blog好き

Apr 21 2004

Categories: l33t

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I’ve been having problems getting into Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The original is one of my favorite games of all time, but this sequel just isn’t cutting it. Maybe it’s because it’s a bit too similar to the original. But I’m beginning to think it’s because of Disgaea. Even though FFTA has a more robust character customization system than Disgaea, I felt that FFTA‘s system worked against it. For example, if a character was a magic user for a long time, it becomes extremely sub-optimal to make that character anything else but a magic user.

Disgaea‘s system seems simple to begin with, but it’s really extremely deep with transmigration and the pupil/mentor system. My first time through the game, I didn’t bother with either. But after using both, I feel that are both wonderful innovations to the genre. Transmigration lets you build stronger and stronger characters with ever increasing stats. The mentor system is a bit backwards, but it allows for strategic character development. For example, have Laharl mentor a cleric, and he can pick up omega heal. Then he can also mentor a ninja, and he’ll receive a speed boost through extra gain. Beyond character growth, items can grow too by entering them via item world. Items can be customized depending on what you do in the item… i.e. through specialists tamed, levels skipped vs. finished, generals killed, etc.

Then there’s the battle system. FFTA is pretty much the same as the original. Not much has changed, which would be fine for the most part… but it’s the “been there done that” feeling. Disgaea has some fresh battle mechanics: combos, bonus gauge, geopanels, and lifting. Combos reward the player for smart planning. Geopanels makes the map more than just terrain differences. Lifting and exploding prinnies are fun for the whole family.

Both games incorporate a branch of government. FFTA goes with the judicial branch where Disgaea features the legislative branch. Laws in FFTA weren’t as prohibiting as I would have liked, and I disliked how the judges would have turns that slowed down the game. While it is a nice innovation, it paled to Disgaea‘s Dark Congress. The Dark Congress actually had an impact on the story– it can open up areas and even cause one of the bad endings. Working the Dark Congress itself requires strategy.

Normally, Square does a good job with stories. The original Tactics‘s story was kind of difficult to follow. FFTA is a more direct story, but it all pales to the humor, wit, and voice acting of Disgaea. Disgaea features probably some of the best lines I’ve seen in a videogame since Bridget’s storyline in Guilty Gear X2. Laharl’s allergies to breasts (Taro-sama syndrome?). Flonne’s ability to see love everywhere. Gordon’s self-delusion. It’s all classic. My favorite parts of the story are Etna’s next episode previews. So irrelevent, yet so hiliarous. Especially when she goes on her killing sprees. And then there’s multiple storypaths depending on your actions which leads to a few endings… which leads to replayability.

While FFTA has a Pokemon-ish mini-game to catch them all, Disgaea has many, many bonus worlds that are significantly harder than the main storypath. Beyond that, there’s an infinite number of dungeons through item world. Disgaea actually provides a good reason to transmigrate and infinitely tweak weapons and armor– defeat that damn Uber Prinny.

While FFTA is a good game, Disgaea just lifted the bar for all tactical RPGs. It was like how Final Fantasy 7 revolutionized console RPGs and Virtual Fighter for 3D fighters. I can only hope that Phantom Brave lives up to being a good successor to Disgaea.