Well, I hope it's a good game (I haven't played a good tactical game since JDA).

I never finished FFTA because I was annoyed by the silly arbitrary battle "rules," and I'm asuming this game will pretty much be identical.

This quote from the IGN preview doesn't strike me with a lot of confidence:

Ok, great... so something else to worry about... a time limit.

And my favorite is indeed back for more:

Why do game designers seem to constantly get in the way of letting me win a battle in the way I WANT TO WIN IT?

Too many hoops to jump through, man.

I didn't mind the law system in the first one, except for the odd really, really annoying battle where I ended up unable to perform any kind of attack, so I had to move my characters near the enemy, wait for the enemy to attack, and rely on my counter-attacks to do the damage. Otherwise, I think it did a reasonable job of encouraging me to diversify my party's skills, which ultimately sets you up better for tackling different types of enemies anyway.

In any case, this is a day-one purchase for me. Actually, it still doesn't have an official release date here, so I think a pre-order from Play-Asia with UPS shipping is in order!

Ah, the memories. I loved those games (Tactics Ogre and FFTA, the Quest team games).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xbGzYAQOi4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSlKFZl3eIc

Sadly the added complexity that Matt mentioned doesn't sound good. It's a drag. Sounds like it's reaching a level of complexity at which point you might as well play FFT or Disgaea.

I don't think I want mechs in my tactics game. The cuteness of FFTA didn't really bother me; I loved the art direction, the spell effects...man, I loved that game!

I still need to check out FFT The Lion War on PSP, but since I haven't finished Jeanne D'arc yet (and FFT is supposedly a step down from Jeanne), I haven't done so yet.

You, sir, need to go to a used game shop and remedy the crime that you have apparently committed by not playing Front Mission 3 for the PS1.

I hope that's heavy sarcasm, Prince Laharl.

I'm growing less interested in FFTA2 with each preview. I absolutely loved the first one (and am trying to play through the PSP port of FFT now) but the changes being made to the new DS version, including many reports of it being less challenging, are discouraging. I've gone from 'day one purchase' to 'rent asap'. More news like adding a time limit (?!) will only serve to bump the game father down my rental queue.

I just think adding things like time limits only serves to make the game more complex and not in a good way. That's my biggest gripe. That and even though I didn't mind the art direction/story of FFTA I would have loved FFTA2 to be heading back in the direction of Tactics Ogre:TKOL.

Either way I'm not getting it. And not just because I don't have a DS. I would have normally been tempted to pick up a DS just for FFTA2. But I too am losing interest the more I learn about it. Maybe FFTA was a game I was uniquely suited to play at the time I played it (in terms of other hobbies, free time, sensibilities, etc.)

I was excited by this, but I'm still locked into FFT on the PSP....and I've got Disgaea queued up after that. And Front Mission DS....and The World Ends With You.....and Front Mission 3 ripped to the PSP....and FFVII Crisis Core....not to mention the Wii and PC stack......

I need an intervention.

Say DSG, what is the attraction of Tactics Ogre:KoL? It seems to me that it doesn't have as much fun built in as FFTA. For instance, seems like all melee people have one boring attack; same with archers. And I hate the element thing. I hate it in JDA, too, where I completely ignore it.

I managed to track down a copy a few years ago, after loving FFTA, but it never grabbed me.

The law system only really bothered me because I couldn't remember whether that weapon I had was a plain old sword, a knightsword, a broadsword, a greatsword, or what. If they'd just warn me a little that would be fine. Otherwise, I'll just do what I did in the first game and take mages to the no-sword fights. Not sure about the timed missions though--defeats the purpose of having a portable (i.e. on-the-go) system.

fat: Don't let laws keep you from the joy that is FFTA. They are not that big a deal, and the game is the best tactics game I've played.

Here's a question for all: How many people are like me and love FFT-style games, while not being much for Advance Wars/Fire Emblem? I see a lot of cross-recommendations, but they are two different animals imho.

Likewise, at least with Advance Wars -- I picked up the first one on GBA, and while it was a mildly entertaining diversion, the first time I hit a battle where it looked like I'd have to really try hard to complete, I put it down and walked away. FFTA, though, I think I spent about 120 hours with across two play-throughs.

They are different beasts but I enjoy them both. ATM I'm also having a hard time getting into Advance Wars because frankly the map graphics are utter crap even for a DS game lol. I know that once I beat more of the shinier and instant gratification games I'll be able to go back to it and have the patience for it to click and sink in. I also notice that Days of Ruin has a lot more stat overload than is good for a handheld game so it's harder to get into. Not quite as overwhelming as Disgaea which I've beat and still am clueless about half the stats It doesn't help that I've played Field Commander first so am a little spoiled to say the least.

On the other hand FFT (any) just seems archaic to me now as the fixed angles really irk me after having been spoiled by JDA. I found that no matter how much I tried I couldnt get into FFT on the PSP having beaten it twice on the PS1 already, I needed new jobs and new settings while I don't have issues with the FFTA games since they are new to me.

I don't really prefer one or the other at this stage. As long as the arbitary rules don't prematurely end the battle for me or force me to use something obscure and otherwise useless to win i.e." enemies are all invincible unless hit with an acorn that only does 1 dmg and can only be looted in newbie areas haha too bad you sold most of them already cause you didn't know" then I'll be good.

The original FFTA was a great pick up and play game. The story was there, but it definitely took a back-seat to the game itself. I never had any problems with the law system, initially I didn't even pay it any mind until I was hit with a yellow card for using an illegal weapon type. After that, I set one of the buttons to check what the laws were, checked them before every battle and played by the rules. More often than not, the laws were in my favor. My one big gripe with the game was that everything felt slow. Movement was slow, attacks were slow, and the general flow of battle felt like it could have used a little speed boost. I'm hoping that the extra power of the DS makes things a bit quicker along with a nice extra coat of paint on the graphics side of things. It would also be nice if they managed to take advantage of the DS features in interesting and creative ways, ala Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops. Honestly though, having essentially the same game on DS would be fantastic to help me kill some time when out of the house.

Well I'm actually liking Fire Emblem mainly because I'm really enjoying the character designs and the attack animations. I don't know if it's the overall "biggyness" of the art design but I know I have a bit of a preference for that style. The story is not anything super great but it's better than most RPG stories and it's keeping me going. I'm also still in the phase where each mission introduces you to a new class and aside from new enemies coming along with that too, I'm finding that pretty enjoyable alone. The only thing that's slowing me down is restarting because I'm overprotective of my chars and don't want anyone to die. Losing people from them taking 10-20% damage most hits and then getting wtfpwned for 80% in another is starting to get annoying but so far I'm still having fun.

I disagree on the time limit making you take risks, it just makes me play stupidly (if you consider stupid risks as risk then yeah... that too) and worse, shoehorns me into a particular strategy. What if say I want to have one guy take out the entire map strategically using terrain etc, that's a risk alone and thats one example of a strategy that just isn't possible with a time limit, there are others.

EDIT : Just read review of A2, same law sh*te? I didnt want to hate A2 as well but it seems now I will. On the other hand I just found out about Rondo of Swords.