08-23-2003, 05:54 PM
In just about every way that matters, Final Fantasy: Tactics just smears the Shining Force games across the landscape.
Don't get me wrong, I love Shining Force; it's one of my all-time favorite console games - just a little above Shining Force II and Front Mission on the list, in fact. But FF:T is so much better in so many ways, it's not even funny.
Rotating, zooming polygonal battlefields, initiative manipulation, charge-time actions, knockback, counter-attacks... Sheesh. I can't believe I missed this game the first time around. :ph34r:
I'm roughly 33 hours into the game, at the beginning of Chapter 4, with an average character level of 32 or so - And quite a diverse lineup:
Ramza - mastered Squire/Monk/Geomancer, working on Bard (protagonist)
Induran - generic Knight/Lancer
Talira - generic Priest/Mediator
Jenique - generic Thief/Archer/Ninja
Tak - generic Wizard/Summoner
Mustadio - gun-toting Knight, mastered Engineer/Chemist
Agrias - mean sword-wielding Priest (mastered Holy Knight and Knight)
Rafa - new member, inexperienced Heaven Knight
Malak - inexperienced Hell Knight
The Job system really makes FFT a great game. With it you can create (just about) any character type you want. Given Agrias' personality and initial Job (Holy Knight) it seemed a no-brainer to have her eventually take up the Priest Job - but with the Equip Sword skill she can still use her Holy Sword abilities. A healing, buffing Priest who can call down the wrath of heaven is a scary sight. So is a gun-toting Mustadio with all the Knight break skills. 'Oh, you have a big axe? *BANG* No axe for you!'
The only pet peeves I have with the game are that you're severely limited in the number of characters you can use in a single battle (never more than 5, plus however many "guest" units) and the rather small battlefield sizes in comparison to SF maps. But geeze, everything else is pure gold. :D
Don't get me wrong, I love Shining Force; it's one of my all-time favorite console games - just a little above Shining Force II and Front Mission on the list, in fact. But FF:T is so much better in so many ways, it's not even funny.
Rotating, zooming polygonal battlefields, initiative manipulation, charge-time actions, knockback, counter-attacks... Sheesh. I can't believe I missed this game the first time around. :ph34r:
I'm roughly 33 hours into the game, at the beginning of Chapter 4, with an average character level of 32 or so - And quite a diverse lineup:
Ramza - mastered Squire/Monk/Geomancer, working on Bard (protagonist)
Induran - generic Knight/Lancer
Talira - generic Priest/Mediator
Jenique - generic Thief/Archer/Ninja
Tak - generic Wizard/Summoner
Mustadio - gun-toting Knight, mastered Engineer/Chemist
Agrias - mean sword-wielding Priest (mastered Holy Knight and Knight)
Rafa - new member, inexperienced Heaven Knight
Malak - inexperienced Hell Knight
The Job system really makes FFT a great game. With it you can create (just about) any character type you want. Given Agrias' personality and initial Job (Holy Knight) it seemed a no-brainer to have her eventually take up the Priest Job - but with the Equip Sword skill she can still use her Holy Sword abilities. A healing, buffing Priest who can call down the wrath of heaven is a scary sight. So is a gun-toting Mustadio with all the Knight break skills. 'Oh, you have a big axe? *BANG* No axe for you!'
The only pet peeves I have with the game are that you're severely limited in the number of characters you can use in a single battle (never more than 5, plus however many "guest" units) and the rather small battlefield sizes in comparison to SF maps. But geeze, everything else is pure gold. :D
![[Image: 9426697EGZMV.png]](http://sigs.guildlaunch.net/wsig.php/9426697EGZMV.png)