"I know that every game has to end. I'm just not ready for it yet."

That may not be a direct quote from FFT:A, but a very similar one in both words and sentiment does exist in there. After over sixty hours of playing, it was finally time for my quest in Ivalice to end... for the first time, at least.

But I get ahead of myself. Before I dive into this review, however, I would like to add this disclaimer: outside of both Advance Wars and a brief flirtation with Warcraft 2, this was my first foray into any sort of tactics-based game; it was definitely my first tactical RPG. If previous games in this genre (such as the original FFT or something in the Ogre Battle series) are better in your opinion, I don't want to hear it. I'm reviewing this game, on its own merits. There's your grain of salt -- take it or leave it.

Since this is an RPG, or at least a form of one, I might as well address what should be the most important aspect of the game: the plot. Many people have complained about the story in FFT:A, with specific issues ranging from "it's nonsense" all the way to "it insulted me every time I forced myself to play this". Where do I fall in that range? Definitely closer to the former end than the latter. The plot is nonsense -- but that's what makes it a fantasy.

Without spoiling too much, here we go: Some kids at school, each with his or her own quirks/problems that make them outcasts amongst their peers, stumble across an ancient grimoire that somehow turns their town of St. Ivalice into the Kingdom of Ivalice, where humans live alongside four other animal-like races, including the FF mainstay/cliché Moogles. In addition, engagements (combats) are governed by seemingly arbitrary Laws that change daily, due to the whims of the Queen (or as many suspect, her son the Prince).

The character you primarily control (default name Marche) meets up with a friendly Moogle named Montblanc and his Clan, which you can (re)name. As part of this Clan, you accept missions posted at the local pub, doing odd-jobs and other assorted excuses the game provides for you to enter battle -- and rest assured, every mission you take an active part in involves a battle. Eventually, Marche comes to realize that this new world is nothing but a dream-like fantasy and begins seeking out a way to return to the real world, and home. Along the way, he has to come face to face with his friends (and in once case, family) from the real world, who are none-to-willing to leave this world where wishes come true. Before Marche can finally return home, he must not only find and destroy the five crystals that thread the world together, but he must convince everyone from the real world that it's what they really want -- including himself.

As plotlines go, I've played through much worse than this and still enjoyed myself. If you don't read too much into it (it's a game, not a piece of literature for your Psychology class), then I would imagine you will too.

Before the story even begins to unfold, however, you have to first negotiate the battle system that will become your only tool for moving though it. The first few missions, including a snowball fight in the real world at the very beginning, will guide you through the basics, and it's not really that complicated anyway. You move four to six of your clan members around a gridded playing field to engage the enemy forces, enjoying varying chances of attack success depending on your positioning and skills. For instance, direct frontal attacks usually have a 50% success rate; attack from the side and that goes up to around 66%, and a rear assault usually settles in at 70-80%. This goes for offensive magic as well -- never have so many of my Black Magic spells missed their targets in an RPG. Other factors like terrain height and obstacles come into play, but the game lets you scout out your different options before you decide on a final course of action, so there's never any pressure. At first, the Laws are an annoyance, but you'll soon learn how to skirt around them -- or even use them to your advantage later on, some laws become downright evil, but the Japanese version apparently had some that were much, much worse, so count your blessings. I didn't have too many problems with the Laws, but did need to restart from my last save when I forgot about one that caused Marche to become imprisoned (which is an automatic Game Over, so pay attention on his turns if nothing else).

At the beginning of your Clan career, your battles will probably take a long time. I'm talking nearly 15-25 minutes per engagement here. While that amy seem daunting, it was my experience that you don't even notice unless there's an outside reason for you to be conscious of it (playing during a lunch break, for example). As you progress in level and get some advances jobs and abilities, you'll tear through missions like a seasonsed professional.

Ah yes, the jobs. Each of the five races (Human, Bangaa, Nu Mou, Viera, and Moogle) has specific jobs that take advantage of their paticular talents. There are 42 race-job combinations total (some jobs, like Black Mage, span several races), and each character can utilize the "Action" skills of two jobs at once as well as picking and choosing three other passive skills (one each of "Reaction", "Support", and "Combo") of any they have mastered during past jobs. At first you only have three (or in the case of Bangaa, two) jobs to choose from, but as you master skills -- accomplished by weidling specific weapons in battle in another nonsensical FF cliché -- you will unlock others. For example, once a Human Soldier (Marche's default starting job) has mastered two Soldier Action abilities, they have the option of becoming either a Paladin or a Fighter (in addition to the other basic human jobs of Black Mage, White Mage, Thief, and Archer). Some jobs are even more advanced, like the worth-the-effort Viera Assassin, but most races only have two tiers of jobs.

If that seems like a lot to keep track of, there's more. Your Clan can have up to two dozen members, including Marche and Montblanc (who can never leave). You start with a total of six, and new members will petition to join occasionally; you can accept or reject them as you wish. You'll want several, since some of the missions you can accept are "dispatch" missions, which involve sending out one of your Clan-mates for a non-combat task; once you have achieved a specific goal (usually a set number of days, battles, or slain emenies), the dispatch mission will be completed and your chosen emissary will return with news of success (and the rewards thereof) or failure. Of course, if you don't use your other Clan-mates in regular battles, then there's a good chance that they won't be skilled enough to complete these dispatch missions, so you really need to manage your clan efficiently.

This brings me nicely to the complaint portion of the review. There are too damned many people for me to keep track of, for starters. You gain levels in this game by successfully using your abilities; you get 12 points for a success against a higher-level opponent, 10 for an opponent of the same level, and 8 for a lesser target. Of course, you get the same amounts for using skills on your teammates, yourself, or even enemies that you've turned to stone, so certain jobs level up much faster than others. Since healing magic, items, and stat-boosting skills (like the Archer ability Boost) never miss, and other abilities (like any of the Thief Steal abilities) don't damage their targets, jobs with those abilities can be productive nearly every turn and rack up the XP while more combat-oriented classes have to wait for the right opportunities. New recruits -- none of whom can be renamed, by the way -- join your clan at an advanced level... but with no abilities. Even the ones that show up already knowing an advanced job don't have the necessary prerequisite abilities to go back to them if you decide to change them later, so you have to either start at square one with every one or undergo the process of leveling up your earlier recruits. There are very few exceptions to this irritation, and most of them are secret.

One of the jobs, the Nu Mou Morpher, is useless unless you decipher the intricacies behind the Human Hunter job and more importantly its frustrating Capture ability. I somehow managed to capture four creatures and thus get four weapons for my Morpher(s), but given the amount of empty space in the Monster Ranch there's more there than my patience is willing to delve into.

Remember when I said that battles get easier as you progress? Well, there is such a thing as "too easy", and if you have any aptitude for finding combinations of skills and jobs, you'll reach that level fairly quickly. A lot of the "support" abilities are very powerful, although they are thankfully rare (there is only one per given job, and the most useful ones like Concentration and Two Swords don't come until later on). I plowed though the final series of battles, which took away some of the sense of danger that a good Final Boss Battle should have.

Another source of annoyance is the menu system, which takes on several mutations. Buying items can be one of two experiences for you: total guesswork, or meticulous note-taking. The game will tell you what jobs can equip a given item and what skills the item can teach (if any), but you can't find out what those skills do unless you actually buy the thing, and then only if you have a compatible job or are willing to change jobs temporarily just to check them out. Once you have the item in your possession, you can check to see if it is better or worse than what you currently have equipped, but not the way the manual says you can (try using Start instead of L).

Finally, I found absolutely no reason to use the "pardon" ability at the Prison. For a fee and some voluntary jail time, you can wipe an individual's criminal records clean. I did so several times, even though I have no idea why -- I didn't notice any in-game effect. I guess that's just the way I was raised. [Shrug.]

Ahem. Complaints over.

The least important aspects of an RPG are graphics and sound, so I'm not going to hurt FFT:A as much as others have in these areas. The graphics remind me of Golden Sun for the most part, and are pretty enough to not detract from the game. I did have a small issue with the fact that there seemed to be no gender distinction in sprites or portraits. While there are probably no appreciable differences between genders of the three non-human, non-Viera races, all of the humans that join your clan look like effeminate males; this could be because they're all supposed to be children, however, so I didn't dwell on it too much. A nice touch was including three different brightness/color options, each suited for either the GBA, GBA SP, or TV via Game Boy Player. Most magic attacks are nothign to write home about, but the summonings and Phantasm Skills (Illusionist magic) are suitably impressive for the GBA's small scale.

The sound is sub-par for a Square game, especially the only battle theme (until you reach the traditional Final Boss Gauntlet), but since I frequently played this game with the volume turned down, I won't knock too much off for this. I did appreciate the various sounds different races and monsters make when they get knocked out, however, but I'm sick like that.

At the end of the day, this game lives and dies by its story and tactical engine, which are both solid if less-than-extraordinary. The other frustrations detract from these srtong suits somewhat, but I consider the 62 hours I've poured into this game as of this writing well worth the $35 I paid for it and was able to either tolerate or ignore the bits of it I didn't care for. If you can do the same, there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't enjoy this game.

Feb 5, 2006 | 3 comments
Chris Ingersoll