Its taken me awhile, but I didn't want to post my own review until I had had a chance to play the game for a substantial amount of time. The first thing I would like to say is this... the link option is not available in the beginning of the game. It is offered early, though it sure will throw you off when you bust out two copies of it with a friend only to release you gotta spend a few hours with it first. As of right now, I'm 17 hours into the game. I have not gotten far into the plot as of yet because I am busy leveling my characters in the random battles. I recommend this to everyone who picks up the game since if your progress to fast you will soon find yourself outmatched. Now, here comes the thing that seems to be pissing the most people off. This is not a sequel to the Playstation one game of the same name. Much like most Square games, it has a new plot, new characters, and a new art style. The gameplay is great if you like tactical RPGs. I have not played Tactics Ogre but it is supposedly close to that sort of gameplay. Many people say its a copy of it, but then Tactics Ogre is a copy of another game... and so on. I won't get into that. Needless to say you'll be left wanting to level your characters just to tout them around as being great. By all means it is encouraged in this game. The game itself is played from a isometric perspective and the graphics are great considering that it is on a GBA. It offers three colors modes that are adapted for each version of the GBA (GBA, GBA SP, GBA Module for GameCube). On that side note, I've found the colors are the richest (brightest) on the television and become more progressively bland as you make your way to the original GBA. By far however, the game still looks great though. The art style is unique though I have a problem sometimes distinguishing male humans and female humans. You know that character with the yellow hair that sticks up from the screenshots? That's a guy, and he's your main character. A definite plus is that you can rename him if you wish. The sound, its repeatitive. I love the intro song since it has a great opening and you'll instantly feel like your playing something epic. After that, its the same old thing. It is by no means bad but I honestly believe it is just a limitation of the GBA format. As far as value, its what you make of it. I can play random encounter until the sun goes down. Then again, I've always been a fan of random encounters no matter how unbalanced it makes any game. I feel if you put the time into the encounters then you deserve a little lean towards you later on. This also comes from my love the Fallout series of the PC (Greg, the Gamespot editor, has a great article about this old series, you should read it). And last of all... the tilt. I'm a Square nut for the most part though I avoided FFVIII through FFX. FFVIII didn't have the right feel to me, FFIX came out after my Playstation was stolen, and I've never owned a PS2 to play FFX. I will be playing FFXI though later this month for the PC (this review was made in October). The point I'm trying to make is that I might be called a little impartial to any game with a FF or Square name on it. If you take it away however, you're still left with a great game that will offer you hours upon hours of fun if you're willing to play it through. Viva la Vault Dweller!
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