Ways in which Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 could be improved?

[Iceglow]

Ok so I recently finished FFTA2 on about 300 missions with a party of mostly level 99's. I was however wondering what people's thoughts were on this often hard to find and undervalued portable game?

Personally I felt the game could've been improved in a few ways, difficulty of the final battle, inclusion of more skills for the chocobo knight class, perhaps some actual rider talents that could be mastered? And the ability to continue playing the game post completion (perhaps have it so Luso had the choice of when to return home so players could decide to remain and finish the quests)

How then would you choose to improve the FFTA2 game if Square were ever working on an FFTA3?

[Elpizo]

My biggest problem with FFTA2 wasn't anything gameplay related. I just want an interesting story the next time around. Compared to FFTA, A2 really dropped the ball on the plot. I can't even tell what the story was about (a first for any FF game I played), and I sure as heck don't know what the villain's goal was. Or what was up with the final boss. Just so many "Why?"s and "What?"s in this game's 'story', it really wasn't funny. I expected a lot better from a TA sequel.

[Ralvyn]

I just wished the main plot could've been more deeper.
Deeper than the Rift. lol

[Wolf Kanno]

My biggest problem with FFTA2 wasn't anything gameplay related. I just want an interesting story the next time around. Compared to FFTA, A2 really dropped the ball on the plot. I can't even tell what the story was about (a first for any FF game I played), and I sure as heck don't know what the villain's goal was. Or what was up with the final boss. Just so many "Why?"s and "What?"s in this game's 'story', it really wasn't funny. I expected a lot better from a TA sequel.

Pretty much this. I'm still not wild about the ability system but I accept that Ta and Tactics are too different beasts with too very different fanbases so I'll just accept TA's system and go with the more legitimate problem of the story being pretty much everywhere. When side plots are more interesting and compelling than the main plot, you know you are in trouble, isn't that right Fallout 3?

[Rodney]

I can't even tell what the story was about (a first for any FF game I played), and I sure as heck don't know what the villain's goal was. Or what was up with the final boss.

I don't play the Tactics or Tactics Advance games, but have to ask, anyway. Who was the villain in this one?

[Hollycat]

I can't even tell what the story was about (a first for any FF game I played), and I sure as heck don't know what the villain's goal was. Or what was up with the final boss.

I don't play the Tactics or Tactics Advance games, but have to ask, anyway. Who was the villain in this one?

I played through the whole thing, and I'm still in the dark there.

[Elpizo]

As far as TA2 goes, I think the villain was supposed to be Ilua, but I have no idea who she was, what she was trying to do or why. She was just... there. For some reason.

[Skyblade]

Yeah, Illua is supposed to be the villain, but the depth of the main story really sucks.

They needed to flesh out Illua and Khamja quite a bit. Every time I play through it, I get the feeling that they had a lot more planned, but after they'd written up to a point, someone came in and told them "hey, we're only going to have 20 main story missions, so you guys are almost done, right?", and they did their best to just cram everything in at the last minute.

You could easily add another 10 or 15 quests to actually flesh out what the heck was going on with the story, who Illua was, etcetera.

Also, in my opinion, you could probably dump the first 7 or 8 missions which are just tutorials to new gameplay features while Luso messes around. Compress that stuff to not take up so much time, and spend way more time actually developing the story.


Oh well, at least this game's sidequests rock.

[Rodney]

Did I just read that right? It's a she this time instead of the usual he? After the Cloud of Darkness, Ultimecia, and Lady Lilith, I didn't think there'd ever be another female villain in an FF game.

[Skyblade]

It is indeed a she. And she gets about as much depth as Ultimecia.

[Rodney]

I see. Ooh, and I realize I forgot that there was one other female villain. Edited to add her above.

[Roogle]

I just wished the main plot could've been more deeper.
Deeper than the Rift. lol

My thoughts exactly. The fact that both of the Final fantasy Tactics Advance titles lack a deep, serious storyline really put me off of both games especially considering that their predecessor had a dark political story as one of its best attributes.

I am not fond of playing as children in games, so the main characters of Final Fantasy Advance and Final Fantasy A2 were not appealing to me at all. Marshe, at least, bared a passing resemblance to Ramza.

[Skyblade]

I just wished the main plot could've been more deeper.
Deeper than the Rift. lol

My thoughts exactly. The fact that both of the Final fantasy Tactics Advance titles lack a deep, serious storyline really put me off of both games especially considering that their predecessor had a dark political story as one of its best attributes.

I am not fond of playing as children in games, so the main characters of Final Fantasy Advance and Final Fantasy A2 were not appealing to me at all. Marshe, at least, bared a passing resemblance to Ramza.

Hey hey hey, FFTA had a very deep plot.

[Roogle]

Did it? I think it had elements of one facing and successfully confronting escapism, but I feel like it was presented in a bit of a childish way. I do give it credit for having a deep plot element like that, at least.

[Skyblade]

Escapism may have been the center of the story, but I felt it had a lot of other really deep issues that it explored well. While it may have been more lighthearted than, say, the original FFT, it still had a lot of depth to it.

While the political issues were decidely toned down, what we had were awesome. The purge of Muscadet, for example, I believe was a brilliant look at a totalitarian police state. We see the arguments of loyalty to the crown and security of the realm crashing against the loyalty and care of the people. Cid fulfills his role perfectly as a good man doing horrible things.

There are a lot of little things like that which I feel show a lot of depth, even if they are simplified or "childish". Most of the best children's stories have a lot of depth to them, even if their messages are simple and easy to follow. In some ways, that makes them resonate all the stronger, and is why I still enjoy many of my old favorites to this day. The Hobbit may be a kid's story, but it has a lot of depth. I believe FFTA does as well (though, obviously, it's not up there with Tolkien).