Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Review by Metanic

Once upon a time...

Plot

It was a day like any other... There were 4 children having a snowball fight during their recess, in a small town named St. Ivalice. The main character, Marche (renamable) discovers a magical book, and they read a spell from it. Soon after, they talk about what video game they would like to be in the most. Incidentally, the kids picked Final Fantasy, which is the reason that the 4 children are transported to a parallel realm. They are transported to the continent of Ivalice, where Moogles and Bangaa run about. Marche and his friends are split apart in this unknown land, and need to find a way back to their own land. Marche meets a Moogle named Montblanc, who is a part of a clan which you become the manager of. You can recruit, battle, and take missions. Your goal is to go back to your dimension by following the adventures of the clan. Prepare for the journey of a lifetime.

Gameplay

This game is a turn by turn tactical game. It seems like a fairly slow paced game, which it kind of is, but the sheer fun factor of it is INCREDIBLY hard to ignore. You'll get used to it, trust me. When it is one of your character's turns, a menu appears with 3 different options to start. You eventually can configure your character to use items, and even an all powerful crazy attack.

One of them is a simple attack using whatever weapon you have. There's a very intricate system in the battling system, if you attack from the side of the foe, you get a bit of an attack boost, and if you attack from the back of the foe, then you get a fairly big boost in the attack. The second option is moving, which depends on the characters movement. The third option depends on your character's job, which can vary depending on what you choose. However, there are some species specific jobs, such as being a Dragoon as a Bangaa. There are a total of 25 classes in FFTA, so you have a lot of freedom as to what you pick.

Jobs can change your power, the amount you can move, the times you can attack, and the defense of your people. Plus, the more you work with a job, the more powerful you get. As I've said before, certain species can have certain jobs. The 5 species are Human, Viera, Moogles, Bangaa, and Nu Mou. Another thing which is very unique to this game is getting more powers when you wield certain weapons for a certain amount of time. To get a certain ability, let's say Fire, you need a certain weapon for a certain amount of battles. Eventually, you'll "master" the ability, and then, you can switch your weapon, and not lose the ability. So, you could use Fire at any time you want. However, if you switch your weapon before mastering the ability, then you can't use the spell.

Another unique addition to this game is "Laws". Laws are enforced by judges in most battles. For example, "No White Magic", if you use Cure when that law is in action, then you are given a yellow or red card. A yellow card is a warning, a red card means imprisonment. You free imprisoned recruits by going to a jail, and paying a fine. Another thing that Judges are there for is to keep your characters from dying. If you are playing in a place with no Judge, dead people will leave your clan forever. If your main character dies, then you get "Game Over". You can also get Game Over by getting your main character imprisoned.

Replay Value

This game has endless amounts of quests, and an endless amount of possibilities, which continue even after the game is over. You can master every job, get as many people as you possibly can, it's endless.

Overall, this game is the best game I have ever played for the Game Boy Advance, and has a fairly easy to keep up with storyline, which is uncommon in a Final Fantasy game.

Storyline- 10/10
Gameplay- 9/10
Replay Value- 8/10
Graphics- 8/10
Fun Factor- 9/10

The game has 3 files, so let your friends and siblings play it too.