to this bad series of a games.

Amen about the judges

I liked both tactics
My complaints;

A2 main characters are pathetic and bland,
You have to use them,

I dont mind judges.
what I did is not use the races I hated.

I fucking hate Moogles,
Nu Mou can suck it.
Bangaa are deceivingly good, but actually suck.

I hooked myself up with with 2 viera red mage/assasins 2 paladin/paravirs 2 fighter/paravirs

Very little can fight that.

As a fan of the game and someone who enjoys it (using one of those elite squads as you put it, a very good idea), I completely agree with the judges part. Some of the laws are completely ridiculous, like “No critical hits” or “No using insert species that I’ve never heard of”, or my personal favourite: “No dealing more than 20 damage”. Do they honestly expect us to follow this?!

And what’s with spelling magic with a k all the time?

Also, the characters have no personalities. “I’m stranded in a strange world that I could possibly die in with no chance of returning that I know of… ADVENTURE :D”

I have the same shirt at home

back on topic-I always wanted to play tactics at ales the ps1 version see if I like these type of games. I love ff12 and art style in that game but this art or should I say the clothing design in this game looks really bad. I LOL at your rant about the Moogles I like how they look in this than in the others.

It’s terrible to watch what the Tactics Advance games do to people. The worst thing about them is that they share the name “Final Fantasy Tactics,” which leads people who played FFT on the Playstation to think they would like FFTA or FFTA2 because they liked FFT, and people who didn’t play FFT to think it’s going to be like FFTA or A2 and consequently refuse to give it a chance or stumble in wondering where all the bunnygirls are.

If you haven’t given the original FFT a serious shot since the first time you played it, you really owe it to yourself to go give it another go. FFT did not have judges and it did not have an ability learning system that relied on equipment. It was a superior game in gameplay but also in plot and dialogue. It makes me wonder what SE was thinking when they decided they needed to change things when making FFTA as broadly as they did and still keep the name.

In fact, FFT doesn’t even have to be that hard and it doesn’t have to involve a lot of grinding before you get the chance to unlock the more useful of the game’s classes and abilities. A level two chemist, attainable through one or two battles’ worth of experience at most, unlocks the black mage and white mage classes, and any generic character using black magic and white magic abilities is going to be versatile and powerful enough to be handy in just about any situation FFT can throw at you. You can go just that far in character development and leave it alone, or you can bust your balls trying to master higher tier job classes like ninja and summoner, but there’s no reason you have to.

I hope you give FFT another try when you get a good amount of time set aside for it. If you hate FFTA despite wanting to enjoy a turn based, grid map strategy game, the original FFT is likely to offer exactly what you were looking for.

There are no judges in the original “Final Fantasy Tactics”. There might be some in the abomination of a remake, pile of ass, that came out awhile back. Yes, the judges in the “advance” games are garbage. They are one of the many changes for the worse. Also the original PSX game did not focus on getting quests, as 95% of the game was story levels. Theres two inaccuracies of your review for you. Not that you care or that it matters on an old vid like this one.

As far as having to fiddle with equiping different items just to learn abilities, yet again, this was not in the PSX game. Yet another step backwards. In the PSX game you learned abilities just by being a certain class and executing successful actions in battle. What equipment you were wearing at the time had no bearing on which abilities you learned. This has the benefit of letting you wear the best equipment at all times. Or at the very least, letting you wear the equipment you wanted to wear.

The original game on the PSX is in my top five list for the greatest games of that platform. It is also the best tactics (the genre) game ever made. It was my second tactics game I played (the first being tactics ogre) and I have since beaten it over a dozen times. The replay value is amazing if nothing else. I also love the ORIGINAL story that was translated poorly in spots. The new remakes old english crap dialogue is just disgustingly bad. Not to mention they went and changed the name of everything in the entire game for absolutely no reason. I enjoyed the original games characters and their motivations for why their almost entirely evil. Even though some of them don’t start off that way. Delita for instance starts off first as a lowborn, good hearted guy and by the end of the game has twisted the plot to his own devices to eventually become a jaded, ends justify the means, King of the land. How he got there is almost entirely through double dealing and backstabbing. Most of the characters have ulterior motives and most of the good guys aren’t even really that “good”.

Anyway, I kinda rambled at the end when all I wanted to do was point out some things about your review. Sorry bout that.

Yeah, the judges are a bitch. It’s worse in A1, where violating the law would result in your characters getting SENT TO JAIL. You had to do the rest of the battle without them, and THEN post bail for them! As for the class system, I found it best not to look at the jobs as solid classes, but more like subsets of move types. For example, gladiators are elemental attacks, soldiers are debuffing attacks, white mages are healing magic, tricksters are fucking useless, etc. To that end, it stops being so much about making a soldier, or a gladiator, or what have you, and more about making an effective fighter, or debuffer, or ranged-attacker.

I actually found the weapon-to-skill thing pretty useful in that regard if only because, to the end of making an effective guy, you’re never gonna find all the moves in any particular jobset particularly useful. You’ll have 3-4 moves from each of the character’s two classes that you’ll want to work with, and I like that I don’t have to waste my time burning through the stuff I’m not gonna use for that character in order to get the moves I want.

I've played all the FFT games, since waaaay back in the PS1, and I still like em. The only ass-pain I had over A2 was the bazaar system, which I also thought was a gigantic pain in the ass in FF12. The laws were better in the old game, least what I thought. Mostly because you could null em with magic cards.

I didn't have so much trouble with teambuilding, mostly because I played FFT Advance and already knew what to do. Usually this involves making Mr. Protagonist into a badassery paladin with two sword.

The biggest thing I've heard from old fans of FFT about these games is that they were too easy. A2 and Advance weren't nearly as hard as the old one, but a lot of that is the computer wasn't a cheating bastard and the job system wasn't quite so much ass.

It feels to me like the original FFT was the only Tactics that took itself seriously, the rest of them so far have been crap in comparison. When I got Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced and played it, I felt ripped off. This isn't Final Fantasy Tactics, it's Ultimate Stupidity: Bullshit.

Its storyline was lame, its gameplay was overly complicated and a huge step down from the original, it added some lame and unnecessary races apparently just for the sake of having animal-people in it, and focused around a set of children. Child protagonists are rarely well done, and this game is no exception. While FFT's primary character was young, he at least could qualify as a young adult rather than some twitty little brat.

Basically, what the FFT:A games did was make me wish I was playing FFT again instead of this crap.

The judges are annoying in this one, but after you play enough you realize sometimes it's just easier to break the law and get it over with. These judges however have nothing on the ones from the original Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced. I recall a battle in which I was not allowed to A. Attack Monsters, B. Use Color Magic and C. Use Elemental Magic. This left me with the options of using only Jugglers and Tinkerers (erers?) to desperately try and kill slimes that take almost no damage from physical attacks. In that game getting a red card was even worse, if you broke the laws too many times you basically just lost the fight! A2 is much more forgiving and for the 20 bucks I paid for it it's a steal.

It took me forever to recruit a Gria. I had to look online to find out how to recruit one.

I seriously doubt Spoony is going to bother with the PSP as a whole just for a game he didn't even seem to fully enjoy. Even without the judges there is still a large deal of frustrations to be had with the PSP that will replace them.

Yes the judges are bullshit when it comes the laws seriously fuck you judge.

Oh by the way Spoony if you think that was bullshit in this game the previous tactics advance was that if you violated the law the character that did it goes to jail and you have to pay to bail them out which got really expensive at a few points.

The ability learning system sounds a little familiar to the one used in FFIX. Abilities were learned by equipping specific items and leaving them on long enough to fill up an AP gauge. A real pain in the ass in my opinion.

The sword that Luso has looks like a REALLY big, clear, blue-tinted pizza cutter. That is all.

You never played Final Fantasy Tactic Advance. The laws in that game we twenty times worse, you only lose extra items not the rewards at least and of course, I agree completely that the judges can be bullshit.

Overcomplicating a game is a poor way of trying to add depth.

in my opinion, final fantasy tactics: war of the lions is one of the most kick-ass games EVER.

Spoony… I think you’ve been way too kind.

In my opinion, the FFT games for the GBA and NDS are horrid and aren’t even close to the original game for the PS.

Learning by items, retarded storylines, uninteresting characters, and… those darn judges (they are not only annoying and unbalanced, they also make absolutely zero sense. A character could start a rebellion and overthrow the government, then be stopped because he used a sword when it wasn’t allowed. Right.)

Just play the PlayStation version instead, or the remake for the PSP. Infinitely better.

lol he says too much, i want a new installment with more. i guess im just a whore for choices