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While the graphics may not match those of some other Square Enix games on the DS, such as Final Fantasy III, the brightness and vibrancy of the colors in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 more than make up for their lack of complexity. The special effects bring out the best of the graphics, with screen filling magical abilities that are some of the best that I have seen on the DS.

The music is also a top-notch delivery, as is typical for a Final Fantasy game, and the spells and abilities' sound effects sound excellent for being on the DS.


The idea of replaying this game, especially since Final Fantasy Tactics Advance took me 100 hours to complete and I still had more that I could do, is daunting, though the game is clearly more geared towards continuing to play it until you have every class, every piece of equipment, every ability, and every quest completed. There is an option to change the difficulty setting at the beginning, so you can increase it from normal to hard for a second playthrough.

However, on the normal difficulty, most fights that are designed to be quite challenging, unless you do many side quests which will make you a little too powerful for the story missions, like I seem to do with remarkable regularity.

All in all

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift is an excellent tactical RPG that puts that distinct Final Fantasy twist into the tactical, turn-based RPG genre. It is simplistic enough that anyone could play it, but has more than enough depth to keep hardcore gamers interested for hours of gaming.

Anyone who has a DS and has even a passing interest in either turn-based strategy/tactical games or in Final Fantasy ought to give this game a shot, simply because of its excellent gameplay. This game should keep tactical RPG players busy at least until Diseagea DS is released, and then they might as well shut out the entire world for a few hundred hours between the two.