FFTA2: Zero Would Not Be Amused
So I've gotten a chance to spend some time with the new Final Fantasy Tactics game. Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (FFTA2) is a handful to say and continues in the same vein as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
If you want a summary of the game -- plenty exist online at other sites. Instead, I'm going to get straight in to my opinions.
It sucks.
Yep, that's pretty much it. The original Final Fantasy Tactics still hasn't been matched. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance was a huge let down in the face of its big brother and while FFTA2 makes some serious strides in the right direction, it still falls short.
The Job system has been much left the same. I feel like the jobs are better balanced this time around and definitely more useful. Unlocking jobs however, is a matter of taking on missions in order to get to the job "taught" to you. Interesting way to handle things but ultimately I found myself merely annoyed. If you didn't take on side-quests you simply can't get better jobs. On top of that, you don't always know which quests reward which jobs.
Returning to the job system is race-restricted jobs. With Seeqs and Gria now added to the mix, more jobs are available. Still, some missions almost require certain jobs and it has been a pain to find a Seeq to join my party. That's right, finding new units is completely out of your control. Either you try to figure out what month you can randomly come across a certain race in a certain area OR you answer a series of random questions and hopefully get the race you were looking for.
On the upside, it really doesn't matter. Mix and match teams of completely unsynched units will handle almost every mission the game throws at you. One of the game's optional boss missions was pathetically easy. I defeated a lvl 88 mage with six units that hadn't even hit lvl 35.
The best thing they probably did in FFTA2 was revamp the Judge system. Judges make much more sense this time around and breaking the laws doesn't harbor any serious consequences. What's the point of the laws? Nice end-battle bonuses. This is especially good because half of the time, the laws will suck horribly. I often break the laws on accident when it's something vague or forgettable like "No unit can perform the same action as the last unit." Mind you, they don't count enemy unit actions.
On top of this, enemy and guest units are no longer bound by the laws. This was the one problem with the revamp. Before, if the computer broke the laws, they got jailed just like you would.
All my whining though and I haven't touch on the real problem with this game. The story is once again targeting 12 year olds. Final Fantasy Tactics was somewhat gritty with its tale of family betrayal and noble corruption. That is to say, it actually had a Final Fantasy story that fit with the main series. These days if it's not a Final Fantasy # then it gets a child-friendly make over and shipped out the door.
Don't bother with FFTA2, I know FFT lovers will find this almost irresistable. I know I didn, I'm sorry I wasted so much time on it. Wait for Final Fantasy XIII and finish up Final Fantasy XII if you haven't already. Better yet, Star Ocean 4 and White Knight Story are due out at some point, DS and RPGs officially don't mix.
EDIT: The subtitle for this post comments on the tactical genius of Zero also known as Lelouch from Code Geass. I just realized a lot of people probably have no idea what I'm talking about half the time so I decided to add a little bit of background info.