If you were to ask me what some of my all time favorite video-games are, Final Fantasy Tactics almost always ranks in the top 3. It is the game that over my life I have spent the most amount of time playing, beating it 8 times and putting an insane amount of hours in every time I have played through it. I love the job system, the story (especially the PSP reissue) and I just can't get enough of it. It's one of those games that I'll never get rid of or tired of. So when I heard that FFT mastermind Yasumi Matsuno was behind a sweet new RPG coming out on the 3DS, made in conjunction with Level-5 and their Guild01 series, I was extremely excited.
This game does not disappoint.
Matsuno has made this as a tribute as it were, to tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons and the like and it shows. The characters and monsters are all figures with broad bases, no animations involved, and when a monster is slain it tips over revealing a little Level-5 marking on the base; it's very clever. The dungeons that you go through are very detailed and as you progress through the game the narrator, essentially a dungeon master, reveals details about the environments, the characters, and more backstory is revealed via the narrator or through dialogue between Giaque and his crew of adventurers. The characters are charming, the world is especially detailed, and the more you play the more you uncover of the plot of political maneuverings and dastardly dealings that one should expect if you are a fan of Matsuno's work. It should also be noted that the soundtrack is phenomenal and is probably the best music I have heard on the 3DS thus far.
While there is great depth in the story there is a bit of a falter by way of the combat in the game. You will get into plenty of battles and while there are some techniques of note that stand out, for the most part it is quite a bit of a grind. This is especially because you never actually gain a level, not in the least. Your characters stay at a base set of stats and as you acquire more items and weapons you can meld these together to make more powerful swords, bows, armor, helmets and such. An interesting thing you can do is if you get a magic scroll you can use them in battle if needed, or you can meld those to a characters equipment to give them that skill. There is also a lot of dice rolling involved, to see if you can successfully attack large monsters, sneak past others, charm a monster, etc. This is actually pretty fun and it's fun to use the touch screen to "toss" the virtual dice. As well, there is a chain system kind of similar to that in Vagrant Story, where each ability or attack is tied to a different element and if you continually use different ones and create a chain, you will get bonus dice to add as modifiers to attacks and spells and such. All in all it is a pretty interesting system, but it still feels a bit lacking. Perhaps this comes from decades playing RPGs and the basic need to level up, or the lack of animations in the battling or the grind of fighting rooms of goblins over and over again. Whatever the case, it still feels a bit off compared to the rest of the game but hasn't kept me from sinking tons of time into the game.
Overall this is a fantastic game, and if you have a 3DS and love RPGs this is a fine way to spend 8 dollars. That's right, 8 dollars and you get a phenomenal experience that is far better than the bulk of what I have played lately. Bottom line is get this game, you won't be disappointed.
Score A-
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