Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

[JU!]

I may be a bit late with this one but anyways, i just thought i wud re afirm how cool this game is, i went to c Chelsea play on Tuesday n while on the train there n back from Leeds it gets a bit borin then this little gem stole about 3 and a half hours of my time. I feel the job system is amazing and as i have personally not experienced this before thought it ws good the way everyone cud have a different job and that jobs could be changed at least once, i know FFXI had the job system, i feel this shud be implamented into FFXII (hope it is anyway except with Vagrant story esq battles i dought it). I love the fact it is misson based as well as using an overall story to keep you interested.

I know a few of u on here were sayin how good it is before and i wud like to thank those people for helping me come to the conclusion to buy it as for the most part i think Game Boy games are far to expensive. Bring back the old skool dats what i say. Hope eveyone else is feelin this game as much as i am

[Molloy]

I bought a GBA with this a few weeks ago and its boring the hell out of me. The story is really weak and the battles are a push over. It's only saving grace is the graphics, but even then there's alot of repetion and the environments are very limited.

I was hoping this game would have epic battles on the scale of something like Shining Force (the only other strategy RPG I've played) and this left me pretty dissapointed.

[Papercut]

I'm 60 battles in now, and suprised I haven't given up on it yet.

Its way too easy, and gets boring quickly, but a 20 minute battle is just right for my tube journey to work. Can play it one handed on an SP too when there standing room only.

[ryodi]

I'm now 74 hours in and have completed 214 missions. Yes, the story is rubbish and strangely the game seems to pick up after you have beaten the final boss but it is my most played game of the year over Pokemon Sapphire, Advance Wars 2 etc. My current problem is that all I am getting in the mission list in the pub are missions I cannot do because I do have the items and I cannot get the items because the missions to obtain them are not listed ft: Which means I have to do lots of clan battles to level up characters to get jobs that I need but didn't plan for or repeat missions to get items again. Very annoying.

But I am determined to complete all 300 missions. Eventually.

[nips]

I think that it is a brilliant game. It is cretainly easy.

Possible strategy spoiler: I walk all over every single boos becuase I just equip my best items, but, when I'm just doing clan or normal missions I give them rubbish weapons where they can learn moves. This means, they take longer on normal battles, but boss battles are just a breeze. Moves like Far Fist make the game so easy!

But I Still love it. 40 hours and 80 missions. I'm taking my time apparently. I've been changing class all the time and making my team better and better by giving them more and more new moves.

I really enjoy the game. The story is wank, but it isn't hard to keep tapping A when they talk. The battles are really fun, the different ways you approach each situation are really good.

The only major gripe I have with the game is the stupid enemy AI. All that has changed with the enemies over the time I've played the game is that they have better moves. They have not changed thier tactics at all to account for my large range of moves. Too often do enemies attack me for 12 damage and then I counter for over 200 damage and kill them. When this happens to two of their team on the first move, leaving only 3 enemies against 6, it gets kinda annoying.

They should have made the game a little harder, and not made us do those dispatch missions. I greatly dislike them!

ryodi, could you answer some of my questions either through PM, or in spoiler quotes for me. I'll put my questions in quotes as well, just to make sure:

Ok:
-How do I buy stuff from the people selling in the balloons or ships in the sky? The people in the shops have no new items, and I've almost mastered all the moves I can now!

-How much longer until I get to the final boss? I've destroyed all the crystals, and I have just been to the palace on 'gift day'?

-What do you do with the rest of your clan? I've got 6 members on very high levels, and then 18 others who are simply crap. I just haven't used them at all. Should I start to level them up so I can send them out on dispatch and I still have my good team, or just forget about them.

-And, if I should have to level them up, what do you suggest is the best method to do it, and which races would be most useful?

Thanks in advance:

-Mike.

[Strider]

I've so far wasted about 170 hours on this (I had to restart about 50 hours in) and whilst I do agree that it's a little easy, something is still dragging me back to it.

Oh yes, it's the fact that I have only completed 263 of the missions

[E. Randy Dupre]

My big problem with this: the awful, *awful* menu system.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Maybe there is a more simple, intuitive way to navigate the menus and I just haven't figured it out because of the ****ty instruction book.

Here's the thing. If I'm going to buy some new equipment, I want to be able to see which members of my team can equip it and how it'll affect their stats without having to either memorise every single detail or exit the shop, go back to the map screen, enter the party screen and have a look at their stats there, then exit the party screen, go back to the shop to buy the item and have to go through the same process every single time. Similarly, if I want to equip a weapon/armour/whatever that I already possess I want to be able to see the stat changes without having to actually equip it first, then unequip and go back to the previous weapon/armour if I discover that the new kit has a negative effect.

Idiotic. Stinks of either a lack of proper testing. Comes close to ruining the game for me. Certainly makes everything outside of the actual battles a real chore.

[Strider]

My big problem with this: the awful, *awful* menu system.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Maybe there is a more simple, intuitive way to navigate the menus and I just haven't figured it out because of the ****ty instruction book.

Here's the thing. If I'm going to buy some new equipment, I want to be able to see which members of my team can equip it and how it'll affect their stats without having to either memorise every single detail or exit the shop, go back to the map screen, enter the party screen and have a look at their stats there, then exit the party screen, go back to the shop to buy the item and have to go through the same process every single time. Similarly, if I want to equip a weapon/armour/whatever that I already possess I want to be able to see the stat changes without having to actually equip it first, then unequip and go back to the previous weapon/armour if I discover that the new kit has a negative effect.

Idiotic. Stinks of either a lack of proper testing. Comes close to ruining the game for me. Certainly makes everything outside of the actual battles a real chore.

Just press the start button and it will reveal all the weapon details.

[E. Randy Dupre]

Well, that makes things a little better, so cheers for pointing it out, but that screen still doesn't show you who's equipped with each item, just whether it's equipped or not. It also doesn't help with shopping for new stuff, because I've still got to exit the shop and go back to the map to access it - that's my main complaint. The only way around having to constantly go backwards and forwards between screens seems to be to write your party stats and equipment down on a bit of paper. I really shouldn't have to be doing that, when all it would have taken is a bit more thought.

Hell, they could have just nicked a system of menus from any one of the vast number of similar games (Vandal Hearts, Shining Force, etc.) where you get all the relevant information on one screen - show the party members' names in red or grey depending on whether they can use the item or not and show the stat that it'll affect (and how it'll affect it: +5 or whatever) right next to their name. Easy. That's thirty seconds of thinking time and something they could have implemented with one hand while they were eating lunch with the other.

Did the PS original suffer from the same problem?

[JU!]

I agree E. Randy Dupre that is really stupid the way u can't see there stats for upgrading, i don't know why they did it like that? Thanks for posting peeps glad to hear yr opions on FFTA, which i will again be battling through as soon as i get time, i have not done half as many hours as u guys but will try to get there soon. So sorry to hear it's easy, i thought most old skool RPGs that were Japanese were rock hard FF2 etc, but still if we all keep goin bck to it there must b sumthin about it that captures us all.

[ryodi]

I have finally completed this game. All 300 missions and the extra missions after completing them as well to get the final ending. It took forever (well, just over 109 hours), required me to take a mission item from a friend just to be able to do one last dispatch mission and untold amounts of patience as well as a very high boredom threshold to endure the last 90 hours but I have done it. The vice like grip this game has had over me is finally broken as I have seen everything it has to offer, followed the dire story to its conclusion and slaughtered many clan members and been yellow carded countless times. All 300 missions done. All 30 areas cleared.

The corrupt judges defeated.

Two stars on my save file beside the Mission Completed and Level of my Clan.

Overall opinions of the game:
1) The story is awful.
2) It is far too easy.
3) Some of the weapons later on give one hit kills making you too powerful.
4) Too many dispatch missions.

With these criticisms you probably think I hated the game and in the end I did really despise it, but it was locked into my GBA with some invisible force that would not let go until I finally did everything.

As soon as my friend asset strips my team of its best members, weapons and accessories I am going to trade this in as I never ever want to play it again.

Time to start Mario and Luigi I think for something a little more light hearted.[/color][/quote]

[Strider]

I have finally completed this game. All 300 missions and the extra missions after completing them as well to get the final ending. It took forever (well, just over 109 hours), required me to take a mission item from a friend just to be able to do one last dispatch mission and untold amounts of patience as well as a very high boredom threshold to endure the last 90 hours but I have done it. The vice like grip this game has had over me is finally broken as I have seen everything it has to offer, followed the dire story to its conclusion and slaughtered many clan members and been yellow carded countless times. All 300 missions done. All 30 areas cleared.

The corrupt judges defeated.

Two stars on my save file beside the Mission Completed and Level of my Clan.

Overall opinions of the game:
1) The story is awful.
2) It is far too easy.
3) Some of the weapons later on give one hit kills making you too powerful.
4) Too many dispatch missions.

With these criticisms you probably think I hated the game and in the end I did really despise it, but it was locked into my GBA with some invisible force that would not let go until I finally did everything.

As soon as my friend asset strips my team of its best members, weapons and accessories I am going to trade this in as I never ever want to play it again.

Time to start Mario and Luigi I think for something a little more light hearted.[/color]

[/quote]

I know exactly what you mean. stopped playing at 292 missions (I spent about 15 hours trying to get the last 8) and despite not enjoying it towards the end, I couldn't put the blody thing down.

[nips]

This is one of those games that gets better after you complete it.

I beat remedi last night (6 totemas ), and I've enjoyed it more since then. Getting the extra characters, and an ability chart allowed me to get more out of the game.

I've really enjoyed it... 50 hours, and I think I'll pick it up every now and again if I have a long journey!

Too easy and too many dispatch missions would be my complaints though!