It's basically more of the same, but when the original was so good, how could you complain?

User Rating: 9.5 | Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Fuuketsu no Grimoire DS
By fmobliv06 | Review Date:
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 is the direct sequel to Tactics Advance on the GBA, and as such there are certain expectations to be met. The story in the original was a little sparse, and with the increased power of the DS compared to the GBA, a graphical overhaul would be reasonable. It would also seem obvious for the game to feature touch screen control and to make good use of the DS's second screen. Oddly enough, many of these expectations are never met, and many others are met only halfheartedly so. Instead of crafting an entirely new story Square-Enix has chosen to essentially grift the story of the original FFTA, only in the process, the narrative has become even worse. It's still enough to drive the gameplay forward, but barely so, and the original Tactics for Playstation/PSP's story makes FFTA2 seem like an episode of Telitubbies.

While the story is the biggest letdown, there are a few other surprising omissions worth mentioning. The graphics have been only slightly improved since the GBA edition. The character sprites are the same, although it seems as if some of the environments and spell effects have been improved a bit. The sound fares similarly. It could all be done equally as effectively on the GBA.

Touch screen controls are available as well, but they are just plain weird. It is impossible to see why one would choose to play with the touch screen over the D-Pad and face buttons. The only meaningful addition to the game that could not have been accomplished on the GBA is the usage of the second screen. The top screen is used to show stats, objectives, laws, and the order in which the characters will act. This serves to remove clutter from the bottom screen, and is extremely helpful when planning an attack in mid battle.

Despite the intuitive usage of the second screen, most of the additions to the FFTA formula in the DS iteration have sort of fallen flat. Why, then, did the game receive such a high score? Simply put, this is still FFTA, and FFTA is quite good. The gameplay is absolutely perfect when played without the usage of the touch screen. The incredible wealth of side missions, addictive depth of the job system, and overall level of polish not only redeem FFTA2 from its blunders, but make it an extremely enjoyable strategy game. New gameplay content has been added in every conceivable way. There are now 400+ missions in the game, which can take up to (or over) 80 hours to fully complete. New jobs have been added out the wazoo, and crafting each character into the perfect weapon has never been more addictive as a result. Finally, the world map is several times bigger than it was in the original, which allows for a greater variety of levels and missions.

When all is said and done, it is a little dissapointing that so little has changed on the surface from FFTA to FFTA2. But look a little deeper, and it will become clear that the most addictive strategy/RPG ever released has just become more addictive.

Graphics: 7/10: Not too bad, but could have been done on the GBA.
Sound: 8/10: See: Graphics. This is literally the same music as in the GBA version, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Gameplay: 10/10: Really pulls the game together. There are so many systems at play here, it's impossible to cover them all in a review. At the same time, the game introduces new concepts at a managable rate so that even strategy newbies can get into the flow.
Entertainment: 9.5/10: It's a shame that the story isn't better, but the rest of the game is as entertaining as can be.
Overall: 9.25/10

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