Yavin

I was wondering if it was worthwhile to get Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (for the GBA), if I already own Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSP.

Do the sprite-based graphics of this GBA title still hold up well (compared to today's similarly-stylized DS titles, that is)?

And is this game in any way rare, hard-to-find, or sought-after nowadays? It's on clearance for about $14 ... not sure if that's a good deal or not. I have tons of DS games but 0 GBA games.

Noonan

It's a completely different game from the PSP/PS1 game. It has its own story and characters. I know I'm the minority but I liked the GBA FFT better than the original. It had me hooked when it first came out and my final save was at around 80 hours. The story is fairly bland but the gameplay is excellent. If you like strategy games, definitely buy it.

Yavin

Ok, I went ahead and picked it up. The store also had FF I/II: Dawn of Souls (also for GBA) for $6.99, so I got that as well for the heck of it.

rabbit77

I loved playing Dawn of Souls. Until I got stuck.

Yavin

I looked at the YouTube videos for Dawn of Souls and the graphics have aged pretty badly. It's not as stylized as the sprites in FF: Tactics (I know, I'm stating the obvious), which still looks pretty good to me. Is it really as bad as it looks, or does the gameplay and everything else about the game more than make up for its visual shortcomings?

rabbit77

I don't think I've ever played the GBA for the graphics. It was less than a year ago when I played Dawn of Souls and I didn't notice anything poor about the graphics. IMO the story and gameplay stand well in front of the visuals.

Then again, My favorite era of RPG's go back to the days of Lunar and Shining in the Darkness on the Genesis so I never really notice graphics when I play RPG's.

Yavin

That's a good point. I guess I shouldn't complain at only $3.50 per game for FFI and FFII anyway.

darkside

I will join you in that minority. I loved FFTA and after replaying the brutal original on PSP I definitely prefer the easier gameplay of Tactics Advance. The story is not as good as the original Tactics, but the turned based combat is much better and more inline with the Fire Emblem and Shining Force games. I also pushed my gameplay around the 70-80 hour mark and loved how much there was to do after finishing the game. Only Jeane D'arc came close to matching this post game fun.

Can't wait for the DS sequel.

Chris_D

I didn't like FFTA much at all, but loved PS1 FFT. So, buyer beware.

Spicollidriver1

I loved this game ,I paid more then that for it and never looked back.

Yavin

I think I'll return FF I & II: Dawn of Souls ... the SNES graphics are really distracting for me. FF Tactics Advance, on the other hand, I'll definitely keep. The graphical style still looks amazing and it's a nice companion piece to the PSP version. Thanks for all the input, everyone.

darkside

FF I&II are more like NES graphics even in the GBA versions. Of the two games I is decent, but honestly FF II is the low point of the series and can be skipped completely.

wildcatlh

Agreed.... actually re-played FFTA in November and December while we were visiting family for the holidays... put about 70 hours into getting all 300 missions.

Is the DS sequel confirmed for a US release? All I've seen is "TBA 2008" but I haven't seen any official confirmation that it's coming here. I'd assume it will though.