Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Did You Know?

• A radio drama titled Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Radio Edition aired between January 4 and March 26, 2003, with Yuka Imai as Marche, Asami Sanada as Mute, and Yumi Kakazu as Ritz.
• The song 'White Flower' by Japanese band Zone was licensed for commercials and the radio drama.
• Tactics Advance was reissued by Square Enix as part of its Ultimate Hits budget range on March 9, 2006.

Synopsis

The game takes place in two locations: St. Ivalice, a modern countryside town, and a fantasy realm called Ivalice reached through a magical book called the Gran Grimoire. The book transforms the town and its people based on the dreams of its readers. The dream Ivalice includes races such as Moogles, Viera, and Nu Mou. The world is said to be based on a game played by one of the characters.

The main characters are four children from St. Ivalice with personal issues. Marche Radiuju recently arrived after his parents' divorce and often has his needs neglected over his ill brother Doned. Mewt Randell is a bullied introvert whose mother died and whose father Cid turned to drink. Ritz Malheur is an outspoken but self-conscious classmate.

In Ivalice, Mewt becomes a prince ruling with his living mother, and Cid becomes a respected Judge. Marche's first ally is Montblanc, a Moogle clan leader. After encountering school bullies, Marche brings Mewt and Ritz to his house to play with Doned. Mewt has found the Gran Grimoire, which transforms St. Ivalice into the fantasy realm.

Marche wakes to find the town transformed and his friends living more satisfying lives: Mewt is a respected prince with his father as Judgemaster and his mother alive, Ritz's white hair has become red, and Doned is healthy. Marche sees that Mewt's rule and clan wars are causing suffering, so he begins searching for a way home with Montblanc's help. His quest brings him into conflict with his friends, who are attached to the dream world. His attempts to reach Mewt are blocked by Cid and the warrior Llednar Twem, who is the manifestation of Mewt's negative emotions.

Development

After Final Fantasy Tactics, Yasumi Matsuno knew fans wanted more, but other projects like Vagrant Story and Square's PlayOnline service kept him from making a direct sequel. He also wanted the new game to feel distinct, not just a copy, and had sketched out an idea before Vagrant Story. Early on, the project was eyed for the PlayStation 2. Around this time, Square was patching things up with Nintendo after the fallout from Final Fantasy VII moving to PlayStation, which Matsuno called a management issue since many staff wanted to work on Nintendo hardware.

Meanwhile, staff from Quest Corporation, the Ogre Battle developer, joined Square. Matsuno and Yuichi Murasawa, who directed Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, wanted to collaborate. The game got the green light for the Game Boy Advance thanks to public demand, the Nintendo reconciliation, and the Quest team's arrival. Production kicked off in early 2002 at Square's Product Development Division 4, led by Matsuno with a mix of Quest veterans and his own former team.

Matsuno served as producer, Murasawa as director, Satomi Hongo as lead designer, and Shinichi Fujisawa as lead programmer. Matsuno stepped back after the initial planning, leaving the rest to Murasawa's crew. The whole process, including debugging, took nine months—a tight schedule Matsuno felt left some areas rough. They called it Tactics Advance instead of Tactics 2 to set it apart. The work overlapped with Matsuno's Final Fantasy XII, and once done, the Tactics Advance team joined that project.

Reception

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance moved over 224,000 units in Japan during its debut week, landing at number two on the sales charts. By November 2003, global shipments had surpassed 1.5 million copies, with 460,000 in Japan, 760,000 in North America, and 330,000 in Europe. The title was noted for its strong performance outside Japan. In the United States alone, it had sold 660,000 copies and generated $22 million by August 2006, ranking as the 40th best-selling portable console game in the country between January 2000 and that date.

Critics responded favorably, with aggregate scores above 88% on GameRankings from 66 reviews and an 87 out of 100 on Metacritic. The game won Handheld Game of the Year at the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in 2004 and was nominated for Strategy Game of the Year at the 2003 NAVGTR Awards. Famitsu highlighted the gameplay for balancing depth with accessibility for newcomers. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer saw the changes from the original Tactics as improvements and predicted the game would be remembered among the best handheld titles.

Andy McNamara of Game Informer called the gameplay addictive and tough to master. Greg Kasavin of GameSpot appreciated the traditional yet engaging mechanics and the Law system’s impact on battles. Edge praised the combat and Law mechanic but found early battles too slow and easy. Computer and Video Games liked the mission variety but said it was not friendly to casual players.

Robert Bogdanowicz of RPGFan considered the gameplay the strongest element, though he found the Law system and hit percentages frustrating. Craig Harris of IGN valued the tactical depth but noted the difficulty seemed high for the story’s target audience. Electronic Gaming Monthly’s reviewers all enjoyed the added elements and overall design. Jonathan Metts of Nintendo World Report felt the gameplay was solid and easy for newcomers but oversimplified in spots, and he criticized the job system. Confusing or unintuitive menu design was a common complaint.