Game of the Week [09/12/03]: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Moogles and math make a merry little pair?especially when you?ve got somewhere to go.

All Tactics games are created equal?more or less. Disgaea, Onimusha Tactics, Tactics Ogre, Hoshigami, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, a dozen others?if you?ve played one you?ve played ?em, since (aside from minor rule-changes) these games share the same 3D isometric viewpoint, the same battle system, the same kinds of cutesy graphics, and mostly the same menus. It?s as if someone set the policy for fantasy strategy/RPGs, and that was that.

So what sets Final Fantasy Tactics Advance apart from the rest? The simple fact that it?s the first Nintendo and Square-Enix collaboration since the SNES days? That?s a part of it?it?s a welcome reconciliation between two friends-turned-enemies-turned-friends. Is it the pure fact that it?s portable? Granted, these kinds of games for some reason are a natural fit on a portable system (the mission structure lends itself nicely)?but Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis is portable, too, and it?s technically almost as good.


Behold the mighty Ramuh! Cute. But deadly! But mostly cute.
Verily, ?tis the story that does wonders for FFTA. It?s a ?fish out of water? tale not unlike The Neverending Story, charming and cute and not at all like the convoluted (and horrifically booooring) alternate history textbook that is Tactics Ogre. The tale of Marche, Montblanc, Ritz, and the rest of the crazy world-building crew unfolds quite neatly throughout the game?s myriad missions.

If you?re looking for Tactics on a grander scale, FFTA?s closest kin would have to be Disgaea for PS2?another ?Tactics? game that stands out in the crowd because of its absolutely insane premise and set of characters. (Penguins!) Granted, Tactics games aren?t for everyone. If you don?t have patience for finding good vantage points or a brain wired to set up combo attacks, cast your thumbs elsewhere. If you like RPGs of the more traditional dungeon-and-town style, be warned that this is not the same thing. But if you?re into it, rock?this is one hell of a gameplay value, an enormous, fun everlasting gobstopper of a game. Truly, there is no sweeter fruit than love.

Take me to the Final Fantasy Tactics review!

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