A disappointing birthday.

 Final Fantasy Tactics Advance was a long awaited sequel to a much beloved game. I was hyped to hfil to play it, and it was the entire reason I wanted a Game Boy SP. It's the only game I own on that system and the only game I've ever wanted with it. I was horribly disappointed. Sorry grandma, but this wasn't you're fault,

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions is a game with incredible depth. Its story, job system, and characters are all filled with twists and turns that feel alive. Politics, religion, and caste are all discussed in Ivalice. Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced has none of those, and it's such a bummer! As an adult, I think the story is better than it gets credit for, but I'll get to that later. For now, what else sucks about FFTA?

The job system is so shallow. Many jobs are locked to certain races, and it feels really restrictive. It's rad that it makes the races feel different, but they only have eight jobs each. It really limits the amount of customization. Dragoons can only be used by bangaas, and time mages are stuck to moogles or nu mou. So my favorite combination isn't doable. I love FFT monks, but only one race gets them. And the moogle jobs are unique, but they also kinda suck. Montblanc comes as a mage, so I'll probably keep him a mage, even if he's stuck with only two jobs. And so many classes are gone! Where are the oracles and mystics? Geomancer, samurai, bards, or any nonstandard jobs? You'd think a young boy with a magic book could create a bunch of fun stuff with his imagination. I know I did all the time! All of this feels so shallow.

I also hated the removal of JP. To learn a move, you have to equip an item until you've mastered it. It forced me to wear bad weaponry for far too long just to make sure I was prepared for every battle. I didn't need to do this, though, since elemental damage is kinda hit-and-miss in its effectiveness. I should have kept my illusionist with the Stardust rod the whole game. I never got to see the last game spells... And it's possible to miss out on many spells as well. I never got a rod to teach Montblanc Firega or Blizzaga because the rewards for missions are random, and I kept failing them.

To further complicate my relationship with this, learning skills is how you gain access to new jobs. Because I was trying to master the roles I wanted, I couldn't just switch for a few battles to gain some levels to access something new. I needed to keep my party around to learn everything. So I felt like I couldn't afford to waste time learning new jobs. I never got a summoner on my team, nor a red mage. I would have loved a red mage secondary job, but they're stuck on viera behind several walls. And if you level up in a job that isn't suitable for what you're wanting, your stats might suffer. That's probably a small thing, and FFT had that, too, so maybe ignore that part.

I also hated the side missions because I failed them too much. I wanted to make sure my main six were prepared for every battle, so I only leveled them up. Doing that, though, leaves everyone else on your clan way behind on levels. I was close to level 30, but most of my team was at level four. They failed all the side missions, so I stopped doing them. It's why I didn't get those rods with the spells I needed, and there's no way to fix that once you've gone past the tipping point.

Shops are pointless. All the good rewards are through the missions. Halfway through the game, they become a waste of time, but why am I still getting so much money? I don't need a million gil at the end since there's nothing to buy.

The worst part of the game is the main draw of it: the laws. I absolutely hated them! They further restrict what your team can do in battle, and I found myself forgetting all the time. You have a plan set, but you suddenly find yourself unable to wield a sword or a bow. Too bad! You can buy antilaws, but your stock of them is so low, and you may have to go out of your way to get there that I forgot it existed. And Ezel showed up slightly too late to leave an impact on me. They're frustrating and, as I said, just another limitation on your enjoyment. And enemies aren't even affected by them. They obey the laws, but they never break them. Too bad you can't see what you're up against before going to the battle. And if they do break them, there's no penalty except the judge gets in your way.

I wasn't fond of the music quality. It's a universal thing with the Gameboy, but the sounds are so bit crunched that they get annoying. There is an orchestrated album of the OST, and it's really good. So if you listen to that, there's no problem with the soundtrack. It's top notched, but what we hear in game isn't. This isn't a knock against FFTA, as it affects every game on the system.

Well, that's a lot of stuff. Anything good?

It's not deep, but I liked the plot. We're the bad guys trying to tear down our new friend's dream. Along the way, we ruin our brother's life and slightly inconvenience a vein girl. Ritz' reason for wanting to stay here is dumb, but Mewt and Doned are understandable. There's no political science to see, nor do I need an in depth knowledge of religion, but there can be a fun philosophical discussion to be had. Is Marche correct? Is escapism a bad thing? Why shouldn't I be allowed to use magic?! The ending leaves it really shallow, though...

The battle system worked. A lot of time in tactical RPGs, the field is way too large or painfully flat. FFTA takes the mold that FFT made and doesn't try to break it. Height, rivers, and range are at play, and there are plenty of tactical aspects to work with. It's still more fun than the War of the Visions game Square put out a while back and more accessible than Tactics Ogre.

The world is fun. There are plenty of interesting sidequests about clan wars, the villainous Borzai, thieves, and researchers. Every location has its own lore. It's all shallow, but I can't hate it as much as I should. Square could have ignored anything and put in 275 truly empty missions instead, but this makes Ivalice feel alive.

And that's kinda it... When it comes to my rankings:

Plot: 9/10. The playable cast is two people, and one of them isn't much. The villains, though, are varied and interesting. And I dug being the evil one.

Gameplay: 8/10. It's still fun enough and new, even if unrewarding.

Art: 8/10 There are not a lot of sprites...

Sound: 6/10 It's hard to put aside the bit crunch of the handheld system, but the remastered OST is great, albeit without any earworms.

Charm: 6/10. This isn't my Ivalice, but it's good enough. There's some fun behind the main story stuff, and it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Sadly, the law mechanic sucks. There's also no fitting room, so it's hard to know what gear to buy when you're still doing that. And it took me so long to see there's a screen to check the abilities your characters are learning. Mechanically, FFTA needs some work.

At the end of the day, Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced gets a very fitting 35/50. It's a solid C- as it doesn't do anything horrendous. But it doesn't do anything memorable, either. It was a way to fulfill a contract Square had with Nintendo, and it worked for both sides.