Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift Review

Alright, let me start off by saying that I’m a huge fan of not only the Final Fantasy Tactics series, but I’m also a huge fan of tactics games in general, so I’ll try to give this game a fair review of what it deserves, and not that I just love it. I’m already about 23 hours into the game, completing over 70 missions, so I think I can give it a good, fair review. Oh, and this is the first time I've ever reviewed a game, so don't bash it too much. ;)



So if you’ve played any of the other Final Fantasy Tactics games, like the GBA, PSP, or PS1, you’ll notice right away that the graphical style, and how everything is played out that it is definitely a FFT game. You star off just like the previous Final Fantasy Tactics game on the Gameboy Advance. You start off with the main protagonist (named Luso, but you can change that), and he is a trouble maker in school so on the last day of school, his teacher orders him to help clean up the library (I know, what an ass hole). So while you’re cleaning, you stumble upon a book that, once you write your name in it, it transports you to a different world called Ivalice. You start off with, wait…..not text, but a battle (strange, especially for a Final Fantasy game). You get used to the controls, and by the time you’re done with the battle, you know how to pretty much do everything in battle (especially if you’ve played some of the games before). Then, obviously like every other Final Fantasy Tactics games, you go through some more talking between characters, and you just learn a little more about the characters.



If you’ve played previous games, the graphical style is pretty much the same, but if you’re really looking for a big graphics bump, then you’re going to be really disappointed. It looks pretty much the same as the GBA one, except with a little, and I mean little extra bump here and there. Not to say that the graphics are bad, but they definitely aren’t being utilized as much as I think that they could (although I know the memory storage on a DS cartridge isn’t that big). Then there’s the gameplay, if you’ve played any of the other Final Fantasy Tactics games, you’ll know exactly how to control the characters, and move around without any trouble, and it’s not even that hard to learn, which makes the whole game a little more accessible to people that maybe haven’t played any games in the series, or any tactical games at all.



Like in the GBA Final Fantasy Tactics game, you had a set of three laws, but if you got far enough in the game, you could buy cards to disband those laws. Well, in this game, I’m sorry to say that the law system is back, but it’s not as bad as the GBA game, because you only have one law, but I do not yet know of a way to get rid of it. You also can have a privilege, which you get to choose after putting your characters onto the field. These can include simple ones such as Power up, MP Regain, and Always counter. There’s also no jail when you break a law, so you don’t have to worry about those damn yellow and red cards, and paying a fine if you get too many. Now, the only thing that happens is that the laws are disbanded and so are your privileges, and also if any of your people die in combat, you cannot revive them. Hopefully in the next game in the series there won’t be any of those laws and only privileges (although I don’t think that will be happening soon).



As acclaimed on the box, there are over 300 missions, and the whole game is suppose to last hundreds of hours (although I think I could get it in 150 ). I’d definitely think that this is a must play if you’re a DS owner, and like either Final Fantasy Tactics games, or just tactics games in general, it is a must buy. If you’ve never played tactics games before, then I’d say if you have the spare time and money, you should try it out, because it’s a great game to play whenever, and the story is pretty great.