I adore Final Fantasy games. It is definitely one of my favorite game franchises and Square Enix is easily one of my favorite developers. I own every game in the series and a few of the remakes and ports as well. (I have three versions of FFVI, and in a few weeks I’ll have three versions of FFIV too.)
But there’s one Final Fantasy game I don’t own and don’t plan on buying – Final Fantasy Tactics A2. It isn’t because I’m an RPG fan who can’t handle strategic RPGs. I have the the PS1 and PSP version of Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and nearly every NIS game released in North America.
Simply put, Square Enix dropped the ball on Final Fantasy Tactics A2. The developers didn’t think things through when creating the game. There are seven things I’ve learned about the title from reviews from credible game sites and Gamefaqs forums reports that make me realize that this is one adventure I don’t want to experience.
#1: Laws against “attacking the weak,” “missing” or “critical” hits.
I don’t really mind the whole concept of the law system. Follow just one or two little rules and the game will give you free equipment and items. Awesome. Except when the game decides to use insane laws. Its like the game system realizes it has all of the power and wants to screw you over. I’m talking about the “attacking the weak,” “missing” and “critical” laws.
No “attacking the weak” just annoys me. It means your characters can’t be a higher level than their opponents. If the enemy’s level 15, all of your characters have to be 15 or under. So much for level grinding.
No “missing” or “critical,” on the other hand, are just asinine. I’m amazed by the game’s audacity. You can’t control whether or not your characters land a critical hit. It’s totally random. The same with missing. Sometimes the game will say you have a 99% chance of landing and it will still miss. It happens – players shouldn’t be penalized for things they can’t control.
#2: Random recruiting.
You start with only six people in your party. You don’t even get either of the two new classes (Seeqs and Gria). So how do you get more? Randomly.
That’s right. You can’t just walk into a pub and recruit from a pool of potential, waiting people. You have to walk around the map and take quests and hope that an event will trigger saying that someone wants to join your clan.
Oh, but if you want certain species to join your clan, then you have to only search certain areas at certain times. The game has a month and season system set up. So if you want an extra Viera, you have to wait for the month of either Ashleaf or Mistleleaf, have completed the Moon Seal quest, keep walking in and out of Camoa or the Rupie Mountains and cluck like a chicken. If you wanted a Gria, you better be patient – they aren’t unlocked until players reach the extra continent.
#3: Battlefields can’t be rotated.
If you’re going to make environments where it can become difficult to see or select characters, then give players the option to rotate the battlefield so they can see everything.
#4: Recycled sights and sounds.
If I am going to pay $40 for a game, I’d like to see all new character sprites and hear all new music. Instead, I’m seeing the same character sprites from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and hearing the same music. At least the character head-shot art is different.
After all, Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance had different music and sprites. Plus the DS has greater capabilities than the GBA did. Square Enix should have stepped up and given players something new.
#5: Jobs that must be unlocked through missions.
I love the assassin Viera class. At the end of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, I had three assassins in my party. I admit it, I abused the system.
So when I heard about the game, I immediately was getting ideas for a team configuration. A juggler moogle, two assassins, one of those gria classes, a nu mou alchemist with black magic and maybe a ninja or dragoon. Then I heard that quite a few classes had to be unlocked through missions before you could play as them. Way to make people jump through hoops.
#6: “Trading” is a lie.
The game claims to have a trading system, where you can trade with other users over local wireless. Silly me, I thought trading meant you’d be able to trade items you had. In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, you’d have to trade to get items to complete all 300 quests.
Well, in Final Fantasy Tactics A2, trading means something different. You don’t get to exchange items from inventory. Instead, each of the players trading will receive a raffle ticket, which they then exchange in-game for an item. The item could be common, or rare. It could be new to you, or something you have 15 of lying around. That is not trading, that’s like that whole Pokemon mystery gift thing.
#7: MP starts at 0.
Never before have I heard of a game where you enter a battle and your MP is at 0. This practically renders magic users useless. MP regenerates 10 points at a time, so if you want to use a spell like Cura (12 MP), you’d have to wait two turns. Or you’d have to have another character waste a turn with an item that restores MP. There is a Clan Ability you can earn called “MP Channeling” that lets characters get 20 points per turn. Big whoop.
I’d rather start battles with full MP and have it never regenerate, than have to deal with this. It’s like Square Enix wants drawn out battles in Final Fantasy Tactics A2.
Read [Gamefaqs Forum] Also Read [Metacritic] Site [Final Fantasy Tactics A2]
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis has your MP starting at 0 and regenerating. In my experience it's a fairly effective tactic to deter spamming, because you either wait forever to get enough MP to spam later in the battle, or cast spells as you get enough MP to cast them, forcing you to wait a bit.
Also, after playing FFTA and FFTA2 one after the other, FFTA2 definitely has a lot of improvements in animation, battlefield detail and effects. It's far from a rehaul, more like a bunch of touch-ups, but it's certainly not all reused.
"#4: Recycled sights and sounds."
I guess paying extra money for all those ports and that had the same music and same sprites wasn't a problem for you?
I don't see how one can complain about this. There are a lot of series and franchises out there that have the same sprites/models, sights, and music with slight variations (FFTA2 has its variations and enhancements). The music, after playing Final Fantasy XII, which truly gives life to the world of Ivalice, makes FFTA2 fit better into this wonderful setting instead of make it seem like a standalone game.
"#5: Jobs that must be unlocked through missions."
Are you serious about what you said here? Final Fantasy Tactics Advance was nearly the same way. In fact, it probably takes more time on FFTA to unlock certain jobs than it does on FFTA2. I am not even 10 hours in, and I have unlocked several jobs. And think about it; there are over 50 jobs. Many of those jobs are initially accessible.
You make everything out to be a hassle, which is simply wrong. Appreciate the game for what it DOES have to offer. You are really missing out.
You do realize you can avoid missing and landing critical hits by using A-abilities, right? Those laws are nothing. Besides, accuracy is a lot higher in this game than it was in the others.
It's incredibly hypocritical of you to whine about some recycled sprites and music when you bought three versions of Final Fantasy VI, none of which have new music and one of which may have a few new sprites. (I'm not sure about the extra stuff in the GBA version.)
"Never before have I heard of a game where you enter a battle and your MP is at 0."
Then you haven't played many strategy RPGs, have you? Try Tactics Ogre some time. The game FFT obviously takes a lot of it's gameplay from.
"This practically renders magic users useless."
I'm using three of them in my party on hard mode. They're far from useless.
@Shabaab Kamal: I wasn't fortunate enough to get copies of Tactics Ogre. They're too rare. >.<. I wish I had, because I've heard it is an excellent series.
Perhaps once the DS dies and the cartridges get cheap, I'll pick up Tactics A2. I'd also heard the story was lacking, and that's a major factor in buying a tactical RPG.
@Roto13: Yes, but early on those bonus items are helpful, yes? I've heard you can acquire items with skills that would normally take a while to get the bazaar items to make.
As for #2 – I've heard you have to wait anywhere from 20-220 days for quests to resurface.
#3 – There were quite a few times in FFTA where rotation would have helped, and I've seen FFTA2 screens on Gamespot and IGN that look like it would hide characters or be awkward, especially if you wanted to use stylus control.
#4 – But the returning classes and characters have the same art and sprites, correct?
#5 – True, probably not so much.
#6 – I enjoy multiplayer aspects of games, and I find it disappointing that Square Enix isn't making better use of it in their games. (Here's hoping for arena battles or 2-3 player multiplayer in Chrono Trigger!)
When gas is $4.30 a gallon where you live, you can't afford to purchase the game and have experience sometimes.
@LiKuidLinsang: #4 – Nope, not really. Especially since my SNES isn't hooked up and I like having legal, portable versions of my favorite games.
Like I mentioned to Shalaab Kamal – maybe when this game hits the bargain bin, I'll pick it up and be converted. Until then, I'd rather wait for Disgaea DS and FFIV DS.
@SmashingLive – Initially, players may not have learned A-abilities.
I bought 3 different versions because:
1. My SNES isn't hooked up.
2. The PS1 version was shiny, came with 2 games and had the extra cutscenes.
3. I like owning legal, portable versions of my favorite games.
I have played quite a few strategic RPGs. The only series I haven't played are the Tactics Ogre series, simply because they are so difficult to come by and expensive when you do find them. (In fact, I'm currently waiting on my Japanese copy of Bleach the 3rd Phantom, which is supposed to be quite a challenging strategic RPG.)
I admit, I was being a bit melodramatic to make a point. But it does seem like it would slow down the game and turn a mission you may have been able to clear in 5 min into one that would take 10-15 minutes to complete.
You haven't played the game, have you? I couldn't help but notice you answered many questions with "I heard" and "I've seen in screens".
You can skip up to 200 days using Lezaford's cottage, thus repeating that recruiting quest indefinitely.
Bonus items gotten from following laws aren't that useful. Items gotten from auctions are more useful, and far easier and faster to get, using Lezaford's cottage's trick.
If you don't like having no magic, get your spellcasters Blood Price ability. They cast spells with double hp cost instead of magic.
But yes. I HATE unlocking classes.
And why do you hate the recycled sounds? Everyone loves the shop music.
@Choccy – Actually, I did play a small portion of the Japanese version that a friend of mine imported. It was only very briefly though, and since my Japanese isn't perfect I only played about 2 missions.
The cottage trick does seem handy, as does Blood Price. However, how late in the game do these arrive?
As for music – when watching YouTube videos and sampling the Japanese version it just seemed like everything was the same as from FFTA.
"Yes, but early on those bonus items are helpful, yes? I’ve heard you can acquire items with skills that would normally take a while to get the bazaar items to make."
They're useful, but it's not going to make-or-break your game if you choose not to follow a law once in a while.
"As for #2 – I’ve heard you have to wait anywhere from 20-220 days for quests to resurface."
That quest shows up frequently, and you can skip different amounts of time (10 days, 60 days, 200 days) in like five seconds by going to one of the cottages.
"#3 – There were quite a few times in FFTA where rotation would have helped, and I’ve seen FFTA2 screens on Gamespot and IGN that look like it would hide characters or be awkward, especially if you wanted to use stylus control."
I've never run into a problem seeing in FFTA or FFTA2 that couldn't be solved by moving your cursor around.
"#4 – But the returning classes and characters have the same art and sprites, correct?"
Incorrect. They have the same sprites (many with new animations) and new art. Besides, what are they, like 20 pixels high?
"#6 – I enjoy multiplayer aspects of games, and I find it disappointing that Square Enix isn’t making better use of it in their games. (Here’s hoping for arena battles or 2-3 player multiplayer in Chrono Trigger!)"
Then the inclusion of actual multiplayer modes should more than make up for the lack of item trading, shouldn't it?
"When gas is $4.30 a gallon where you live, you can’t afford to purchase the game and have experience sometimes. "
Then you can't afford to have an opinion, either.
@Roto13 – Perhaps if FFTA2 goes bargain basement (like that Square Enix Dragon Quest slime game and Children of Mana), I will buy it, fall in love with it and think that perhaps all of the things that are currently preventing me from making a $40+ dollar investment were trivial and meaningless. But for now, I'll save for FFIV or Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness.
Does FFTA2 actually have a multiplayer mode? I read the box, looked back over all of the press releases I've received and checked 2 reviews, and all of them state that there is no multiplayer in Final Fantasy Tactics A2. In fact, the only DS strategic RPG I've played with multiplayer (Wi-Fi even) was Luminous Arc.
Your last sentence is a bit troubling.
"Then you can't afford to have an opinion."
I hope that it is just an inpromptu, gut reaction from you after hearing someone doesn't appreciate your new favorite game, and not the way you really think. The ability to have and form our own opinions, without being oppressed or told what to think, is one of the things that makes the US great.
@Roto13: Actually, I have played a very minuscule amount of this game.
http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/gamertell-quick-preview-final-fantasy-tactics-a2-the-sealed-grimoire/
My friend imported the Japanese version of the game after it was released in Japan, so I did play about 2~4 missions of that version. I even mentioned this in an above comment. I have not played the translated and localized version.
And with that, I go to view fireworks with friends.
Yeah, I noticed you admitted that you had only played a minuscule and insignificant amount of the game. 2 – 4 missions equals exactly 0.5 – 1% of the game. Play about 10 – 20 times that and maybe your opinion would be one worth respecting (but still not much). Taking hearsay from the scum of the video game community and posting it as an opinion piece, however, shows a complete lack of journalistic integrity. I subscribe to 20+ video game news blogs for different points of view, but this particular article is among the worst I've seen.
@ Roto13: That is your opinion. You are entitled to have it and I respect it. Everyone has a different view on what kind of game they do and don't appreciate and what and how they think people should report on games and gaming issues.
Shall we agree to disagree and end on this note? I hope to write a review on Disgaea DS when it is released and possibly a comparison piece on Rhapsody DS (since I own the original game and will buy the new version), and perhaps we can discuss those games at that point in time.
Also, my friend who imported that game answered my text message about 15 min ago – Final Fantasy Tactics A2 has no multiplayer. So I don't know why you said that should make up for its lack of true item trading. Perhaps you were referring to the forthcoming Chrono Trigger and rumors that it may possibly include of multiplayer options?
Alright, so I made a mistake. I saw the multiplayer icon on the back of the box and assumed it'd be like the FFTA multiplayer. Fine. That doesn't take away from the fact that you wrote an opinion piece on a game you barely played (and, apparently, not even in a language you can understand very well) and on top of that, you're still missing the point. The problem isn't that you don't like FFTA2. The problem is that you have the nerve to pretend that you have the basis for a valid opinion on it in the first place. This article either A) shouldn't have been written, or B) should have been posed as a question. Example: "After doing some reading on FFTA2, I've heard a few complaints regarding certain problems. How easy are they to deal with? Do the good points make up for the bad ones?" etc.. Instead, you just posted a list of criticisms you didn't even give yourself the opportunity to form in the first place.
I find it incredibly difficult to take this seriously. I mean honestly, it seems like the whole way through you're grasping for straws to find a reason to not like and/or get this game.
First and foremost, this game is undoubtedly better than the first FFTA, so if that was worth your money, this one definitely is. Besides, not a single one of those points seems like a valid reason to skip on the game. Maybe some negative points worth mentioning in a review, but no dealbreakers.
The law system is much better. Occasionally a stupid one pops up, but now at least 9/10ths of the time they're nothing.
The recruiting is a tad annoying in the fact that I'd like to get those two new races already, but seriously, it's not a big deal. Like some people said, there's a quest for it anyways.
I've never found this an issue. If a tree is obstructing your view then just use your cursor to orient yourself and determine unit position. I've never had any issues.
Like someone said, some of the sprites are the same, but even those have new animations. I don't know about the music, because I don't normally pay attention to music in video games anyways, but whatever. If you're going to pay for ports and rehashes, why is paying for a brand new game with a couple old parts so horrible?
The job unlock system isn't that bad either. You get classes at a faster pace than you can master the skills to become them a lot of the time anyways. And assassin isn't even that far into the game before you get it.
The trade system seems stupid, yes, but it's really such a tiny piece of the game it hardly even matters at all.
And the mana issue is hands down the stupidest qualm I've heard about this game from people. So you can't nuke the field with your illusionist on turn one, or double cast your summons from the get-go, big deal. First of all it balances out the pace of the battles much better, and once you get some of the MP halving skills and stuff the problem diminishes greatly anyways.
If you're seriously not going to be getting this game based on a 5 minute play of the japanese version, which hardly seems representative of the game as a whole, then I feel sorry for you, because you're definitely missing out on one of the best installments in the FF franchise in a good while and one of the best DS games as well. It seems like you're completely ignoring all of the great things about the game that will honestly have to not even noticing that crap. Half of the things you mentioned hadn't even crossed my mind, because I was enjoying the game too much. The only real issue you raised that I can respect is the law system one, but I really feel the laws are worth putting up with to enjoy the rest of the game.
@Desi – You response was well thought out and organized, incredibly well written and very constructive. I enjoyed reading your viewpoints, and you make some very solid, strong stances.
If I would see FFTA2 bargain bin cheap or I see it at Goodwill, it would be because of your arguments that I would dig or my last dollar or bum cash for a friend to buy it.
I just figured that, since the DS is going to be awash with strategic RPGs this year, all of these small issues, put together, built up enough to keep me from spending money on this game, and saving it for something like Disgaea DS, Rhapsody DS, Luminous Arc 2 Will (no company is saying anything, but you know a localization announcement is imminent, and if not, then I'll prob be wanting the Japanese version) or Fire Emblem DS.
Please. Once again, the problem here isn't the fact that Jenni doesn't think she'll like the game. The problem here is that she somehow feels qualified to actually give an opinion on it anyway.
Nobody should ever, ever, EVER write an opinion piece on a game they haven't played or a movie they haven't seen or a book they haven't read. These are all things that need to be experienced before you can know what you're talking about.
Roto13, wrote, "I didn’t even know that feature was in the game, it’s so completely insignificant."
Does that mean every feature you, Roto13, did not know about is insignificant? So then any game of which you do not have intimate knowledge is insignificant, too. Same with everything you have not seen, touched or heard. So any game system you never played is insignificant. Every movie you have not seen – insignificant. Any war in which you did not fight = insignificant. Any planet where you do not reside is insignificant. 99.999999999999…% of everything is insignificant b/c it did not involve you. Wow, you really are important.
But, of course, everyone in the world does not know who you are. If we did, we'd all send you a, "Sorry for your complete insignificance" card.
Considering I've played the game for a total of over 55 hours and I haven't even come across that feature (which is apparently available from the start), yeah, I'd say that's a pretty insignificant feature. Take your logical fallacies and XXXX XXXX XX XXXX XXX.
No, you really are not entitled to an opinion on this game. You haven't PLAYED this game, therefor anything you have to say about it outside of the cover art, good or bad, is completely worthless. Your opinion holds no weight whatsoever. Exactly what kind of mindset do you have to have to believe that the right to talk XXX XX XXXX XXX makes a country great?
"#1: Laws against “attacking the weak,” “missing” or “critical” hits."
Just ignore them, then. Forget about the bonus at the end. You'll live. Breaking the law doesn't screw you over any more, and laws are no longer random. You'll never get a "Damage to Moogles" law when you have to KO a Moogle to win.
"#2: Random recruiting."
There's a mission you can redo as many times as you want that gives you a new party member whose race is based on the month and whose class is based on your answers to a few questions. That even include level 2 classes.
"#3: Battlefields can’t be rotated."
They're designed in a such a way that they don't NEED to be rotated in order to see what's going on.
"#4: Recycled sights and sounds. "
There's new music and new characters and all of the abilities have brand new animations that take advantage of the DS hardware.
"#5: Jobs that must be unlocked through missions."
Totally and completely not a big deal.
"#6: “Trading” is a lie."
I didn't even know that feature was in the game, it's so completely insignificant.
"#7: MP starts at 0."
That's to stop you from abusing powerful spells. You only have to wait one turn to use Firaga, and that's without channeling MP. It's not a problem. It's just a change.
You really have to be trying to dislike this game to think any of these faults (which aren't faults at all) somehow eclipse the fact that FFTA2 fixes all of the nagging problems that made so many people hate FFTA. Things like the law system and dispatch missions. There are 400 missions now and almost all of them involve actually doing something instead of throwing a random member out to do it for you. I'm 100 missions in and I've been playing for 35 hours.
Come on. Base your opinion on experience or just keep it to yourself. The GameFAQs forums? Really? That place is like a hotspot for whiney little XXXXXXX.
Bogus article or no, it does bring up some points that do need to be addressed, and that I do believe highlight the game's faults.
Quest-required job classes is one demonstration of a larger problem the games faces. The unnecessary restriction to recruiting characters, item learned skills, and yes, job unlocking all fall under the concept of strategic limitation. Yes, they were in FFTA, and yes, most of the things that were carried over were improved, but that doesn't excuse the problem outright. This is a strategy RPG. The crux of these games is in the options, and limiting the options of the player in any form is counter-intuitive to the type of game it is.
Stupid laws are stupid laws, it doesn't matter how scarcely you come across them. 9/10 times it isn't a problem? And what about that 1/10th time, when it actually matters? Sorry to say, but it is annoying, to say the very least.
But regarding the "review" itself, the title is "Seven reasons I'm not buying Final Fantasy Tactics A2". It should have been fairly clear that the opinions would be reflect that the author does not own the game. Despite that, it is as the others say, the article is pretty ridiculous because of this fact. I don't see the usefulness of knowing someone else's ill-informed judgments; I try to avoid them myself.
I also forgot to add another criticism of the game: the lying statistics. I can almost guarantee that on a 99% chance to hit, you will very likely miss more than just once out of every 100 hits. This gets fairly problematic when you actually are dealing with numbers that are in gamble territory. I've counted the times I used the skill "beat down", for instance, which lowers the hit percentage to roughly 50%, and I can guarantee, it was not 50%.
The damage estimate is also misleading. More often than not have I witnessed my attack be lower than the number shown. If, on average, the attack is simply going to do less than the estimate, than just give me a lower number, don't lie to me.
I also encountered one small law problem, almost reminiscent of FFTA. I hit a guy with a critical hit, knocking him back, and apparently, the games counts those as "distance attacks", which was the law of that battle. Fairly dumb.
The weaknesses and faults of this game could also be considered improvements.
"Quest-required job classes is one demonstration of a larger problem the games faces. The unnecessary restriction to recruiting characters, item learned skills, and yes, job unlocking all fall under the concept of strategic limitation. Yes, they were in FFTA, and yes, most of the things that were carried over were improved, but that doesn’t excuse the problem outright. This is a strategy RPG. The crux of these games is in the options, and limiting the options of the player in any form is counter-intuitive to the type of game it is."
In FFTA, I had an assassin before the fourth mission even began. While amusing, it lowered the challenge that the game provided. This is what SE was trying to fix in FFTA2, by restricting the more advanced classes until they're no longer too overpowered for the game. Similarly in Starcraft, players can't immediately begin the game building archons, they need to tech up to "unlock" them. Besides, shouldn't a good strategist be able to handle situations with the cards that they're dealt?
In regards to the statistics, we're more likely to notice when we miss than we we don't miss. And just because something states that there's only a 1 in 10 chance that you'll miss, doesn't mean that you won't miss more than once. I had a 20% chance to steal a ninja tabi from *MINOR SPOILER* each of Maquis' different forms *END MINOR SPOILER*, and I still landed the steal 3 times in a row. The damage that they show you is the median damage, not a guarantee that you'll be hitting that much.
Other than that I'm not going to rehash what other people have said in the game's defense already (such as MP starting at 0). My two cents.
Based on what I have read,I would say you don't like a challenging game. If a game had a near impossible quest you would call it dumb and choose to not buy it. Personally, I love the game, I'm addicted to it. Yea the laws have some problems but it forces you to have a hard time doing that battle. And if you don't like a law you can just break it and make it go away, you only miss a law bonus which is most often a few items that you already have or don't need. What you have done is chosen seven things that make you mad or make the game difficult to beat. O and one last tidbit, the recruiting system isn't random, each job can be recruited during certain months.
@Ryags153 – Actually, I relish challenges. Odin Sphere, Persona 1, 2 and 3, Legend of Legaia and the original Phantasy Star are some of my favorite titles.
I'm glad you enjoy it, but it just isn't for me. I'll wait for Disgaea DS instead.
Say What, much of what you had to say I already addressed. I encourage you to read more carefully.
Further driving my points (because I came back to the game recently to finish it and my experiences have been wrought with annoyances), this game so actively pisses me the f*ck off by trying to have me jump through loop through loop through godd*mn loop. Want a new recruit or mission? Waste many a moon wandering for the right month. Want a new weapon for new skills (and good luck finding what you're looking for without a FAQ)? Go steal some arbitrary sh*t from some bad guys. The missions already have so many loops, from item or job requirements to time limits to clan skills to blah blah blah, on top of having a completion limit. And please, don't tell me that good strategy comes from limitation. A good strategist isn't going to win any competent game of chess with a board full of pawns. I'm not suggesting that everything should be handed to the player on a platter, so don't give me that straw man, but I would appreciate it if I didn't have to rub my tummy and hop on one leg and pat my head every time I want to do something.
Not to mention the menu system can get quite atrocious. Having to search through all of your items for one weapon or piece of armor just to find one that has a skill suitable for your class. And don't tell me about the option to only show items that character can equip; that option becomes useless when you don't always weapons free for everyone to use at any time. And would it seriously kill them to show me what items I've already made in the bazaar?
To reiterate my issue with the misleading statistics, the numbers can drop to as high as a quarter of the estimated damage. This generous rift is very often large enough to spare the life of your target; I'm sorry, but I'm playing this strategy RPG for fun of strategy, if I wanted to play the slots, I'd go to a casino. This one I just can't see myself not getting mad at; on top of already witnessing a plethora of failed killing attempts, I just got back from a failed mission simply because one monster simply didn't die when he wasn't supposed to. The same mission that had me on the edge of frustration when my healer was Rouletted to death, my main offense was stoned, and then I accidentally broke the copycat law when I repeated a move that was actually done several turns beforehand because no action was apparently performed between my repeated moves. Long story short, this sh*t never happened in FFT. And what a godd*mn shame it is.
Me again. I'm glad to see you've at least considered getting it if you find it at an incredible deal (although I doubt it will ever end up there). I'm currently at the 90 hour mark or so, and I'm realizing I've got at least another 40 hours in this game, if not more (not even considering hard mode).
The law system isn't actually as bad as it seemed like it would be early on. For the most part, I haven't had any of the stupid ones (no missing) in at least the last 30 hours of gameplay. A couple are still irritating, like copycat, which got me a couple of battles ago. On the whole, they do tend to do a good job of mixing it up and forcing me to adopt new strategies (last battle was "no harming the weak" ie. attacking lower leveled units, so I used two units low enough to attack, two moogles that had smile toss, and two supportive units). Just wanted to make the point that once you learn the laws, they're rarely a problem.
I also wanted to say that this game has much more challenge than FFTA. Maybe not in all of the missions, but there are a few strings that will give you a run for your money, like the King missions and the Tower missions.
Also, the guy above me just sounds like he's about to have a heart attack or something. The 'misleading statistics' point he's raising is just retarded. In my experience, the damage dealt can range +-5 or 10 (what, do you expect it to give you the absolute number? what fun is that?) It also sounds like he's a horrible strategist. Give your healer a ring that makes them immune to insta-KO attacks or one that gives them auto reraise, like I have. Those items aren't that hard to get. His early points about the statistics being off are phooey too. I've been stealing items (50% chance) and doing certain status skills (70%) and overall, they've felt about right. Of course sometimes you're going to miss 4 or 5 times in a row, that's just odds and over time it averages out. And that's what strategy is all about anyways. Managing the odds to put them in your favor.
Anyways, if you never get this game, ok, not like it affects me at all anyways, but if you're going to skip it, don't do it for that guy's reasons, he's full of hot air.
PS- as for $ per hour of entertainment, I'm currently at ~52 cents per hour, likely to climb higher than 33 cents per hour. The movies can suck it, this was a good investment.
I hardly think your 90 hour commitment adds to your opinions being less biased. Spend as much time on the game as you want; in my honest opinion, people who spend an inordinate amount of time in games tend to be the worse tacticians. While I am making an obvious implication on my judgment of you, Desi, feel free to consider yourself outside that general observation if you think you're an exception. And for the record, I am playing the game on hard, and to the game's credit, it is fairly hard.
Obviously I don't expect it to give me an exact number, but I would appreciate it if the numbers did not deviate from the estimation as much as MY own experience (let's not discount another's experience just because our own is difference, yeah?) has shown me, and in my experience, the numbers rarely rise above the estimation unless it's a critical. The reason why this issue is such a large concern of mine is because strategy should not be hedged on luck (and no matter how you think about it, it is luck. I'm quite aware of the avenues available to increase hit percentage, but those skills are not readily accessible to all classes at all times. Besides, this would not be an issue if the percentages were simply higher; this is a criticism of the game design that I have no intention of detailing in this post, so please do not set up a straw man unless you understand well my perspective on the game).
Horrible strategist, hm? Haha, I find it laughable that you would feel so easy to judge when you have nothing to judge from. I lost one mission, is that where you were drawing it from? Did you notice that I highlighting that particular fight as a bad experience, and in doing so, revealed it as one of my most admittedly worst experiences regarding my frustrations with the game's mechanics? Rhetoric aside, Dealing with highly specific instances does not a good strategist make.
Strategy is not about "Managing the odds to put them in your favor." That's gambling. Strategy concerns the employment of actions and intelligence to achieve a certain goal, which is usually "winning". As stated earlier, the fun of a strategy game is derived from the player's deployment of new, unique, and generally fun strategies. This criteria is admittedly broad and vague, which is why giving the player a multitude of strategies, not limiting them, should result in a more acceptable play experience.
I'm not suggesting for anyone to buy or skip the game. I'm simply highlighting the criticisms of the game I've come across. If you agree with me, good for you, I'm not the only who sees these things (and I already know I'm not, I've seen people make the same claims I have). If you don't, good for you too, enjoy the game, but unless you can make some pretty damn convincing arguments, I don't see myself changing opinions (though the possibility is certainly there). On a related note, I would ask you all who feel "offended" to not just go and post just because someone doesn't agree with you, or doesn't like something you don't.
"(let’s not discount another’s experience just because our own is difference, yeah?)"
Your own experience directly conflicts with his experiences and my own. We're all playing the same game, with the same battle system, so if I know something is true and you say it's not, you're probably lying.
"The reason why this issue is such a large concern of mine is because strategy should not be hedged on luck"
You do realize this is a strategy RPG, right? Role Playing Game? As in traditionally played with dice rolls?
And if I know something is true and you say it's not, then you're probably lying? I counted the numbers, I know as much as those tell me. On that regard, they aren't as fickle as 4/6 for a 50% ratio, it's more along the lines of 2/7 or 3/10, and I've had far more instances of not killing a guy due to under-performing numbers then unexpectedly killing a guy.
Putting a game into a genre is a convenience of categorization, it does not automatically define the mechanics of a game. You also realize this is a STRATEGY game, I'm sure, which does change the rules a bit. Besides, disregarding the implied context, I still don't think strategy should be hedged on luck. If I wanted to play a tabletop (and regarding history, only western RPGs truly derived from tabletop), then I would play a tabletop, dice rolling and all.
Every single RPG I've ever played, Japanese or western, has involved a degree of randomness. Every time you attack and miss in an RPG, that's because you failed your dice roll.
You're being ridiculous. Yes, it's a Strategy RPG, and it's going to have elements of both, and a BIG part of being an RPG is the element of chance.
I'm not sure how I'm the one being ridiculous, it seems that not only have you missed my point, but you are also putting words in my mouth.
I'm not saying that eastern RPGs are devoid of random chance, nor am I saying that random chance is completely bad. I'm saying that an excessive degree, one of which I claim I've experienced, is counter-intuitive to good strategy, i.e. strategy should not be hedged on luck. In regular RPGs, missing is such an infrequent occurrence that it often is not incorporated into the decision you make. My point is that if it happens so frequently that you actually have to consider these random elements, then the game is requiring you to incorporate luck into your strategy, something that I don't believe really belongs in a strategy title. Now I'm not saying that good strategy won't win you the game, because it will, and it has been working for me, but there are certainly elements that I think could do with some changing, this being one of them. And before we continue that conversation, I would suggest we understand what we're arguing about before we engage: what makes an RPG a good RPG, or what makes an RPG an RPG. I'm arguing for what makes a good RPG, and as much as both of these have rather vague criteria, I'm willing to argue my perspective of what makes a good SRPG.
Aside from that, I don't know why you feel the need to chastise me for having a different view. I'm not lying for the sake of feeling right, or making up claims just to complain, as none of these have no merit to me. As it is, I acknowledge that this is the internet and I could easily walk away and think that you're just being silly and ignorant (which you're not, I read your earlier posts and you weren't an idiot, so I'll give you that benefit of the doubt) and that I'm right. But I'm not going to do that, because there certainly could be someone who cares enough to read what I have to say and learn something from it, whether or not they agree with me.
why are you saying this?
It works near perfect on no$GBA DS Emulator so screw Square and just play it for free.
I have to admit the game pisses me off so much. I hate how they switched the positioning system; where you are no longer determines your accuracy but it determines your damage. This sounds great because it usually says 99% or at least 95% almost all the time. The thing is that 99% doesn't mean jack shit, I miss CONSTANTLY. I nearly killed someone when I missed on a 95% chance AND THE GODDAMN LAW WAS NO MISSING! Other than having HORRIBLY RIDICULOUS LAWS the game is awesome (The class thing doesn't bother me because I like the party you start with).
The main advantage is that if you break the law it's nowhere near as much of a penalty unless you're losing (why they implemented the no revival thing is beyond me).
Overall I would say that the game is worth playing but its shortcomings and utterly stupid antics make it definitely not worth paying $40 or even $30 for. For $40 I want laws that make sense, accuracy that doesn't piss me off and at least MOST of the jobs unlockable simply by learning Abilities.
I've been playing the game for quite a while as well and have yet to see any of what you all seem to be complaining about. The game certainly seems to play pretty much identically to how FFTA played in terms of the hit chances and things. I don't miss as often as you guys have been saying you do, though I do find the damage to be way too random for my tastes. I dislike seeing that my Master Monk is going to deal 150+ damage with Holy Fist and then see him only deal 130. It's totally game breaking.
As far as clearing certain quests to unlock certain Jobs goes, it bothered me at first because I immediately started working towards Fighter, only to find that I needed to clear a certain quest to get it, but I don't see it as that bad. If you look at the big ol' game board of missions, all of the ones that unlock Jobs are lumped together in one location. If you pay attention there, it's easy to find them all.
As for your complaints about the "No Missing" rule, have you ever thought to use techniques like Dash and Take Aim, which… you know… never miss? None of the Laws are really that bad. They just force you to take on a strategy different from "set up your guys to cleave down the enemies as fast as possible." Personally, I enjoy when the battle tells me I can't deal a certain number of damage. It makes me actually think and consider which guys I'll use with which Jobs and skills rather than always running in with my highest leveled, massively uber characters. Also, when you break the law, nothing bad happens. You can't revive dead characters (oh no, that really only matters if you're faced with insta-death enemies) and you don't get the extra items (yay, ethers and one piece of random loot~) from winning. It's really not that big a deal to break the Law every now and then.
Really, though, to say that a rule against missing and scoring a critical hit is "out of the player's control" just shows you know nothing of the game. There are skills which make your attacks have literally 100% chance to connect with the opponent (Dash and Take Aim, as said before, along with Concentrate), so that's clearly in your hands to be able to do. As for Critical Hits, correct me if I'm wrong here, but I've never once seen my characters score a Critical Hit when using anything other than a strict physical attack… If you spend the battle throwing Abilities at your enemies, you never run the risk of hitting a Critical Hit. Luck only plays a role in Law breaking if you allow it to. The hitting weak enemies one is pretty dumb, too, but I believe it's only offensive (ie. HP damaging) abilities which set it off. You can still cast status on them all to win the battle if you wish to use your highest level characters. This is beside the point, though, since if your characters are higher levels than the enemies, you MUST have characters in your clan which are below the level, since enemy levels base off of the average level of your clan… Again, none of those Laws fall outside of the player's control, really.
I've logged 63 hours in the game and I'd also have to agree with the unreasonable difficulty that comes with finding the correct weapons to learn the skills needed to master classes. The only one I've been able to master on any of my characters so far is Soldier. The lack of random, frequent fights as there were in FFTA and in FFT really really annoys me, too, since the only way to get any AP is from doing missions.
I randomly bought this game days after it came out. Was wondering around in a store, saw it there, grabbed it. I greatly enjoyed. FFT for the Playstation, and really not so much FFTA so I thought I'd give this a shot. I've logged plenty of time on the game (as I do with any game I start, no matter how terrible it is), and I'm seeing hardly very little of what people are complaining about here as an issue, and some of the complaints are nonsense. One of which is "having to go through missions to unlock characters"
There are few games I've played (And I have over 20 years of gaming under my belt) with character selection that doesn't have unlockable content in them, usually being characters or classes. The idea is to get you to play every class to get all of the classes, instead of taking a single class, and spamming it through the entire game. Is it truly that painful to have to actually work to earn something in the game? Do you guys use cheat codes in games that you play or do you earn the things you want? If you don't use codes, then I don't see your logic. Unlocking classes here is no different than unlocking something in any other game. Not to mention that the requirements actually make sense.
Directed toward name: I've seen the term "running through hoops" used a few times. Aside from being vague, and generally meaningless to me, what game doesn't force you do to certain things to achieve other things? Nothing you listed seems out of place in most games, especially strategy games. Sure, it's not "strategic", but if you've played these type of games, surely you know that ideas from other genres are always used? That there's no such thing as a purely strategic video game? So you have to spend a minute or two getting to the correct month to recruit. Why is that a big deal? They pretty much spoonfeed you through the entire game, bar laws, and things you have to achieve. In my opinion, the loopholes (like the cottage) are more annoying than the restrictions, but it's good that they put them there for people that only casually play and don't want to spend forever just to go around the calendar again.
Strategy of course plays a part of a strategy video game, but anyone who's played them surely knows there's generally little strategy involved in any video game of this genre against AI (Ages of Empires, Tactics Ogre, Star Craft, other FFT titles, etc.) Unless you're playing against other people, there's always some way to abuse a tactic against an AI opponent, thus completely negating a reason to actually think up plans on a whim to get out of tight spots. So let's not pretend that deep tactical gameplay is even a factor here, shall we? Even more than that, that Chess is anything more than "watered-down" strategy, or even comparable to a video game, since you're making the comparison. There is ALWAYS variables in strategy, or so called "chance". Strategy on a battlefield, for example, is utilized through absolutes, nearly every single aspect of it is about managing the odds, that's about all there is to tactics, rarely will you find absolutes. Sure, this isn't warfare we're talking about, but, the point is, that chance goes hand-in-hand with anything strategy. Your "playing chess with all pawns" example is severely flawed. This aspect of "luck" surely does belong in this game, as it does in all other games of the genre.
I also had absolutely no trouble finding what I needed to unlock what I wanted, without an FAQ, and those things shouldn't be readily available as it is. What would be the point if everything was simple to obtain? It's not like getting the materials to obtain said weapon or armour is a challenge at all, and "time" and "location" isn't a factor with the cottage right there. Why make a big deal of it?
I agree that some of the laws are nuts and can completely screw you over (I've encountered many a Game Over this way), but I could have easily avoided all of them, it was just a simple lapse of judgment on my part that made it an issue. But aside from that, I would think it fairly easy to get around all of the rules. I would say this is probably the biggest issue for me, but still, it's fairly minor, in my opinion, compared to most of the problems I encounter in gaming. After all, it's my fault for not being prepared, not the game's.
I can see how you encountered what you you've mentioned, throughout your posts, but I have a difficult time believe that they're THAT large of a speed bump and that they truly caused that much trouble for anyone. Saving often enough and being patient seems to be a cure for most, if not all of this.
Start with full HP? Really? You do know that there is a job called "Illusionist" that hurts every single enemy on the battle field and that you can get a support called "Boost MP" that gets double damage right? Doesn't that seem a tad unfair?
"Oh i can't use lightning and i JUST learned Thundaga" BOO HOO it's a game. Half the part of the game is adapting to what's set before you (IE enemies, terrain, abilities…) Although i do think it's crap how enemies seem to be able to fire off 16MP and 24MP spells when they don't have the MP for it.
Oh and i agree about your opinion meaning nothing considering you haven't played the game. I'm sorry i meant to add "for only 2 freakin hours". I just finished with 75. So you only got about 3 days of straight playin to catch up.
When any gamer heads into a store or online ready to buy a game, they have their own reasons to make the purchase. Some are rational, some are not. Some like – or don't like – the box art, sport, screen shots on the back, genre or even the developer. Some do in-depth research online, form an opinion and then decide whether or not to buy a game. Some people buy anything with "Naruto" printed on it (or "Halo" or "Madden" or "Final Fantasy" or…)
The next time you buy – or don't buy – a game, write down all the reasons you made your decision and see how much sense your reasons really make. I'll bet most of them make much less and are far less logical than Jenni's list above. And you know what? That's OK.
While I am all for free speech and I want to maintain an open discussion, this site is not age gated and we do have young readers. I have edited a few comments to "X" out potentially offensive language from select posts. Future potentially offensive comments to this post will be deleted.
Man, there's no such a big problem… You're making it way worse than it actually is. FFTA2 is a really good game, and you realize that if you play it for more than 1 hour… Give it a shot!
#1: Laws against “attacking the weak,” “missing” or “critical” hits.
- Agreed. But not a real issue. Counter/bonecrusher can deal damage on low level enemies and not cause punishment. The other ones are really silly…
#2: Random recruiting.
- Exist a quest that gives you a random recruit. Works like the FFT (Psx) but for a very low cost. and is very frequent…
#3: Battlefields can’t be rotated.
- Bullshit. All areas give you a nice spot about your enemy…
#4: Recycled sights and sounds.
- Agreed… But not a real problem at all…
#5: Jobs that must be unlocked through missions.
- Is a nice fun, and a good reason to get side-history quests. Except for Gemoancer, the hardest one to get and not a powerfull one to grind it.
#6: “Trading” is a lie.
- Agreed. No more things to tell about it.
#7: MP starts at 0.
- In FFT (psx) some spells get 16-20 actions to resolve, is like 2-3 turns lost. I think that system works in same way, but in a better use. Griding level in magic class give you more spell power. Magics like fire/thunder/blizzard deals heavy damage using only 8MP. You dont need use the strong ones, except in danger cases… And the 3 basic spells already resolve 99,95% of the problems ingame.