Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

1. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Robin Burke

2. Basic Facts • Hand-held • RPG-Strategy hybrid • Final Fantasy cosmos • diverse sentient races • monsters • magic

3. Basic narrative • Main character • Marche • Thrown unexpectedly into a fantasy world • Becomes a leader of a clan • Fights battles • to get back to his real life • to defeat those trying to stop him

4. Objects • Characters • Main character (avatar) • Clan members • Weapons • Clothing/Armor • Healing Items • Terrain • Map • Missions • Law Cards

5. Attributes: Characters • Basic attributes • Level • Experience • Hit Points • Magic Points • Judge Points • Strength • Dexterity • Speed

6. Attributes: Characters 2 • Race • limits available jobs • Job • limits basic attack abilities • Abilities • Attack • Support • Response • Counter • Block • Combo

7. Attributes: Characters 3 • States • Confused • random action • Poisoned • lose HP per turn • Charmed • work for the other side • Defense+ • Defense- • Speed+ • Speed- • Attack+ • Attack- • Auto-Revive • Auto-Regen

8. Attributes: Economics • Level • acquired through experience • advances character attributes • Experience • acquired through successful combat actions • used to advance levels • Ability • acquired through successful mission completion • used to acquire abilities • Money • acquired through successful mission completion • used to buy items, weapons, armor • Judge points • acquired through successful KOs of opponents • used to buy powerful "target all" attacks • Hit points • lost through attack damage

9. Attribute: Artifacts • Weapons • Attack • Defense • Elemental • special attack feature • stronger against certain enemies • Enhancements • Abilities Taught • Range • Clothing (includes Armor, Shields, Hats, etc.) • Defense • Elemental • better defense against certain attack types • Enhancements

10. Attributes: Terrain • Height • Obstacles • Water • Trees/Pillars/etc • Laws

11. Map • Cities • Pubs • missions • Stores • Countryside • mountains • swamp • desert • forest • Jagd • urban but no laws

12. Battle • Turn-based • order determined by speed stat • Facing • very important • side and behind more likely to hit • front only 50/50 at best • Attacks • range • close • Effect • damage • status conditions • facing / position changes

13. Laws • Battles take place under variable rules • Prohibited and rewarded actions • Law cards enable laws to be canceled • Up to the player • to remember what they can't do

14. Laws • Explicit "Laws" of Battle • Random but predictable • Overturnable • law cards • can be won • but not purchased • Stages of the game • increasing numbers of laws in each battle

15. Laws Consequences • Memory task • some very difficult like "Copycat" • Consequences • Requires that you have different clan members with different abilities • Requires that you be cautious about engaging in battle

16. Jail • Law violations • Red card for Marche • end of game • Red card for other • remove from battle • must travel to jail and pay to release • Yellow card • warning

17. Emergence • Rule set is very complex • many abilities • many weapons • Environmental variables • terrain • rules in force • monster / opponent abilities • Each battle is unique • Multiple successful strategies • go in swinging • cripple with status attacks • selective engagement

18. Uncertainty • Probability of hit • only important random factor • Can be manipulated by the user • by moving • by terrain • by acquiring objects • by learned abilities • Player can trade effort for more certainty

19. "Dispatch" missions • Lose the use of a clan member for set period • Probability of success differs by mission • Best members most likely to succeed • Dispatch missions • good for building abilities and experience • usually well compensated • sometimes necessary for game progress • Decision • lose a useful member • high probability of success • send a lower level member • lower chance • may need to do mission again

20. Feedback • Negative feedback for experience gain • 1 experience point only for defeating opponents of lesser level • must continue to take on challenging missions • Positive feedback on purchasing power • pretty soon you have one of everything • but some items can't be purchased • Positive feedback with Totema • more later

21. Game theoretic aspects • "Dispatch" missions • Investment decisions • which job to level up in • different stat growth • which abilities to invest AP in • determines repertoire of attacks • Degeneracies • Hunter/Morpher combination • Illusionists • Mog Knight

22. Conflict • individual level • fighting monsters and opponents • team level • fighting groups with mixed abilities • quest level • to achieve the game goal • restoring the "real world"

23. Core Mechanics • Battle • Provisioning

24. Narrative • Borrows heavily from "The Never-Ending Story" • Kids enter fantasy world • Must try to figure out how to get back • and decide whether they want to go back • Central narrative element • Totema Battles • defeat boss monsters holding the world together • each defeat adds power that can be called on in battle

25. Narrative cont'd • Plot twists • former real-world friends become game-world enemies • Highly linear • fixed plot revelation controlled by "must do" missions • After each narrative point • new map destinations • new battle possibilities • harder monsters

26. Pleasures • Strategic engagement • devising and executing a successful strategy in battle • Payoff of provisioning and investment • having the appropriate ability to defeat an enemy • having the right set of characters even under strict laws • Manipulating the law • canceling a restriction • or imposing one • when you have the right law card • Achievement • advancing your characters • getting new abilities • cool animations

27. Culture • Compare with Asteroids • Avatar • lone ship • leader of a clan • Scenario • isolated in trackless space • in a mapped place • Control • fire, thrust, rotate • economic, strategic and tactical decision • multi-leveld

28. Themes • Responsibility • Player is responsible for clan • Must plan and invest to build characters • Game as trap • Your character is trying to escape from a game that has become too real • temptations of the game • power • adventure • fun • Reality • Characters dispute the reality of the game world • Characters dispute the preferability of the real world over the game • The hero is a "rebel for reality"