Overall Rating: 78%
Strategy RPGs, you would think, would be a natural fit for the DS given the touch screen, portability and wifi capabilities. Although FFTA2 does a good job of making a fun and addicting game, it would have been just as good had it been made on the GBA - and I think that's ... Read review
Return to Ivalice in the latest instalment of the legendary FINAL FANTASY TACTICS series. ... more
Summer vacation has begun for all but one unlucky student. Alone in the school library, Luso solemnly toils away the punishment his mischief has brought him. I...
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Lead your party to victory across the fantasy world of Ivalice!When mischievous Luso opens ... more
an ancient book found in a library, he finds himself transported to another world, straight in the middle of a battlefield! With the help of new-found friends, h...
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Return to Ivalice in the latest instalment of the legendary FINAL FANTASY TACTICS series. ... more
Summer vacation has begun for all but one unlucky student. Alone in the school library, Luso solemnly toils away the punishment his mischief has brought him. I...
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FINAL FANTASY TACTICS A2 DS: Grimoire of the Rift is a strategy and tactics game with ... more
battles, missions, swords, and sorcery, set in the universe of the hugely successful FINAL FANTASY series. Alone in a foreign world, Luso befriends a motley crew of m...
Advantages: Addictive, lasts a long time and lots to do Disadvantages: Law system is aggravating, not the best use of DS functionality, multiplayer is weak
Overall Rating: 78%
Strategy RPGs, you would think, would be a natural fit for the DS given the touch screen, portability and wifi capabilities. Although FFTA2 does a good job of making a fun and addicting game, it would have been just as good had it been made on the GBA - and I think that's what lets it down. It hardly uses the DS's features - in fact, I find it easier to play with the buttons than the touch screen, the graphics are ... ...and the GBA outing actually had more in the way of multiplayer than this one does… so, you might be wondering, why does it get a good score? Because at the heart of it, it is a good game and it does its job as a game; it is fun.
The gameplay of the game is more or less standard fare for a strategy RPG. For what it does, it does it well - there is very little in the way of basic game mechanics that make it hard to play, or get in the ... more
Overall Rating: 78%
Strategy RPGs, you would think, would be a natural fit for the DS given the touch screen, portability and wifi capabilities. Although FFTA2 does a good job of making a fun and addicting game, it would have been just as good had it been made on the GBA - and I think that's what lets it down. It hardly uses the DS's features - in fact, I find it easier to play with the buttons than the touch screen, the graphics are about the same as the original FFTA on the GBA, and the GBA outing actually had more in the way of multiplayer than this one does… so, you might be wondering, why does it get a good score? Because at the heart of it, it is a good game and it does its job as a game; it is fun.
The gameplay of the game is more or less standard fare for a strategy RPG. For what it does, it does it well - there is very little in the way of basic game mechanics that make it hard to play, or get in the way of the fun. It's smooth, it runs well, the interface is clear, and the input is well done on a basic level. The more interesting features tend to complicate this, however - some of the ideas in the game are very good, and others not so good. The whole game is based on taking quests (which involve battles, finding items in battles, more battles, and occasionally a delivery quest). The fact that most of these are battle-based is not a problem though, because the battles are very good fun, and very well balanced. It never feels as though the game is too easy or too hard, and it does a great job of being challenging but not frustrating. This is where things start to get a bit annoying - the laws system.
In the first game, the laws were both annoying and punishing. In this version, it's not so bad - the laws are indeed annoying, and to a perfectionist like me, they can really get under your nose and get in the way. They have made the punishments for breaking the laws far less severe, but at the same time made the laws themselves… somewhat ridiculous. Examples of some of the most annoying are those that are beyond your control - one is that you are not allowed to miss, another being that you are not allowed to get a critical hit and knock an enemy back a square. Since it is entirely through chance that these situations arise, it really adds frustration into what is otherwise a good way of adding interest and colour to the battle system.
The game also suffers from another problem from FFTA, and that is the lack of much storyline - generally when I play an RPG, I expect it to have some kind of good story to keep me going. FFTA surprised me when the storyline was fairly minimal - it felt, at times, like I was playing just for the sake of playing - and I get the same feeling from this game. The game does somehow manage to still be addictive though, because it has that charm about it, but I can't help but feel it would've been better with a real storyline, other than the old "boy gets sucked into a book and lands in another world, has to escape" routine.
The graphics of the game are stylistically very nice. I like the character illustrations, and the pixel art is excellent. It does look very good - and while it doesn't necessarily use the DS to its full potential, I feel the graphics suit the game well, and just… work. The audio side of things is fairly average, with the music fitting but not really being very memorable, and the sound effects being the usual stuff, with nothing that really stands out.
FFTA2 is a very fun game, but reflecting on it, it is hard to put across exactly what it is that makes it a good game. Everything is fairly average, and it certainly doesn't make great of the DS's features, but it has a certain charm about it that will keep you coming back for more (provided strategy RPGs are the kind of games you like to play). It also has a wealth of missions to do, and it's a game suited to the mobile gaming platform as it's very easy to pick up, play a quest then put down again. I'd say buy it if you liked the first FFTA, don't buy it if you didn't because not enough has changed, and give it shot if you haven't played FFTA but like strategy RPGs.
Disclaimer; I post all my reviews on multiple reviewing sites under the username "Ultima2876", where applicable.
Ultima2876 26.09.2008
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very helpful
Review of Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Nintendo DS)
Advantages: 56different job classes, 300 different quests, good longetivity, Disadvantages: scenary is re used, poor multiplayer should put pvp wifi
...game is the sequel of final fantasy tactics advanced on the gameboy advanced.
Since i was a fan of the strategy prequel I looked forward to the release of this game, but after playing I later realized I prefer the gameboy advanced one.
I feel as if they didn't go far enough with the nintendo ds capabilities.
It is based around Luso a boy who stumbles across a book in the library asking him to write his name, in doing so he is transported to Ivalice ... ...as you traverse trough the final fantasy world, there are auction mini-games, and something I really liked about this game is that everybody's experience is different, when and where you gain new clan mates trying to join ur crew is different for everyone, (so if you played the game and they give you someone named john, if you restarted it would be different,).
But everything has flaws no game is perffect, the cutscenes of scenary are always the ...
dapocosta 24.08.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Nintendo DS)
Advantages: Very addicting and a great story Disadvantages: 13+
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 requires alot of strategy. If you do not have patience for strategy games this game is not for you. I recommend this game to people who are over 13 years old. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 is very fun and has a lot of additions from the first Final Fantasy Tactics. There are many jobs to choose from and many possibilities. The music in this game is very good and the graphics are great. The story is very good and addicting and ...
Adam1317 06.09.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Nintendo DS)
Product Information for "Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Nintendo DS)" »
Product details
Publisher
Square Enix
Developer
Square Enix
Release Date
25th October 2007
Age
12+
Genre
Role-Playing Game (RPG)
Sub Genre
Tactical RPG
Max Number of Players
1 Player
Platform
Nintendo DS
EAN
5060121822979
Manufacturer's product description
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire Of The Rift is a strategy and tactics game with battles missions swords and sorcery set in the universe of the hugely successful Final Fantasy series. Alone in a foreign world Luso befriends a motley crew of monks mages archers and soldiers. The only hope you have of finding your way home is to turn your ragtag group of misfits into a finely tuned fighting force. As you gain experience and reputation your job options grow as well as the rewards. But after spending some time in Ivalice you may never want to leave!
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