A Gaming Diary
Archive for July, 2008
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 13th
I’ve played this an awful lot today for a game I’ve given up on in disgust…
First auctions. First failed normal mission. Clan Lando got several new titles. First multi-person dispatch quest. And stuff.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 12th
My wife persuaded me to give this another go. I’m still slightly wary of it and think that the game would be much improved by the removal of the laws system, but I’ve been cautiously enjoying it again. I did the clan trial I’d been stuck on before without any hint of trouble today, too.
Maybe I’ll play until I get myself an Assassin, at least…
Jeanne D’Arc (PSP)
Jul 12th
Decided to give this a go last night, as I’m in SRPG mode. I’d forgotten how nice it looked and how nice the interface is. I would have played this today, too, if something hadn’t got in the way.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)
Jul 11th
Lunchtime.
10 spent battling. 5 minutes spent watching cut scenes. 20 minutes spent looking through menus wondering which abilities to learn and whether or not to change jobs. (Reynfred’s now a knight. I can’t be bothered to keep him a squire long enough to learn Focus right now.) I want an archer, but the shop won’t sell me a bow.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)
Jul 11th
So, I wanted some Final Fantasy Tactics, but I’m still deeply annoyed with the DS version. Where to turn? Why, to my unplayed copy of the PSP version of course! (With free art card! Woo!)
I spent a long time reading/watching the first set of tutorials, until I thought my brain might explode. Then I sat through some cutscenes that, if they didn’t use the word “verily”, sounded like they should have.
A quick fight where I only got to control my character while allies and enemies alike whirled around me, then it was on to the meat of the game.
First up, you can rotate and tilt the screen in this version. Hoorah! Unfortunately, that seems to mean the levels have been designed around it, making it very hard to see exactly what you’re doing when your, for example, moving behind a building. It’s not so much a case of being able to move the camera as having to move the camera every five seconds.
There’s also the fact that enemies and allies look the same. This can be a problem in the DS version, but you normally fight monsters so there’s none of that confusion. All the battles I’ve done so far have been human vs. human.
I’m also have a huge problem keeping track of which of my units is which. They share about three different portraits and have names I’ve not yet been able to memorise, so it’s getting confusing. Once they stop being squires and chemists hopefully it’ll be easier to tell them apart.
Complaints aside, though, I think I like it. With everyone in the party being human, they can all do the same jobs as each other, so there’s no racial limit to the job customisation, as there is the DS version. If I persevere I think I may fall in love, assuming the difficulty level isn’t too silly.
And best of all – no laws to worry about. Hooray!
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 9th
Oh, I’ve just had it with this game.
I was doing a “No Ranged Attacks” clan trial for about the fourth time, because it’s against monsters that charm you and then use ranged attacks, which counts as you breaking the law.
But not this time.
This time, though, I failed because – get this – my normal attack randomly knocked back my target. How does that count? HOW. DOES. THAT. COUNT?
Anyway, this is the single stupidest, most unfair game in the history of gaming and I’ve had it.
Kill it. Kill it with fire.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 9th
WAIT!
I AM OFFICIALLY AN IDIOT!
I read the law description again, in the Clan Info, for the law about not using MP.
It was a law against not using MP. So all abilities that didn’t use MP were banned. Hence using Moogle Lance, which doesn’t use MP, broke the law.
So the games not broken, my eyes and brain are.
D’oh.
Forget I said anything.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 9th
No, okay, this laws stuff is really, really annoying me now. Last three fights.
A clan trial, not allowed to target enemies two or more spaces away. Target an enemy diagonally next to me. Law broken.
A clan trial, not allowed to perform actions that use MP. I use Moogle Lance, which, er, doesn’t use any MP and am told I’ve broken the law. What? Huh?
A straight fight, not allowed to do more than fifty points damage in a single hit. I use a normal attack, get some amazing critical hit that does twice normal damage and – oh no! – I’ve broken the law.
I’m sorry. It’s just broken. Especially the second one.
I don’t mind the laws being there and making you change your tactics, but when they’re unclear, down to luck or just plain broken it’s really, really rubbish.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 9th
A few more hours last night and I decide I like this. I understand the job system well enough now to deal with the interface and I’m just living with the fact that sometimes I’ll break the law through no fault of my own.
A couple of notable things happened last night.
The first was that I got a new party member, a thief. I’m not going to change her job, despite the fact that she’s mastered all her current thief abilities, because I want to find one more thief ability for her and then turn her into a ninja. I would give her some other abilities while I waited for a piece of equipment with a thief ability on it to appear, but it’s warning me that if she changes jobs from thief she won’t be able to go back until she has the correct prerequisites to do so. Not knowing what those are, I think it’s easier just to keep her as a thief for now.
The other thing was that I did my first clan trial, which gives me an extra choice of bonus at the start of a battle and gives my clan a new title. I had to defeat an enemy, which turned out to be easy. My fencer got the first action of the game and ran up to the enemy and stared it down until it ran away. Fair enough. Clan Lando now have the title of Scouts, which is nice.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 8th
I’m not sure I like this. I did play it for about three hours last night, which would suggest that I do like it, but it annoyed it me a fair bit.
I don’t think I like the jobs and abilities system. Rather someone having a class, you learn skills from bits of equipment, but only if you’ve currently got the correct job set. So everyone changes jobs every couple of fights. My main character was a soldier, but is now an archer. My black mage became a white mage, then a beastmaster. My thief was an animist, but is now a moogle knight. That’s confusing enough on its own, trying to remember during a fight who’s meant to be doing what. But it’s made more confusing by the menus. It’s far too easy to end up forgetting to put abilities and equipment back after a job change – and it’s a pain when you do remember. Especially when you have to fiddle about in the Unit Info menu, then pop off to the shop for a bit, then go back and fiddle some more. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out I was spending more time on micromanagement than on fighting. I long for a step-by-step series of screens that would lead me through the process more easily.
Also, the law system is completely unfair. It’s one thing not to be able to perform certain actions – but when your characters are taken over by the enemy then you still get penalised if they use the forbidden actions. So my archer last night was charmed by some horrible monster and attacked a friendly unit, using his bow. Which was forbidden. Law broken. Gah!
So, yeah, I don’t like those bits. But there’s still something compulsive about it. I need even more time with it to decide on a final verdict.
