Grimoire of the Rift feels like a better version of the original Tactics game for GBA: it plays much more tactically with great maps designed around vertical movement and chokepoints, compared to half the Advance battles being fought over plains. Jobs are even more and even better than before, it has a Judge system that doesn't actively try to punish the player for the sake of it but instead it offers a risk\reward calculation. There are two solid issues that make me reluctant to recommend the game though:
- Luso is a spoiled brat and I don't really like his arc, compared to basically all the other characters in the game. He feels incomplete, a canvas for the young kid who's playing the game, thus the story and the plot points feel less poignant because there's a 13 years old kid at the steering wheel, who has no pressure, no anxiety, no real rhyme or reason to be there if not for "the fun of it". I get it, Luso, you haven't got a younger brother who gets in and out of hospitals every other day, you don't have issues with the Church either, but a bit more agency wouldn't have hurt.
- the game can suddenly hit you with difficulty spikes, crawling to a halt the experience. It is very jarring and it happens multiple times. It's a pity that the best combat, the best storylines and the best job synergies are hidden at what is essentially the end of the game, because it's promising, fun and engaging to just play the game from the middle point to its ending. You'll feel much better when you're done playing than when you're starting out, yet in order to get started you'd have to have a good first couple hours of gameplay ... what a pity really.
It's a great game with solid tactical decisions, planning and fun factor, yet it doesn't really respect your time and oftentimes you'll find yourself skipping through dialogue because it's not the best. If you plan to start the game, don't forget to play through the House Bowen and the Frimelda questlines, since to me they are its peak in content, storyline and Final Fantasy factor.
- Luso is a spoiled brat and I don't really like his arc, compared to basically all the other characters in the game. He feels incomplete, a canvas for the young kid who's playing the game, thus the story and the plot points feel less poignant because there's a 13 years old kid at the steering wheel, who has no pressure, no anxiety, no real rhyme or reason to be there if not for "the fun of it". I get it, Luso, you haven't got a younger brother who gets in and out of hospitals every other day, you don't have issues with the Church either, but a bit more agency wouldn't have hurt.
- the game can suddenly hit you with difficulty spikes, crawling to a halt the experience. It is very jarring and it happens multiple times. It's a pity that the best combat, the best storylines and the best job synergies are hidden at what is essentially the end of the game, because it's promising, fun and engaging to just play the game from the middle point to its ending. You'll feel much better when you're done playing than when you're starting out, yet in order to get started you'd have to have a good first couple hours of gameplay ... what a pity really.
It's a great game with solid tactical decisions, planning and fun factor, yet it doesn't really respect your time and oftentimes you'll find yourself skipping through dialogue because it's not the best. If you plan to start the game, don't forget to play through the House Bowen and the Frimelda questlines, since to me they are its peak in content, storyline and Final Fantasy factor.