Last Time:
I left off Part 1 having saved Argath and having met some of Ramzas family. I also briefly examined some of the basics of Final Fantasy Tactics character progression, including the job system. If you want to read the first part, you can find it here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=226789728&postcount=244
And now
Before I get started, I should point out that I am playing the War of the Lions version of Final Fantasy. This is the version that is playable on PSP/Vita, as well as iOS/Android. There are rumors that it will be making its way to Steam eventually (which would make sense given the other FF phone ports on there). If you have any of the above systems, along with either a Sony Handheld or a PS3, you have a choice of whether to play the WotL remake, or the original FF Tactics (which is up on PSN for $9.99).
Here are some differences between versions:
- Final Fantasy Tactics was released in an era when Japanese developers thought that American gamers were too dumb to beat their sophisticated RPGs and strategy titles (see Fire Emblem). As such, the original PS1 version of Final Fantasy Tactics was made easier by lowering the JP costs of most abilities and the job level pre-requisites for advanced jobs. For instance, to become a ninja, a unit first needs to reach level 3 archer, level 4 thief, and level 2 geomancer (all of which have their own pre-requisites). In the WotL version, you need to be a level 4 archer, and a level 5 thief instead. While one extra level doesnt sound like much, you only need 400 JP total to hit level 3 in a job, vs 700 JP total for level 4. Most of the requirements to unlock the thief and geomancer classes are also bumped up a level. Unless you want to wait until late game to unlock the cooler jobs, you will probably resort to some extra JP/job grinding (or just tough it out through more difficult battles) in the WotL version.
- FFT: WotL features some really cool cutscenes in a style similar to that of Valkyria Chronicles. These cutscenes are also voice acted.
- The translation of the original Final Fantasy Tactics is infamously terrible. Names are butchered, the dialogue often makes little sense, and therefore the story isnt as clear as it should be. WotL received an excellent translation in comparison. All of the 2006/2007 Ivalice games received top notch localizations TBH. Its sad that FF12 had better voice acting than FF13 did. Some people still like some of the quotes produced by the original FFT script though.
- WotL has ad hoc multiplayer. Probably irrelevant for most players.
- WotL fixes most of the glitches and exploits present in the original game.
- WotL has two exclusive classes (Onion Knight, and Dark Knight), has two optional characters from other Ivalice games (the protag from Tactics A2, and Balthier from FF12) that you can get via side quests, and expands your team roster from 16 to 24 (super useful).
- WotL added slowdown after every spell cast. If it wasnt for this, the remake/enhanced port would be a no-brainer choice. If you are playing on a CFW PSP or on an emulator, there are patches to remove the slowdown. I dont know if it is still present on Android/iOS.
And with that, lets head back to the game.
Once you finish the first two battles, you will be given some control over the world map. Blue dots are cleared towns or castles, and are free of random battles. Green dots are places you have already been, but can spawn random battles. Orange dots denote the next story map(s).
Final Fantasy Tactics includes a billion places, people, and events. The battle system is also pretty complex, with factors like height and terrain to consider, along with all the typical battle concerns. If you find yourself a bit lost, or if you need a refresher after a long break, you can access an extensive tutorial database and a chronicle from the world map menu.
I personally like the character biographies listed in the chronicle.
You get one for pretty much everyone mentioned by name in the story. The biographies will list the age of the character, and if they die, it will list their date of death. Its fun in a nerdy way to look back through the biographies as the game progresses. The events menu can be used as a refresher of the games story to date.
Before I go back to playing the game, lets briefly look at the town/Castle menus:
Each town or castle has a tavern, outfitter, and warriors guild. The warriors guild can be used to hire generic male or female squire units (starting at level 1 I believe). You can name each of these units, as you did Ramza. If you want to fight with a team of your friends, or favourite FF characters, you could use the warriors guild.
The Tavern keeper will tell you rumors, which provide back history on NPC characters and events (that will add to your chronicle). You can also start ad-hock battles under the melee tab, or accept side missions under the Rendevous tab. If you accept a side mission, up to 3 of your units will be tied up for a number of in-game days. During this time you cannot use said units for story or random battles (because of this, Ramza and story characters cant go on missions). Completing missions will earn the participating units JP, gil, and sometimes rare artifacts (that mostly serve no purpose). It also unlocks some of the side quests later in the game.
The Outfitter is where you will buy new equipment and consumables. In addition to the buy/sell options, you can use the fitting room.
This will allow you to see how various pieces of equipment affect a particular units stats and is super useful.
That wraps up my brief explanation of the world map and town features. On to battles! But before I tackle the Siedge Weald, lets grind a few random battles!
A little grinding early on will pay dividents going forward!
Grinding will lower the difficulty of the game, so if you are one of those gamers who wants a real challenge, you might want to skip or minimize the grinding. Thats not to say that there arent difficult maps your first time through, even with some minor grinding. Ive beat this game several times, and would like to make way through it pretty quickly, so Im going to grind out a few of the useful squire skills that I outlined in part 1 of this play through. Mainly focus for everyone, as well as JP Boost for my squires while my black mage and cleric passively earn squire JP.
The only random battle location I have unlocked is Mandalia Plains, so thats where I will be battling. Triggering a random battle on this map will have you face off against a team of monsters. At the beginning of the game, you will likely only have 3 foes, but more are added as your level increases. Unlike story battles, enemy level in random battles will scale with Ramza. Technically, you could grind your way to level 99 before you ever play the third story map. However, you will be stuck with junk gear against super monsters. Not really recommended
As I mentioned last time, black mages are ranged, AoE casters that specialize in elemental magic (just like the mainline FF games).
They are awesome against monsters (who typically have one elemental weakness)
When fighting in Final Fantasy Tactics, you need to consider the direction in which you attack an enemy.
As you can see above, attacking head on has a lower chance of success than attacking from behind (or from the sides). This is even more true later in the game when some enemy classes carry shields.
Alright. After 4-5 short battles, my characters are all focused equipped. Its time to return to the main story!
Battle 3: The Siedge Weald (Formerly the charmingly dopey Sweegy Woods)
As Argath helpfully points out, this map is filled with monsters. You get a mixture of goblins, a panther, and bombs. None are particularly difficult to beat, and this map is generally a cakewalk.
Ramza has a large enough movement radius to reach the closest enemy, but its sometimes best to hold back for a turn and use focus. This will boost your base attack by +1, adding a few points of damage to every subsequent attack this map.
Ice Magic is really handy if you want to take out goblins
Enjoy death you two! (yes, one still has a couple hp left. shhh)
Five minutes later and our third battle has concluded. Im not going to waste any time moving onto the next one!
Battle 4: The slums of Dorter City
A knight with a different color cape! I sense a named character!
Who could this badass be?!?
Delita informs our merry crew, but I will skip over that for now. Dorter City is the first map where the difficulty starts to pick up a bit.
There are no longer any basic Squires or Chemists among the enemy. Instead we face 2 black mages, 3 archers, and a knight (probably a hint that I should check out the more advance classes soon!). What can make this map difficult (especially for new players) is the fact that all but one of these enemies is ranged. The archer class is one of the weaker classes in the game from a PC perspective, but enemy archers can be real pain in the asses.
See that guy way up on the top of the slum roof? Archers who maintain a high elevation will be able to target units at lower elevations from further distances. This bastard can effectively cover about a third of the map from his sniper nest. Taking out him and the black mages is going to be my priority
.
. But just because I generally know what to do, I shouldnt get sloppy and rush in. You might notice from the shot above that Ramza was knocked out. My loyal cleric tried to rush to his aid, but her ass got knocked out too. The timers on their head tell you how many turns they have left before they die. A one means that the unit still has one turn left. A zero means they will die on their next turn. If you dont revive a unit within 3 turns, they die. If Ramza dies, its game over. If another unit dies, they are gone forever (which probably also means resetting). Unfortunately, my two units able to use a phoenix down were Ramza and my cleric. Go figure!
Luckily, I was down to just one enemy at that point, and my black mage Dalmas had my back. Everyone pulls through this time! You might notice a treasure chest on the screen above. When an enemys counter finishes, they die and turn into either a treasure chest or a crystal. The treasure chests give you an item. The crystal either replenishes your HP/MP, or allows you to learn one of your enemys skills. Unfortunately, Ramza was close to death and I couldnt retrieve this particular chest. Next time!
After the battle, Ramza, Delita, and Argath interrogate the poor schlub featured in the opening cinematic to this battle.
Argath works out his aggression on mister nameless knight (because Argath is a dick).
He also throws in some classist insults for good measure. Being a good boy, Ramza tries to get him to tone it down (to limited success). Eventually our common-born punching bag explains why Mr White cape was so angry at the beginning, and we are pointed towards some ruins in the desert.
But youll have to wait until part 3 for that!
Originally I was going to give an overview/my general opinion of the first 6 jobs in the game, but its already past midnight, and this entry is long enough. I will start of part 3 with some details on the Squire (covered a little in part 1), Cleric, Knight, Archer, Black Mage, and White Mage. The latter four branch into all of the more advanced jobs in the game.
I will also cover a few more story maps. I think I have 5 until the end of part 1. I havent decided if I will do these in one or two parts yet (probably 2, since I still have a few of the game basics to comment on).
Until next time!
--- END OF PART 2 ---
