So I've been playing FFTA2 for about 2 weeks now, and I've already clocked over 45 hours into this game. I'm awfully suprised at just how much time I've put into this game. This certainly isn't a great a game, but for some reason, I'm incredibly addicted to it, despite also having the new FFIV game for DS just waiting to be played.

I was incredibly disappointed by the first Tactics Advance game, mostly due to the high expections from the original, and wonderful, Final Fantasy Tactics. The introduction of the harsh law system and the incredibly toned down story, FFTA was extremely far from what I had wanted, so when FFTA2 was announced, I was extremely hesitant. Once I learned that the law system had been pretty much overhauled, however, I decided I'd give this game a shot.

When I first began my new game, I was disappointed to see that my character was still a child going on summer vacation, only to be sucked into a book and taken into the world Ivalice. This was so very similar to FFTA, that I nearly shut the game off then and there. But, I decided to continue on and at least give some of the battles a try. After the obligatory training mission, I felt prepared enough to take on my first story mission. This actually turned out to be a bit tougher than I had expected, bringing back some fond memories of the originial Tactics game for the Playstation. After I beat the first mission or two, I felt I was ready to begin taking on some of the additional side quests the game had to offer. Here's where I found some of my favorite moments in the game. Very few side missions are standalone. Typically each little story takes place over a handful of side quests. While yes, they are relatively simple, not overly deep stories, they're at least interesting enough to make me want to see what will happen next to the people I've interacted with.

Along with enjoyable side stories, each quest itself is really pretty fun. Yes, there are quite a few "defeat all foes" or "defeat this mark" missions, the areas and character placements vary enough to make me feel as though I need to put in more thought into my moves than I did in FFTA. Another thing that makes each battle more enjoyable is, surprisingly enough, the law system. The new law system isn't nearly as harsh as it was in FFTA. If you don't follow a law in this game, you are only penalized by not being able to Raise your fallen comrades during the battle, and you lose out on a couple bonus items after the fight. My only real complaint about this system are some of the ridiculous laws (I'm looking at you No Misses law). While these can be annoying, since the penalties aren't horrible, it's easy enough to get over the loss of 2 or 3 bonus items.

Another reason I really enjoy these side quests, is the reward of the ability points needed to upgrade your character's jobs. For some reason, I've always enjoyed gaining access to new jobs and working on learning all the abilites as quickly as possible. This current system isn't too different from the other Tactics games, in that you can use abilities from two jobs at a time, one set of abilites from your current job, as well as a second set from another job you've leveled previously. This allows for each player to customize their characters, making most player's experiences different from anyone else's. Obviously there are "ideal" builds that most people will use, but it's nice to know that the customization aspect is there for those that want to have a unique gaming experience.

As far as the main story line goes, it has been somewhat lackluster. I've only completed about 12 main story missions. Right now, I'm having way too much fun completing all the side quests that I possibly can. This is why my team is already level 45-50, despite having completed so few story missions.

All in all, this game is quite a step from the first Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, but not quite up to par with the original Final Fantasy Tactics in terms of story. Despite this fact, I'm certainly happy that this game is a part of my DS collection.

PS: First blog post, Yay!