Well, if there’s one thing that can’t be denied, it’s the fact that Final Fantasy has been one of the top selling titles of the decade. With well over 25 titles ranging from systems going back to the NES and dating all the way to the PS2, it is obvious that the adventure and fantasy is anything but “final”. One game that came out for the Playstation console a while back was Final Fantasy Tactics, which was an extremely enjoyable and popular TBS (turn based strategy) title set in the RPG world of Final Fantasy. Well, Square / Enix have released Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the GBA, and I’m happy to say that I actually enjoyed it much more than the first one.

FFTA isn’t just a port of the original, which was really good news for me personally since it means that I got a whole new story to play through. In FFTA, the story takes place in a modern setting where a boy named Marche and his pals go through the trials and tribulations of growing up and getting picked on by the bullies in school. After a snowball fight (which also acts as a tutorial to help you learn the game) turns ugly against one of the new kids, Marche and his friends decide to go over to his house and look at a book that the new kid has called … get this … Final Fantasy (didn’t see that one coming, did ya?). Well, they read through the book and talk about how neat it was, then all head to sleep. During the night, their world mysteriously transforms into the world of Final Fantasy from the book they were reading, and Marche finds himself in a strange land all alone, where he sets off to find his friends, find a way home, and find out what happened to the world that he was living in.

OK, anyone who has played FFT on the Playstation should be familiar with the overall gameplay of the series. Basically, there is a story, but all of the typical searching and random monster battles found in the RPG versions aren’t really here. Instead, the game relies on constant turn based strategy and combat most of the time, and you will find yourself moving in and out of battles played out on 3-D “boards” and duking it out until the end. Each character has his or her own job that can be useful to the mission at hand, and the RPG element of leveling up, learning new spells, being able to equip new items, and growing more powerful as fights and missions are accomplished is found here as well. Now, let’s talk about what’s different.

For starters, there is a mix of missions to select from in the main town to earn money and items and grow the name of your clan, ranging from things like combat missions, search and find missions, and even a duel or two along the way. Clans play a big role in FFTA, since they are constantly at each other’s throats and looking to be the most powerful of the bunch. As your clan power grows and you become better known, newer and more dangerous jobs will become available … but this will also influence new characters to join up with you which of course provides a better range of strategic options during battle and new ways to win. Speaking of characters, there are many that will be familiar from the series, like black and white mages and fighters, but there are also some newer classes that have been added in as well like Beastmasters to give you some new class options to play around with. Characters can also change jobs if needed (a white mage can change to a dark mage, etc.) which just adds to the overall ability to fully tweak your party the way you see fit to do.

Another big change that honestly I didn’t like much at first was the addition of a judge during each battle. In each area that you move to and / or unlock, there are sets of rules that have to be followed on things that are encouraged or banned. These are pretty much anything you can think of, ranging from using swords to different types of magic to ganging up or using combo powers, and breaking these rules will quickly cause the judge to hop over and issue a penalty card (like soccer). The penalties are spelled out prior to the battle beginning, and can be light slaps on the wrist up to losing some of the precious weapons or items that you have fought hard to obtain. You can visit prisons and spend jail time or pay fines to clear your crime, and you may even find some items and cards to help you remove the charge altogether. As I stated, I didn’t care for this up front, but it really helped me to focus on paying attention to everyone in the clan (rather than playing with the same 6 people all the time) and making sure that they could be used at any time if a law forbid me to use something that happened to be a strength of my main characters.

Lastly, there is a link ability in FFTA which allows you to do some multiplayer missions with a buddy, or go head to head, and also allows you to buy, trade, and find new items that can only be obtained by playing in link mode. If you don’t have anyone else to play with, the game is just as much fun in single player mode, but the added option of hooking up with someone else just adds to the overall enjoyment and fun of the game.

Graphically, FFTA is nothing short of impressive. The graphics are bold and colorful, and the animation was done very well in cutscenes or the areas of the game where the story was played out all in the same graphics used during the game itself. The characters were done in typical FF style, each class and race having its own unique look and style to it which sets it apart from the others. Even on the small screen, one look at a character usually would determine what it was which helped to plan your strategies accordingly. In addition, the spell effects and summoning that is found throughout the FF series makes it’s way here as well, and there’s plenty here to look at which is impressive. The sound was also nothing short of expectations that FF fans have grown to know and expect from anything in the series, complete with some really good music tracks (even on the GBA system) and the whooshing and tingling glass noises during battles.

Overall, FFTA is nothing short of great. There are hours of action packed strategic gameplay here to keep you occupied for a long time, a fun and entertaining story, characters that grow on you in a way that only FF can deliver, and a whole bunch of growth and level up opportunities and new things to find which could keep you playing over and over again. For my money, it’s a done deal. FFTA is a winner on all fronts, and definitely just expands on the original title to deliver even more enjoyment in a portable fashion. 

Gameplay: 9.1
Although the game is mostly turn based combat, the mission variations and virtually endless ways to mix and match your party help ensure that the gameplay never gets old. To add to this, you can also change your party around job – wise to help fully customize each character the way that you feel most comfortable playing. The addition of the combat judge just proved to add to the fun of the game, and helps to ensure that your skill in managing all characters to help you succeed regardless of laws or things that are discouraged grows as the your time with the game does.

Graphics: 9.0

Each area that you move to and visit has its own unique look, and the environments (whether they be in a town or out on the battlefield) were very well detailed, bold, and colorful. The characters, races, and classes all have their own unique looks to them, and each is well animated. The flashy and impressive (even if scaled down) FF style spell and summoning effects made their way into the handheld version also, so don’t worry about getting a good dose of magical eye candy on the GBA.

Sound: 9.1
The sound in FFTA also is at the same level of expectations and quality as any FF game that has come out. The music tracks are deep and well written, even for GBA music, and the in game sound effects during combat and spell casting consist of the whooshes, smacks, and jingling glass sounds from many titles in the series as blows are dealt and damage done.

Difficulty: Medium
The game is very easy to pick up and get into and the large amount of character class and job options that can be worked with and changed allow for a lot of different ways to play each mission. The addition of the judge will prove to be a challenge at times, especially as more rules get heaped on as you progress, but they also just help to challenge your tactical skills in making choices on your party and how to accomplish your missions.

Concept: 9.2
Not only is this a great turn based strategy game, but the new story and scaled down (but still impressive) presentation and menu options on the GBA system worked surprisingly well. Everything can be seen without much problem thanks to the impressive graphics, and the fact that FFT players from Playstation days get a whole new entertaining story with improved mechanics to play through on the go just adds to the enjoyment.

Multiplayer: 9.0
Two players can link up to go on some joint ventures or face off against each other, but also to uncover, buy, trade, and collect items and whatnot that cannot be found in the single player game. While it’s not going to hurt the overall experience if you don’t have someone else to play with, it will add more to it if you do find a buddy to link up with.

Overall: 9.2
Well, Square Enix has done it again with the Final Fantasy series. Every game that they release in this series just doesn’t seem like it can lose, and this one proves no exception. Fans of FFT from the Playstation should already be on the way to the store to buy this if they have not done so already, and this is the kind of game that’s easy enough to bring younger players into the FF world and keep them entertained but still challenging enough to cater to the most battle hardened turn based strategy fan. It not only brings the fun of Final Fantasy Tactics to the GBA, complete with the 40 or so gameplay hours, but manages to improve on the original in many aspects as well in the process.