Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Review - The RETROspective 

Absolutely

Fire emblem on gba is better other game to many rules and flags

I'm hoping for a Switch/Switch2 remaster with both the Tactics Advance games bundled together.

I hadn't considered the older brother aspect of it (I'm the youngest child of my siblings), but that makes a lot of sense.

​@@FiresideGamingReviews i say that, but lets also take in consideration that being the older brother could've taken Marche to the delusional side as well, being finally free to do as he wishes, no longer have to take care of Donned, being finally able to fulfill his "wants" and " Don't wants", the temptation wad there for him as well.

@@mauricesteel4995 Oh no doubt. Marche shows how much he loves Ivalice throughout the game. He's just of strong enough character to know it's not how things should be and stands by that.

Oh, that part always drove me nuts about my fellow fans of this game. The fact the game on no uncertain terms showed how they were happier and better off once they were made to accept reality and stop letting it consume them when they get home does nothing to make those folk reconsider their position. Like, Ritz finally gains the self-confidence to stop dyeing her hair and stop caring that people think it's weird. How is that not her ending up better and happier? Mewt and Cid finally moving on from Mewt's mother's death and becoming a family again was the best thing for both of them. Doned finally realizing how hard taking care of him was on his whole family finally bridged the gap between him and Doned. It's very likely the underlying resentment between the brothers might have just simmered and then boiled over in an even worse way if never confronted.

Even as a kid I always thought that Marche was actually right. Another take of the players is that Marche is the one that has the least of problems compared to his friends. I totally disagree with that take, now that I am an adult and a teacher, I can see that Marche didn't have it easy either, in a way he is abandoned or lacks attention from his mother because of Doned, he is growing up alone. While in this case this made Marche mature quicker, other teenagers can develop the opposite, or even grudge or behavior problems. Marche problem is not minuscule.

Thanks! I appreciate the compliment!

Wow... FFT OST is much better than FFTA all the way

Music is subjective, my friend! I happen to agree though, FFT’s OST goes unreasonably hard.

Exactly. This and all Ivalice series games sounds magical to me too

It was much brighter, FFT has a type of articulate darkness tho I also feel the localization on FFT GBA was better translated , the first game lacked polish because I don't think they saw much of a market outside japan.

This really does need a rerelease. I would love an updated version that unlocks the co-op missions for single player.

Too many people compare it directly to FFT and look down on it as a result instead of just accepting that both are great.

Thanks and it's super cool to hear that someone else had a similar experience with the DC trip! I wasn't sure if that was a normal thing or not, lol.

Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed the review! One of these days I'll get to the other Tactics games.

You're welcome and thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed the review! I appreciate the feedback. I don't want anyone spoiled on the story without warning, which is why I put that time skip to go past the story section. I also don't mind at all if people stop watching at that point, either, just to be extra sure they don't see spoilers. That's always their choice and the video will still be here if they ever decide to come back to it. From what I understand, you can get Cid after 100% but not the Judge Sword.

Thanks!

Welcome and thank you for watching!

Thanks!

spent so many late nights playing this as a kid with my new SP

I checked out of the orchestrated soundtrack for the first time while making this video. Found it on the Internet Archive. It really is great after listening to the compressed GBA songs for so long.

It's definitely something that could've been more detailed. I actually don't deal much with the beat classes (Morph, Blue Mage or Beastcaller) because they just don't feel fleshed out enough. I might give them another shot since I'm still playing this file more on post-game.

@@FiresideGamingReviews Blue and Morpher are similar in that they use beast skills, but how they do changes how you would use them. Blue mage often requires a good punch in the face to learn their skill which can be inconvient, but My favorite class Morpher requires you to swicth between monster soul styles. fortunatley this includes all monsters of that type so you can use all three dragon/wrym skills, but if you want to use goblin punch you need to change to a goblin. in short, they are a fun class to use as monsters have skills that the player often never gets, but getting said skills can be tedious. for example, morph into a lamia and use frog. most battles get a lot easier. however, things like level 5 death or level 3 (insert skill here) get tricky to use because you have to remember which monster has said skill and what level is your opponent. TL:DR all monster/beast related jobs are versatile and helpful in the right circumstances, but due to each having a small draw back to their abilities makes using them require a bit more thought. sorry for text wall, got a lot to say and this stuff is hard to trim down without loosing context. 😅

@@Anime-Wyvern No need to apologize. I appreciate the extra context considering I'm not overly familiar with the classes. It's something I'll keep in mind going forward.

I'm glad I could take you on this trip down memory lane and thanks for the compliment!

The thought hasn't occurred to me but you're right.

Heard a lot of good things about the Analog Pocket. I hope your FFTA journey goes well on it!

@@FiresideGamingReviews I haven't played FFTA since I was 13/14 so it has been a lot of fun remembering some of the things as well as relearning some of the parts I've since forgotten.

I'm sure Marche understands that Doned not having use of his legs is worse. Still doesn't change the fact that he's lonely and jealous of the extra attention his brother gets and that he can't let him fall into the escapism that is Ivalice.

Nice! It's really one of the best and gets overshadowed by FFT too much.

Dang, good video! I had this game stolen years ago, never finished it. So I’m buying it on Monday when i get paid. 😊

@@droogsurgeon1440 Thanks and I'm sorry to hear that. Here's hoping your next playthrough goes by without interruption!

Thanks and I'm betting it will be. Nintendo just takes their sweet time with NSO releases.

Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope your playthrough of the game goes well this time!

Thanks for the sub! I always have to turn audio off when fast forwarding games. Otherwise it just bugs me, lol.

Wow! Thanks, man! I really appreciate it!

I don't know. I enjoy a lot of modern conveniences that wouldn't exist in FFTA's Ivalice.

@FiresideGamingReviews I could do away with technology really fast if I had magic and be a adventure

It's one of the few cases of a game that switches tone so hard from its predecessor but manages to still stick the landing.

i also do think FFT fanbase to be quite silly to expect a game with the same tone of WoTL for the Game Boy Advance for Nintendo.

Welcome!

Thank you!

Thank you!

I can agree that FFTA has a story that is more inline with other FF games. However, I don't think its fair to call FFT's story an "edgy GoT-style epic." It has mature themes but doesn't revel in debauchery and while the world is corrupt, Ramza is not. He and his companions are the good people unwilling to let the clear evil of the world win. That's what separates it from GoT-style stories.

Thanks! I felt I had to point out Marche isn't evil in counter to the online discourse that has surrounded him in recent years. But I completely get if it's something you are just tired of hearing about.

@@FiresideGamingReviews no it's something that needed pointing out, I'm a Marche supporter and due to real events I personally relate to him, but it's hard to talk about the characters without people going into a frenzy, and obviously I can't just tell them they are as immature as Mewt if they side with him, Marche was basically doing a bad thing to help everyone in the long run, and people nowadays assume that there is only black and white instead of shades of gray.

@TKHedgeHog Ah. I gotcha now. Unfortunately lots of people view FFTA through a cynical lens when it's one of the most heartfelt genuine games there is. They really do miss the point of it's story.

Two comment threads about Marche not being the bad guy in a row? I feel like a kid at Christmas as a fellow Marche supporter.

Yup. Haven't replayed it for a few years but I've spent a lot of time with the PS1 and PSP versions of FFT. It's definitely more mature in it's themes and less forgiving in combat but still loads of fun in my book.

Thank you!

Agree. New Square lost a lot of its magic post-PS2 era.

I'm a big fan of the job system. It's one of the reasons FFV is my favorite.

Thanks! Glad to have a fellow Marche fan onboard!

I can understand that. It's doesn't bother me here but I hate this same system for learning skills in FFIX.

I hate that too now. It was funny how I loved these features (along with FFIX) back then just because of "numbers go up" mentality. But now I see them as mindless grind without any meaning. That said I wouldn't consider this feature so bad that it reduced my opinion of the game.

I like AP per battle better than FFT JP per action system, which quickly degenerates into "throw stones at eachothers while your monk spams Chakra". FFT has too many incentives to stall battles, like Skill Inheritance from Crystals, Move Find items and JP grinding, FFTA incentivizes you to get done quickly with battles for the most part. Yes, you can still stall for level grinding and steal gear and even abilities, but i prefer that to waitinf for all my enemies to slowly bleed out so i ca harvest their souls.

Funnily enough, those are some of the things I like about FFT. It makes grinding more efficient, even if beating each other up doesn't make much sense, lol.

The escapism is a problem though when taken this far. The game makes that clear throughout. It's not a matter of personal perspective at that point.

The game works better if you recognize the subtext - that sure, on the surface things are "better" for the main characters, but the escape that is Ivalice stunts their growth and makes them worse people than they were in St. Ivalice. Mewt is the biggest example - he turns from a kind if timid child into a spoiled sniveling brat that cries to his mother the instant something doesn't go his way. Ivalice (and Remedi) actively keep him from developing coping mechanisms and the mental fortitude to be a better, stronger person capable of living an actual good life. The other characters have similar arcs as well, but the thing is the game doesn't explicitly have Marche say outright that they're worse than they were back home because they escaped and got given "perfect" lives in Ivalice and so people miss that aspect (maybe because you don't get a lot of time with everyone prior to going to Ivalice?). This also ignores all of the other messed up things like how seemingly no one else remembers their real lives and thus the grimoire tore apart perfectly happy families and people who loved their lives in St. Ivalice who were thrust into a fantasy medieval setting full of monsters and threats and how some people got turned into literal monsters. Like yea, I don't like the schoolyard bullies, but they're literally children, they didn't deserve to become zombies and killed. Oh, and all of that was done without their consent or knowledge. Maybe you could defend going to a different world if people could choose to go but it being thrust on everyone unilaterally is just not right. So yea, FFTA isn't exactly FFT, but it still treats the younger target audience with respect and trusts that they can do the inferences and thinking to understand why Marche is in the right here.

Yup. Two AAs gave it about 15 hours of life. Less if you had a worm light attached so you could play at night.

​@@FiresideGamingReviews think hrs talking bout the game boy sp

You're welcome and thanks for watching!

We might someday. I can't imagine Square will never use it again.

Nice! Mine's been missing for a few years but I'm positive it's somewhere in my parents house.

Thank you!

Welcome!

I've never heard of a jagd style playthrough but I can guess what it is and that sounds fun. As for the Blue Mage bit, I salute your dedication!

@@FiresideGamingReviews i say jadg. But i mean emu aka lawless

@kouzanno1 Gotcha. I can still see the fun in that.

@@FiresideGamingReviews now im thinking of a lawless perma death mod for this game. Mt first playthrough as kid in my first jagd mission i let montblanc die and continued playing without him cuz saved out of habit and soft locked myself out of redoing the mission

@kouzanno1 Oh dang. Poor Montblanc, lol. It looks like there's a mod that does that. It might be something I play in my spare time.

You'd be surprised how often I practice saying names right before recording only to slip into old mispornounciations as soon as the mic is on. It's honestly a little frustrating at times.

I do really enjoy having the different expressions. First saw them in Grandia and it immediately made that game stick out to me back in the day.

It's love to see that happen. I'm planning to review FE7 sometime this year. Beat Eliwood and currently in Hector mode.

@@FiresideGamingReviews That was my first of the genre FE 7.. Did get really far but still gotta go back and finish.. Somehow Jeanne DArc whisked me away and that’s actually the one I ended up finishing.. Strange as hell

I picked up Jeanne DArc last year at a con but haven't played it yet. Heard nothing but good things about it ever since it first came out.

@@FiresideGamingReviews In hindsight it might be my favorite.. It quite honestly blows my mind Level 5 never followed it up.. Although in addition to that one I’ve also been very impressed with both Triangle Strategy and Unicorn Overlord in recent times

@@Mintcar923 Triangle Strategy was a fun one. Never got the true ending but liked my first playthrough.

It's surprising they haven't since they touched on the FFTA games before. At least I think they did. Haven't actually played Brave Exvius in years.

@@FiresideGamingReviews I was once a hardcore player of the beginning and played Brave Exvius for several years hoarding for that one day that FFTA chars would drop. It never happened and was one reason why I left. They made FFT chars like Ramza appear but taking a quick look into the wiki, FFTA never made it. It is really a shame.

@@Rotschwinge I only stuck with the game for a few months. It was a lot of fun but I have a hard time keeping up with mobile games. It sucks that Square has basically forgotten about FFTA at this point.

Unfortunate that we disagree but I do appreciate the compliment!

It's honestly a game I keep really *wanting* to like that never clicks for me, so I can't say as I'm sad someone else manages to love it

That's fair. I'm the same way with FFXII.

Lol. I'm gonna continue to act like that old commercial doesn't exist and stick with Marsh.

I always try to promote legal ways of getting games but I can't blame anyone for downloading a game that isn't sold by it's publisher anymore.

The game ends with everyone learning it was better to face their problems than to run away from them via escapism. That shows Marche is right. Would the better option be leaving the school bullies dead, everyone's parents non-existent, and the town of St. Ivalice wiped from the face of the Earth? All so one boy can walk, a girl doesn't have to dye her hair, and another gets a fake copy of his dead mother.

@@FiresideGamingReviews lol I was mostly playing in a sense, but I figured it didn't kill the other people, it took Marche and friends to another world. So everyone was technically fine

I tend to go hard in defending Marche. The school bullies are zombies in Ivalice and St. Ivalice is actually transformed into the country Ivalice.

Dang. I can respect the dedication. I think it's crazy we haven't seen a Switch release yet.

@@FiresideGamingReviews My man, I played it an ungodly amount from release up until this year -- something about it just has me hooked -- different team combinations, mono-profession runs, single character runs (would just dump Marche in a corner), single race runs, and other different challenges. It's both my nostalgia and my currrent go-to, lol! Solid retrospective, too!

Thanks! Don't know if it's your thing but there are some interesting mods out there that rebalance the game or add things like permadeath to all battles. Just something to consider if you're looking for new challenges!

@@FiresideGamingReviews Oh yes, I’ve played with those - Grim Grimoire is on permanently.

With Tactics Ogre getting remastered recently I feel like the FFT games have to be next on the list.

I wouldn't be surprised if it did. I could also see SE giving it a rerelease on Switch like they did with Tactics Ogre.

@@FiresideGamingReviews that would be amazing. Also I forgot to say great video and I’m definitely subbed. I’m going to replay the game soon to complete every mission and get secret ending. I’ll probably come back to this channel while I play it for the nice company lol

Thanks for the compliment and the sub! I wish you luck with doing all the missions. I'm still poking away at that on the file I used for this review.

Just means it left an impression on you. Not sure if you were a teen like I was at the time but it seems to be easier to recall things from that point in life. At least it is for me.

That's some real dedication. Not having a link cable was a real hindrance for me. Didn't get one until years later when everyone had already moved on from the game.

@@FiresideGamingReviews My old friend got me into it, but he stopped playing by the time I got my copy and beat it. I honestly have some pretty fond memories playing co-op DSlite games like Chocobo Tales, Pokémon Diamond/Platinum, and Megaman Starforce 3 Red Joker.

@@Killjoyfiend After GBA I had a PSP and played a lot of games with friends that way. Stuff like Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, and such. I've only recently started going back and playing DS games I missed out on. I picked up Chocobo Tales about a year ago but haven't had a chance to sit down and play it yet.

@@FiresideGamingReviews Chocobo Tales was so fun! It's strictly a stylus game. All touch screen. It's a fun card game. I used to play with one other person in the navy on my old ship. That's also how I ended up with my PSP and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. I play Monster Hunter Now on my phone. These games have really come a long way.

@@Killjoyfiend I've fallen a bit behind on new MH games. I'm still working my way through Iceborne. I love the games, but the time sink can be rough, lol.

Agreed!

Thanks!

First of all, they are not terrible. These are efforts to make battles more interesting instead of the usual "Defeat the boss" or "Defeat all" that FFT /Tactics Ogre suffered from. FFTA has a good foundation to built on, although the initial execution for the law system is definitely half-baked. Who thought it was a good idea to make Laws random without any connection to the story? FFTA2 did it right: every encounter had laws tied to each battle setups. However the sad thing is that in FFTA2 they removed the prison system & the card penalties, which are actually interesting mechanics.