Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

'Tis me again, another boring review, yes, I know... but EB had a sale on and I wanted a new game. So I bought this one, as far as the definition of new can be stretched.

This one bears a marked resemblance to Revenant Wings - to the point where Vaan and Penelo actually make an appearance! I've only played the GBA tactics version and really, this isn't different at all. Sure, the option is open to use the touch screen, but this really doesn't make the full use of it the way that FFXII:RW did.

It really is your basic, turn-based strategy game; you have a clan full of variously clad party member options and each "job" (because that's what we call classes these days) has -mostly- unique qualities and moves. Black Mages use the traditional fire, blizzard and thunder combination, White Mages do the usual healing jobs; then there's your melee classes/jobs like Gladiator, Fighter, Soldier, Berserker, White Monk, etc. I could go on, but you get the picture.

Most quests you can dispatch a party to (cheat's way of getting through the MASSIVE amount of jobs on offer quickly). But as well as the main storyline quests, there will be a few that you can't dispatch. Usually, there will be a reason for this - a new job on offer (take Veis, Assasin, for example, or the long-running feud between the Bangaa Brotherhood and the Nu Mou Nobles) or a particular item that is both functional and useful. Either way, you'll have to lead the charge yourself on these occasions.

In any one of these bouts, the rules are usually the same: follow the laws the judges hand down, or you'll be refused re-entry into battle if one of your party members falls to a foe. That means no use of Phoenix Down or Raise on anything that currently calls your clan host. You can, however, still use these moves/items on the undead. Go figure. If it were up to me, I would rather have had the law-breaker unable to re-enter battle, or disabled. Affecting the WHOLE clan is a bit much.

All in all, it's a very well structured game, the bones of which carried over in Revenant Wings. It's not boring or dragging, but the combat can be a bit samey, which is the real drawback in this case. Still, if you are anything like the perfectionist I am, you'll be searching all over to find all the job classes.

Verdict: A great time-waster if you have a few weeks free.