Welcome back to the strategic world of Ivalice, again!
At summer's beginning I've took my dirty hands of long waited direct sequel of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance…
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 – Grimoire of the Rift, the first installement for Nintendo DS. Do this new game shall improve the experience of the first game?
Surely, Grimoire of the Rift is a HUGE game; you'll need a minimum of 75 hours for complete it (much probably 100). Unfortunely the game lacks the capacity of keep the player interested until the last hours of play.
But let's analize the game in every parts…
Graphics: 7
Colorful, but the spites are on the level of the prequel on GBA. Improved the attacks and abilities special effects and pretty good the brief movies dedicated to the summoning of the Scions.
Sound: 8
Really good and full of atmosphere the musics, perfectly fit to the typical setting of the titles of Ivalice Alliance. Same about the sound effect.
Gameplay: 7
Once catapultated in Ivalice and joined to a clan, you'll be soon in the core of the game. The game develop itself taking quests in the pubs presents in every towns of Ivalice. The main core of the game is there: you have a main quest to follow, to allow the main character to came back to home. At the same time you can take a monstrous numbers of sub quests. Some will be one-shot mission, some allow you to unlock the numerous player jobs classes; other will be composed from more quests that tell you sub stories APPAIATE to the main plot. Casual encounters was no more, though sometimes you can run into map based quests you can't take in the pubs.
Just like brand expects you can play in battle a great number of jobs, each with their equipment, abilities and feature. That time you'll have at your disposal a greater number of class then in the past for a total of 56 classes. The jobs, however, are kind specific. The game presents the usual kinds already saw in Ivalice: Hume, Mowgly, Viera, and the new additions, Gria and Seeq. In other words only selected kinds can achieve some jobs (example: only Grias can be Ravagers and only Seeqs can be Berserkers or Lanistas).
The ability learning system is directly from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Abilities are related to the equipments you wear. At end of each battle you gain ability points that it will go to fatten the abilities you're equipping at the moment. When you'll mastered an ability you can use it without the item from you learned it, and equip another to enlarge your abilities roster.
Equipment can be obtained in battle after some quests, but the principal mode is to buy them from shops. For make available a specific equipment in the shops you'll need to send in the bazar the exact loots for the creations. Loots can be obtained after every quest or stole from enemies (stealing armours, helmets and weapons it's no more possible).
This type of gameplay results engaging at the beginning, but far in the game become boring when battle after battle you only obtain loot almost useless.
Battle System: 8
Solid and run-in. The chessboard fighting model is practically perfect, earning of a ten-years experience. Two minor problems afflict the game: battles are too simples (at least at normal level). The high possibility of customization soon will make your team a reaper's deathly squad unmatch for your poor enemies.
In the second: touch screen controls are really poor implemented. Personally in those games I like better the old fashioned directional cross, but someone can be disappointed seeing the NDS features poorly utilized. Same can be said for the second screen, used only for a brief statistics of the units.
Come back even the judges and the restrictions on the battlefield. Laws rules was heavily modified from the prequel. In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance breaking a rule resulted in the removal from the battlefield of the guilty unit and a later detention time far from the clan. Now the judge grants you protections and a bonus you choose at the begin of the battle. If you break the rule your bonus will be vanished and your fallen unit will be chained making impossible a resurrection in the current battle (with Raise or Phoenix down).
Story: 4
Real weak point of the game. A normal boy read a blank diary and catapulted in a new and astonishing fantasy world. For came back in the real world he'll must write his story on the diary (in reality a magic Grimoire) completing the blanks pages seeing the magic world of Ivalice and completing quests.
The plot is pretty poor, even compared with the plot of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and result shameful against the original game for Psone. moreover the sub quests based gameplay cast in the shadow the struggle (?) of the main character for complete the Grimoire making all pretty boring already after 30-40 hours of game.
Final comment:
Solid fighting system, involving atmoshpere, and run-in game routines make this game a good strategic and surely a game whorty o playing, but the weak storyline and the eccesive lenghteness of the game took some point from a title certainly valid.
Final votation: 7,5