Game Review: Final Fantasy Tactics A2
Peter Rambo - Knight Ridder/Tribune
Aug 18, 2008
The newest entrant in the "Tactics" series, "Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift" for the Nintendo DS, is a mixed bag. It has a few improvements on "Final Fantasy Tactics Advance," but it plays slow and its story is skippable.
"Final Fantasy Tactics," the first game in the series on the PlayStation, had a cruel learning curve and story with betrayals, assassinations and an evil church. If characters died, they died and you had to build a new one from scratch. This kept up the pressure not only to win, but to win without losing anyone.
"Final Fantasy Tactics Advance" was about four children drawn into a fantasy world. "Advance" did away with the death and leveled the learning curve. The absence of death was explained by a new mechanic, judges. Judges would keep your characters alive, but they introduced laws -- such as don't use fire magic -- and punished characters that erred.
"Grimoire of the Rift" is very similar to "Advance." What changes it makes are welcome improvements. Judges now reward those law followers with an advantage during the quest and bonus loot at the end. Two new races add to the clan customization and an auction mini-game is challenging and rewarding.
You earn money by taking quests at the pub, and there are about 400 of these quests to choose from, including searching for items, wrangling chocobos and punishing scammers for ripping off customers.
Most quests require a turn-based fight that plays out on a chessboard with varying
elevation. Faster characters get to go first, but they're usually weak. Mages tend to be slow but can do a lot of damage if they're in the right spot when it's their turn.
With the right party you can take out an opposing force that has a much higher average level, and that is the most rewarding thing about the game.
I only have two gripes with "Grimoire of the Rift." The first is the story. In "Grimoire of the Rift," the only reason the main character wants to get home is so his mother won't worry. The bad guys are bad for the sake of being bad. There is a betrayal, it's of a temporary, magical nature. There is no compelling reason to advance the plot.
My other gripe is unrelenting slowness. Every action takes longer than needed. There is a pause when accessing the menu, when skipping dialogue, when entering the pub, when zooming in on the map. Every time you take the airship across continents means taking a minute to watch a cut scene. In combat, casting cure on four of your characters means sitting through one spell animation at a time instead of four at once.
A battle against monsters half your clan's level can take 20 minutes. An even fight can last an hour or more. Thankfully you can save in the midst of battle.
If you're looking for a game you can play in five minute increments, "Grimoire of the Rift" isn't for you. If you want a deep tactical role-playing game and can handle occasional frustration, you could do worse than "Grimoire of the Rift."
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Copyright 2008 by Knight Ridder/Tribune
