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One of the perks of working for GamePro is that they retain a library of games that employees can borrow from in order to try out a new title or to write reviews on. One of the newest additions to this library, freshly arriving last week, is a copy of Final Fantasy Tactics A2 for the DS, and so I jumped at the chance to play the title we had just so recently contested off on this very site.

Originally I was going to write up a full review of the game, but there are countless reviews out there, and I can sum up my feelings in three words:

The game rocks.

Hell, I could probably get it down to one:

Rocks.

But that is borderline guttural caveman speak, and I may very well just be pointing out the local scenery for all you would know. At any rate, I digress. Check after the jump for a short tale from my game play experience.

So FFT A2 plays out just as any other member of the tactical RPG genre we know and love. Those of you who have played other FF Tactics games, or titles such as Ogre Battle, Disgaea, or Front Mission, should immediately know what that means. And those who haven't? For shame. You've missed out on some of the greatest gaming out there, I say. The kind of stuff that uses your brain more then your reflexes immediately gets a +1 in my book.

At any rate, the game is a series of battles played out on an isometric ("top-down, kinda slanty") grid where you move your characters (units) around and have them attack each other via various spells and special moves. While this is standard Tactical RPG fare, the twist that the Final Fantasy Tactics games added in to the mix are called Judges. Judges show up at the beginning of every fight and throw down the law. They declare seemingly random restrictions that you have to adhere to, such as "No Fire Attacks", "No Knockbacks","No eating meat on Fridays", etc. Failure to meet these requirements means that you can no longer revive fallen comrades for the rest of the battle, though if you abide by their laws, they give you extra loot after the fight. It is definitely in your best interest to make the Judges happy.

There are some battles, however, where if you violate the Judges random laws, you fail the battle. This morning I accepted a Clan Trial with just such a restriction. To make matters worse, the law that the Judge presented was a little confusing - he banned "Not Using MP" (Magic Points).

"No problem," I said with a brief and inattentive glance at the law, and stocked my party with melee combatants and archers. I failed the trial on my very first attack.

Then my brain kicked in and I had to reprimand myself for my ignorance. Basically the law was not saying that I could not use magic, but that I could not not use magic, which is a double negative but still an enforceable law. So I gathered up my forces, repaid the trial entry fee, and started again.

And promptly failed once more.

As it turns out, special attacks such as "Rend Power" do not consume MP, even though they look and act like spells for all intents and purposes. My mistake cost me dearly once again. Little pixelated lives were lost, and that was digital blood on my hands.

Ok, no more mister nice guy. I promptly used the Job Change feature to turn all my units in to White or Black Mages, and assailed the trial once again. I had created an elite strike squad of mana guzzling moogle fluffers, and victory was at last mine.

All this on the train ride in to work. You just can't beat that.

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