Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Review

Developer	Square Enix
Publisher	Nintendo
Genre	Role-Playing

Square. Nintendo. Together. Again. Let that sink in for a moment.

You probably reacted in one of three ways to that statement. The first possible reaction is that you've soiled yourself. You know that it is Nintendo that made Square a superstar. You also know that Square is the reason why you're still playing your Super Nintendo to this very day. You believe that any RPG that is born from their reunion will be transcendent and infallible. The second possible reaction is a scratch of the head. You have no idea of the significance of this reunion because you've matured as a gamer in the age of Sony. The earliest Final Fantasy you remember is VII and you like it that way. The third reaction is an apathetic shrug. You couldn't care less about the Square-Nintendo collaboration. You just want to play good RPGs, regardless of the developer or hardware. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the first game produced as a result of the reunion, is the type of RPG that will appeal to you no matter which category you fall under.

Gameplay – To take the seminal PlayStation legend and squeeze a sequel onto the GBA was, in a word, audacious. But rest easy. It is remarkable how well the game made the transition onto the uber-handheld. The game begins with a snowball fight set in a schoolyard of the modern day town of St. Ivalice. This serves as a rather intuitive tutorial for those who are unfamiliar with strategy RPGs. The game quickly changes the scenery as Marshe and his ragtag group of friends stumble upon a book that teleports them to a medieval fantasy land that is filled with chocobos, moogles, swords and magic.

FFTA eschews the political histrionics of its predecessor and puts in its place a wonderfully simple fairytale. But it would be a mistake to consider its lightheartedness to be a sign of inferiority. The story is slow to warm, but eventually it weaves a poignant tale about a boy on a quest to find his friends and a way home. I cared little for the whiny Ramza and his ego trip in the original Tactics, but here in the sequel each character is straightforward and likable though not without depth. Quite frankly, this is the first and only RPG for the GBA where I've actually given a damn about the characters and enjoyed watching them develop. It is a refreshing rejection of the pretentiousness that is so typical of this genre.

The game itself unfolds in a somewhat non-linear fashion as Marshe has the choice of a variety missions to take in order to raise cash, find his friends, and perhaps obtain a few clues as to how he is going to get home. Of course, this is just an excuse to shove a whole lot of tactical warfare in your face. But you like that, don't you? Marshe will quickly join a "clan" with the help of his moogle pal, Montblanc. Up to 20 combatants can be in the clan, although only six can participate in battle at any given time. The combat mechanics are squarely based on the original Tactics with a few slight innovations.

It was so frustrating in the original game when you would decide to use an attack or magic that required time to charge. More often than not, by the time your character finally performed the move, the enemy was already long gone and your turn was wasted. Not anymore. The biggest improvement in this sequel is that you no longer need to wait for your character to perform his/her action. Once you decide the course of action for your character, they execute it. It definitely streamlines combat and makes for less frustration.

The job system is back and a bit more manageable than before. There are five different races in the game; human, moogle, nu mou, viera and bangaa. Each race specializes in different jobs, making it important to balance your clan with just the right amount of each type. In an interesting twist, your characters no longer gain skills and magic through traditional experience points. Instead, they garner them through the use of job specific weapons. At the completion of each successful battle, you'll earn AP points that will go towards skills that are inherent in the weapon you've equipped. Once enough AP is earned, they will be able to use the skill without having the weapon equipped. This process makes for some tough decisions since you will often find yourself having to equip weaker weapons just to acquire that useful or rare skill.

The biggest change to the gameplay is the law system. Each battle is governed by a unique set of laws dictating what you can and can't do. This isn't to say you can't break the law, but the penalties can be pretty severe for doing so. Your allies might even need to serve jail time for your transgressions, losing his or her services for a few battles. To counteract this, there are certain items that can act as "get out of jail free cards" or even create favorable conditions on the battlefield. The law system is a novel approach that adds a new dimension to combat, but it can be quite burdensome at times, especially later in the game.

The few flaws that do exist are more technical in nature than anything gameplay related. First and foremost, the menu system is about as intuitive as a tax form. Expect to spend many laborious moments scrolling through poorly designed menus to find the information or execute the command you need. All in all, flaws like this don't seriously detract from the game.

Graphics – The 3D era has been good to Final Fantasy. Every game that has appeared on a Sony console has been on the cutting edge of the graphical frontier at one time or another. But there was something magical about the sprite-based artistry of the 16-bit era. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance harkens back to those olden days and has the signature Final Fantasy style. And by signature Final Fantasy style, I mean lots of people with small bodies and extra large heads covered spiky hair running around with gargantuan swords strapped to there back. In simpler terms, it looks great.

The art direction in this game is outstanding. From the modern city of St. Ivalice to the fantasy filled kingdom that the children get teleported to, the backgrounds are sharp, colorful and exquisitely detailed. The character design is equally extraordinary. Every race has a distinctive look. The different styles of dress are reflected in the respective jobs and classes available to each race. Even within each race there exist many diverse looks, especially when it comes to the humans. Protagonists in Square RPGs usually either look like wacky Japanese pop-stars or sullen English pop-stars of indeterminate gender. Marshe falls decisively into the latter category. But its okay, you'll love him anyway.

Gone are the psuedo 3D polygonal battle maps from the PSOne original. In its place are beautifully drawn 2D maps. Although there is no option to rotate and change the angle of the maps during battle, they are so well designed and wide open that you won't miss this function.

Sound – The GBA has in many ways surpassed the graphical prowess of the Super Nintendo. But the GBA will never hold a candle to the Super Nintendo's aural capabilities. The SPC700, the SNES sound chip that was developed by Sony, will probably go down in history as one of the greatest sound chips ever. The GBA's sound chip is woeful by comparison. Composer Nobuo Uematsu did the absolute best he could with the hardware limitations. His score is actually quite good and if you listen carefully, you'll probably hear more than a few references to his work during the 16-bit days, the era that many game connoisseurs consider to be his artistic peak.

Overall Value - If there is one thing that Final Fantasy has taught us, it's that nothing is ever final. Nintendo and Square have put an end to nearly a decade of separation. The reunion has resulted in the birth of an exquisite RPG that is without a doubt the best of its kind on the Gameboy Advance. The superb integration of a heartfelt storyline, impeccable art design, and addictive tactical gameplay makes Final Fantasy Tactics Advance a reassuring reminder of the past while setting the foundation for an exceptional future. You owe it to yourself to go out and purchase this game.

Review by Erick Kelsen