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Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift marks series creator Square Enix’s third attempt at nailing turn based strategy gameplay in the world of Ivalice. Preceded by the original-PlayStation-ported Tactics to PSP last year-and Tactics Advance on GBA a few years ago, A2 retains everything that was great about the series, while trying to make the game more accessible for the DS’s market.

Is this a worthy trip back to the revered world it takes place in?

The story of the original Tactics was outstanding; one of the highlights of the whole experience, and while the same was apparent –albeit less so– in Tactics Advance, what little story A2 has has nothing on the epic wartime struggle of the original. Your character, Ruso, appears in Ivalice after writing in an ancient book he finds in his school library. Trying to find a way home, he discovers early on that he must fill the book with his experiences in order to get back safely.

As open ended as stories come these days, A2 does nothing to entice you into the world, leaving you with no sense of feeling towards the characters whatsoever.

Compared to the complex, twist filled intricacies of the other games; this is merely an excuse to go back to Ivalice once again. The only remorse comes when you eventually meet Vaan and Penelo from the outstanding PS2 RPG Final Fantasy XII (not a spoiler; they’re on the box!).

Subtle links to XII pull on the strings of nostalgia, including musical themes taken straight from the console game, but these still don’t make A2 worthy of the name Tactics in the plot department. A real shame when you consider the pedigree of the other games’ storytelling.

f there’s one thing that A2 gets right, it is the quantity of missions on offer. At nearly 400 quests, this is the largest FF Tactics game to date, and completing them all will take hundreds of hours. As always, quests are undertaken at pubs located in each town on the 2D map screen, with shops and the all-new auction houses placed alongside them. Each area of the world map can be auctioned for, granting you access to extra missions, discounted items, and other helpful extras to assist you during troublesome battles. This replaces the lengthy system Tactics Advance featured, meaning that you don’t have to fight to have control over an area.

Shopping has also had an upgrade, taking elements of the bazaar system from FFXII, and tweaking them to fit to A2’s style. By selling different combinations of loot that enemies drop, you can unlock new equipment for the shop. This rewards players who take the time to complete some of the many side quests, giving them a larger supply of amenities in the store. A2 is so jam packed with content that any fan of tactical RPG’s will have hours of fun unlocking everything there is to be found here.

They may have left out the Advance section of the title, but A2 is still very similar to Tactics Advance. In fact, everything that I haven’t mentioned is exactly the same, from the battle system, the jobs, abilities and even the sprites themselves.

Yes, the backgrounds have been updated; new jobs have been added; the attacks look much better; and you can play the entire game with the stylus, but A2 is merely an expansion pack to the previous game. This isn’t a bad thing though, Advance was fantastic, and the things Square-Enix got right back then are the same here. The job system is just as in depth, with each race having a different selection of jobs available to them, and the battles themselves are as frantic as ever, despite what would at first seem repetitive.

But despite what the game does differently, this is more like A1.5 than A2. Only fans of the original will get the full effect of the game, which is a shame as the game itself is excellent. If you were one of these people, then snap Final Fantasy Tactics A2 up right away; you’ll have a long journey ahead of you.

If not, then the lack of a decent story, and few major enhancements makes this less essential than its precursors.

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