Not bad... but the original Tactics is much better.
The first thing I was sketchy about was the rules that had been set in place. Each battle contains a certain rule (or set of rules, as you progress through the game) that has a rewarded and penalised action. Some restricted items, and more annoyingly, restricted even the simple Attack command. Though rules were an interesting addition, some of the time, you can find yourself short a few characters, because once a red card is flashed, that player is effectively KO'd. The difference being, you're unable to revive them, and once Marche is red carded, the game is over.
The worst part about the rules is that you can save, mid-battle. Sure; that sounds handy, but if you leave it for a few days, then return to it, you can forget the rules, forget to check them, then bang; game over, for carelessness. Judges were a nice addition to FFTA, and undoubtedly set the foundation for the Judge Magisters of Final Fantasy XII, but Judges and Rules, used as they were, were not really a welcome sight, most of the time. The better thing about Laws was that though you were restricted, so were your enemies... but with the A.I., almost 100% of the time, it would only be the player capable of getting penalised, because of carelessness. If an enemy cannot attack, they often do absolutely nothing, meaning they may as well not be restricted by the Laws, at all.
Regardless of my rantings about the Laws, and such, FFTA did have some interesting and welcome additions to it. One I feel I should highlight being the fact that it was also the first game to give Ivalice different races and different job classifications to those races, making for a more diverse experience with game play. Nu Mou (if that's how its spelt) were the more magical-based race, while Bangaa were more a physical race, though each race did have its own blend of both physical, support and magical jobs.
On top of that, FFTA seemed to mimic Final Fantasy IX's ability acquisition method, requiring a character to learn an ability while wielding a specific weapon. With FFIX, I was rather unsure about it, but it was a concept I got rather used to, which made for an interesting addition to a Tactics-based game. It tore the player between gaining the ability they wished to have or having more power behind their attacks.
Nonetheless, FFTA was an interesting game, but regardless, was much too short, and it didn't take long until I finished it. I personally much prefer the original Tactics game, over this one, and with anyone looking to play it, I'd say to check your bargain bin, over anything else. Though it should be pretty cheap now, anyway. but I wouldn't expect too much from this game, in all honesty. You could say its one of those hard-to-love games, of the Strategy RPG genre.