Even after all these years it's still baffling to me that Camelot was able to fit SO much onto a GBA cartridge. TLA, even moreso than its predecessor, is a technical marvel on merits of its scale alone.

Still, that ends up being something of a double-edged sword. Dungeons tend to run on the long side and don't have any in-game maps, and rooms often have to be retreaded just to do one or two small tasks ad infinitum, and many don't even have a payoff boss to cap the experience off. Combined with the GBA's already miniscule screen space, these elements make it a bit ill-suited for the same style of pick-up-and-play that made even Golden Sun so appealing as a handheld RPG.

At least the added depth makes for a much grander back half of the saga. Felix and co.'s journey around the world feels leaps beyond the first game's narrative foundations, both in weight and in spectacle, so it's easy to forgive some of the slower segments in favor of some solid story and worldbuilding payoffs. It's also surprisingly crispy on the gameplay side, with tons of stuff to collect, excellent visuals and fast-flowing turn-based combat.

Overall I strongly prefer this to the first game and appreciate playing through it every now and again. Just wish dungeons took a little less of this game's time in favor of bosses/setpieces.