| tacticslion |
07-22-2010 11:54 PM |
Final Fantasy Ogre
I've played both Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre, and, while they were both good, I enjoyed FFT slightly more. I admit, however, that I'm an FFT fan-boy (just in case the avatar didn't tip you off), and thus my (re-) view may be slightly skewed in that case.
Also, I'd like to say the reasons I preferred FFT over TO are not really overwhelming. I like the scaling, random battles of FFT - I don't remember similar things in TO. I also like the inventory management system in FFT better, as TO had a very Ogre Battle-style inventory - it's not bad, but I like to hoard and stack bonuses with equipment in sensible places, and TO's item organization wasn't very conducive to that play style. I also liked the fact that all non-monster* units were fully customizable, even the 'unique' characters could change there classes, where as in TO, hawk-men and other humanoid creatures were treated kind of like monsters who could only level up as themselves. The final, and most shallow preference of FFT over TO is the visual style - I liked FFT's a bit better.
One additional slight negative for TO was I recall feeling slightly detached from the characters, as many of the individual stories wasn't as gripping - the characters were just kind of bland so as to flow with whatever style you happened to like. To counter, however, FFT didn't have the branching, multi-path storyline: you had to kill who you had to kill, and you didn't get to choose which side of the war you were on, if any. Although this doesn't give FFT a point over TO, one final minor disappointment was that TO didn't give you the option of your gender - the main character was always a male, unlike your option in several of the Ogre Battle games. While I get that they had a specific story to write, the plot points (save for the "romance", which wasn't much at all) were generic enough that it really didn't matter. That said, FFT also failed to give a good reason for Ramza to be male within the story, so that's a point lost for both of them. On the plus side for both of them, they had really fun exploits and level up/down tricks that are t3h win (again, non-humans need not apply), though TO's was (if I recall) far more annoying to access.
All that said, TO had larger battles (which was a huge, huge plus) and a slightly "cleaner" story line (i.e. slightly more comprehensible plot twists).
I enjoyed both thoroughly, and am personally planning on making the purchase myself, Lord willing, when/if I have the funds.
**Seriously, why the hate on the monster units? The monster-breeding sub-game was stupid, stupid, stupid, especially since they counted against your maximum army size, and couldn't change classes, or improve in any comprehensible way. I get the breed/poach mechanic, I really do, and I used them to great effect. But monsters were shown to be sentient creatures who mentally and emotionally engaged in your struggles with just as much personality as any of your non-primary human troops. It's just plain nasty to kill them at that point! But it was okay, because none of them were pale, blond humans! ... wait. FFT seriously had some moral issues raised by monsters that it totally trampled all over and ignored. Similarly, in TO, you've got Bird Men, who get to level up as... Bird Men! This concept is stupid. It's like taking levels of "elf" or taking levels of "human" - it makes no sense! How much more fascinating would it have been, if you could gain access to becoming a white, black, or red chocobo from your base yellow, each of which gives different bonuses. Hawk Men? They might learn to be: spear-divers, arrow-droppers, or weather-keepers, in addition to the "basic warrior" package they're all trained in! The minor complications could be off-set by simplifying other things, such as poaching; ex: all seven chocobo items can come from any kind of chocobo, but you're more likely to get a certain kind from a certain form (similar to the dead human/gain item mechanic). This would also let monsters remain viable at very high levels, as they can be customized to your needs. Anyhoo, I'm done with this rant.
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