Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (Lets just call this official)

[Hero]

He has the attitude of Ramza, sorta. But I haven't really gotten too much into the story.

Do you guys like the way FFTA has 'missions' as opposed to FFT's random and story-driven battles?

[Kidnemo]

I don't mind the missions as a gameplay element.

What I don't like is that there are so few that prompt the story to move foward.

The story in FFT was fairly busted due to the translation, but it moved at a much faster pace than the story in FFTA.

[Captain Vegetable]

Woah! These races are going to appear on the PS2?! Where's that press release?

[epmode]

ah i forgot to clarify. i don't know if it was a press release, but it was definately in the japanese magazines. i think it might have been an interview. i'd check rpgfan, but i'm going out now.

edit: i can't find any more specific information than this:

Square recently revealed the first solid details about Final Fantasy XII through the Japanese publication Dorimaga. In an interview with the magazine, Yasumi Matsuno, the game's producer, stated that some of the gameplay elements in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Game Boy Advance would be also used in Final Fantasy XII for the PlayStation 2. Though he refused to comment on official information regarding this revelation, he encouraged gamers to play both games in order to get the full story.
Some of the game's primary developers were also revealed in the magazine article. Jun Akiyama, known for his work in Final Fantasy VII, will be the production supervisor; Akihiko Yoshida, character designer for Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, will take the role of character designer and 3D map designer; and Hideo Minaba, who worked on Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy IX, will be serving as art director.

http://rpgamer.com/news/Q4-2002/122702a.html

i might be imagining the whole races thing, but i'm not sure. sorry if i got anyone's hopes up.

[rama]

that third totema boss is a bitch. he wiped the floor with my crew. guess i gotta raise levels and such.

question: does the game make the bosses lvls around or higher than whatever lvl you are at the time you fight them? i ran into one clan that was all lvl 5 and lower and my highest character was on lvl 11. seems funny to me.

[frostwolf ex]

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The rabbit people are really cool looking, for being rabbit people and all. The Bangaa are useful, but I'm still trying to find my niche with them......I use the Warrior guy a lot, because his HP is really high.
He takes damage like a bitch, but he's a good all around character, he can fight, he can heal, its all good.

The class of the big fluffy care bear things I don't like too much, but at least I know what race to stick my white mage abilities with. I haven't gotten too many different classes with the 2 i have because they have really low HP, so I've got to get in there and train em. I usually send them away on dispatch, it gives them something to do.

Satsu, for the bangah, have them be monks and learn air render,its a relatively short ranged missle attack, but it hits very hard, and armor/hp hounds then. You also should equip them while they are still monks with brigantine(armor) It confers the counter ability,and one of the few things nicer than having your bangaa shred one guy in a turn, is letting him take a hit and return a second shredding on the opponents turn.

The rabbt women are nice, i actually like having them as healers, because many healing spells carry over to the red mage, so you get a jump on 2 classes for the price of one. plus, when you make them assasins or summoners, you still have a fairly full secondary skill set to make them backup healers.

Finally, for the big fluffies. i.e. the nu mou, they do well with all casting, i have a sage/white mage,and a black mage who decimate the opposition with offensive casting. I really dont like beastmasters / morphers, but they may have some use,maybe someone else here has had better luck with them.

[burgundy]

Yeah, the tarutaru look ok, but the nu mou as the dominant casters walk all over the tarus. they have a cool dark crystal vibe. i almost hope something hits a big system with those races, because the art is so much cooler than the gba can show in this format. i want to see fully drawn numous and bangaahs( and lest i be misunderstood, the moogles and viera look cool too, particularly the viera red mage.)

I think the nu mou look like Eeyore.

Im only on 13 hrs right now, but i heve been on a morrowind bender lately. Its funny, a fighter i didnt really care for in my team became a ninja, and now im loving him, his move radius is big, and his jitsus do status damage and normal damage,and his hand to hand kicks butt, the paladin however, he is just dissapointing me. Paladins are supposed to kick ass and heal themselves,so far his ass kicking is underwhelming.

Paladins have shitty W-Atk growth, but mine was trained as a Fighter and Hunter so his is higher. Plus, Paladins have exclusive access to Excalibur which is one of the best weapons you don't have to go through a great deal of trouble for, and teaches Holy Sword, a nasty 1-panel attack. Paladin + Excaliber + Sonic Boom is a killing machine.

The class I've been most surprised with so far is the Sage.

Their offensive abilities are insane.

Giga Flare is a real killer, especially if you Sage learned MP Turbo as a White Mage.

I just finished the second Totema level and I was wondering when the the hell I get a weapon that teaches the double hand ability for Ninjas?

Please tell me what mission I can find this item.

You're referring to the Nosada. I believe you get one as a bonus when your clan's Smithing level (next to the little hammer) reaches 20, though I got one before that, right after I got Excaliber, though I don't know why.

I'm over twenty hours and I still haven't found one.

I don't have an item that grants the steal weapon thief ability yet either.

The Sword Breaker teaches Steal Weapon, but I haven't seen one through the entire game.

The Cinquedea teaches Steal Ability but I have also failed to find one.

do the weapons you equip to get abilities even raise your stats? to me it just seems like all the weapons are there just for thier abilities and not much else.

There are weapons with great stats, but most don't teach any abilities.

that third totema boss is a bitch. he wiped the floor with my crew. guess i gotta raise levels and such.

question: does the game make the bosses lvls around or higher than whatever lvl you are at the time you fight them? i ran into one clan that was all lvl 5 and lower and my highest character was on lvl 11. seems funny to me.

Adrammelech whipped my ass the first time I fought him but I whipped him after prepping. Easiest solution is to equip all the Blaze Robes and Fire Shields you can to nullify his nasty fire-element line attack, but you might get through by playing a Fire law card. Then hit the Ice and Thunder Dragons with status ailment and go to town on the boss.

Story battles and missions have set enemy levels, while random battle levels are probably determined by your party's average level. You may have a lot of hangers on in your clan, sitting around and not gaining levels, pulling your average down.

[frostwolf ex]

I think the nu mou look like Eeyore.

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I would have never thought of that...but it is kind of true,particularly the antilaw guy.

[Shine]

My only real gripes about this game pertain to the class system and buying equipment. Both are far more difficult than neccessary but I'm dealing with it. Also since some classes (i.e. BST) are only needed on such a rare occasion and do so little damage that I hardly use them thus it's difficult to level them up. Some laws are so difficult to fathom fighting in, like a ban on knive, swords and otherwise, that I simply attemt to avoid them rather than take any chances so early in the game. Angle obscurity is an issue due to the lack of rotating fields but it's only been a minor inconvenience thus far.

On the plus the character portraits are beautiful as is the rest of the game, and though the story doesn't have the same power of the first it's more than enough to keep me interested. The overall feel of the game does come across as an attempt to appeal to a younger audience but again there's enough there to satiate. So far it's worth the $35.

[Kidnemo]

I've got the guide...

But I can't look for where to find the steal weapon or dual weapon abilities until after I beat it.

Now that my sniper/archer is finally starting to get some solid levels behind her, the archer "aim" abilities are rocking out.

If I'm behind an enemy, her aim abilities have a success rate of 70% which is insane. Couple that with the disable arm abilitiy (they can no longer use actions) and she is pretty much rocking it up.

And yea, the Nu Mou totally looking like Eeyore. Out of all of them, I think the black mage most looks like him.