More of a Square Enix remake than proper sequel.
Yes, it seems that another DS title slips under the radar for many gamers, save for only those dedicated tacticians and Final Fantasy fans. And to tell you the truth, its ok. This game borrows much from its predecessor: jobs, weapons, abilities, and enemies. The game is already to deep for any newbie to fully enjoy and veterans will feel a little ripped off even with its hundreds of missions.
STORY: 3
The story revolves around Luso, a mischievous boy who gets transferred to a fantasy land by way of a magical tome. Soon thereafter he joins a clan and completes various missions for townsfolk, all the while searching for a way back home. You meet some important characters whom aide you in your quest and a couple surprise characters make an appearance too. The story is severely lacking as the original.
VISUALS & SOUND: 7
The game is 2D with some neat 3D effects and character summons. The battlefields have an isometric camera and are vividly detailed and vibrant, although the sprites you control and the enemies you face are mostly all recycled and bare no graphical face lift from FFTA. Like I mentioned earlier scions, powerful creature dudes, appear once in a while and look freakin' sweet. They fill up both DS screens and unleash a flashy attack on the enemy. Some standard magical animations and attacks look nifty too. The sound is standard and cheerful, you'll tire of it quickly especially for how long this game is.
GAMEPLAY: 7
You move your characters on a grid map and usually have to defeat a certain amount of enemies. You characters can master different jobs such as soldier, mage, and archer. Each job has weapons you can equip your units with that allow your unit to perform special abilities. The abilities are wide and varied and mastering these abiiities lets you perform special attribute attacks like launching a fire spell or attacking twice in a row. Also the laws are easier on you, you get rewarded for not breaking them but if you do, you lose your reward and won't be able to revive a unit that dies in that current battle.
It's more of the same with a couple of additions such as new races and jobs.
I believe this game is too easy. My characters would finish a mission and earn little to no experience making leveling up tedious. The missions were not very exciting and slow. I hardly ever had to perform any tactical genius in a mission to win. It's okay for what it is, but it gets tiring really quickly.
LONGEVITY & REPLAY: 9
The game length is variable you could physical do each mission or dispatch party memebers to do them and the game will sim those fights. But it's long no matter which route you choose. You wouldn't want to replay it. There's no incentive, its kinda of mindless menu mashing.
OVERALL: 7
It's a solid game play system that you'll get bored of eventually, but it's worth your money if you like turn-based strategy games.
I also recommend Advance Wars and the new Fire Emblem coming out...there a lot faster and more fun.
