How the years go by. It's been over a decade since SquareSoft (now SquareEnix) and Nintendo parted ways. It was the end of the strongest relationships in gaming history. Final Fantasy games on Nintendo consoles are what paved the way for the commercial success of the RPG genre in US territory. The last release of a Square game on a Nintendo console was FFVI in 1994. In the middle of 1996, we even saw early development screens of FFVII on the N64, with what looked like a red haired Cloud Strife. Then soon after, N64 owners were devastated to hear the news; FFVII was moved to Sony's Playstation console. For the last decade, gamers have wondered if the rift between Nintendo and Square will mend together. Then in March of 2002, the news came! Square will be starting up support for both of Nintendo's consoles. And since that announcement, we finally have the first game of the new cooperation, Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance! Sure it's not the Final Fantasy debut we all wanted, but you should definitely care about it. Read why.

The game kicks off with a group of kids on a school playground during a snowy day, as a snowball fight breaks out. It's here where the developers both establish characters as well as the basics of the fight engine that players will have to utilize deeper in the game. It's a very clever way of training new players for the game that's ahead of them. Players here will learn how to move, attack, and face directions after an attack during the snowball fight. A snowball assault on a shy kid is what brings the lead characters together for the first time. Eventually, they stumble upon a book that grants an unexpected wish. After talking about their favorite computer game, "Final Fantasy," the kids are transported into a Final Fantasy universe. They then join a clan to earn money and unlock the secrets of this strange new world.

There's no exploration in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. All gameplay elements take place either via menu selections or during combat. If you're expecting and craving for puzzle-solving exploration of the Final Fantasy design (as I was), Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is not for you. But if you're looking for a long and challenging experience, Final Fantasy Tactics boasts tremendous replay value for an RPG with its large number of available occupations to pick and choose from, each with dozens of specialized techniques. Combat tends to hamper most Japanese RPGs, which thrust countless boring encounters upon you and your party as a means of padding play life and adding an interactive element to an otherwise linear plot, but in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the battles are the meat and potatoes of the game. With so many kinds of characters and so many different locales in which to fight, the combat in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance just gets better and better.

Often, the plot sequences in Tactics unfold as interludes during the warfare. Each fighter on the battleground can move and perform one action each turn, whether it's a plain attack, spell, or summons. As a general rule, the more powerful attacks take some time to charge up, allowing the opponent an opportunity to either disable the assailant or to get out of his way. The combat in Final Fantasy Tactics requires much more strategy than the typical RPG, both in terms of preparation and in execution. The biggest change in Final Fantasy Tactics' gameplay is the addition of a judge, something that advances gameplay and makes it worse at the same time. The judge keeps track of anyone that either breaks a written law, or follows a recommended law, and it's this element that really throws a ton of strategy into the game design. Some times, the laws make it almost impossible to win (ala a no summons law on a boss fight). This makes players start the mission over so a different law can be set. Its commonplace for laws that prevent the use of swords, or arrows, or items during a battle, but it forces players to think about each and every move they're about to make. Many end up life or death choices so you really have to use your brain. To top that off, if someone breaks the law they're either penalized, or sent to jail. In the case of jail, there goes your hard earned gil to get your buddy out of the slammer!